Annie Liao

The Jobs to Be Done framework is crucial for product designers, especially as the line between product managers and designers continues to blur. This article can revolutionize how we approach problem discovery and opportunity identification, offering deeper insights during the design phase. It's a must-read for anyone looking to elevate their design process and deliver exceptional results.

5

Tl;dr update: Still looking for work. Looking for Senior, Principal, Manager, Associate Director UX and Product Design roles. I have Product Management and Product Owner experience as well. The long of it: This morning I got the email that the position I’d gone through six rounds of interviews for was canceled. In response to market volatility, they’re pivoting. I’ve made it to final consideration 4 times since I was laid off in May. Twice the position was closed. Twice another candidate won out (we’re arch-nemeses now 👀… just kidding… 👀👀👀). My fiancée and I’ve still been planning and paying for our wedding, I’ve been homeschooling our youngest who has ADHD, is suspected to be on the spectrum, and who is an overall incredible kid. I’ve loved the time I’ve had with him… and I’ve found new levels of patience. Two hours to write a sentence is very 😳. We’ve had tickle fights, Spider-Man photo shoots, singing breaks, some tears and frustration, and a lot of hugs and “good jobs!” It’s all working out. I’m blessed, truly, to have my family and friends, to be getting interviews fairly steadily, to be consistently considered for senior or lead roles. But I’m also pretty exhausted. For the first time in my life I had an anxiety attack on an interview and couldn’t answer the question “describe your design process.” The interviewers graciously progressed through the next forty-five minutes of the call with me — but we all knew it wasn’t a good look. It was my fourth interview in two days, during moving an hour across the valley, around parenting and teaching and working a temporary full-time job as a security guard (Arizona unemployment caps at ~10% of what my monthly salary was, so a temp job pays a good deal more.) I rebalanced and have done just fine on the interviews since, but it paints a picture of the pressure. I’m an excellent team player, a capable professional, I love complex systems — generally seeing them as a chain of simple processes tying into one another, I learn quickly, lead well, and overall bring a lot to the table. Without equivocation, I’ve elevated and delivered in every role and on every project I’ve been in. I’ve had clients, co-workers, leaders and people I’ve mentored leave LinkedIn references. I think there are consistent trends they speak to. I know I bring a lot to the table — I’d love to do that for a place ready to leverage the most out of it! If anyone in my network knows of roles, or can like/repost for exposure, please spread the good stuff! I appreciate you all and I can’t wait to give a positive update!

23

7 Comments

The Hidden Costs of Bad UX Decisions: A Cycle of Technical Debt In the whirlwind that is product development, it's all too easy for companies to get caught up in the mad dash to launch. The market screams for faster, better, now—and teams frantically scramble to meet those demands. But here's a question for you—at what cost? What often gets swept under the rug in the race against time are decisions that seem quick and pragmatic but come saddled with a hidden burden—technical debt. Yes, we're talking about those seemingly innocuous UX shortcuts that might save the day today but come back to haunt you tomorrow. The Seduction of Speed Who hasn't heard the rallying cries of "we’re on a crunch" or "just get it working" echoing through the halls? Sure, these mantras might deliver a product to market on time, but at what hidden cost? Beneath that shiny exterior lies a tangled web of inconsistencies, blind spots, and usability hiccups that can hobble future growth. The Snowball Effect Neglecting UX for speed is like putting a band-aid on a leaky pipe. The product might stay afloat, but these small compromises start snowballing into a whole avalanche of pain points. Before you know it, you're up to your ears in disjointed workflows, inconsistent interfaces, and inefficient design patterns that leave users scratching their heads and engineers pulling out their hair. The Real Costs Here’s where the plot thickens. The real expense of those hasty UX decisions doesn’t hit immediately. Instead, it's a slow burn. You find yourself in a relentless cycle of patches and temporary solutions, each one adding another layer of complexity. The product becomes a Frankenstein of features, each trying to fix the last one's flaws. Eventually, it all collapses under its inefficiencies, resulting in wasted engineering efforts, longer development cycles, and a user experience that’s anything but user-friendly. Breaking the Cycle Here's the good news—breaking free from this cycle isn't impossible. It all starts with a change in mindset. Investing in thoughtful UX decisions from the get-go reduces technical debt and builds a solid foundation for long-term success. It might feel counterintuitive when deadlines loom, but prioritizing user-centered design, strategic planning, and allowing time for product validation, testing, and user feedback can save your team time, effort, and resources in the long run. The bottom line? Bad UX decisions have costs far beyond immediate inefficiencies. They stifle scalability and drain resources in the long haul. By dodging the temptation of quick fixes and focusing on thoughtful design, companies can stave off technical debt and set themselves up for sustainable growth. Next time you're crafting that product roadmap, remember to pencil in some time for progressive iterations and user feedback. Trust me—your future self will thank you!

11

3 Comments

Shared some thoughts about showing up for yourself and the purpose of passion projects. Head over to Substack if you want to follow along. https://lnkd.in/eXgkZ8ne One thing I’ve learned throughout my career is the power of personal projects. Early on, gig posters were my first dive into self-driven work. They shaped the way I approach design and illustration—pushing me to think in ways that went beyond anything I learned in college. Over the years, these personal projects have continued to emerge, offering opportunities to explore and experiment. These projects aren’t just for fun; they’re opportunities to flex creative muscles and discover new ways of thinking. They also keep you creating. Consistency is a huge part of growth. Whether you’re a writer, artist, or working in a trade, it’s just like working out at the gym. You have to continue to show up before you start seeing results. Sometimes, it takes years to get the results you’re looking for—all the more reason to start today and show up again tomorrow. Play should inform the work you do at your day job too. More than once, I’ve solved complex problems at work while "playing" with personal projects. Stepping away from the grind and diving into something playful sparks fresh ideas, opens up possibilities, and often leads to solutions I wouldn't have found otherwise.

13

❓ 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!

32

30 Comments

I really enjoyed this conversation with Alex Smith from Fuego UX on value of designers learning to code, team collaboration, culture, and thoughts for new designers entering the market in the age of AI. Plus, it's short and sweet - just under 12 mins! If anything peeks your interest that you'd like to hear more on, let me know as I may be able to go deeper in future talks or blog posts :)

35

1 Comment

It seems like scaling research often means balancing a lot of moving parts. Fellow ReOps and UXRs peeps- How do you manage the complexities of recruitment, participant management, and testing without getting overwhelmed? #ResearchOps #UXResearch #DesignOps

16

2 Comments

🎉 News for Product Designers 🎉 While we’re working on some big updates for Mockin, we’re excited to share a small but helpful new feature — Resume/CV Checker. It’s designed to help you polish your resume and get actionable recommendations! 🙌 Want to try it out? 1. Like this post 2. Comment on this post 3. I’ll enable the feature for you Let's try it now https://mockin.work/ P.S. Your feedback is invaluable Let’s build tools together that make life better and easier for the design community. 🚀 P.S.P.S. Yes. it's free!

160

84 Comments

We've made our UXR hire! 🥳 I just want to take a minute to thank the hundreds of researchers (400+) who applied for our position. I wish I could've spoken to each of you individually. Here are a few things I experienced during this process: 1. There's a wealth of talented researchers on the market. Wow. No one truly knows why there's been such a UXR purge by tech over the last few years, but the companies that aren't using this period to build out their research capabilities, with the wealth of talent available today, are truly missing out on an opportunity, IMHO. 2. I experienced an onslaught (100+) of connection requests here on LI while the hire was open. Thank you, all, for the interest. I'm excited to once again connect with folks and follow your human-centered journey. 3. Practical considerations: If you're looking for a research role in a tech start-up, you *must* position your capabilities within the context of applied research AND your ability to move quickly while handling everything from comms to recruiting to running studies. Any framing that whiffs of academic research or your need for ResearchOps will be a non starter. I know, I know, but speculative spaces move quickly with limited resources. It is what it is. I spent much of '23 repositioning myself to reengage with this market, so I understand and empathize with the struggle. Best of luck finding your research fit and let me know if I can help in any way!

34

1 Comment

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

7

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.

8

Is anyone on Threads? If so, here's my post about HOW to tailor your UX portfolio for each role you apply for ... it's not rocket science, despite what you hear people tell you 😉 Here's my post on Threads: https://lnkd.in/gKZE34sj . #uxdesign #productdesign #ux #uxportfolio

4

This article was FOUNDATIONAL to my mindset as Design System Engineer: When feeling "lost in the sauce", focus on the core purpose and content hierarchy, and frequently use familiar, effective UI metaphors to maintain clarity and usability. "The Web's Grain," argues that web design should embrace the medium's fluid and vertical nature. He advocates for intuitive, collaborative approaches that align with the web's unique strengths rather than imposing rigid, print-based structures. I thought this article a lot when Myspace redesigned everything into a horizontal scroll 😩 Thanks Frank C. for writing it all those years ago! #DesignSystem #frontenddeveloper #designsystemengineer https://lnkd.in/ejc9nFWR

3

This is a long post regarding my take on the controversial topic of Design Portfolios. You will find at the bottom excerpts from a portfolio that I reviewed for the Product Designer II roles that we opened. I feel free to post it here, because it is so vague and void of substance that it is an example of what not to do. Actually, I would not be surprised if Chat GPT or another AI regurgitated that text. Let me know what you think! But first, here is my take on the topic: to be successful in landing a job with a portfolio (at least with people like me), one must be able to explain their thought process: Which method(s) or framework(s) did you use? Why these specifically? What insights did you learn? How did you present your findings? What project constraint(s) did you have? How long did it take? Where there any conflicts? If so, how did you resolve them? What could you have done better? etc etc Tell me a story so that I can learn about your design approach by answering similar questions. Do not give me too many details either. You can keep it short as I need to have just enough to see a tangible proof of work and to support the conversations we will have during the interview. Finally, I believe this can be done by being honest and transparent without breaching any NDA you may have signed. Hope this can help any candidate to our postings or others. Now the excerpts: Initiation and Empathize We began by immersing ourselves in the experiences of potential users through interviews, and focus groups. This approach allowed us to gather authentic insights and understand user pain points deeply. Define and Ideation We synthesized user data into actionable insights, creating personas and journey maps. Brainstorming sessions focused on generating ideas to leverage high-quality visual content, ensuring we pinpointed the most impactful features. Prototype and Interaction Design Starting with low-fidelity wireframes, we developed interactive mockups. Key interaction design principles ensured an intuitive, engaging application, making navigation and dining decisions seamless. Usability Testing and Evaluation Usability testing combined quantitative and qualitative methods to assess performance and gather feedback. This phase was crucial for refining the design and optimizing user interactions.

52

18 Comments

An honest and empathetic view of how generative AI (or more correctly LLMs and Stable Diffusion) are transforming the UX industry. Beautifully written and wise. I think the recommendations are widely applicable. It is an opportunity to be strategic, authentic, and to act with purpose. The time of re-wrapping the ideas of others is a vanishing part of all of our work.

6

9 Comments

I'll let you in on a little secret ... My #1 interview question when hiring new team members is “Tell me about a [….] you love and why” For a product position that could be “Tell me about a product you love and why” For an engineering position: “Tell me about a project you love and why?” For a marketing position: “Tell me about a marketing campaign you love and why? For an infodev position: “Tell me about documentation or product help you have used that you love and why?” This is a powerful question that allows interviewees to express their personal motivations/passions, critical thinking skills, and how they approach their work as a genuine conversation instead of a standard list of interview questions. 1. Reveals Passion and Communication skills By asking candidates to discuss something they "love," you give them an opportunity to express genuine enthusiasm, which can be an indicator of passion for their field. This is valuable in any role because passion often correlates with motivation and resilience. It also puts them in a place where they can show their best communication and persuasion skills. 2. Uncovers Depth of Knowledge The question invites candidates to dive deeper into what makes a product, strategy, or approach effective, giving insight into how well they understand their field. For example: Product role: It shows if they have thought critically about user experience, design, and functionality. Support role: It may reveal an understanding of customer psychology and empathy. Sales role: It highlights whether they grasp the nuances of successful sales tactics and customer engagement. 3. Shows Alignment with Company Values Candidates’ responses can reflect whether they value similar qualities as the company does, such as innovation, customer-centric design, or transparency. 4. Demonstrates Analytical Skills and Reasoning Asking “why” requires candidates to articulate the reasoning behind their choice. This sheds light on their analytical and critical thinking skills—qualities that are essential in any role but especially important in roles that require strategic decision-making. 5. Encourages Authenticity and Personal Expression This question is more open-ended and personal, allowing candidates to feel comfortable sharing their unique perspectives. This can lead to more genuine responses, which helps the interviewer get to know the candidate beyond rehearsed answers. 6. Assesses Creativity and Problem-Solving Approach Their answer can demonstrate creative thinking or innovative approaches they appreciate and potentially would bring to the role. In product management, for example, it can indicate a candidate’s capacity to think outside the box. This question is so versatile and strives to create a genuine conversation that explores a person's passions and experience over standard rapid-fire questions. Genuine conversation will always be better for both the interviewer and the interviewee.

22

7 Comments

Today is the 13th Global Accessibility Awareness Day! We can all do better! Here is a useful resource on how to write alt text for images and graphs. Practice makes the expert... Poet Training Tool https://lnkd.in/eNmb8hF9

10

1 Comment

Some of you might have realized that one of my big passions right now is to help UXers on the job market secure new jobs. Why? Because I care and it pains me to see so many great people struggling. Last week was a fantastic one, because one of my coachees passed all interviews and signed a shiny contract for a great full-time position. Seeing people succeed fulfils me with deep joy, pride and purpose. I might not be able to solve the current situation in the job market, but I can do my part to alleviate it a little. I have received a wonderful recommendation from this coachee, which I am happy to share with you verbatim. "Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise." - Victor Hugo "Working with Javier as a career mentor was among the most rewarding, motivating, and fun experiences I had as I navigated the not-very-smooth waters of finding a new job opportunity. Javier helped me focus on a multilevel approach: technical (showing your work experience the best way possible) and personal (using your superpowers to make you shine and be proud of yourself). Javier focused on the details of my resume and case study, providing multiple rounds of revisions and feedback, highlighting specific areas where I need to work more, asking challenging questions, and providing recommendations for improvement. At the same time, he recognized my personality and brought it to the table as part of my presentation as a candidate. The sessions with Javier were intellectually challenging; he made me think during and after our sessions, and his questions and feedback were pure gold. They were also fun, with tons of laughs. Javier is super supportive, accommodating his calendar while travelling, adding additional time for coaching, following up to share best wishes before interviews, and spending more time if necessary. I look forward to continuing working with Javier as my coach in the new chapter of my career. I cannot recommend him enough!" #CareerDevelopment #UXcareer #UX

225

19 Comments