Adam Mosseri

Way back in March I ran a workshop for designers to discuss the potential impact of AI on our roles, and on the people who run and use the services we design. I finally, FINALLY wrote it up here: https://lnkd.in/eHfr-gCD

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At People Planet Product, our approach to product development is highly focused on identifying problems. Naturally, we applied the same process when defining our company mission. Here’s the first of a 3-part series exploring the specific problems we solve for early-stage innovators. We’d love to hear your firsthand experiences with these challenges. Drop a line in the comments if you have stories to share or advice to offer! Stay tuned for the next two in the series. No prizes for guessing the next two topics… #productdevelopment #technologytransfer #technologycommercialisation #userresearch #productdesign

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So immensely proud of such an amazing group of people who've been working so hard on this big set of launches at Figma for #Config2024. ICYMI what we launched today, this blog post recap covers it well: https://lnkd.in/gX3KSWj3 I wanted to share a couple fun tweets from a few of the fantastic designers/leaders that worked on some of the things you may have seen in our keynote this morning. * This is not even close to an exhaustive list of those who worked on today's launches, but just a quick lil glimpse showcasing a few who happened to post about them today (also linkedin obscures the links for some reason, but they're all just fun behind the scenes tweets not shady sites I promise lol): Figma Slides - Keeyen Y.: https://lnkd.in/gmxBH3wq - Mihika Kapoor: https://lnkd.in/gr54Upnu - Natasha T. / Ryan Reid: https://lnkd.in/gd-v9gE3 Redesigned Figma (UI3) - Ryhan Hassan: https://lnkd.in/g868XAze (can't wait to watch the behind the scenes talk with him and Joel Miller and KC Oh as well as Wayne Sun's when they come online later) - Tim Van Damme: https://lnkd.in/gQyvqzYr - Nikolas Klein: https://lnkd.in/ge_kKyvD Figma AI - Jordan Singer: https://lnkd.in/gXmFeXTM - Oscar Dumlao: https://lnkd.in/gkACVY_c - Marco Cornacchia: https://lnkd.in/gMt3BvVY - Vincent van der Meulen: https://lnkd.in/gCrHvcVu - Jediah Katz: https://lnkd.in/gMxEu7i8 - Giorgio Caviglia: https://lnkd.in/gCNVQrKC And more: - Jenny Wen (pages design by rocky chen ✌️): https://lnkd.in/gd_6RHAv - Soundharya Muthukrishnan: https://lnkd.in/gsnibt-j - Daniel Destefanis: https://lnkd.in/gu6mYBe6 - Becca Ramos: https://lnkd.in/gqM7RGKQ We hope you enjoy these updates, and excited to meet more of the amazing community at Config for Day 2 tomorrow! I'm particularly excited for Marcin Wichary's talk tomorrow at 3:40 https://lnkd.in/gvJNNerg

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When you’re a millennial product manager, attempting to share her knowledge of product, with the wider community and one of the most successful artists in the world is currently on a mass tour of the UK, there’s only one question on your mind: What would the dangerous animals of product management be if they were Taylor Swift songs? If you've been asking yourself the same question then have I got a blog post for you! https://lnkd.in/dYxE_QDq #product #productmanagement #tech #UX

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As designers, understand your trade show-attending personas well enough and you’ll learn a lot in a short time about users and product market fit. Big screen Figma product demos look great and drive sales pipeline, but past the show, themes always emerge from dozens of candid conversations with real users. #agtech #design

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Our team just release a new benchmark for Hand and Object Tracking called Hot3D: https://lnkd.in/gBT2bF5H. HOT3D is a new dataset to explore vision-based methods for hand-object interaction. And we believe it will unlock new opportunities within this research area, such as transferring manual skills from experts to less experienced users or robots, helping an AI assistant to understand user's actions, or enabling new input capabilities for AR/VR users, such as turning any physical surface to a virtual keyboard or any pencil to a multi-functional magic wand. To learn more about the dataset, read the HOT3D paper (https://lnkd.in/gqp34kZa) and visit https://lnkd.in/gUy4RUYX. HOT3D will be part of the BOP challenge (https://bop.felk.cvut.cz/) and the HANDS challenge (https://lnkd.in/gQnbSBih) at ECCV-2024. Check out the respective websites for more details on the challenges. #CVPR2024 #ComputerVision #AI

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Some interesting perspectives in this post and the comments. It has been disheartening to witness the shrinking and devaluation of UX and research in the US in the past few year after a decade of growth. At the same time, “product” has continued to lead influence - which aligns with the American executive mindset discussed here - with top-down feature-driven roadmaps and fast delivery focuses to *try* to maximize profits. One idea that could help is to more closely connect product leaders and researchers specifically. Researchers should be the right hand to a product managers, partnering to set meaningful roadmaps that align to validated user needs. What about switching the common title of UX Researcher to Product Researcher? How about more Senior UX designers switching to Product Management? I beleive UXers have the skills to be much stronger product owners than many PMs already out there, and can guide these valuable partnerships. This is a major time of change for our industry. Let’s try some new strategies to accomplish what we all strive for - making better experiences for users.

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#WixUX As annual feedback discussions lead into opportunities for professional growth, now is the perfect time to reflect on intentional growth and the role we each play in driving it. Here is my article, packed with practical tools and tips to support your journey. https://lnkd.in/dtBfimbC

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✨ Friday Links Home-Cooked Software and Barefoot Developers – I’m really enjoying reading through this talk-turned-essay from Maggie Appleton about how AI could lead to more DIY software. https://lnkd.in/g-e8QGap Alt text selfies – Is an experiment into thinking about alt text can be used for more than just describing the subject of images, plus it has a cosy small web design. https://alttextselfies.net The iA Dictionary – The folks at iA Inc. (makers of iA Writer), have a dictionary of terms which is a really nice thing to browse, plus I really like the custom glyphs for each letter: https://ia.net/dictionary

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Last week, I took Shreyas Doshi's week-long Improving your Product Sense course. I could go on and on, but I'll just give you a tl;dr: If you do product and it sounds even remotely interesting, apply. It will be the best bang for your buck and time (thwap for your time?) of anything that you do this year. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gYJzY2PR I've got a limited number of characters here on Linkedin, so if you need more to pull the trigger, I wrote a little bit about why this course is different: https://lnkd.in/gWHEakFQ

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What sets us (the UCC team) apart in the world of user research? I was asked during a recent discovery call. My answer was straightforward: Authenticity. At User Connect Consultancy, our approach goes beyond conventional methods. While most of us in the industry use similar techniques, our 'secret spice' is that we never take shortcuts or settle for anything less than exceptional. We delve deeper, bringing to the forefront the human stories behind the data—stories that reveal critical insights capable of transforming businesses. What truly distinguishes our work is not just the collection of data, but how we interpret it to uncover versatile insights. These insights aren't confined to one department or area; they have the potential to impact various facets of your business. It's about understanding the full picture and extracting value that is tailored uniquely to your needs. So, if you’re looking for a partner who values integrity and thoroughness in user research, and who sees beyond the numbers to the story they tell, let's connect! We’re here to bring authenticity to your data, providing insights that aren't just numbers, but narratives that drive decision-making across your entire organisation. #UserResearch #AuthenticityInData #BusinessInsights #UserConnectConsultancy

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Dynamic Journeys > Linear Journeys Moving to dynamic journeys as a way to create hyper-personalisation in product experiences with Generative Ai. This is one of the best articles I've seen about the practical application of Generative at into how they will affect the product experiences designers are designing today and how we will need to rethink our approach. LOVE the examples. I don't think anyone quite knows how this will play out in designers day-to-day but we're navigating this unknown territory together. https://lnkd.in/e3ZD_sb8

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Make it POP? At some point in their career, every designer has heard the request to make an element "pop more". The premise is simple: to draw attention to a particular element in a layout, make it stand out. However, in practice, the opposite effect often occurs. https://lnkd.in/gjvst-Td

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I recently hired a designer and we're collaborating on a UI refresh for Google Colab. As part of that I've been revisiting my design philosophy after 15 years of PM across startups + Google, from Google Photos to the Assistant to Colab. Here is my design advice to live by: * Start with problems not solutions. Too many times we artificially constrain ourselves by settling on a specific approach too early. "Fix this button" becomes "what goal does the user have?" * Sometimes the most creativity is found in enumerating the solution space. Design is the process of prioritizing tradeoffs in a high dimensional space. Understand that dimensionality. * Good design is honest. Don't oversell it. Be honest with what the product can do. * Good design is consistent within a broader system. Don't subvert convention, use those conventions to reduce friction and cognitive overhead. * Good design is straightforward. It may require a learning curve, it need not be minimally complex, but it must be straightforward to understand and use. * Beauty is only skin deep and won't take you very far. Good design exists on a spectrum between utilitarian and beautiful, and while you should seek beauty, it will not save you from your sins. * Good design is opinionated. While a product can have many uses and many paths, start with an opinion about the best. As a corollary, only add settings under extreme duress; they are such a pain to manage for users and you. * Words are great. Use them. So many uninterpretable icons out there. If you're searching for an icon to express a complex concept, try a word instead. * Good design is succinct. We live an overwhelmed existence. Adding delight is good, overwhelming with frivolity is not (I'm looking at you, every restaurant website ever). Be as succinct in your design as possible. * Good design is conservative. When adding to your product, consider how you can integrate it within the existing space vs. creating more net new product surface area. One of my favorite design exercises of my life was a months-long debate about how to invoke the Assistant on mobile phones: how to express to the user the notion of active listening, thinking, and response, when the mic was live, vs. when you needed to invoke. A swiss designer spent an hour telling me about his grandfather who made watches and how his love of that cold mechanical precision informed the warm minimalist but complex designs. He perfectly personified every principle above in a design that billions of people have seen but likely never spent a moment to appreciate its perfection. Lastly: never blame the user. When someone makes a mistake, try to understand what in the design process might have failed, and what can be improved. When you use a product next, look at all of the details, analyze what the opinion of the designer was, and see if you can spot where design might be improved, or find the hidden beauty.

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I recently read Matt Scharpnick’ piece on UX Design for Generative AI: Balancing User Control and Automation (Boston Consulting Group (BCG)) - inspired by it, I had the following thoughts… The allure of Generative AI lies in its potential to augment creative workflows by generating content from basic input. Platforms like Udio and Suno demonstrate this by transforming ideas into songs in seconds, offering a launchpad for casual creators. However, professional settings require precision and control. Designers face the challenge of balancing user influence with the inherent unpredictability of these models. This becomes more crucial with the shift from text-based models to complex multi-modal systems (e.g., image and music generation). DALL-E and Midjourney exemplify contrasting approaches to UX in image generation. DALL-E prioritises simplicity and speed with a text-based interface, while Midjourney offers greater control through UI buttons and text commands. Music creation showcases the evolution of UX design in Generative AI. This iterative collaboration unlocks possibilities but achieving exact specifications remains a challenge. The key to unlocking the full potential of Generative AI lies in striking a balance between showcasing the model's strengths and providing users with precise control over their creative vision. As these tools mature, they will become integral to creative processes across all levels of expertise. Continuous innovation is vital for crafting interaction patterns that cater to a diverse range of use cases, from spontaneous exploration to meticulous professional workflows. Generative AI is a nascent technology with vast room for exploration. Interfaces that empower users to define their creative direction with precision will unlock their true potential. As businesses and designers refine these tools, we stand on the cusp of a transformative era in UX design, driven by the collaborative power of humans and Generative AI. #UXDesign #GenerativeAI #FutureOfWork https://lnkd.in/dknebqPZ

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The best time to do user research? Uh, Right Now! The earlier and more often, the better. Thoughtful user research is essential for guiding product direction, testing hunches, and uncovering needs and opportunities we couldn’t possibly anticipate ourselves. Hear from our own Heather C. how we're running user research to ensure we're building the right product for the right audience. https://lnkd.in/gHqD3tpD

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I recently spoke with FLUX about my career journey and product design leadership. Kristie Craft was a stellar interviewer, which helped me articulate a few things that I've been noodling on over the last little while... 👽 After years of struggling with impostor syndrome, it was when I chose to be brave and have the audacity that the best opportunities came. It's not easy, but it starts with the core belief that you are deserving of your dreams. 👀 The prerequisite of being a great designer is curiosity. Get curious about an aspect of craft, process, leadership, or business and dig like you're doing a deep dive on the hand in the IG story your crush just posted. 🏀 Put in your 10,000 hours. Practice makes perfect, the cliche is true. Whatever part of your skillset you're trying to grow, be patient and put in time — before you know it, you'll be an MVP. 📣 Great communication is a hallmark of a great leader. Great communication and feedback is clear, succinct, and aligned to the business. 🖼 Visual design craft excellence is a hot topic in product design lately. I have a love for graphic design, where I started my career. I just got this book, Sun Ra: Art on Saturn, a collection of sketches and album art Sun Ra created for his works. Very different than what most PDs are looking at every day, which is precisely why I recommend it. Look for inspiration outside of a screen. Check out the full interview and let me know what you think.

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Ever wondered how you can generate, prioritise and test braver, bolder ideas in your company? 💡 Or how you can solve seemingly complex problems with a relatively simple solution? 🧐 Same here! That's why I've been applying some of the advice and ideas in Rory Sutherland's book 'Alchemy', empowering teams to think laterally when it comes to problem solving in order to generate many new, creative ideas, both logical and psycho-logical. 🧠 From many years of problem solving, trying to help customers with their needs and goals, we can sometimes get caught up in solving what we think is the problem, when actually it's just the perception of the problem that needs to change. Understanding the real 'why' behind the issue you're trying to solve will open up a world of alternative ways to improve customer experience. For example, Uber, rather than reducing the 'amount of time customers spend waiting' for a taxi, they have improved the 'quality of time spent waiting', by allowing you to finish your pint at the bar, rather than standing by the side of the road in the rain, whilst you watch your taxi arrive in the app. 🚕 🗺️ Interested in reading more examples and seeing how we're applying those at Moonpig? Read the article I wrote below 👇 https://lnkd.in/ej7ihuHU #product #ux #uxdesigner #servicedesign #psychology #ideation #creative #technology

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