We learn from reflection - not experience

Ever notice how some people seem to be beginners even though they have years of experience? True learning doesn't come from experience alone; it emerges from reflecting on those experiences. You need to be intentional about it.

Luckily for us, the skills we use in product discovery are the exact same skills for reflecting on our own experiences. If you want to do an audit on some of the key experiences from the past year you can follow the following steps:

1. Identify your goals: narrow down the experience you want to examine. It could be prioritisation, communication, technical skills, relationships, or something else.

2. Think about specific examples: walkthrough 2-3 examples of where something didn’t go according to plan.
   Why do I believe this happened? What were the contributing factors? How did my actions or decisions influence the outcome?
   The goal here is not to beat yourself up, but to identify areas that you could have done things differently that may have led to better outcomes.

3. Prioritise: pick one or two areas that you think could deliver the best impact.

4. Minimal tests: what is the smallest thing you can do to test out your idea and validate that it works? Now think how you can make it even smaller. The goal is to test your ideas quickly to learn what works and what doesn’t. And then iterate.

When I did this I identified that I am spending far too much time on things that feel productive but, in reality, they are busy work and I am neglecting the really important work. This year I’m going to change that.

Even if you don’t achieve your goals the act of reflecting on past experiences and thinking through the causes is a win by itself.

This Weeks Updates

Enabling the Team

Achieving Goals with Implementation Intentions by Dr Maria Panagiotidi
How psychology research can help you follow through on your UX (and life) ambitions this year

How AI Fits into Lean Six Sigma by Matthias Holweg, Thomas H. Davenport, and Ken Snyder
AI already is being used to define-measure-analyse-improve and check (DMAIC) processes and implement improvements. But some challenges remain.

Product Direction

‘Niching’ Down by Ant Murphy
“If you try to please everyone, you please no one.” Focus and being able to find a niche can be a huge unlock for products.

How Data Sharpened The Focus Of Product Teams by Erin Gustafson
Duolingo developed a growth framework that helped to grow DAUs by 4x since 2019. They share the path that led to that framework, aka The Growth Model!

Continuous Discovery

Do You Really Need A Repository? by Emily DiLeo
The success of a repository relies on good initial practices - get these right before setting up your repository: single point of access, description for access, and quality curation.

Creating Opportunities for Deliberate Practice at BBC Maestro by Melissa Suzuno
Learn how Lily Smith introduced her teams to the opportunity solution tree through an interactive workshop approach.

Continuous Design

Minimalist Affordances: Making The Right Tradeoffs by Lea Verou
Users perceive beautiful interfaces as easier to use and cut them more slack when it comes to minor usability issues but sometimes UIs can go too far.

The Art of Communication Design by Melinda Seckington
How to be intentional with how you communicate, how to consider different communication channels, audiences and preferences, and how to design a communication plan.

Continuous Delivery

2023 Was a Turning Point for Microservices by Joab Jackson
Microservices are falling out of favour and are starting to be refactored by cloud giants such as Amazon and Google.

JavaScript Frameworks - Heading into 2024 by Ryan Carniato
Ryan shares a look at what has happened in JavaScript land and what the future holds.

JOB OF THE WEEK

Senior Product Manager - Core Banking
🏬 N26
📌 Full-Time, Berlin

About N26
N26 has reimagined banking for today’s digital world. Founded in 2013, N26 now has more than 8 million customers in 24 markets.

See role details here

New Video Release This Week

How would you build a UX department at a startup from scratch? That's what Muriel Naim, Vice President of Design & UX at Fabric, shared with us in UXDX USA last year. Want to know more? 👇👇👇

The Results of Last Week’s Poll

The question was: What are your professional goals for 2024? 
Users responded:

I expected one area to outshine, but it seems like people are looking to improve across the board. The good news is that it’s clear that everyone is committed to self-improvement in 2024!

Luckily UXDX can help with that. Our talks are designed to enhance your knowledge with case studies demonstrating how companies are tackling today's key challenges. Meanwhile, our workshops concentrate on honing the soft and hard skills necessary to effectively address these challenges.

If you’re looking to take your knowledge and career to the next level then you should join us. Ticket prices for USA and EMEA increase in 10 days so make sure you get your tickets early to avoid disappointment.