LinkedIn Design

Last week, I had the pleasure of giving a guest lecture at California State University - East Bay to a group of Masters students looking to break into Product Design. I talked about my journey breaking into UX Design - pivoting from my business and consulting career. I also had the opportunity to talk more about my role at LinkedIn as a Senior Design Manager and the responsibilities of things that my team does to create quality products. People ask me often why I give back and how I find the time to carve time out of my incredibly busy schedule. It's because when I was pivoting to design, seeing role models that I could look up to made the journey feel less daunting. Influencing the next generation is so important as they will be the next set of innovators and creators. Thank you Ian Pollock for inviting me for this opportunity and for all the students who showed up with some wonderful questions. Onwards and upwards to a new beginning in your UX journey! 🚀 #linkedinlife #linkedindesign #studentsofdesign #productdesign #userexperiencedesign

✨ Last Friday, Black by Design, one of our Design Community Groups, hosted a career panel event focused on UX Research, Product Design, and Product Management! We had over 80 attendees both virtual and in-person at LinkedIn HQ. 💼 Our panelists, Harrison Wheeler, Khalida Nicole Sebree, Daniel Kelley, and Abhijit Kher shared their journeys, challenges, and successes of breaking into tech. Their stories were a powerful reminder of the importance of community, representation, and resilience in shaping our careers. 🌱 Gratitude goes out to the organizers, Khalida and Daniel, for creating a space that empowers individuals to dream big, break barriers, and uplift one another. Thank you to our Design leaders, teammates, and HR partners who joined the event!

✨ Last Friday, Black by Design, one of our Design Community Groups, hosted a career panel event focused on UX Research, Product Design, and Product Management! We had over 80 attendees both virtual and in-person at LinkedIn HQ. 💼 Our panelists, Harrison Wheeler, Khalida Nicole Sebree, Daniel Kelley, and Abhijit Kher shared their journeys, challenges, and successes of breaking into tech. Their stories were a powerful reminder of the importance of community, representation, and resilience in shaping our careers. 🌱 Gratitude goes out to the organizers, Khalida and Daniel, for creating a space that empowers individuals to dream big, break barriers, and uplift one another. Thank you to our Design leaders, teammates, and HR partners who joined the event!

Black by Design, our LinkedIn Design Org community group, hosted an inspiring early career panel for over 80 students and career pivoters online and in person last Friday. It was a fantastic 90 minutes filled with thoughtful questions and impactful discussions about career journeys in product design, research, and product management. The attendees brought some of the most thoughtful questions I’ve ever heard, and I have no doubt they’ll make their mark across the industry. I can’t help but think that these talented individuals will be the senior and staff designers, researchers, and PMs walking through our doors in the next 3-7 years. I’m excited to witness the impact they will have on the industry. Honored to have been invited to take part of this event organized by Khalida Nicole Sebree and Daniel Kelley! Looking forward to seeing where this journey takes us all. Be sure to follow LinkedIn Design for a recap coming soon.

Competency models aren't a new concept, but it's a valuable framework to consider when addressing skill gaps. This progression consists of four steps: Exercise, Practice, Application, and Intuition. Central to this journey is understanding the product, audience, leveraging past research, fostering relationships, and recognizing the historical context within an organization to navigate internal politics effectively. Here are some ways to think about it: Exercise - Methods for the sake of doing them. This step is about practicing methods without a specific goal or intention, just getting familiar with them. Practice - Methods with intention. Here, you're practicing with a clear purpose and a solid grasp of the desired outcome. Application - Methods applied within context. This involves applying methods in specific situations to achieve a desired result. Intuition - The result of applying methods across various contexts combined with situational awareness. Over time, through repeated practice and application, actions become unconscious and intuitive. These principles can be applied to all sorts of skill building; design, research, problem solving, decision-making, you name it. In our professional journeys, embracing these concepts helps us understand where we are on the spectrum and make more meaningful investments to grow in these areas.

📚 Another outstanding global event added to the books! Earlier this month, our Communication Design team supported LinkedIn's Global Talent Organization annual offsite, #GTOTogether. TV show themed, the team was able to merge playful creativity with our company branding to create a bespoke experience for the org. #LinkedInLife #CommunicationDesign #LinkedInDesign

📚 Another outstanding global event added to the books! Earlier this month, our Communication Design team supported LinkedIn's Global Talent Organization annual offsite, #GTOTogether. TV show themed, the team was able to merge playful creativity with our company branding to create a bespoke experience for the org. #LinkedInLife #CommunicationDesign #LinkedInDesign

Ever felt the frustration of blurred responsibilities in cross-functional teams? When designers jump into PRDs, PMs craft wireframes, or engineers push code to production that wasn't discussed, it's bound to happen and it can seem like chaos without clear definitions. But it can also be a learning moment...

See you there! ✨ Register here: tinyurl.com/BBDCareerPanel

I had the honor of picking the brilliant Tamara Llosa-Sandor's brain, and I'm excited to share my top 3 takeaways from our conversation: 💡 To secure impactful projects that drive career growth, cultivating an investigative mindset is crucial. Build connections across your organization, talk to people about what they're working on, and proactively express your interest in specific projects to your manager. 💡 Identifying colleagues with whom you share a natural rapport is the best starting point for establishing long-term partnerships and nurturing potential advocates. Actively cultivate these relationships rather than letting them fade away with time. 💡 When engaging with more reticent project partners, a powerful phrase to encourage them to share more about their work is: "Bring me into your process."