UX Lisbon 2018 – Talk Notes

I speak later today at UX Lisbon 2018, Here are my notes from the sessions so far (will update after each talk so hit refresh to get the latest).

1. Confusion, stupidity and Shame, Richard Banfield

Part One: Fight Club

We think that failure is the end of the lesson, but kids just keep doing stuff. It’s how they learn how to walk and talk, mostly by doing terribly, but it’s never a reason for them to stop trying. He wanted to remind us that’s the best way to learn.

Fall seven times, get up eight times (which would make a great tattoo). But as adults we forget to get up.

The first rule of failure is to talk about failure. – Perry Hewitt.

Adults primarily are embarrassed by failure, so they prevent learning and encouragement from happening. (The Flight Club reference is about secrets and the danger of keeping your feelings about failure a secret).

Identity / Responsibility

Missing a quote on quote slide, slide right. Your identity is not the design you create. Other people will simply ask “so what is s/he going to do next?” – the dramatic stakes of the result of a project are in our own minds.

By owning a failure and saying “I made a mistake” you claim ownership of it and allows you to move on.

Part Two

Most of us think we are responsible for our success, Privledge, genetics, timing, parents, friends, education, luck.­ These factors are more likely to explain why he are here than hard work. Go to Bangladesh and watch people work manual labor jobs to see real hard work.

Tatoo: you are not special, get back to work

“Failure is yours, and success is your team’s” – Tess Cooper

When looking at a portfolio, he often asks candidates “so how did your team contribute to this?” and they respond with surprise, as the premise is “this is my portfolio”.

Movie “The Bear” – Most people lost in the world, they die of shame” – Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins).

Book recommendation: Deep Survival

When you want to do something new and you talk about your idea, it polarizes people. Even if it’s a good idea. You should be prepared for résistance even if your idea is good.

“A genius is a crazy person who turned out to be right” – Tim Minchin

Designers have a personal investment in their ideas, they take negative feedback of an idea as personal.

Book recommendation: The subtle art of not giving a f*ck

What problems:

Excite you
And are worth solving
Are u willing to sacrifice for?
And you will work on when it’s hard?
And when other people hate your ideas?

 

Epilogue

He told a story about having a grand new vision for his team, which he presented in a big presentation, but which didn’t go anywhere.

“Hold a funeral for your best ideas. After you grieve, will you miss them?” – Paul Bellow

His wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and he immediately went into problem-solving mode, which is natural for designers. But in many situations problem solving is not the most useful place to start. Connecting with others and generating a context for help might be more important (which is hard for self-reliant people to prioritize first).

Failure isn’t so bad when here’s someone there to catch you. (His wife is doing well now, as is his company).