Blake Walters

As a former engineering manager, I’ve been here more times than I care to admit. What looked like a quick, low-cost design change turned into a lot more than we bargained for. Compiling a list of the things that need to be changed (i.e. engineering documentation and physical widgets) always looks relatively easy. But invariably a few things get missed. And some of ‘misses’ can have a big impact on cost to implement the change not to mention the implementation schedule. Coming up with an accurate list of the engineering data that needs to be changed (or created) is a little easier with the right software. If you’d like more insight into how our Tina5s can help, reach out!   #Engineering #engineeringchangemanagement #changemanagement #Tina5s

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NEW: Internal Threads Internal threads allow you to spin up conversations in Slack from Pylon. It's great when you want to start a conversation with someone, but they primarily use Slack (e.g. engineers, product people or anyone who isn't living out of the support system). Common internal threads we are creating at Pylon: 1/ #bugs to report a potential bug 2/ #project channels to ask a team a question about a specific feature 3/ #feedback to report product feedback to the team It's been one of the most game-changing features we've released and we're so excited to share it with everyone. Enjoy!

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I just read Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism by Kyle Chayka, and it got me thinking about the power of minimalism—not just in art and architecture that you hear so much about, but in how we experience the world. Chayka's core message is that minimalism isn't just about reducing clutter—it's about creating space for clarity, intentionality, and deeper meaning... principles that really resonate with me and the UX design discipline. Here are some thoughts looking at Minimalism through the lens of user experience design: https://lnkd.in/gnmJGfyM

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When doing user research - I love Airtable for organizing content. It allows you to do so across multiple dimensions and slice/dice your analysis how you want to. So you could in theory, mark each person/quote on a problem dimension, usability, existing tools, etc. and then see patterns and filter in lots of ways. So the organization (in whatever tool) largely comes down to what you are trying to uncover. I think unless you are doing a very coarse analysis, in airtable I would have each "row" be a response (or even a individual quote). Then there would be a column for the person, a column for the question (maybe a new columns as to what the question was trying to illicit - your intent), then successive columns for the multiple dimensions you would annotate on. This then becomes your master table. From there, you can slice and dice but you are always building on raw data that cuts nicely

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While some folks hire entire Figma design teams for their personal websites, I'm here at 6:30 AM explaining to my partner why I need a third coffee to "write stuff." 2022: "I'll share monthly insights about building companies!" 2024: checking it -> Writing consistency matches crypto winter performance 📉 But look - AI got better at English faster than I got better at writing. That's what we call product-market fit. New strategy for 2025 - Actually write 12 articles - Convince partner these dawn coffee raids are essential business ops Track my progress (or lack thereof) here: https://lnkd.in/e6bkkxvH P.S. If my partner reads this - yes, this is exactly what I'm doing at 6:00 AM either wiring or reading the book. Note: Will open source my coffee consumption metrics in Q3 2025. Full transparency, like web3 promised.

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Product is fun, complex, messy, and there are no shortcuts. Once you accept that—and embrace it—amazing things happen to your career. Cat Hicks, PhD puts this better than anyone: "Doing research with developer teams, something that really strikes me is how much people look for ways to make complex problems easy rather than make it easy to work on complex problems What I mean is, sometimes it's really useful to admit we just are trying to accomplish tough things. Asking how we can support our teams who NEED the time and space to work through that, it's often a much more tractable lever than trying to change the inherent nature of the work I think it behooves me to say as a psychologist here that I think people are actually really excellent at working on complex problems! It's one of the reasons research with developers is so great. Overall devs love to learn, love to be curious, love to innovate. It is core stuff. What would it look like if we could ask, "how do I make this the absolute best environment for complex problem-solving" instead of "how do I take away all these annoying hard problems." The stuff we want to accomplish in the world is hard. But can be joyful to accomplish."

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Check out our second AI feature we've added to the platform below!

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It'll never be this obvious, but when you're cooking without expert design, you and your engineers will end up JUST LIKE THIS. It's more subtle these days: Missed sprints Unforeseen edge cases Confused customers Broken promises Refund requests Bandaids everywhere Alarming churn Feature bloat Rabbit holing "Nobody gets it, maybe we need an onboarding tutorial!?" ^^ Don't end up in "Panic Land." Get design help now and get it from folks who have been shipping products and building businesses for over 2 decades. #productdesign #apps #SaaS #startupdesign #startups #UX #UI #Productmanagement

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Three Wins I Hope Every Founder, Builder Experiences 1. Hands-On with the Cool Tech Nothing beats diving into promising tech and seeing the impact firsthand. Getting up close with foundational models and LLM applications over the last three years is an experience I hope everyone got a taste of. 2. The Magic of an Aligned Team Being part of a team that’s not just smart but also daring greatly and committed to winning together - that's the best. A great mix of people bringing purpose, energy, and good vibes. 3. The Win of Creating Real Value Watching ARR take off, seeing customer value grow significantly, and knowing your work drives real impact - that's amazing. ----------- Looking back on the past three years at everc, I'm grateful for all that and more. From the hands-on work with LLMs to the friendships, amazing memories and lessons — What a ride. Together, we tripled ARR, drove significant customer value growth, and built a product group focused on speed and impact. A big thank-you to everyone who made this journey special ! Keep on keeping on — daring greatly, building, pushing forward, and inspiring each other. So long, and thanks for all the fish 🐟🐟🐟 ----------- What’s Next for Me? Exploring: • Zero-to-One LLM app product opportunities • Fractional product roles in early and mid-stage startups Who are the startups you know that could use an expert product hand to drive significant impact quickly?

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❓ I have a question for product designers ❓ How do you understand that you’ve reached a certain grade or level in your career, such as transitioning to a senior role? Do you rely solely on performance reviews, or are there other ways you evaluate your growth? And what if there’s no formal performance review process? I’m asking because I often get questions about assessing one’s grade or level. So, I’m curious — do you have a similar need or interest in this topic? Let me know your thoughts!

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There’s a subtle difference between “educating” stakeholders and making the impact of your work visible. One of these can help you win promotions, autonomy, and co-conspirators. The other can distract you from your craft at best… or devalue your work at worst. Thought-provoking article from Sara Wachter-Boettcher on how designers can reframe “advocating for design” in a way that avoids burnout and sidesteps the gaslighting.

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Do you want consistency between designers and front-end developers? Use of design tokens. When everyone uses the same terms, it simplifies things for both teams. Here's Google's introduction to design tokens and how you can implement them: https://lnkd.in/gpWMwqVz

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UX question for the masses re: billing cycles. Would love to hear your insight and thoughts! CONTEXT RB2B plans are billed monthly (we'll ignore our annual plans for this exercise) and users get X credits per month. For example, $119 gets you 200 credits in a month. If a user were to upgrade their account mid-cycle because they needed more credits, we simply bill them the difference in the plan costs and they get Y new credits. For example, upgrading from the plan above to 500 credits ($299) charges the user $180 and they get the 400 extra credits for the rest of the cycle. Then, on renewal, they're billed $299. ——— PREDICAMENT That's all well and good when they have, lets say, more than 25% of the month left. I have had some weird cases where a user hasn't paid attention to their renewal date and upgraded 2 or 3 days before their cycle renews. So, they charged the difference in the plans and unlock the extra credits, then a couple days later their plan renews and they pay for the next month of credits. Not super ideal - it usually results in some questions and explanations about what happened and why etc. etc. Bear in mind that proration is based on credit usage, not time (! important !). ——— WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO PREVENT THIS? I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you would do to prevent this? Would a great big warning that spells out exactly what's going to happen and when do the trick? Would you abandon the prorated aspect and start a new billing cycle if they're within X (7?) days of renewal?

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Many consumers tend to look at a design system through the lens of what’s missing or constrained and miss a critical part of the core mission: start small and grow the collection based on the needs of the community you serve. Constraints are a natural part of the biological makeup of any system. Much like scope, defining what you can and cannot do creates healthy boundaries that establish the foundation for growth and opportunity. With a design system, constraints open the door for discussions about how we introduce meaningful change over time. That said, when you’re up against a deadline and you encounter an intentional limitation I can understand how it feels like a blocker. But what if you considered that it’s also an opportunity to start a dialog that identifies new requirements, unlocking untapped potential that translates into community value in the process? What if I also said that you have the power to change the system through focused contributions that rethink and reshape the smallest pieces and parts to make it a more effective or efficient solution? As a consumer you need the system to be flexible and I need it to be consistent. I have a responsibility to govern while you need to be able to experiment. This is the nexus where the balance between governance and empowerment becomes more than just managing a component collection. It’s creating a process for shared ownership that requires compromise, rooted in equal parts input and output to guide growth and evolution. Imagine what we can achieve if we work together to create a culture of possibility that focuses on what we do have and how to make it better. Sometimes all it takes is a small, curated foundation, a positive feedback loop, and an engaged community all working together towards the same goal. #ExperienceDesign #UX #ProductDesign #DesignSystems

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Empathy in Application Design: Why Great Leaders Foster Great Teams As leaders in product design, empathy isn’t just a tool; it’s a necessity. Empathy fuels the connection between design vision and human need, but it also creates an environment where designers can bring their full selves and creativity to the table. In my experience, fostering a culture of empathy has fundamentally improved team dynamics and the quality of our work. Here’s how I see it in action: ↳ Open Communication: Empathy encourages active listening, where team members feel truly heard. This creates space for honest feedback and innovation because designers feel safe to express ideas and iterate openly. ↳ User-Centric Vision: When we prioritize empathy, we keep our users front and center. Our product decisions are made with their experiences in mind, ensuring we’re solving real problems in meaningful ways. ↳ Empowered Teams: By showing empathy toward our teams, we support their growth and confidence, which in turn fuels their passion and productivity. A team that feels valued is a team that strives for excellence. → True Story... sharing insights from what it's like to be on a great team: In a project designing a web app for elderly users, our team faced a common challenge: most of us were young and didn’t fully understand the tech limitations older adults might face. To bridge this empathy gap, we held “empathy workshops” where each team member simulated age-related challenges—using gloves to limit dexterity, applying screen filters to mimic vision impairments, and adjusting text sizes to the maximum. A few product team members quickly realized the frustration of navigating with shaky hands and commented, “We had no idea how challenging even simple actions could be.” This experience reshaped our design & development process: we made buttons larger, simplified navigation, and enhanced contrast. By stepping into our users’ shoes, our deliverables went beyond meeting requirements—they genuinely addressed user needs, making the app truly intuitive. With empathy as a foundation, we didn’t just deliver a product; we delivered a meaningful, user-centered experience. Empathy-driven leadership isn’t a buzzword; it’s a pathway to building cohesive, high-performing teams. Leaders who prioritize empathy create an environment where collaboration thrives, communication flows, and great design flourishes. #Leadership #ProductDesign #Empathy #Teamwork #UXDesign #LeadershipInAction

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Great advice for both sides of the equation.

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The Non-Designer's Design Toolkit 👨‍💻 (or “just my observations”) I'm sure many of you have faced (and continue to face) the challenge of differing 🤦‍♂️ design visions between marketers and designers. 🚨 Spoiler alert: this is perfectly normal and will likely never change entirely. As the digital space continues to evolve, the visual component becomes increasingly 🚀 essential, playing a significant role and growing impact on network users. This makes it crucial for marketers to possess some design sensibilities and vice versa for designers to understand marketing goals. After all, the key task for both, in the context of business objectives, is to achieve the desired outcome from potential users 😎. But what if you're a marketer without a dedicated designer on your team❓ By understanding the task at hand and your target audience and equipping yourself with the right tools, you can effectively solve this problem. ⬇ Here's my go-to toolbox as a marketer for creating impactful "non-designer designs": ❇ Creative Idea Don't underestimate the importance of a clear concept! Great design starts with a well-defined idea, like legendary songs written on budget guitars. ❇ Canva This user-friendly platform offers a wealth of templates and features for crafting banners, social media posts, presentations, and more – all in a snap. ❇ Behance Get inspired by browsing stunning design projects from top creators. ❇ Unsplash & Pexels High-quality stock photos and images at your fingertips, perfect for adding visual punch to your designs. ❇ Flaticon Your one-stop shop for discovering and customizing icons to elevate your visuals. ❇ Figma The industry standard for design, Figma offers powerful yet intuitive tools (though some design knowledge might be helpful here). ❇ Color Hunt Feeling color-challenged? Color Hunt provides beautiful color palettes and combinations to take the guesswork out of design. There you have it 🔥 With these tools and a little creativity, you can conquer the "non-designer design" world 🙃. So, what are your favorite tools for creating impactful visuals without design knowledge? Share them in the comments below (if u want 😈 ) #design #marketing #toolkit #tools

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#Config24. There's nothing quite like it when designers and makers gather to share, learn, and nerd out about our craft. Thank you Amperity for supporting our design team to take on this experience together at Figma's annual conference. There is so much to soak in, both from the presentations and chats across the community. Here are a few first takeaways: • Go faster with AI. From reducing tedium (auto-naming layers) to the emergent ability to turn flat UI into interactive prototypes with a click of a button. This philosophy is shaping the experience of designing in Figma. • There is a healthy and important debate in the design community about the implications of this AI-powered future. I love that it will lower the barrier for entry however agree with Jenny Arden: AI can get to good but as it can only remix what's been done before, it takes humans to get it to great. • Intentionality, creativity and craft matter even more. This theme came up throughout the two days. Tools should augment your process, not automate your favourite parts. • Shake the idea that difficult equals important. Simone Giertz overcame her performance anxiety by choosing enthusiasm as a driver for her work, resulting in a lot of fun and unexpected outcomes. • Aspire to be the team that sets the bar for quality. Peter Yang challenges PMs and people who care about product craft to choose quality and speed over scope. Cut features not quality corners to deliver beautiful products to customers, and quickly so you can learn. • How you structure your EPD teams will be reflected in your product. Resist symmetry. Nan Yu makes a great case for "heirloom tomato" teams that vary in size and shape in order to create an org chart you want to ship. • Figma redesign incoming. Figma's UI3 has been built on the core belief that way we design has evolved, requiring more immersion in the canvas. Minimizing UI aims to keep designers in flow, then make it easier to show and present work. On that... • Hello, Figma Slides. It just makes sense to show the work from the tool you built it in — and Slides (or Flides) will streamline this with speaker notes and quick layout features. • Does your design leave fingerprints? How might you weave traces of people, stories, acknowledge what you bring as a designer with a story of your own. Thank you Karla Mickens Cole and Nashilu Mouen from The Browser Company for this people-centered prompt.

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