Value is an overused word. Particularly in Silicon Valley tech culture, amid investor-led conversations, value is so very heavily overused. Value this, value that. Keep generating value. Yes, yes, of course! Yet, it all seems just so trite, and empty, as a practical concept. What does value even mean to those striving to improve people’s […]

Design is about quality. Design is so loaded of a word, right!? Either it’s too emotional or too pedantic, with over-justified rationale that’s evolved into trendy buzzwords plastered on magazine covers (ahem, “design thinking”?). And still, in 2020, design is seen primarily as simply making things look sexy, exciting, glamorous. Pretty. Sigh. However, quality is […]

Design is about discipline. I’ve learned over the years that “process” can be a… touchy word in hi-tech culture. It connotes bureaucracy and politics, time-wasting tedium on checks-and-balances, for their own sake. To suggest that a team follow a design process can imply emphasis on the project management aspects, sauntering through a sequentialized, mechanized, procedure. […]

As we’re forced to go fully virtual during the COVID-19 global pandemic, questions arise about how to virtualize those we take for granted as routine & normal when we’re in the office. For instance, what does it mean to be present? How do we organize our attention? What level of fidelity of communications is good? […]

Now that “working from home” has been mandated as the new norm, while we endure the uneasy uncertainty of the coronavirus, it’s a good time to reflect upon some nuances that impact the quality of productivity, when going fully virtual. This goes beyond useful tips for remote work practices, or arranging a suitable home-office setup. […]