New Layer

How do we, as product designers, ensure the work we do is responsibly designed? Tanner and Jasmine share lessons learned in the world of ethical, moral, and responsible design during their time working at Facebook. From learning from past failures to building systems and habits of designing responsibly, this episode is meant to be a provoking one for all designers.

Meetings: we love them or hate them, but it doesn't have to be that way! In this episode of New Layer, Jasmine and Tanner share insights and examples around what makes a meeting effective. If the meetings you're running or attending don't have a clear (aligned upon) objective and outcomes, agendas, defined roles, and include everyone who might need to be there, they're not going to be effective. Similarly, in these days of mostly remote meetings the same lessons can apply, or can they?

What is a personal brand and why does it matter? Should you care about building your personal brand? In this episode, Tanner and Jasmine answer these questions and more, to underline why a personal brand—how you show up every day, in any format—matters whether you've deliberately invested in one or not.

How do you design for accessibility? Accessibility means "access ability", the ability for an audience to access and interact with a design. We're not accessibility experts, but throughout our careers we've worked closely with or led design teams that have focused on accessibility. In this episode we share insights, resources, and tips for designing with accessibility in mind, and why it's easier than you might think. As Tanner says: "Great design is accessible design."

From Directors and VPs of Design to Heads of Design and Design Managers, what do these formal leaders do all day? In this return episode of New Layer, Tanner and Jasmine talk about the various responsibilities and areas of focus for formal leaders. Everything from working with their product, engineering, marketing, and sales counterparts, to headcount and financial planning and ensuring the work of the team is having an outsized impact on the business.

What matters most when hiring or being hired: experience, expertise, or eagerness?

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience as part of Chicago Camps Leadership By Design August 2020 event.

What's a one-on-one and why do they matter? Who should you be having one-on-one meetings with and what should you talk about? Should you come prepared or not? In this episode Jasmine and Tanner share insights and anecdotes into what makes for an effective one-on-one meeting and how to plan for them.

Tanner and Jasmine share their must-read books for designers. Spanning everything from how to conduct design critique or present your work, to what makes a good manager and how learning about org design can help your understanding of the work you do.

The full list of books mentioned are:

1. The Design Method, by Eric Karjaluoto

2. The Shape of Design, by Frank Chimero

3. The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman

4. How Design Makes the World, by Scott Berkun

5. The Creativity Challenge, by Tanner Christensen

6. The Making of a Manager, by Julie Zhuo

7. Org Design for Design Orgs, by Kristen Skinner and Peter Merholz

8. Sprint, by Jake Knapp

9. Radical Candor, by Kim Scott

10. The Advantage, by Patrick Lencioni

11. The Messy Middle, by Scott Belsky

12. Redesigning Leadership, John Maeda

13. Discussing Design, by Aaron Irizarry and Adam Connor

14. Don't Make Me Think, by Steve Krug

15. About Face, by Alan Cooper

16. The User Experience Team of One, by Leah Buley

17. TED Talks, by Chris Anderson

18. Loonshots, by Safi Bahcall

19. Just Enough Research, by Erika Hall

20. Principles, by Ray Dalio

21. The Dance of the Possible, by Scott Berkun

22. The Elements of Typographic Style, by Robert Bringhurst

23. Thinking With Type, by Ellen Lupton

24. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, by Edward Tufte

25. Why are we Yelling, by Buster Benson

26. Resilient Management, by Lara Callender Hogan

27. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

28. Articulating Design Decisions, by Tom Greever

29. Start With Why, by Simon Sinek

30. Mastering Collaboration, by Gretchen Anderson

If you pick just four books to read from the list, Tanner and Jasmine recommend: The Design of Everyday Things, Org Design for Design Orgs, Discussing Design, and The Making of a Manager (even if you're not a manager!).

Joining a new team or company? There's a lot you can do up-front to ensure you set the stage for your career. More than that: the insights shared here are applicable for everyone, not just those joining a team for the first time. From dedicating time to meeting those on your team (and learning about them as individuals), to digging into understanding the history and context around the team, company, or projects. Jasmine and Tanner go into depth on what you can do when you're first joining a team to make sure you're successful, as well as what resources you can use to make the process of onboarding easier.

When everyone on your team is working remotely—physically apart—how do you ensure you stay productive? How do you avoid burning out, unnecessary distractions, or worse? In this episode of the podcast Jasmine and Tanner share tips and insights into the world of working apart from your team. Why it's important to create a dedicated work space, how to create that vital transition from "home" to "work", and ways to stay connected when it's so easy to be removed.