You head to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Subconsciously, you make dozens of tiny decisions: the brands you like, the right ratio of yellow to green in your bananas, how your cart is organized, how your bags are packed. Now, imagine a product takes over all of that for you. What does that even look like? At Instacart, that experience is what designers are working to solve. Mitch Geere, Head of Design at Instacart, shares his story about getting the right people in place, the gift of design and how designers are partners rather than service individuals.
It takes guts to venture out on your own, admit that things could be better or keep going when everything inside you is screaming at you to stop. In the agency world, on the services side, it’s easy to fault yourself for setbacks. But the inner criticism, the self-doubt and fear are likely just signs of imposter syndrome. Melanie Chandruang knows the feeling. Venturing out on her own as a finance and operations consultant, she wondered if she made the right choice. Today, she’s helping owners and operations teams silence their own inner critics, and optimize the inner workings of their companies.
Project management is a unique role, and it takes a unique sort of person to fill it, and do it well. In the digital world, project management is still being defined. Some organizations have a good understanding of what a PM is, and isn't, and others are still figuring it out. Lynn Winter, a digital strategist, freelance Digital PM and founder of the Manage Digital conference, started her career doing the work that people hated most. She joins us to talk about what it takes to be a project manager, perfectionism and the tendency to put everyone else first—sometimes at the expense of your own health, happiness and relationships.
In product development, many organizations subscribe to the idea of a three-legged stool: cross-functional teams comprised of engineering, product management and design. Each with an equal say to strike a balance and create a stable product. This sounds nice in theory, but in practice, many designers have trouble calling the shots. Josh Ulm, an executive design leader who previously led the charge at Oracle and Adobe, encourages designers to step up and be bold. Design solves problems for the customer, and it’s designers’ job to advocate for that customer every step of the way.
In 2012, Zapier's ranks totaled three. Today, they are 170+ strong, with a workforce that spans 15+ countries and 13 different timezones. So how do you foster culture, communication and collaboration when there are no set core hours, no daily in-person cues, no physical compound? Mike Knoop, Co-founder and CPO at Zapier, joins us to talk about the top two remote challenges, four pillars of communication and how everything at Zapier—from hiring to onboarding, communication channels, retreats and more—is intentional by design.
How do you design for half a dozen brands, across multiple platforms, products and channels, without being paralyzed by the sheer scope of what you're trying to do? Bob Calvano, VP Design at A+E Networks, is in the thick of it right now. Bob is at the helm of a 15-person design team hashing out a design system that will be the core to consistent user experiences across the A+E Networks family of brands. Bob joins us to talk about his vision for unifying everything, the early stages and how small bites keep his team moving forward.
KPIs and systems. If those words make you cringe, you're not alone. Business intel is critical for decision-making and agency growth, yet many digital shops struggle with KPIs and implementing measurement systems to get a clear view into their businesses. Enter Parakeeto, a product hatched in a Boise tech company, from the frustration that there has to be an easier way. Marcel Petitpas, Co-Founder and CEO at Parakeeto, joins us to talk about his journey from Apple to startup, trial by fire and how mentors and community bring you closer to your dreams.
Digital transformation is the implementation of technology. Partly true. But organizations can’t get ready for better, smarter, different ways of working without putting time and effort into building a culture that's ready for digital transformation. To build the future, organizations need to put a shift in, and hold people accountable for change. Each of us has a personal responsibility to change the way we think and the way we act. Project leadership expert Colin D. Ellis joins us to talk digital transformation, emotional intelligence, mistakes companies make and his go-to karaoke song.
In many organizations, even flat ones, a puzzling phenomenon seems to take place. Some people rise time and time again, not because of superior intellect, expertise, technical skills, work ethic or value delivered, but because of something else. They often enjoy better opportunities, more leniency and a higher level of respect. Why? Because they excel at relationships and social politics. Crystal Richards, Principal and Owner of Mosaic Resource Group, joins us to talk about what social politics are, why they matter and how you can use them to your own advantage.
As digital shops, we're often operating in chaos. We triage the must-haves and the nice-to-haves, cobbling together different business ideas and approaches, and leaving vision, systems and accountability to define another day. As new projects and people come in, small cracks start to show. Then larger and larger ones, until there's no denying the need for a better way of doing things. So what's a business owner or team leader to do?
