When looking for design events to attend, I found one that had 3 talks and a networking event. The event was Design Driven NYC #32 (A FirstMark Event). It’s a monthly design meetup where the host finds speakers to speak on many different topics within the design world. This can vary from product design, to graphics design, to the actual process of how a design team should work. It’s many different topics and allows the viewer to learn many different perspectives within the field. The three speakers in the event were Tania Philip, VP of Product at Shutterstock, Orr Shtuhl & Ryan Hines, Product Designers at The Wirecutter and Nir Eyal, Author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. These were three great speeches and here is what I learned.
Tania Philips was a great talker. She discussed the process that a company should take to make a successful product. This included many things such as transparency and being able to discuss issues with your team. She also mentioned interesting things like how the team should be aligned and work at a pace. She also discussed her experience at Shutterstock and what she believed to be the best process to a great product.
Orr Shtuhl & Ryan Hines, were great speakers as well. They discussed their task to rebrand wirecutter. This led them to discuss the many challenges of rebranding a company. Their specific issues were that the company had to two websites that were merging, this set many challenges for them since they wanted to keep the personalities of both old websites. They also discussed how wirecutter was purchased by The New York Times and they had to work with their product team closely. Many challenges for a team who was trying to create something different and owned by a company with generations of reputation. They didn’t want the company to feel to away from the Times but they also wanted the rebranding to feel fresh. They decided on an approach and went full out with the deliverables, they are currently still working on many features like any product team should be. I loved this since my ultimate goal is to become a product designer.
Nir Eyal was the best speaker in terms of public speaking skills. It definitely came off as if he does this for a living, which was great and allowed him to execute his ideas better than other speakers. His main focus was to make a product successful. He believed in this process called hooked. He believed that you have to discovered the psychology of what people really need, and if you’re not solving a problem then your product will never be successful. Which makes complete sense, if it’s not an issue that people want solved then your product won’t be successful. I feel like innovation too is a good way to have a successful company but I also agree it should solve a problem.
I learned a lot throughout the event, and I’m glad it was many materials that I can bring back and incorporate them into my job.
