Jekyll2024-03-06T19:27:56+00:00https://lukejones.me/feed.xmlLuke Jones, Product Designer in Durham, NCI help companies create beautiful, usable interfaces through thoughtful research, solid design thinking, collaborative workshops, and a dose of good writing.Thinking strategically as a designer2024-01-16T16:45:00+00:002024-01-16T16:45:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/design-strategy<p>I’m a manager again, and part of being an effective design leader is anticipating what areas your team is going to need to be strong at in order to meet the demands of the company and the industry as a whole. My hypothesis in 2024 and beyond is that the designers who will stand out are those who can think and act strategically.</p>
<p>A designer who excels in their career is someone who can develop instincts around what a successful product looks like, which problems to solve (why and who for), and then prioritize that work based on what they know. What does that mean? Here’s what I shared with my design team.</p>
<h2 id="what-is-strategy">What is Strategy?</h2>
<p>It’s lots of things, but it’s using what you know to inform your decision making process in addition to what you find out from our partners, donors, and people who use our products for other things. Here’s a handy bullet list:</p>
<ul>
<li>Choosing what and what not to focus your time on and what to deliver to our users.</li>
<li>Knowing what makes the organization you work for different to others.</li>
<li>Knowing how the company makes and uses money.</li>
<li>Balancing UX and business needs.</li>
<li>Being aware of risks in the ecosystem.</li>
<li>Knowing the company vision and connecting every project to it.</li>
<li>Knowing the delta between where we are today and where we want to be.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="it-isnt-defined-by">It isn’t defined by:</h2>
<ul>
<li>The best UX and making the product easier to use.</li>
<li>Setting metric goals.</li>
<li>Expanding your skillsets in other ways.</li>
<li>The level of complexity of the product.</li>
<li>Writing long docs or attending more meetings.</li>
</ul>
<p>The latter bullets aren’t to say you shouldn’t be doing these things – many of them are important parts of your job as well!</p>
<h2 id="how-to-be-strategic">How to be strategic?</h2>
<p>You shouldn’t drink from the firehose, but you should consider how you can sprinkle in some of the following (along with the above) to help you out.</p>
<ul>
<li>Follow industry news, chatter on social, press releases</li>
<li>Attend industry events, meetups, and conferences</li>
<li>Know what your competitors are doing, using their products, watching demos, etc.</li>
<li>Speaking with customers (not just in research formats) to understand:
<ul>
<li>What makes folks buy or not buy from us</li>
<li>What makes customers stay or churn</li>
<li>How we talk about our service publicly and to whom.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Understand company goals across teams at the company.</li>
<li>Help define what success looks like:
<ul>
<li>What are the desired outcomes?</li>
<li>How does this contribute to the business?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Prioritize your work, especially in an impact versus effort graph.</li>
</ul>
<p>A growth path for a designer lies in cultivating the ability to think and act strategically. A strong designer in 2024 and beyond is one who can confidently and intuitively grasp what defines a successful product, identifying key problems, and prioritizing their tasks accordingly. This involves using internal knowledge and external insights to focus efforts, understand organizational uniqueness, finances, vision, and needs, and bridging the current state with future goals.</p>
<p>Designers who stay informed through industry channels, attending events, monitoring competitors, and more will help the designer and their team become indispensable in the competitive product landscape. Once a designer has these areas of expertise it makes everything easier.</p>
<hr />
<p>What are your thoughts? Do you agree, disagree? I don’t have comments here, but join in the discussion on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7153155883437318144/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> or <a href="mailto:hello@lukejones.me">via email</a>.</p>
<p>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@wzimmermann?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Wolf Zimmermann</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/white-and-gray-clouds-6sf5rf8QYFE?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>.</p>I’m a manager again, and part of being an effective design leader is anticipating what areas your team is going to need to be strong at in order to meet the demands of the company and the industry as a whole. My hypothesis in 2024 and beyond is that the designers who will stand out are those who can think and act strategically.We don’t need to work hard.2022-11-07T13:00:00+00:002022-11-07T13:00:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/we-dont-need-to-work-hard<p>I draw rectangles for a living. Sometimes those rectangles are circles. I muck about with typography, pick a few colors, and draw things. I do this every day and I get paid for it.</p>
<p>Some of my colleagues do what I do, while others make those rectangles, circles, and words work in a browser or on your phone—breathtaking stuff. There are people on my team who spend their days figuring out which of those rectangles should go live, and how to measure how success those rectangles or circles are. A few of my colleagues even sell those rectangles to people who will happily pay for a rectangle that will make their lives better.</p>
<p>Look at this photo. This person is sleeping at their office so that they can spend more time drawing or building rectangles for a billionaire con-man who just bought the company they work for. Why? For an arbitrary deadline.</p>
<div><img src="/img/post-images/work-hard-01.webp" /></div>
<p class="caption">A photograph of someone sleeping at work because Elon Musk wants them to launch a rectangle or something.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">When your team is pushing round the clock to make deadlines sometimes you <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SleepWhereYouWork?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SleepWhereYouWork</a> <a href="https://t.co/UBGKYPilbD">https://t.co/UBGKYPilbD</a></p>— Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) <a href="https://twitter.com/esthercrawford/status/1587709705488830464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>We don’t need to do this at all – we’re drawing and building shapes. There’s a culture of overwork in the tech world that doesn’t need to exist. People who work longer hours <a href="https://www.mic.com/articles/104550/what-working-long-hours-actually-does-to-your-body">are unwell</a>. It makes people more likely to put on extra pounds, increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes, it stresses us out, and it causes depression. But people like Elon Musk don’t care. All they care about is making sure that rectangle goes live as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>There are very few examples in tech where we need to work more than 40 hours a work. It’s been proven that most of us would be even more productive if we work 32 hours a week, and that <a href="https://docs.iza.org/dp8129.pdf">there’s a plateau to how productive we are as hours increase</a> – but people like Elon Musk cannot comprehend that. Why? Because many CEOs, VPs, and managers are controlling taskmasters with delusions of grandeur – they think that team members should hustle and they don’t care about the consequences.</p>
<p>So what can you do? Push back if you hear an executive praising someone for working longer hours, and let them know that it’s indicative of poor planning rather than hard work. Not a team player? Who cares. A healthy team gives a shit about the wellbeing of their teammates. If you find yourself working extra hours, rather than saying “I’ve just got to get this done”, take a look into the deeper reasons why you’re working more hours and solve that instead.</p>
<p>Working longer hours is unhealthy and unnecessary. Many companies will punish you for time theft if you don’t work the requisite number of hours in your contract, but you aren’t able to punish them for working yourself into an early grave so a rectangle goes live on time – so don’t do it.</p>I draw rectangles for a living. Sometimes those rectangles are circles. I muck about with typography, pick a few colors, and draw things. I do this every day and I get paid for it.Making friends as an adult2022-11-07T13:00:00+00:002022-11-07T13:00:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/making-friends-as-an-adult<div><img src="/img/post-images/friends-01.webp" /></div>
<div><img src="/img/post-images/friends-02.webp" /></div>
<p>I’m not going to write a book about making friends as an adult, but I do realize that I have a knack for making new friends or introducing myself to people.</p>
<p>What I do is… speak to people. I don’t insert myself into conversations where I’m unwelcome (which requires a degree of social awareness that you may need to form), but I just go and say hello and start a conversation. It took me a while but I knew it was essential for me to be able to make friends as an immigrant so my loneliness didn’t have an adverse affect on my other relationships.</p>
<p>People want to make friends and most of those people are socially anxious enough to not be the first person to say hello. You have to be that first person. You have to push yourself until you are comfortable enough with yourself to be comfortable around strangers.</p>
<p>Put yourself out there and don’t worry about being awkward – everyone does awkward shit all the time and you don’t notice it because you’re too busy thinking about all the awkward shit you’ve been doing. Go say hello, ask them questions about themselves, and let the conversation flow. Not flowing? That’s fine, just tell them it was nice to meet them and you can go and chat to someone else.</p>
<p>If you do get along with them, don’t forget to grab their number and follow up. Set that friend date hanging out somewhere, grab dinner, go bowling, throw some axes, have a picnic in a park. Anything that moves that person from someone you briefly met to someone who you want to spend time with time and time again.</p>
<p>An important thing to note is that if you’re changing your personality to be friends with someone, that is going to be exhausting. Your entire relationship with that person will be a facade and, if they don’t like who you really are, then they aren’t friends with you – they’re friends with a person who doesn’t exist. Be yourself unashamedly. If you’re into board gaming or reading, you will be able to find like-minded friends. I promise.</p>
<hr />
<p>To make friends as an adult all you need to do is spend more time out of the house and strike up conversations with people. Not everyone will like you and you won’t like everyone you meet, but love yourself and be yourself and you will make friendships that last a lifetime.</p>Off Social, On News2022-11-02T13:00:00+00:002022-11-02T13:00:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/off-social-on-news<p>It’s November. I’ve been off social media since July. It’s been revelatory for my mental health to not lay down in bed and whip out my phone to scroll through Twitter, or sit in the bathroom for 45-minutes swiping through TikToks or my friends’ Instagram stories (sorry friends, I love you, but I don’t need to see your baby with a filter on its face again).</p>
<p>This was hard for me… the reason I’m in the career I am today is because of social media. I spent most of my teens trawling through forums, editing CSS in MySpace, messaging friends on MSN Messenger, and liking photos on Bebo. My internet buddies are the ones who gave me free mentorship, encouraged my personal growth, and inspired me to become a better designer. Purposely removing myself from these spaces is a tough decision, but one that I need (and encourage others) to do for my mental health.</p>
<p>The idea of social media is great. Like-minded people having conversations, sharing their lives, and bridging physical gaps through digital closeness. But it doesn’t work that way. The success of these products is measured on engagement – regardless of where that engagement comes from. Outrage generates clicks. Negativity generates conversation. People sharing videos of their amazing lives (which aren’t really amazing) sets unrealistic expectations for people to strive for. It’s a vicious cycle that makes people feel worse about themselves and makes people lash out on one another. Hurt people hurt people.</p>
<p>Back in July, my negative feelings about social media bubbled up to the top. I noticed that the more time I spent on social media the worse I felt. I didn’t get pleasure from it in the way I get from reading a book, forming real-life bonds, watching a movie, or playing with my cats.</p>
<p>So I quit cold turkey. I started talking with my real life friends more. I started reading news from sources like Associated Press, Dense Discovery, Nice News, and Reasons to be Cheerful. My phone use has dropped and I don’t feel any less aware than I did when I was on Twitter every day – in fact, I feel as though my world has opened up to things beyond Twitter memes and the weekly design news outrage.</p>
<p>I feel better. I didn’t know that people were angry at a woman for drinking coffee with her husband in her garden, and I’m glad about that. Take care of yourself.</p>It’s November. I’ve been off social media since July. It’s been revelatory for my mental health to not lay down in bed and whip out my phone to scroll through Twitter, or sit in the bathroom for 45-minutes swiping through TikToks or my friends’ Instagram stories (sorry friends, I love you, but I don’t need to see your baby with a filter on its face again).Good Financial Habits2021-07-26T13:00:00+00:002021-07-26T13:00:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/good-financial-habits<p><em>Update on November 3, 2022:</em> <em>*An important point I missed from this article is to *not live beyond your means</em>. That is to say, try your best to not buy things you cannot afford without credit. Try and separate what you <em>want</em> from what you <em>need</em>. Keep on track with your credit card spending, and be responsible with your money.*</p>
<p>I made this list after reading a stack of books about financial habits back in 2018-2019. It’s helped keep me on track to save money, make prudent financial decisions, and changed the way I think about money and spending. Enjoy.</p>
<h2 id="top-habits">Top habits</h2>
<ol>
<li>Save 10-20% of your income per month.</li>
<li>Max out your 401k.</li>
<li>Pay off your credit card balance each month.</li>
<li>Never buy or sell individual stocks.</li>
<li>Buy inexpensive well-diversified index mutual funds and exchange trading funds.</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="financial-wellness">Financial Wellness</h2>
<ul>
<li>Wealth is measured in your consistent income, not the amount of cash or assets you have.</li>
<li>Above all else, pay off your debt as quickly as possible.</li>
<li>Work out monthly living expenses, and get 6 months in the bank for emergencies.</li>
<li>Only get credit cards you can pay off instantly in order to build a credit score. (e.g. weekly grocery purchases).</li>
<li>Do not get a credit (e.g. credit cards or loans) to fix financial situations.</li>
<li>Don’t buy depreciating items (e.g. cars) with credit.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="investing">Investing</h2>
<ul>
<li>Buy inexpensive, well-diversified index mutual funds and exchange trading funds (ETFs).</li>
<li>Passive trading often yields better results than active trading.</li>
<li>Never buy or sell individual stocks or use managed funds.</li>
<li>For long term investments, riskier is okay.</li>
<li>Do not look at your investments.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>This isn’t financial advice, so don’t take my word for it!</em></p>Update on November 3, 2022: *An important point I missed from this article is to *not live beyond your means. That is to say, try your best to not buy things you cannot afford without credit. Try and separate what you want from what you need. Keep on track with your credit card spending, and be responsible with your money.*Creating a Fairer Interview Process2021-02-28T13:00:00+00:002021-02-28T13:00:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/creating-a-fairer-interview-process<p>Most interview processes are as follows: a candidate applies for a job, they get screened, then they get an interview. The candidate arrives at the interview not knowing what to expect.</p>
<p>The interviewer knows exactly what to expect. They know what questions they will ask, what kind of presentation they like, and what skills the candidate needs. The interview questions or guide are already defined, yet none of this is shared with the candidate.</p>
<p>Why is that? Interviews are not quiz shows, yet they’re treated like a guessing game or test where, if the individual hasn’t revised enough, they fail. Except failure doesn’t mean they can resit the test, it means they lose out on tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their reputation with that company is in ruin.</p>
<p>The idea of a traditional interview is that the candidate should prepare, and if they don’t, then it’s on them. But that approach ignores many things.</p>
<ol>
<li>They are nervous, as we all are in interviews. They are in a vulnerable state, meeting new people, and being quizzed.</li>
<li>They might not know to the interviewing methods or expectations. This is especially true of immigrants where expectations may be very different.*</li>
<li>This may be their first time interviewing for a position like this. They might be able, but not know the typical way to prepare, how to package up a presentation, or what kind of questions will be asked.</li>
<li>They might not have the time or the network to prepare for the unexpected interview.</li>
<li>Finally, they might not be neuro-typical. Being surprised with questions, or feeling unprepared might cause anxiety or stress. Heck, the format might not even work for this person at all, so we should do everything we can to make sure we aren’t excluding these candidates.</li>
</ol>
<p>*<em>This one resonates with me because interviews in England and the United States are different.</em></p>
<p>None of these factors are good, and none are likely to crop up in a healthy work environment. Each factor might exclude the best candidates during the interview process; and that’s only 5 of many many things.</p>
<h2 id="how-can-we-do-better">How can we do better?</h2>
<p>What is an equitable way to level the playing field for all candidates? It is a process that helps prospective candidates feel prepared.</p>
<ul>
<li>Let the person know what to expect in the meeting.</li>
<li>Provide an outline of the kind of presentation you expect.</li>
<li>Share the questions you are going to ask in the interview.</li>
<li>Tell them the number of interviews who will be in the meeting.</li>
<li>And, if necessary, whether it’s formal or informal dress.</li>
</ul>
<p>Next, make sure you share this list far enough in advance. Not everyone has spare time to whip up what you expect.</p>
<p>Worried about writing that? Here’s an example.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hello!</p>
<p>We loved your portfolio and wanted to invite you to a design interview. This will be 45-60 minutes, and give us time to understand your process and experience for this role. The interview will be informal, and myself and a design colleague will be in attendance.</p>
<p>Here’s an overview of what to expect from the interview, and how you might prepare.</p>
<p>Prepare 1-2 design projects to share in a presentation. We use this to form an idea of your process, highlighting key areas from start to finish. We want to understand your end to end design process, particularly your research and prototyping skills. This can be a slide deck or a PDF and we would love if you could share it with us after the call.</p>
<p>Note: this presentation doesn’t need to be polished, we’re looking to understand how you think and work, not whether you can create a powerpoint!</p>
<p>If you don’t know what to include, refer to the job description and think about which projects might highlight the requirements best.</p>
<p>If the questions haven’t already been answered in the walkthrough, we will be asking the following questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Question 1, 2, 3, etc.</li>
</ul>
<p>The final part of our chat will be your opportunity to ask any questions to us, so bring them along.</p>
<p>I hope that helps! If you have any further questions about the interview process or need more time to prepare, let us know.</p>
<p>Luke</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You might read this and think we are pandering, and should test people based on merit. That people are masters of their own destiny, and a lack of preparedness is their own fault. But I disagree with that. By helping people prepare for interviews, we /are/ judging people on merit, instead of whether they can read your mind or are really really good at interviewing.</p>
<p>Interviews suck, and it’s not okay that we put candidates in such a vulnerable position. We should help people prepare for interviews by giving them the time and information they need to best show their skills. Alleviating these barriers will provide an equitable experience, growing our pool of candidates, and giving a better chance to people getting the job they deserve.</p>
<h2 id="special-thanks">Special Thanks</h2>
<p>I was able to write this blog post thanks to a great workshop by Tessa Cooper from Collaborative Future. If you’re looking for ways to create an inclusive workplace, go check them out.</p>Most interview processes are as follows: a candidate applies for a job, they get screened, then they get an interview. The candidate arrives at the interview not knowing what to expect.Books Every Designer Should Read2020-03-26T13:00:00+00:002020-03-26T13:00:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/books-every-designer-should-read<p>I’ve been asked a few times to recommend books to people in the creative profession, so I’ve compiled this easy to find list for your perusal.</p>
<p>If you have book suggestions I’d love to hear them, send me a tweet or an email. I’ll keep <a href="https://bookshop.org/lists/books-for-designers/">this list</a> up to date, and you should also <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/lukejones">follow me on Goodreads</a>. Most of these books are available on Bookshop.org, an alternative to other book selling giants. I urge you to borrow these from your local library or buy them from a local bookstore instead.</p>
<hr />
<h2 id="books-on-design">Books on Design</h2>
<ul>
<li>A Type Primer (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780205066445">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Vignelli Canon (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9783037782255">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Thinking With Type (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9781568989693">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Universal Principles of Design (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9781631590405">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Microinteractions (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9781491945926">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Interaction of Color (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780300179354">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Designing Brand Identity (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9781118980828">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Logo Design Love (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780321985200">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Steal Like An Artist (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780761169253">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>The Design of Everyday Things (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780465050659">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>The Ethical Design Handbook (<a href="https://ethicaldesignhandbook.com">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Ruined by Design (<a href="https://www.ruinedby.design">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Refactoring UI (<a href="https://refactoringui.com/">Buy</a>)</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="books-on-process--research">Books on Process & Research</h2>
<ul>
<li>Graphic Design Thinking (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9781568989792">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Don’t Make Me Think (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780321965516">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Rocket Surgery Made Easy (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780321657299">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Moments of Impact (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9781451697629">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Design for Real Life (<a href="https://abookapart.com/products/design-for-real-life">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Sprint (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9781501121746">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Shape Up (<a href="https://www.basecamp.com/shapeup">Buy/Read</a>)</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="books-on-writing--business">Books on Writing & Business</h2>
<ul>
<li>Politics and the English Language (<a href="https://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit">Read</a>)</li>
<li>The Elements of Style (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780205309023">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>On Writing Well (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780060891541">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>The Chicago Manual of Style (<a href="https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/">Read</a>)</li>
<li>Creativity, Inc (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780812993011">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Rework (<a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307463746">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>The Culture Code (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780804176989">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Start with Why (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9781591846444">Buy</a>)</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="books-on-understanding-people--yourself">Books on Understanding People & Yourself</h2>
<ul>
<li>Mastery (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780143124177">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Outliers (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780316017930">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>The Tipping Point (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780316346627">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Atomic Habits (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780735211292">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Sapiens (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780062316110">Buy</a>)</li>
<li>Man’s Search For Meaning (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1216/9780807014271">Buy</a>)</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2 id="spend-more-time-reading-fiction-and-topics-that-interest-you">Spend more time reading fiction and topics that interest you</h2>
<p>Non-fiction tends to delve into a small numbers of subjects very deeply without much room for interpretation or imagination. Fiction forces you into your own imagination. A good author will create a world that excites you, a world that you never imagined could exist. It forces you to empathize with characters and put yourself in other peoples’ shoes; it forces you to read a description and picture it in your mind – these skills may prove more valuable to you than reading dozens of books about how to draw rectangles more effectively.</p>
<p>I like to read to wind down after a long day at work, so the last thing I want to do is sit down and open a book about what I’ve been doing all day. If I want to feel inspired, I read about things that inspire me – books about screenwriting, music, and standup, or biographies about filmmakers. These subjects aren’t directly related to my day job, but they fuel my enthusiasm and help me understand how people think. Don’t back yourself into a corner by only reading text books about your job. Broaden your horizons instead.</p>I’ve been asked a few times to recommend books to people in the creative profession, so I’ve compiled this easy to find list for your perusal.Meditation & Mindfulness2020-01-08T14:45:00+00:002020-01-08T14:45:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/meditation-and-mindfulness<p>I used to think meditation was about spirituality and the idea of a higher power, so I found it difficult to stomach. More and more I heard my friends talking about meditation and mindfulness and how apps like Headspace and Calm have helped them immensely.</p>
<p>I was skeptical, but began to understand how teaching yourself to become more in-tune with how you feel could be helpful, I just didn’t understand what meditation had to do with that.</p>
<p>In the middle of 2019, my wife and I decided to pick up our stuff and move to a new state… right after I’d started a new job and submitted a bunch of paperwork to the US government. I could feel the pressure building up, so I decided to download Headspace and give the trial a go.</p>
<p>Within a couple days, I realized that the kind of meditation you learn about in mindfulness programs isn’t about spirituality or a higher power, it’s not even about altering emotions or emptying your mind in order to relax. Mindfulness teaches you how to understand <em>why you are feeling the way you are</em> and – more importantly – amplify your emotions. It makes you ask yourself why you are meditating every day, what your goal is, who it will help, and gives you time for yourself to reset.</p>
<p>Meditating to recognize how I was feeling, without solving it, felt odd at first but I realized being sensitive to the way I feel gave me more agency to take steps to ensure my days were better. When I felt anxious, I took extra care not to project my feelings or worry about the work. When I felt distracted and unfocused, I knew to turn off my notifications, put on some noise-canceling headphones, and get shit done.</p>
<p>Of course there are bad days where meditation is inconvenient or it is difficult to focus, but I remind myself that that isn’t indicative of the act of meditation, rather a measure of how <em>I’m feeling</em> on that day. Meditation is an exercise you can’t force, you just have to be consistent and get better at it.</p>
<p>Setting 5-15 minutes aside every day to sit with my feelings, run through some exercises, and reflect on the day ahead has had countless benefits for me. Meditation isn’t a silver bullet that will solve your problems, but getting into a routine will help you see the benefits and you should end up in a better place.</p>I used to think meditation was about spirituality and the idea of a higher power, so I found it difficult to stomach. More and more I heard my friends talking about meditation and mindfulness and how apps like Headspace and Calm have helped them immensely.Where Are My Posts?2019-11-11T10:30:00+00:002019-11-11T10:30:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/where-are-my-posts<p>If you’re looking for posts I’ve written elsewhere on the web, look no further. Here’s a (probably incomplete) list of posts I’m proud to have written and published on other websites.</p>
<h2 id="on-design">On Design</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://blog.marvelapp.com/optical-adjustment-logic-vs-designers/">Optical Adjustment – Logic vs. Designers</a></li>
<li><a href="https://blog.marvelapp.com/a-designers-guide-to-perceived-performance/">A Designers Guide to Perceived Performance</a></li>
<li><a href="https://dockyard.com/blog/2018/04/30/books-that-will-make-you-a-better-designer">Books That Will Make You A Better Designer</a></li>
<li><a href="https://dockyard.com/blog/2018/06/05/creative-newsletters-worth-yourtime">Creative Newsletters Worth Your Time</a></li>
<li><a href="https://dockyard.com/blog/2019/08/16/using-guerrilla-research-for-quick-and-effective-ux-insights">Using Guerrilla Research for Quick and Effective UX Insights</a></li>
<li><a href="https://dockyard.com/blog/2019/08/20/want-that-design-role-make-yourself-stand-out">Want That Design Role? Make Yourself Stand Out</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="on-typography">On Typography</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.invisionapp.com/ecourses/designing-with-type">Designing with Type E-Course</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/how-to-describe-typefaces/">How to Describe Typefaces</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/typography-creating-grids/">Typography and Creating Grids for Screen</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/how-to-pair-fonts/">How to Pair Fonts</a></li>
</ul>
<p>You might find other posts on <a href="https://dockyard.com/blog/authors/luke-jones">DockYard</a>, <a href="https://blog.marvelapp.com/author/luke/">Marvel</a>, and <a href="https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/author/luke-jones-ui-designer/">InVision</a>.</p>If you’re looking for posts I’ve written elsewhere on the web, look no further. Here’s a (probably incomplete) list of posts I’m proud to have written and published on other websites.Mental Bandwidth2019-09-30T10:30:00+00:002019-09-30T10:30:00+00:00https://lukejones.me/blog/mental-bandwidth<p>I’m excited to be working on a project, so I’ve been putting in a few extra hours here and there to make sure the prototypes and sketches I was producing were perfect, and I’d taken on a bit more than I could chew. I hit a brick wall.</p>
<p>Burnout came hard with all the typical symptoms. I was exhausted, having difficulty focusing, getting anxious, emotionally detached, and struggling with bunch of other mega-sad-face emotions.</p>
<p>I did what every reasonable person would do – reduced the number of hours I was working by changing expectations. This meant I would be able to focus on doing a great job with the time I had, and wasn’t stretching myself too thin. My clients were gracious and understanding.</p>
<p>The burden of extra hours had gone, so I figured I would feel great. But the symptoms didn’t disappear, I still felt burned out. I was chatting with my manager in our weekly one-to-one when I realized it might not be the number of hours I’ve been working, instead it was the number of responsibilities I had taken on in the project.</p>
<p>In addition to sketching, prototyping, planning research, conducting user interviews, etc., I’ve been working on other strategic and planning portions, and documenting parts of the project. It wasn’t the time that mattered, it was the context switching combined with trying to squeeze too much into every day of work.</p>
<p>Time isn’t just a resource you can play Tetris with, you have to choose which tasks you can do and how many is reasonable. Take care with the number of responsibilities you accept on a project, and don’t just think about how long each will take you. Think about your mental bandwidth and what you can handle in the worst case scenario.</p>
<p>If you take on too many different tasks, you’re going to be in a bad place. At best, you’ll be spreading yourself too thin and struggle to do great work without working extra hours. At worst, you’re going to get burned out…hard.</p>I’m excited to be working on a project, so I’ve been putting in a few extra hours here and there to make sure the prototypes and sketches I was producing were perfect, and I’d taken on a bit more than I could chew. I hit a brick wall.