{"id":747,"date":"2012-05-23T21:56:44","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T04:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/?p=747"},"modified":"2012-05-23T21:56:47","modified_gmt":"2012-05-24T04:56:47","slug":"a-day-in-the-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/?p=747","title":{"rendered":"A day in the life…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I saw this answer on Quora<\/a> describing the “day in the life” of a product designer at Quora, which got me thinking, so what is it that I do on a typical daily basis? How would I answer that question given my current job duties and tasks and goals? And how would that change if I were to change positions or employers? OK, that last one may be a bit harder to answer (perhaps worthy of a separate post entirely ;-) but below is my own quickly drafted attempt at articulating “A day in the life of a principal designer” at Citrix. In general it’s really a composite picture encompassing several various days recently, but you get the point.<\/p>\n

————-<\/p>\n

– Have early AM web conf call (using GoToMeeting HD Faces) with remote dev team on project progress: status of prototype development, UI design iterations, issues\/concerns\/questions, etc. Identify core issues, flag follow-ups, reply diplomatically to criticisms and raise counter-points respectfully.<\/p>\n

– Update notes and action items afterwards via email and\/or twiki as appropriate<\/p>\n

– Answer emails missed during the call.<\/p>\n

– Check Twitter and Facebook. Retweet or like\/share accordingly.<\/p>\n

– Send out emails to people for events coordination (speaker series, summits, workshops), verify scheduling with team exec admin and reserve venues\/resources as needed.<\/p>\n

– Check Twitter and Facebook. Retweet or like\/share accordingly.<\/p>\n

– Sketch ideas for product concept in my notebook. Move to studio to explore on whiteboard. Gaze out at mountains in the distance, daydream and sketch and ruminate on new possibilities.<\/p>\n

– Lunch break with team. Maybe Pho or Indian or Sushi, as warranted per collective appetites.<\/p>\n

– Return to design space, wander around, visiting various designers and directors. Ask about projects. Explain what I’m working on, Identify touch points if any, flag any follow-ups.<\/p>\n

– Answer emails missed during lunch.<\/p>\n

– Check Twitter and Facebook. Retweet or like\/share accordingly.<\/p>\n

– Translate sketch ideas into Fireworks for digital production. Consider them hi fidelity wireframes or rough visual concepts. Interrupted a couple of times. Got Twitter and Facebook running on second monitor. Concurrently (ha!) updating statues and digital design files.<\/p>\n

– Check-in with another project team. Offer inputs and offer to respond\/create deliverables. Thinking of pulling in my boss for some executive maneuvering and reinforcement. Hmm.<\/p>\n

– Check Twitter and Facebook. Retweet or like\/share accordingly.<\/p>\n

– Munch on an apple while walking around the studio area, visiting with designers. Noticed a group struggling with a concept, I hover and suggest ideas. On my merry way back to my desk.<\/p>\n

– Sit at the Mad Men couches and sketch ideas for new concept, and\/or articles and conference talks while listening to Spotify on my Beats headphones. Great place for thinking and writing! Also for people-watching with all the foot traffic passing by. Chance to say Hi to folks haven’t seen in awhile. Build social relationships.<\/p>\n

– Get emails from non-supported teams wanting Office Hours support. Scheduled for next slot. Shoot email to colleagues requesting their participation in Office Hours to help figure out support, etc.<\/p>\n

– Receive a head’s up about upcoming design workshop needing my help and\/or facilitating direction. Make mental note to refer to previous workshop methods\/plans and adjust as needed per project team. Need to schedule a “prelim” call to assess the project needs.<\/p>\n

– Meet with team on drafting a conference proposal about latest UI design approach, success, lessons learned. Identify venues to shop the proposal around.<\/p>\n

– Text from boss about possible “firedrill” needing me to stand-by for possible deployment on this project. We like to refer to this as “Navy Seal” design work, informally. Rapid expert design! Great times to dive and thrive.<\/p>\n

– Check Twitter and Facebook. Retweet or like\/share accordingly.<\/p>\n

– Time to head home\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6possibly #nightshift activity per the day’s projects and looming deadlines or conf calls demanding to see fast results. The cycle continues! Never know what the day shall bring ;-) Gotta be adaptive!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw this answer on Quora describing the “day in the life” of a product designer at Quora, which got me thinking, so what is it that I do on a typical daily basis? How would I answer that question given my current job duties and tasks and goals? And how would that change if … Continue reading “A day in the life…”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-stuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=747"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":749,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747\/revisions\/749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}