Adam Bezemek

WOW. I just saw one of the slickest portfolios of Product Design work I've seen in a while from a Design Leader. True Northstar visions taking existing brands and totally elevating them and their Product. And this Designer is about to start taking conversations for their next role. This is one of the most accomplished Design Leaders I've chatted with, their work has been seen by millions and you've absolutely heard of the products they've worked on. Knowing they are starting to take conversations about the next thing is super exciting, because this is not something they really do, ever. If you are a company wanting to elevate your Design, especially where brand meets product. If you're wanting a Design Leader that creates benchmarks for craft that other companies aspire towards. If you truly understand Design and Craft Leadership (and can afford it) - then reach out to me for a confidential intro. I'm selectively reaching out to companies in some key areas around Streaming, Film/TV, Gen Ai and Design tooling that are areas of interest. And sorry, I can't share a link to the folio...confidential deck!

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واحدة من أهم صفات مصمم المنتجات الرقمية هي قدرته علي الاستيعاب والغوص في المشكلة اللي يحاول يحلها وما يكون سطحي في الاستيعاب One of the most important qualities of a digital product designer is their ability to deeply understand and delve into the problem they are trying to solve, rather than just having a superficial understanding. --- “…great designers are dogged in understanding the problem they are dealing with. Their curiosity and tenacity for understanding doesn’t end…” Intercom Design team --- #productdesign #design #problemsolving #digitalproducts

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Before BRICX, I gave a whiteboarding interview at a massive company for a Sr. Product Design role. My interviewer said that it was one of the best whiteboarding sessions he has conducted. Sadly, most new designers don’t understand the goal of a whiteboarding round. I see this problem routinely when I’m hiring for new designers at Bricx. A whiteboarding round is where you & the interviewer will brainstorm about a problem trying to find a solution. I know it sounds absurd but the goal of the interviewer is actually not to see the solution, but your thought process. I’ll give you an example. You’re presented with the problem: Design a kayak rental service Firstly, ALWAYS start with ‘why’. Why are we designing this? What are we trying to accomplish? Secondly, talk about the user. What are our user personas? What are their demographics? What are their psychographics? What are their behaviors? Next, talk about things like constraints, taking assumptions, business goals, KPIs, existing research, etc. The more you clarify your thoughts & create constraints, the more specific your solution will be. The WORST thing you can do is dive right into the solution after hearing the problem. It absolutely ruins the purpose of the round. Think. Be creative & talk as much as possible with the interviewer. When you’re working as a product designer, you will be working on problems you haven’t ever worked on before. With this interview, you have to show your thought process towards tackling new problem statements. Would love to hear your thoughts on your whiteboarding session as an interviewer or interviewee :)

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I want to highlight a problematic practice that's all too common in the design hiring process: - Initial call with a high-level executive like a CTO or CPO. - Assignment of a take-home project based on their product. - The internal team reviews the submission. - Occasionally, they provide feedback. - Additional 2-3 rounds of interviews. While I don't inherently oppose design tasks, there's a crucial issue here: Companies exploit designers by leveraging their skills for free on real products. In a competitive job market, this can lead to multiple candidates providing free labour for a single role. This practice disproportionately affects those with demanding personal lives, such as single parents or caregivers, who simply don't have the luxury of extra time. Design tasks should adhere to these principles: - Focus on hypothetical or unrelated products/services. - Be strictly timeboxed to respect candidates' time. - Acknowledge the limitations designers face, like the lack of access to real customer feedback. Let's advocate for a fairer, more respectful hiring process.

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Ok design community, top pet peeves when reviewing portfolios and resumes. Go! I'll go first 1. Profile image (an image of your face) is the first thing I see on your portfolio site. I would prefer to see your awesome work and personal aesthetic. 2. Undesigned resumes. Indent those bullet points, put some thought into your typography. The Swiss design style is a good place to start if you're feeling stuck. #designers #portfolios #hiring #resumes #productdesign

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Want to think more strategically? 👇 Ask questions from multiple perspectives. Here's an example from actual conversations I've had... Things a typical software engineer considers when contemplating a new technology: 👉 Do I like it? 👉 Will it help me get things done faster or better? 👉 Is it marketable for my future? There's nothing wrong with these questions, but they are very one-dimensional. Now consider what a CTO thinks about for the same new technology: 👉 Will it help us solve customer problems better, faster, or attract new customers? 👉 Does it fit into our current technology ecosystem? 👉 Can we measure the return on investment (ROI) for this change? 👉 What is the total cost of the change, including upfront and ongoing expenses? 👉 Does it pose risks (privacy, security, legal, compliance), and if so, can we mitigate them? 👉 Are there any critical third-party dependencies, and what risks do they pose? 👉 Is it supported by a company that will be out of business next week? 👉 Does our existing team have the ability to manage it, or will we need additional training or hiring? 👉 Will it positively impact the morale of the team? 👉 How will we communicate the rationale and benefits of this change to stakeholders, employees, and customers? See the difference?

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You make a great point about the time and energy companies ask candidates to invest. In my recent job search, some companies not only asked for exercises but also multiple types of presentations, often in person. Here’s some perspective: none of those companies ended up making a good offer. One even took me through eight interviews and three different presentation styles, only to pass in the end. Think about that for a moment. Why does this happen? As Meghan Logan aptly notes, it’s because they don’t know how to identify and interview designers. Consider what it would be like working somewhere like that. If you can afford to, steer clear of companies that operate this way. And when it happens, be ready to just say “no” and move on to the next opportunity.

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When organizations believe UX or Product Designers aren’t necessary because “developers can handle it,” history offers a powerful lesson. During WWII, over 400 bomber pilots crash-landed due to poor interface design. The landing gear and flap controls were identically shaped, leading to catastrophic errors. The pilots didn’t stand a chance. Imagine the lives and resources that could have been saved with thoughtful design. This underscores the critical role of design professionals in creating intuitive, user-centered solutions—whether in the cockpit or on a digital platform. Investing in design isn’t just a choice; it’s a necessity. #gooddesign #productdesign #uxdesign #history

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Since unexpectedly re-entering the job market, I’ve seen more ‘UX Writer’ roles than expected. Generally speaking, many of us in the field are not fans of this title. I don’t believe it adequately covers what this role typically does. (This post isn’t specifically about why the term ‘Content Design’ matters, but I encourage you to check out the work of Sarah Winters if you’d like a deeper explanation.) Moving beyond personal opinion, this is not what professionals in this field are using. A quick glance at Google Trends shows us that ‘Content Design’ is dominating searches compared to ‘UX Writing.’ What does this mean? All of our orgs are different but I think you owe it to yourself and your company to explore reclassifying any ‘UX Writing’ roles to ‘UX Content Design.’ It’s more accurate to what we do and it’s what your potential prospects are using to find your jobs.

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What are the best cities for product designers in the US? Last week I shared data on why the US is the best place for designers in terms of salary and job opportunities. Here’s a breakdown of the best US cities for product designers based on: 1) Salary (data by Pave, after tax) 2) Cost of living (data by Numbeo) I used an example of how much a mid/senior designer would make after tax in each city. Of course, when deciding where to live, you should consider the quality of life, the number of opportunities, and other factors. In the next few weeks, I will publish the best countries and US cities for product designers, considering salary, cost of living, quality of life, opportunities, etc on my Substack.

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Having some interesting, open conversations from Design Leaders right now who are getting burned out from trying to hire Designers right now. The demands from the business warrant the Design team growing, but the means to do so are lacking. - Over-worked and under-skilled Talent teams lacking the nuance to understand the design hire needed - Design Leader getting little to No results from internal talent team - Design Leaders attempting to use their networks and getting bombarded with inquiry, too over whelmed to look through, guilty for not responding to everyone - Company lacks infrastructure to properly handle the amount of inbound applicants; brand recognition takes a hit in the market - Design Leader still doesn't have the Design Support they need Bit of a vicious cycle. Good news though - there's solutions out there - been putting them action this year and seeing the results.

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Anotha' day, anotha' person discovering how OOUX (Object oriented UX) can make their lives easier... Last Friday, I spoke at 200OK Dev Conference hosted by Techlahoma Foundation with my talk "UX in a Bottle: Intro to Object Oriented UX for Web Devs. We walked about: • What OOUX is • How it works • How to apply to any project My favorite part about OOUX, which is why I shout from the roofs is that ANYONE (not just devs) can do it to better understand a problem, breakdown requirements in a thorough way, and make something easier to understand. Phenomenal job by all the speakers: Kristy K. Boone:  EI + AI = The Human Side of Tech Camille Hall: The Frontend Revolution: Building Seamless AI-Driven User Experiences with React.js Rhia Dixon, MBA: Getting Good (or Better) at Code Reviews Joel Tosi: Blending Product Thinking with Architecture If you want a copy of my talk, or any of the other speakers - comment below and I'll link you when the playlist comes out! Shout out the Techlahoma team, led by Queen Emily Harden, Geoffrey Harden, Maxx Crawford and the rest of the volunteers and Atlas School for sponsoring and hosting us. And of course, Sophia V Prater for bringing OOUX into my life. I'm ramping up my OOUX posts, so follow me so learn how to apply OOUX into your projects and life. #ooux #webdevs #ux #productdesign

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Great writeup on the value design can bring to product organisations irrespective of technoöogical shifts such as AI.

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Every client I've worked with over the past few years has been special in their own way. One of the trends I've seen while working with different e-commerce companies is what fueled me to start Imagine Helix. I watched some of our most beloved American retailers evolve from e-tailers to tech companies, suddenly implementing some of the most cutting-edge technology to solve old commerce problems and meet quickly growing customer expectations. #Ecommerce needed and needs critical thinkers. My specialty and our focus at Imagine Helix is using collaborative and unconventional thinking to solve real customer problems with our #Product, #Business, and #Marketing partners using data, open-minded but focused conversations, and Discovery workshops. This case study is one of those examples.

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ZoCo Design recently conducted a survey with Product & UX Leaders to better understand the greatest skill gap on their UX teams. Spoiler...it's not their design chops 🎨 Check out our latest blog post to uncover the #1 gap on UX teams and how we manage it. https://lnkd.in/gqzmTaVS

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I don't often find examples of good UX design in the wild, but I stumbled on this one the other day while walking my dog in our neighborhood. For context, this is a roll-off dumpster with a port-a-potty attached to it. Having been a home remodelling contractor, I can attest to the fact that it's not uncommon that you will need a dumpster AND a port-a-potty on site for the duration of the project. This is a good example of looking at the entire customer experience beyond just the main task. Genius.

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I bet the future of digital work will be all about small, talented, and nimble teams that are super focused on one area of a product. We’re already seeing tons of contract roles popping up, probably even more than full-time jobs, as companies lean into the flexibility and cost savings that come with contracting. These smaller teams would keep things focused, delivering value regularly, but still have the freedom to dive deep into their field using AI and other tools. The best part for digital folks? More flexibility with time and project choices. This setup lets devs and designers juggle multiple projects at once and pick the ones they’re actually excited about. They can work more or less depending on their schedule or ambition. #futureofwork #digital #tech #teams

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