Patrick Neeman

I’ve expanded on my earlier post with examples and deeper insights in a new Medium article. 🚀 In this extended version, I dive deeper into balancing autonomy with strategic alignment, guiding teams like a fleet of ships, and setting the stage for cross-functional success. If these leadership themes resonate with you, I’d love for you to explore the full article here : https://lnkd.in/g_q2Yxfk Let me know your thoughts!

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🎙️ New Episode Alert: The Future of UX Research: AI, Advanced Methods & Jobs 🚀 Today, I’m chatting with Lawton Pybus and Thomas Stokes, UX Research veterans and founders of Drill Bit Labs, a research strategy consultancy. They have also researched and authored several UX industry meta-reports and educational articles that can help UX researchers, designers, and UCD leaders stand out from the crowd. In this riveting episode, we explore: 💼 The evolving UX industry job market: insights into the skills, roles, and opportunities defining the next generation of UX researchers. 🤖 AI's growing role in UX Research: how artificial intelligence is reshaping our methodologies and deliverables. 🔬 Essential and more advanced research methods: tried and tested, and innovative techniques that are pushing the boundaries of marrying user needs with tech advancements. And much more. You can find this conversation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, any other major podcasting platform (search “experience designed”) and of course via this link on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gbcxwTKh If you’ve enjoyed this conversation, don't forget to share this episode with your friends and colleagues—it's a conversation worth spreading! #ux #uxresearch #userresearch #podcast #uxstrategy #designresearch #productdesign

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"UX is the Business." Some great thoughts by Troy Parke about his lens on UX and connecting it to the bottom line. This is an interesting read in a time when UX must show business value. https://lnkd.in/g5ec5qUS

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Just attended a UXR session where we discussed the state of UX Research. While it's been around for a few years, it's still in its infancy. Early adopters of the practice are already seeing a significant competitive advantage. In fact, in the next 10 years, it's likely that every company will have a UX Research team. Don't be left behind - invest in UX Research now to stay ahead of the game! #UXResearch #UserExperience #CompetitiveAdvantage

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Stumbled upon this article and it really got me thinking about the role design plays in shaping user experiences. As a designer, I’m always looking for new insights on how we can create more intuitive, user-first interfaces. This article shares some thought-provoking ideas on design innovation and its impact on business. It’s a great read for anyone in the design or tech space. Highly recommend checking it out! https://lnkd.in/e9fcqAYt

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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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“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou This truth is especially powerful in product and UX/UI design. While creating a beautiful, user-friendly application might seem straightforward—I've had the privilege of doing it for nearly two decades—the real impact lies in the emotions we evoke. It’s those feelings that turn one-time users into loyal advocates. If you’re curious about how emotions shape user experiences or want to know more about neurodesign, check out this article and others written by @jashsak https://lnkd.in/gtj5JpD6

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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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UX leaders: Better understand what motivates designers and how you can help them thrive by taking 3 minutes to read this excerpt from Scott Berkun’s new book “Why Design Is Hard”: https://lnkd.in/ev6XyMss

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I enjoy reading through the results of the annual UX Tools Design Tools Survey every year. Product Designers, it’s that time of the year again to share what tools you used this past year, and which tools you are curious to check out in 2025: https://uxtools.co/survey

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Resharing Episode 70 of The World of UX from 2021. The hottest segment of today's UX job market is that of UX research (UXR). While many are eager to get into the field, as with UX as a whole, many are over-focused on the work and are unaware of the associated nuances, putting them and their organizations at a disadvantage. In this episode, Darren provides a brief overview of UXR and shares info about several nuances that, if embraced, can help practitioners navigate their presence in this arena. https://lnkd.in/eBh7k_F9

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Here's a slide from my October 2024 talk about triaging UX, showing a word cloud of several things we can do to help drive the discipline forward. Which ones stand out to you? #ux #realuxtalk #uxtriage

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Not long ago, product IA (information architecture) was a key focus in product discussions. Leaders would often review IA as an essential artifact before any UX walkthrough for a new product. But in today’s world of AI agents and conversational UIs, what is the role of IA? In traditional UI design, IA helps organize and structure content and functionality so that users can easily navigate, understand, and achieve their goals. With conversational UIs, however, interactions are far more dynamic. They’re guided by user intent and the capabilities of the agents, rather than by fixed locations of content or functions. Now, what truly matters are the agent’s capabilities and its ability to understand intent, making structure less significant—almost invisible. In this shift, information architecture (IA) is evolving into intent architecture (IA), where understanding and responding to user intent takes center stage. Curious to hear your thoughts: how do you see IA evolving in the age of conversational AI?

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Patterns for implementing human-centric design thinking and UX to GenAI #GenAI #UX #AI

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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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Hey, if you're traveling this weekend in the car, and you need something to listen to, check out this episode of the UX Consultant's Lounge by Kyle Soucy where Lynne Polischuik and I kick around some thoughts about the state of UX work today, the impact (and opportunities!) that AI brings to it, and the value that consultants can offer in the quickly changing world out there. https://lnkd.in/gyYqGmf2

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Research is a function of strategy.  "According to CB Insights, over 90% of all products fail, most commonly due to no market need." Leave yourself time to ask big questions about whether any actually needs your product or service before you decide to launch it. #UXstrategy #UXresearch #Marketresearch

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"The strategic design gold rush is over." While this might sound like a scary sentiment at first, I'm choosing to see it as an opportunity for design leadership. It's a chance for reinvention of what role design led teams can play in corporate settings. Users are increasing their demand for simple and straightforward user experiences. Every company continues to need more user and customer advocacy and design leaders are perfectly positioned to be the fabric of that advocacy and stitch together the functions required to deliver it to market. Rather than being relegated to a subordinate capability in product-led companies, design leaders can now redefine their purpose, leveraging their skills in user empathy, strategic experiential planning and continue to tie together the often disparate agendas at play in organizations. #Design #Leadership #Reinvention #Innovation

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Designers - are you being asked to provide measurable proof of how your work impacts business outcomes with metrics? Are you unsure of what to measure, when and how? Being able to assess the impact of your design decisions can not only have a positive effect on your product and end users, but is also a skill increasingly in demand for design roles. Recently, I wrote an article on this very topic, "How design teams can use product data to add value to the business" (https://lnkd.in/gYreMBm9 ). Today I'm excited to announce the release of part 2 on this topic, "6 ways Pendo's design team uses Pendo to add more value to the platform - and the business" (https://lnkd.in/gTgj2dmJ). Check it out! #DesignMetrics #BusinessOutcomes #ProductData #DesignTeams #Pendo

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