Shifting the mindset on accessibility in design
In the software industry, much of the discussion around accessibility is around compliance and cost. When we talk cost, we’re referring to the actual dollars we’re losing or the cost of fixing the accessibility defects. It’s not the cost to those affected by our software’s inability
Building your team's skills matrix
A couple of years ago, we began a movement to transform design at VMware and with it, transform VMware itself into an experience-led company. Anybody who’s been a part of a transformation would tell you that the most important part of a transformation is people. How you transform the
Lead with context
In design, context is key. When we design workflows and products, especially complex ones, we focus on providing the necessary context to users in order to help them make the right decisions at the right time. Without a way to predict every single user scenario, providing context becomes a key
Ask for your next promotion
This article will probably land a few more emails in my inbox over the coming weeks and months, but here we go. The more conversations I have with design leaders, individual contributors, and even design managers, the more I am reminded how much of what I know today as a
Building a design system in an engineering-driven company: a few lessons learned
Few years ago, a very small team of engineers and designers built Clarity [https://clarity.design/], VMware's first design system. Today, it's one of the most successful open source design systems [https://github.com/vmware/clarity/stargazers] out there. I often talk to design leaders across
Our rating system: 6 o'clock to 12 o'clock
I am hoping you've used an analog watch before. Otherwise, you'll have to know how that works before you continue reading. In my team, we use a 6 o'clock to 12 o'clock rating system with half an hour increments. In easy terms,
Leaders are great at one of three: Vision, Operations, or Coaching
I ran into a tweet the other day that said most leaders are generally great at one of three things: vision, operations, or coaching. Few leaders are great at two, and you can rarely find one that is good at all three. Thinking about it, this has been true throughout
Have you talked to your non-customers lately?
Last week, I was reading a report about Netflix's new revelation that one of its biggest competitors is not HBO, it's Fortnite [https://www.seattletimes.com/business/netflix-sees-fortnite-as-a-bigger-rival-than-hbo/] . This was a bit strange to think about at first. Fortnite is a video game not a streaming
Delegating work
One of the hardest skills to learn as a new manager moving from an individual contributor (IC) role is how to delegate. How to use the power of a team to achieve more. Delegation by its nature is a hard task. There is a balance between being absent as a
Learning by interviewing
Over the past few months, the VMware Design team continues to grow rapidly. This meant that a good portion of my time over the past few months has been dedicated to interviewing. With a few hundred interviews done in the past couple of quarters alone, I've done some
