Productship FM

Why are developers so slow?! Or are they???? In this episode, Zeke and Matt talk about this fairly common sentiment and where it can come from. If you work in software development you've likely uttered this phrase or heard someone say it to you. This feeling that development always takes longer than it should is something that we run into a lot. Sometimes things are slow just because they're slow, but more often than not it's a more complicated equation. Zeke and Matt ponder why this is and explain from some first-hand experience where this feeling of slowness can manifest.

In this episode, Zeke and Matt talk about a topic that is a bit tangential to design and development but I'm guessing it plays a role in nearly all of our lives. Making decisions is difficult and it can be a place where we often get stuck. We're calling this topic "imperfect action" and it's something that manifests in all sorts of different situations. This topic came about from an episode title idea from Zeke. Several years ago Zeke was diagnosed with something called Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The disorder is "characterized by persistent and excessive worry," which can sometimes make it impossible for for folks like Zeke to carry out day-to-day activities. Inside of a fast-paced industry like ours, many people experience varying levels of anxiety. Zeke and Matt dig into this idea and discuss some ways to manage it.

In this episode, Zeke and Matt find their way to a conversation about dogmatism and the impact of taste in product development. Consistency and constraints can be good things, but can also serve as a crutch that hurts the final product. Product teams often look to the processes that are trendy -- Agile, Design Systems, and Design Sprints are a few modern examples -- but are these processes the right for our individual teams? Episode Links Productship Episode on Facilitation Aaron Walter on Aurelius Podcast Invision's Design Genome Project Pixar's book Creativity, Inc.

Zeke and Jen Durkin chat about her journey to become a business generalist, what it takes to be successful as a C-level executive or manager, and a few tips on how to learn the important aspects of being a business person. Jen Durkin started her journey towards being a business Jen-eralist by experimenting with customer sales tactics at a retail store. Since then she's been an entrepreneur, executive, and consultant. She is a currently working with the product team at Agile Central (a CA Technology company, formerly Rally Software) and offers business consulting services at Handcraft Consulting. Jen shares her journey to become a business generalist, what it takes to be successful as a C-level executive or manager, and a few tips on how to learn the important aspects of being a business person. (Warning: there is 1 expletive at the end of this episode.)

In this episode Zeke and Matt talk about "operationalizing" parts of the product development process. This idea and way of working is becoming more and more prevalent in our industry. This may be new to many people out there (Matt included) so let's define just what this means and explore the possibilities. Dev Ops is likely a term you've heard before (though perhaps the definition was a bit hazy). And maybe the same goes for Design Ops (though this term is a little newer). The fruits of working in this way has turned out to be pretty obvious on the development side of things, but can we apply these same concepts to other parts of the product development process? We sure can and that's exactly what is beginning to happen. Zeke and Matt will dig into what this actually means and how this works in both the design and development portions of any project.

Leveling up as a developer can be pretty tricky. Especially if you're new to the field. In this episode, Zeke and Matt discuss how to learn as a developer and some methods that have worked well for them over the years. Being a developer means constantly learning. One of the most important things you can do as a developer is to figure out how you, personally, learn best. It's the key to stay up to speed in a constantly changing field. Maybe unsurprisingly, different learning strategies work for different people and Zeke and Matt discuss what's worked for them over the years and also what hasn't. Episode Links Syntax Podcast Wes Bos React Tutorial Create React App You Don't Know JS - Kyle Simpson Spikes Episode What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to get designer-orientated coding tips, tricks and tutorials delivered to your inbox. Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.

Matt and Zeke talk about the process of learning design. This is the first in a 3 part series about learning the core disciplines (design, development, business) needed to make great digital products. Design is a giant word that covers a wide variety of roles from research to user interface design, and everything in-between. In this episode, we discuss a variety of design roles and share a few tips and tricks on how you can start the learning process. Episode Links Book: Don't Make Me Think Book: Rocket Surgery Made Easy International Typographic Style (Swiss Poster Movement) Bauhaus Movement What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to get designer-orientated coding tips, tricks and tutorials delivered to your inbox. Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.

No matter how long you've been in design or technology, there are always new things to learn. In this episode, Matt and Zeke talk about an approach to evaluating new tools, approaches, or concepts for projects called "spikes." In the Agile world we here this term mentioned in reference to development, but the guys discuss how the broader philosophy can be applied to other things, including design and product management. What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to keep updated with the exciting stuff coming soon Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.

In this episode, Zeke and Matt dig into feedback. They take a more high-level look at how giving and receiving feedback works and even include some wisdom from Oprah (yep, that’s right). From there they’ll head into talking about feedback specifically in the context of building digital products. Zeke and Matt begin by talking about a Late Show interview with Oprah about a piece of feedback she recently received and how she responded to it. From there they’ll dig into a lot of specifics related to feedback inside of design and development environments. Show links: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Oprah Winfrey Searched For Meaning In Trump’s Latest Tweet About Her GV Guide to Design Critique – GV Library About pull requests - User Documentation Giphy What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to keep updated with the exciting stuff coming soon Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.

Trust is the base-layer of everything we do in product development. It plays a part nearly every phase of every project and can genuinely be the thing that makes or breaks it. In this episode, Zeke and Matt dig into the impact trust has on design and development teams, how to build it, and what happens if you lose it. Zeke and Matt talk about what it looks like when teams are working with a high level of trust and some strategies that can help get you to that point with your team. They'll look at building trust from several different roles on a project team and talk about some ideas to encourage building trust between team members. Kim Goodwin GV Guide to Design Critique Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration Yes, and… What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to keep updated with the exciting stuff coming soon Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.

In this episode, Zeke and Matt talk about React and how thinking in a React mindset has an impact on how we build and design our applications. They start with a high-level view of just what React is and what it’s like to learn it. From there the conversation dives deep into designing and building in a more component focused manner and how that changes and impacts the way we work and the work we produce. React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces Atomic Design | Brad Frost What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to keep updated with the exciting stuff coming soon Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.

In this episode, Zeke and Matt dig into what Mobile First means in 2018 and how that impacts the work designers and developers do today. When we consider Mobile First on the web, we often start at Responsive Design. There's a lot more to it today. The decisions made here can have a real impact on people's lives. We'll talk about web-based Mobile First approaches and its impact on both design and development processes. We'll also discuss Progressive Web apps and the problems they solve for your users. Spoiler alert, this technology has a big impact on your entire project. With new tools also comes more complexity, because of that we have a lot more to consider when design and building applications. When thinking Mobile First, native applications are also an important option to consider. There are some legitimate reasons to reach for a native application. Designers and developers have more tools at their disposal by being able to leverage native APIs which can lead to a more rich experience. But there are some caveats (shocking, right?). Related links: Mobile First Progressive Web Apps How we built Twitter Lite React Native What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to keep updated with the exciting stuff coming soon Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.

In this episode, Zeke and Matt dig deep into discovery work. What is it? How does it impact the various parts of your project? What are some strategies and methods for doing it? Figuring out all the things you don't know very early on in any project is incredibly beneficial. This is discovery work and spoiler alert, it's super important. Zeke and Matt touched on this topic a bit in Ep. 2: Product Process, but this one is definitely worth a deeper dive. We'll walk you through just what discovery work is and how it can be used at various points in your project. Along the way, you'll learn about some of the pitfalls of not doing discovery work along with some strategies and resources to help empower you to do this work on your projects. Links to stuff discussed in this episode: Google Design Sprints Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days Gamestorming Designing the Conversation: Techniques for Successful Facilitation A Project Guide to UX Design: For user experience designers in the field or in the making Good Kickoff Meetings Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-Centered Products and Services What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to keep updated with the exciting stuff coming soon Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.

In this episode Zeke and Matt talk about the product development process. A little more specifically, what sort of information do you need when you start project and what can you do when you have trouble getting it. This is a pretty big topic, but the episode is more focused on acquiring the information you need to make your projects successful. Zeke and Matt have some stories to share and talk about the issues that hit when you're lacking the information you need. On the flip side they also discuss some strategies for how to get that information. Related links: Design Sprint Design sprint at Table XI What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to keep updated with the exciting stuff coming soon Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.

In this quick episode, Zeke and Matt chat about what they plan to discuss on this new Productship podcast. You'll hear a little background information from both and then some thoughts and ideas about what they see the show covering in the future episodes. Get to know Zeke and Matt and discover Productship.fm in one nice little package. Discussions here at Productship is going to target what Zeke and Matt call "the fuzzy middle" in product development. Building digital products includes several different roles and a couple of those roles you'll find on just about every project are design and development. These roles are pretty important to project success on their own, but how they interact with each other is incredibly important. Zeke and Matt have been a part lots of projects in both of these roles and with that, they'll do their best to bring you some useful insights and interesting conversations in that "fuzzy middle." What Zeke and Matt are up to these days: Code for Designers: Zeke's current project. Sign up to keep updated with the exciting stuff coming soon Table XI: Design and development company Matt works for. They're an awesome group. Check them out.