Couldn’t agree more Ben! My most rewarding moments of late came through helping ‘not designers’ with responsibility for actual consumer experience by reframing their solid instincts with basic design techniques. Unlocks so much creativity & new opportunities, while elevating our wider biz impact.

Thanks for taking the time to share the extra context Ben, very helpful! I imagine this is less necessary, or takes a lighter form, for ongoing product team work?

Regardless, I’m always happy to see design proposals shared with clear rationales; really helps to get stronger feedback & buy-in 🙏

Solid approach & nicely written up Ben 💪

Curious if you have situations in which this depth of documentation (& associated effort) is most valuable?

And where not (eg based on opportunity size, closeness to product team through discovery etc)? Asking to understand, & guide sharing with my team 😊

Anyway, started all this intending to share this piece by Christina Caron & Dana G Smith.

Seems a useful beginning to the new year, especially one we can already anticipate to be fraught with economic uncertainty, workplace challenges, and constant political noise.

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/30/w...

In the meantime, will be prepping more practically today by finishing up some household holiday tasks, getting a haircut, and getting in some more quality time with the kids. Snow & rain here in Amsterdam will make that look like board games, family dinner, and movie evening :)

I’ll take time tomorrow to reflect back on previous months progress, and prepare overarching 2025 goals & quarterly approaches. Then resetting all recurring meetings & focus working time slots accordingly.