Redlines

We did it, Redlines listeners… we made it to the end of 2020! In our final episode of this struggle-filled year, we revisit some of our biggest topics from past episodes — and in our first-ever Redlines Awards ceremony, we reveal our choices for the best and worst designs, products, and companies of the year. Thank you so much for joining us each week, and we’ll see you in 2021 for Redlines Season 2!

Don't forget to say hello in the official Redlines Podcast Facebook Group!

Creating your design portfolio may seem like a daunting task, but this week's episode offers some guidance that could give you a clearer sense of direction. There's no need to reinvent the wheel when your portfolio should be following a common structure. We chat about what we typically expect to see when reviewing candidates' portfolios, how overbearing animations and art direction can get in the way, and why explaining your design process is like writing a good script. Also, we react to news of Salesforce acquiring Slack.

As designers, we all want uninterrupted blocks of time where we can focus on being creative. An overload of meetings can interrupt our ability to focus, and it's even more frustrating if those meetings are inconclusive, disorganized, or just plain unnecessary. In this episode, we talk about the art of the meeting — we examine whether a meeting's existence is justified, how to deal with (and reject!) meeting invitations, and how to run effective meetings that are a good use of everyone's time. We talk about constructing agendas for your meetings, keeping the conversation on track, and delegating someone who can take notes of key decisions and follow-ups. Also, we react as Spotify adds Stories to its app and Lufthansa converts economy seats on its planes into lie-flat beds.

Building a minimum viable product is a great way to test a new idea and get some early signals on its potential — but when you're cutting out features and rushing to get an MVP out the door, you could be introducing new risks and dangers to your project. In this episode, we talk about the most important considerations to keep in mind when planning an MVP, the importance of product quality, and how poor execution could doom your great idea to failure. Also, we react to news of Zoom's stock dropping as COVID vaccines emerge, new reports on the environmental impact of lockdowns in the United States, and Disney canceling several upcoming theatrical film releases.

For additional show notes, links, and comments, say hello in our official Redlines Podcast Facebook Group!

We're joined this week by very special guest Sandra Pallier, a designer at Microsoft and climate activist who graciously answers all our questions around sustainability. Sandra shares insights and principles that designers can keep in mind to develop products that are better for the environment. We examine the positive influence you can have within your company, as well as the behaviors you can change in your personal life to reduce your own environmental impact. We also discuss how Hollywood keeps delivering doom-and-gloom visions of a dystopian future when it could be doing so much to inspire us.

Join Sandra at ClimateAction.tech.

Interviewing potential job candidates is not an easy task. It's up to you to make the candidate feel comfortable, ask the right questions, keep the interview running on-time, and make your company look like a great place to work — that's a lot of responsibility! This week, we reveal our secrets for running a successful design interview: advance preparation, creating the right atmosphere, getting the signal you need, and much more. Also, we react to news of Reddit allowing employees to work from anywhere without changing their salaries, and rumors of an upcoming  Windows 10 UI redesign.

What should you do when your design idea exceeds the limits of your company's design system? Is it okay to break the rules? Or maybe you're building a new design system yourself — making neatly organized collections of UI elements is fun and all, but how do you get your entire company to actually adopt your system? We discuss strategies for rolling out design systems and ensuring people use them. Also, we react to news of Jony Ive taking on a design role with Airbnb.

Life isn't easy when you're the only designer on your team. How do get proper feedback on your work? When you're outnumbered by engineers and PMs, how can you ensure that the wants and needs of design don't fall off the radar? We talk about building a design culture as a team of one, and the unique opportunities that solo designers have which their counterparts in larger organizations typically don't. Also, we express our lack of excitement over the new iPhone 12.

There are so many things a UX design mentor can offer: career guidance, portfolio suggestions, interview advice, training on your soft skills, and more. Mentors are awesome, but how do you find one and build a strong, effective relationship with them? This week, we dive into what mentees should know: how to set expectations with your mentor so they can offer the most relevant advice, being respectful of your mentor's time, closing the loop, and how some of the best mentorships are actually with people you already know. Also, we react as Microsoft and Dropbox announce their permanent work-from-home policies and Zoom unveils new platform features.

Several months have passed since our very first episode of Redlines where we discussed remote work. Since then, more and more companies have announced a permanent shift to working-from-home, making it clear that WFH is here to stay. Now, with several months of remote work experience under our belts, we're here to discuss WFH tactics: managing our daily work schedules, finding time to unwind, setting up the right workspace, and more. Also, we react to news of Facebook's Messenger integration into Instagram and major tech companies unveiling new hardware products.