413: Design Mentorship

413: Design Mentorship

Author: Brian Lovin, Marshall Bock September 22, 2021 Duration: 31:27

This week, we talk about design mentorship: what does an effective mentor do, how to find a mentor, how to avoid giving bad career advice, and more. In The Sidebar, we talk about obsessing over the pixels, wasting time on unimportant details, and how to tell the difference between polish and procrastination.

Golden Ratio Supporters:

Plume empowers a billion smart devices in homes and small businesses through a suite of adaptive WiFi, AI security, and parental control. They're hiring product designers to build the future of smart home services. They're hiring product designers with 2-5 years of experience shipping products — learn more at designdetails.fm/plume. Oh, and they just raised a $270m series E, so now's the time!

Latest VIP Patrons:

  • Bilal
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The Sidebar:

The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to bonus content going forward! Sign up at patreon.com/designdetails.

Follow Up:

  • Manny asks on Twitter: Curious, how much time do you guys usually spend on side projects a day/week? Whenever I work on side projects, I always feel guilty of not spending time with my other half, friends and pets because we haven’t seen each other for a whole day usually
    • Probably...10-20 hours per week, on a good week? Huge caveat: we don’t have kids.
  • Siddharth agreed with Marshall about when to ship: sure you can ship fast and often (i try) and you’ll quickly learn what you didnt know w/ feedback 10/10. but there are some things that only click ✨ when you’re chasing that last 5%, someone else can’t do that click for you

Main Topic:

This week, we talk about design mentorship: what does an effective mentor do, how to find a mentor, how to avoid giving bad career advice, and more.

Cool Things:

  • Brian shared Amplosion and Achoo from Christian Selig (the creator of the Apollo Reddit app, which we love). These are using the new Safari extension APIs that are new in iOS 15! Amplosion automatically redirects away from AMP pages on Google, and Achoo lets you inspect the HTML of a page on your phone.
  • Marshall shared 14 by Peter Clines, the next entry in Marshall’s Book Club. More recommendations from Peter Clines: The Fold and Paradox Bound.

Design Details on the Web:

Byeee!


Every week, Brian Lovin and Marshall Bock settle in for a thoughtful, often meandering chat that pulls back the curtain on how things are made. Their Design Details podcast lives in the rich space where technology and the arts intersect, focusing less on polished case studies and more on the real, sometimes messy, work of design. You’ll hear them dissect the nuances of product decisions, debate the evolving culture of creative teams, and share personal stories from their own experiences in the industry. It feels less like a lecture and more like eavesdropping on a conversation between two deeply knowledgeable friends. The discussions regularly venture into the philosophical side of craft, examining why certain choices resonate and how design shapes our daily interactions with the world. For anyone curious about the thinking behind the pixels and interfaces, this show offers a consistent, grounded perspective. Tuning in provides a sense of community and a candid look at the process, making it a staple for designers and creators who appreciate substance over flash.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Design Details
Podcast Episodes
373: Designer or Developer? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:38
This week, we discuss the career paths and tradeoffs for someone who wants to do both design and development. In The Sidebar, we recap the Mac event and share our first impressions of the new iPhones.Latest VIP Patrons:J…
372: Saving People from Themselves [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:40
This week, we brainstorm design patterns that help save people from themselves. From stopping the spread of misinformation, to saving eardrums, to screening spoilers, these design ideas are often clever and non-obvious.…
371: A Culture of Excellence [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:31
This week, we dig into practical steps for creating a culture of design excellence. In The Sidebar, we share strategies for designing adaptive interfaces that work well on any screen size.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float…
370: Designing for One Hand [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:06
This week, we discuss the tradeoffs and challenges of designing interfaces for one-handed use. In The Sidebar, we talk about strategies for collaborating effectively with brand and product design.Golden Ratio Patrons:Flo…
369: Shallow Design Culture [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:53
This week, we talk about the shallow parts of design culture, where superficial work tends to generate far more attention and praise. We dig into potential solutions for this, too. In The Sidebar, we recap and share our…
368: Teaching Design Fundamentals [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:23
This week, we discuss strategies for teaching design fundamentals and how to make the process engaging and fun for new designers. In The Sidebar, we discuss the pain of noticing problems right before you ship.Golden Rati…
367: Effective Brainstorming [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:03
This week, we talk about how to have effective brainstorms: what does good prep look like, and what should be done alone or with a group? In The Sidebar, we share our spicy takes about brutalism in interface design.Golde…
366: Closing the Gap to Senior [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:02
This week, we discuss options for designers to close the gap to becoming a senior. In The Sidebar we try to identify what is the duct tape of design.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float has been a lifeline for teams working…
365: UX Research ft. Danae Holmes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:31
This week, we sat down with Danae Holmes, a UX researcher at YouTube Gaming to talk about everything UX research. We dig into research methodologies, effective collaboration with design, tips to get better at user resear…

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