On the importance of failure and how to make the most of it. — What does failing ‘well’ look like? The other day I was out trail running when I tripped and fell on some loose rocks. There was a nasty graze on the fleshy part of my palm but I was otherwise fine. …

A simple mindset that allows you to start things more easily. — Starting is hard. It requires a lot of effort and discipline and we sometimes struggle to pull it off. The many abandoned and unrealised projects scattered throughout our lives can attest to this. Continuing on the other hand is easy. After doing something long enough momentum kicks in and effort…

Part 2: Key learnings and principles for better remote collaboration — This article follows on from Part 1: The problem with design critiques, where Jess Pang talks about the challenges of running design critiques remotely. Collaborating over Zoom calls is challenging, even for the most tightly-knit design teams. During the COVID-19 pandemic I helped my design team improve our design huddles…

Treating the symptoms, and not just the causes of burnout. — As a designer, I’ve experienced burnout several times throughout my career, and I’ve come to realise that it’s unreasonable during these times to look for a cure without first addressing the symptoms. Solving the problem of burnout requires us to be level-headed and productive. …

There are two types of biases — Preferential: From liking one option over others. Dispositional: From one’s inherent qualities of mind and character. As a designer, I have a preferential bias toward neutral colours and a dispositional bias toward organised and structured design systems. …