DX Perspective: The Future is Analog, Designing Through Hype, and The Impact of Reflective Practitioners
Hi all!
Here’s your weekly dose of DX Perspective, a list of what I’m exploring and thinking about. Feel free to forward this along to friends.
kw picks
Founder Mode Shouldn’t Be Just for Founders by Fidji Simo
Founders should seek out others at the company with the potential to be founders and nurture their careers.The Future is Analog (If You Can Afford It)
Analog is back. From no-phone teens to homesteading and the coastal grandmother aesthetic, shunning technology is a new trend that appears to be here to stay. The backlash against anxiety-inducing blue screens signals a yearning for simpler times and also a new split in people’s ability to curate their relationship with technology. Avoiding digital technology is a measure of sophistication and, ultimately, power.
What I’m reading
(Playing to Win) x 5 by Roger Martin
Being a Reflective Strategy PractitionerHow to help your team navigate Product Discovery and work with executives
It’s often tough to speak up during Product Discovery. Here are three questions to help.
What I’m watching + listening to
The ultimate guide to product building with the man who changed software – The Startup Ideas Podcast, Ep 154
Jason Fried, Co-founder and CEO of 37signals, and Greg Isenberg deep dive on innovative startup ideas, frameworks to building products people love, and thoughts on the current software landscape.Rachel Rosenson: Designing through the Hype – Hatch Conference 2024
Rachel shares tangible ways for designers to develop their instinct and point of view when defining a perspective on ever evolving futures.How DesignOps helps you Focus on What Matters / Meredith Black / Ep. #210 Less chaos, more design.
Emerging Tech
The Godmother of AI Wants Everyone to Be a World Builder
According to market-fixated tech pundits and professional skeptics, the artificial intelligence bubble has popped, and winter’s back. Fei-Fei Li isn’t buying that.AI Agents and the Future of Conversation Design
From the standpoint of conversation design, agentic solutions eliminate the need to build models for intent recognition.
Tools and Resources
My recent articles
Decoding The Future: The Evolution Of Intelligent Interfaces
What happens when we move beyond our screens and unleash computing power, the internet, and AI into the real world? It starts to get interesting.Scaling Quality: 4 Steps To Foster A Culture Of Empowerment And Accountability For Design Excellence
In building design organizations, one of the hardest parts is maintaining quality at scale. When you’re a small team that’s tight on expectations and holding the bar, it’s easier to maintain an understanding of quality. But much like fostering culture, as you grow, keeping that bar for quality becomes a more complex endeavor.10 Truths From Building Design Organizations at Scale
Having the opportunity to build design orgs in some of the world’s largest companies, I’ve observed that even with completely different cultures, org structures, and industries…some things stay the same.Mastering Orchestration: 8 Ways to Drive Business Outcomes as a Design Leader
Connecting competitive advantage and value to customer and business impact.
🔈 Design Leadership at Scale
Design Leadership at Scale: Career Strategy
This weekend immersive is tailored specifically for design leaders looking to define their career path. Career Strategy is a blend of live sessions, online content, and two in-depth office hours with Kristin Skinner and me to discuss your specific challenges and opportunities. The course is built on practical insights and experiences, offering a hands-on approach to career development. We’ve defined hiring practices for some of the largest global companies and hired thousands of designers; now, we’re bringing the same career coaching and frameworks to this course. Whether you want to advance within your current organization or explore new opportunities, Career Strategy will help you define your blueprint for success.
02 cohort: October 19-20
✨Learn more and enroll in the Career Strategy course.
Design Leadership at Scale: Operations
An advanced-level course for senior and rising design leaders ready to address the most common challenges Design Leaders face. Learn best practices to build design infrastructure that scales. Establish mechanisms and high-leverage activities that maintain culture, quality, and community as you grow.
01 Cohort: 21 – 30 (morning PT, evening EMEA)
✨Learn more and apply for the Operations course with 20% off.
Design Leadership at Scale: Director +
Learn the core principles of effective design leadership in scaled enterprises in this rigorous two-week course for established design leaders positioning themselves for future executive roles.
03 cohort: November 11 - 21
✨Learn more and apply for the Director+ course.
Design Leadership at Scale: Executive
This is an advanced-level, two-week course curated for senior design leaders ready to transform their sphere of influence, amplify their impact, and lead design practices into the future.
✨Learn more and join the waitlist for the Executive course.
And please give me feedback. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.
Have a wonderful weekend.
— Rachel