#designleader

[callmejulesrai]

St. Pete, FL & Gentrification

St. Pete, Florida. Known for its vibrant downtown, top ranked beaches, and charming way of life - this city located near Tampa has been booming in population. However, with the pandemic and individuals relocating, St. Pete is experiencing high rates of homelessness and gentrification. It’s caught the attention of hundreds of thousands of people who have a desire to call this place home. While now becoming a top destination and place to live, developers have found their way in and city legislation has allowed them to turn neighborhoods into luxury condo/apartment buildings only a certain class of individuals can afford. While the recent boom has brought in more jobs, locals and their businesses are being pushed out. The city no longer feels small and quaint and some are calling it Miami’s little sister.

[callmejulesrai]

Bathrooms for all

While still controversial, gender neutral bathrooms have been an ongoing discussion for the LGBTQIA+ community. However, they are a great example of cultural parameters. While many agree and many disagree with the need for gender neutral bathrooms, they provide a safe space for individuals who might not otherwise feel safe in women or men specific restrooms.

Having the option for these gender neutral bathrooms is important for inclusivity and DEI initiatives for organizations and public spaces.

[callmejulesrai]

Telehealth

The pandemic created a plethora of needs that designers needed to create a new solution to - one that was digital friendly. Telehealth appointments weren’t new to the pandemic, but they weren’t common practice for most offices/physicians either. All over the world, people needed to stay on top of their health more than ever. The problem? The world was on lock-down. Designers had to think quickly, be adaptable, and work toward solutions to address the concerns. Working amongst tangible and intangible solutions, designers had to work against time, emotional constraint, public opinion, and technology to improve Telehealth services worldwide. While advances are still being made to enhance Telehealth today, designers paved the way to exploring digital health and providing better patient experiences and outcomes.

[callmejulesrai]

5 days, one solution: Design Sprints

Design sprints are a design leadership tool I would love to look more into and encourage implementation at my current organization.

Time, resources, and budgets are constantly strained - and design sprints could be a solution. As design sprints help companies enter new markets, design new products, develop new features for millions of users, define marketing strategies, and so on, design sprints can answer critical business questions and needs.

Companies such as Nest, Amazon, Medium and Uber are just a few using design sprints in their growth and design processes. Medium, for example, performed a design sprint on a new app for millennials. The results after the 5 days were both expected and a complete surprise. In my organization, there’s a lot of growth happening - some bad, some great. Sometimes we are going in blind and not really sure what’s at the end of the finish line.

[callmejulesrai]

A designers love/hate relationship: feedback

For week 6 of my visual diary, I have chosen feedback as a design leadership tool id like to learn more about or practice.

I would say that it’s fair most people have at one point or another struggled to take feedback, whether constructive or not, and the same is true for myself. As designers, I think we can often get caught up in the passion of our creativity and feedback has a way of making one rethink their process or design. However, feedback is also crucial for improvement and ensuring success. Without feedback, we wouldn’t be able to continuously grow our craft and increase our creative ability.

[callmejulesrai]

Confections with Convictions is a perfect example of a business that both helps and serves. Based in Kalamazoo, MI - Confections with Convictions serves artisan chocolates that hires young individuals with criminal records who have difficulties finding employment. The sole purpose of Confections with Convictions is to not only serve the community of Kalamazoo with delicious and unique chocolates, but also serving as a safe and reliable place for young individuals looking to better theirselves.

[callmejulesrai]

Ketchup/condiment bottles

I believe ketchup or condiment bottles such as mustard, ranch, etc. are a great example of a human-centered design. The bottles were originally made of glass and an awkward shape to not only hold, but control the flow of product. Moving to the new bottle provides easy holding (indents in middle), plastic to reduce breakage, and the ability to squeeze or control the product. The new bottle was designed with the user in mind making it human-centered.

[nice-lines]

Visual diary #10 | Instances of Putting a Stake in the Ground

Trader Joe’s is in a league of their own.

In a time where more and more stores are closing physical locations, Trader Joe’s seems to be thriving. It is safe to say this is largely due to how they have differentiated themselves among other grocery store chains

Trader Joe’s is very different than its competitions. From the moment you walk into a store to the time you checkout, it becomes more and more obvious that there is something fundamentally different about their stores. Their employees are always out on the floor, stocking the shelves and looking for opportunities to chat with customers. Trader Joe’s doesn’t stock their shelves at night. They do it during the day so their employees can be home with their families and so there is always someone close by to answer questions.

The options for items at Trader Joe’s is also different. Instead of having dozens of different salsa’s, cereals, cheeses, and beers, Trader Joe’s only stocks a handful of options for every item. This keeps the choices simple without overwhelming the customer. It also makes it easier for them to source products and track which items generate a following or are a flop.

Many of the differences between Trader Joe’s and its competitors are obvious and are experienced after spending time in a store. Upon closer inspection however, the differences only deepen as you begin to look at how staff are hired, how food is selected, how artwork is chosen, and how locations are decided upon.

Trader Joe’s has thrived when many other stores have failed. I believe this is in large part due to every Trader Joe’s employee putting a collective stake in the ground and buying fully in on a simplified, straightforward shopping experience. Other grocery stores may look at Trader Joe’s and dismiss their decisions as flawed, but that would be wrong. It is Trader Joe’s thoughtfulness and long-term vision that has separated them in the industry.

References:

Benham-Archdeacon-Lattice, Hayley. (2017, Sept. 18). What Trader Joe’s figured out about work culture that my other past employers haven’t. [Weblog post] Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/40468445/what-trader-joes-figured-out-about-work-culture-that-my-other-past-employers-havent

Cop, Phillip. (2018, Sept. 6). Trader Joe’s Success Formula and What Can Other Retailers Learn From It [Weblog post] Retrieved from https://www.mytotalretail.com/article/trader-joes-success-formula-and-what-can-other-retailers-can-learn-from-it/