Our quest to polymathy | UX Adjacent #2
Welcome to issue #2 of UX Adjacent!
Every good designer, strategist, consultant, and manager that I've worked with has been a polymath or striving to be one. There's even a term in the design world for a polymath - a "T" shaped designer. Both words mean someone who has depth in one area but breadth across many disciplines. I'd be willing to bet if this newsletter caught your eye, you have an interest in broadening your knowledge outside of design.
In this era of instant access to information, why isn't everyone a polymath? What makes polymaths (or those of us striving to be) different than non-polymaths? I think the answer lies in a culture and economy that incentivizes specialization. Most of us are paid for a narrowly focused job that takes up a lot of our time. Diving into seemingly unrelated interests (that could connect in innovative ways) is rarely rewarded.
I watched Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates on Netflix recently and was fascinated by Gate's lifelong obsession with learning new disciplines. He doesn't just get interested in new topics. He spends months poring over obscure academic journals to learn not only how something like nuclear power works but also the scientific, ecological, and political systems surrounding nuclear plants.
The documentary also features his friend, inventor, and super polymath Nathan Myhrvold. Myhrvold holds over 900 patents, publishes papers in paleobiology, climate science, and astronomy, is an award-winning photographer, and written cookbooks with a scientific twist, including one all about bread.
I'm exploring the quest of polymaths for my next Medium article. I would love to hear what you think about these ideas or send me others to investigate.
Here’s what else I’ve found worth thinking about, reading, and watching this week.
Overcome doomscrolling with airplane mode
I recently stumbled across the term doomscrolling and could instantly relate, as I'm sure many of you can: falling into deep internet rabbit holes of coronavirus and political content. To me, there's a difference between staying informed and being a glutton for punishment. The solution starts with a conscious awareness of what we consume and how it makes us feel. Austin Kleon suggests a great idea: set aside stretches of captive time, switch your devices to airplane mode, and reconnect with yourself and your work.
Airplane mode can be a way of life.
Brazilian photographer’s composition series reflects today’s distancing era
Cássio Vasconcellos began his aerial photography series Coletivos in 2008 to examine our footprint on the plant. In a Covid-19 world of social distance and reframed relationships to nature, his works' density takes on a new and interesting perspective.
Learn to code in one month
There are a million courses and tutorials to learn to code, but the one that made me stick to it was One Month. I advocate for designers, managers, and anyone who works with products to know how code works. Even if you don't start writing code, you'll feel empowered by the ability to read and tweak it when you need to. If nothing else, you'll gain an appreciation of your developers' work. I like One Month because it starts with the absolute basics of downloading programs to get started but still moves fast enough to keep me engaged and see continuous progress.
(Reply to this email if you do want to sign up and I can share my referral code for 25%)
12 apps to elevate your UX process
A wise person once said, “just like having dinner is not just eating, being a designer is not just designing. (As much as we wish it was.)” Ok, that person was me, in my latest article on UX Collective. When a chef prepares a meal, they plan, collect ingredients, prepare, test, and plate their creations. Similarly, a designer must plan, prepare, test, and present their masterpieces. Just as a chef must utilize many tools besides their knives, designers can’t create with Sketch alone.
This article features a collection of apps from my Chrome bookmarks that I actually use throughout my entire UX process. One of my favorites (below) is UX Archive. Browse user flows from popular apps help you find best practices for common tasks like signup and onboarding.
If you found this newsletter via my Medium article, welcome! If you found this equally interesting, please share it with your social media followers; it means a lot to me.
I’m a UX designer, currently writing design-related content and copywriting to make sites and apps informative and easy to use. If you are or know a business that needs design content or help with UI copy, let me know!
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Thanks for reading!