Finds

My co-authors and I have noticed something about our book, UX Skills for Business Strategy. Folks who don’t already use a particular skill want to learn even more about it. But our book is more of a guidebook (specifically, a wine-pairing guide) than a cookbook.

What we can do is to provide good references to help them learn the skill. That is, if they’ve found the UX skill that makes exactly the business impacts they’re looking for, but they don’t know how to do that work, we want to point them in the right direction.

As authors, we’re turning to our own bookshelves, to libraries and bookstores, and the internet as a whole. For example, I’m delighted that there’s a book, Universal Methods of Ethical Design, that I wouldn’t have known about if I hadn’t been searching for resources for the UX skill of Anticipate Harm.

So I’m using this “Finds” section to ask you: What’s the last (or best) resource you turn to, and for what purpose? I’d love to learn about the books, websites, articles, videos, and other resources you have used to learn a new-to-you skill. Sometimes, an old-and-trusty resource for you is still new to me. You can tell me in email, or respond via this handy form. I can’t promise we’ll get your recommendation into the book, but I’d love to learn what you use.

Flex & fumble

(Someday soon I’ll be doing more than talking about this book. But for right now…) This past couple of weeks has had some terrific successes, like giving the first workshop based on UX Skills for Business Strategy.

My part of the event, organized through Seattle’s School of Visual Concepts, focused on inviting the members of a UX team at Amazon to inventory the business impacts their product teams are most interested in. Then, we moved to a similar inventory of the UX skills they use to meet those challenges. Finally, I introduced a method for storytelling (currently skill 71 in the book) that each person on the team could use to formulate the story of how they use their skills to make business impacts that are relevant to their product.

But while it’s great to be putting the book into practice already, it’s not yet done. In fact, there are so many detailed edits to make, we asked for our final manuscript deadline to slip for a few extra weeks. This slip shouldn’t affect preorder schedules—I think O’Reilly baked in this extra time just in case something happened—but it means we’ll still be working on the manuscript for a few weeks longer than expected. It’s going to be worth it, though; this book is audacious, and I love it even in this rough sausage-making phase.

Philosophy

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a good host. I’m a fan of the book The Art of Gathering, which reflects and has shaped a lot of my thinking about this. But I’d be remiss not to call out what I learned from my mother when my brother and I were very small about the sacred responsibility of hospitality. Sacred to Zeus, that is; Mom was a student of anthropology and classical archaeology at the time.

Perhaps it’s obvious that I’m thinking about Button 2025 coming up, and I want to do a good job for our community and Team Button. But it goes deeper than that in my practice as a UX practitioner, educator, presenter, and person.

When I’m creating UX, including content or design systems for experiences, I’m constantly imagining how people enter that experience. I try to answer the question: what will make them feel welcome? This initial moment is critical. When people come into a space, including physical and virtual spaces, by themselves or in groups, with some range of prior expectation and experience—all of these preconditions affect how they will feel in those first few moments.

As an educator and presenter, the same critical moment happens at the beginning of a class or workshop. Do people see each other as a group they can belong to? Can they trust the environment, the subject matter, and the instructor? I think a lot about making the first few moments credible, inviting, psychologically safe, and engaging.

Honestly, the same thing happens in a book. Prefaces are hard to write, and they’re often the best place to set the tone for the rest of the book. But many folks skip prefaces, so it’s also important to ensure that the first chapter is also welcoming, without being redundant.

After the welcome, there’s the work of hosting throughout the event. At a party with diverse guests, especially when different groups of guests don’t know each other, it’s the host’s responsibility to keep the introductions, conversation, refreshments, and activities flowing. In a UX, a good “host” makes sure that you don’t get distracted during a multi-step process, that you have reliable confirmations about the steps you have taken, and that each new part of the experience is inviting, in turn.

While I host Button 2025, I’ll be thinking about and trying to put into practice all of these ideas. For the upcoming conference, I’m still considering the ways in which I can facilitate your  experience, help the speakers to shine, and stay on track (while participating in the Slack, of course). If you have advice or encouragement for me, please let me know! I’m hoping to be a good host for you and represent Team Button well.

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I write these newsletters myself, and I stand by what’s in them. If you have kudos, concerns, or questions, please tell me. —Torrey