Anita does content design, UX writing, and information architecture for the public good.
<p>18F was my dream org. I first learned about it while considering UX back around 2014. I literally bookmarked the website into my “aspirational” folder.</p> <p>I’m glad I made it in before it got wiped off the face of the earth tonight.</p> <p>My first week there, I had a virtual coffee with the Chief of Staff, who told me that “18F doesn’t ship software, it ships culture.” Being new, I didn’t…
<h2 id="how-cities-around-the-world-are-scaling-digital-transformation-(main-stage)" tabindex="-1">How cities around the world are scaling digital transformation (main stage)</h2> <p><em>Original thread on <a href="https://mastodon.publicinterest.town/@anitaycheng/112531162426013991" title="Thread about cities scaling digital transformation">Mastodon</a></em></p> <p>Made it back to CFASummit day 2…
<h2 id="why-states-care-more-about-customer-experience-than-ever-before-(main-stage)" tabindex="-1">Why states care more about customer experience than ever before (main stage)</h2> <p><em>Original thread on <a href="https://mastodon.publicinterest.town/@anitaycheng/112525422910742063" title="Thread about state governments and customer service">Mastodon</a></em></p> <p>At CFA Summit and snuck up…
<p>I don’t know about anyone else, but I never had to think so much about schedules before having a baby. The only times I needed to pay attention to were meetings and events. And if it wasn’t on my calendar, it simply didn’t exist!</p> <p>But for the first 6 months of my baby’s life, my life revolved around her sleep schedule.</p> <p>The truth is that babies are a lot like grownups. They don’t…
<p>So, I’m not familiar with who’s on the UXPA board and what kind of experience they have organizing a community. But I wonder if the current state of the UX community as a whole can somewhat explain how they arrived at their <a…
<h2 id="the-background" tabindex="-1">The background</h2> <p>I’ve always believed it was good wayfinding practice to mark where a particular page was in the global navigation, visually as well as in the code. That way the site visitor has an idea of where they are, especially if they landed on a secondary page from a link or a search result.</p> <p>This is easy enough to do when hand-coding. But…
<p>My summary for <a href="https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-1066/">This Week in Virology Clinical Update #1066</a>:</p> <ul> <li>Some discussion over the microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles in New Zealand suing her employer (University of Auckland) for failing to protect her from harassment when doing her job of communicating science. Dr. Racaniello says researchers should be paid by their universities…
<p>My summary for <a href="https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-1064/">This Week in Virology Clinical Update #1064</a>:</p> <ul> <li>The CDC released 70K+ more doses of the RSV vaccines for babies.</li> <li>The anti-vaccine movement is starting to show in measles cases. Increase of 18% in cases and 43% increase in deaths worldwide from 2021 to 2022. Most of the deaths are in young kids.</li> <li>A VA…
<p>My summary for <a href="https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-1062/">This Week in Virology Clinical Update #1062</a>:</p> <ul> <li>More kindergarteners are being exempted from “required” vaccinations for various things nowadays, including DTap and polio. The percentage of exempted children is more than 5% in <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7245a2.htm#F2_down">10 states</a>. Most…
<p>For the past 5.5 weeks, I’ve been on the jury for a civil trial. We had a few more weeks to go, but they settled today, woohoo! I can finally say something about it!</p> <p>So uh, here are some lessons about the subject matter in the trial that I will take with me: 😅</p> <ol> <li>You cannot necessarily tell if a truck requires a commercial license to drive just by looking at it. It’s sobering…
<h2 id="a-post-conference-reflection" tabindex="-1">A post-conference reflection</h2> <p>When <a href="https://meyerweb.com/eric/">Eric Meyer</a> emailed me one day out of the blue, asking if I was interested in speaking at An Event Apart, I couldn’t believe my eyes. When I was just getting started in UX, I knew I’d get the most illuminating (and current!) tips about design and web development…
<p>About 2 weeks ago, I gave birth to my first baby. After a fairly uneventful pregnancy (where I continued being the <a href="/work/covid/">sole content designer on SF COVID work</a> almost the whole time), the delivery was more complicated. But baby is healthy and I am well on the road to recovery!</p> <p>I haven’t quite internalized that I am a <em>mom</em> quite yet. Instead, the overwhelming…
<p>“Content design” as a discipline is becoming more and more popular. Not only is its importance felt in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-designer">government spaces</a>, but it’s also now <a href="https://medium.com/facebook-design/why-were-moving-from-content-strategy-to-content-design-e288a70169b8">the default job title for content jobs at Facebook</a>.</p> <h2…
<p><em>The following is adapted from my <a href="/talk/content-design-center-stage">Confab 2021</a> talk.</em></p> <hr> <p>Starting March 2020, content designers from San Francisco Digital Services were <a href="https://medium.com/san-francisco-digital-services/content-in-a-pandemic-e8470e638175">on the front lines of SF’s COVID-19 response</a>. We sat with hundreds of other City staff, all…
<p>These are the day 2 talks I could attend. I couldn’t make it on Day 1 because it was Health Order Update Day. (Those in COVID response know... 😬)</p> <p>But you can look at the slides and videos yourself on <a href="https://digital.gov/event/2020/10/27/plain-language-summit-2020/">Digital.gov’s webpage about the event</a>!</p> <h2…
<h2 id="elemental%3A-or%2C-how-ia-makes-us-smarter-by-jorge-arango" tabindex="-1">Elemental: Or, how IA makes us smarter by Jorge Arango</h2> <p><em>Original thread on <a href="https://twitter.com/anitaycheng/status/1231284211320942593">Twitter</a></em></p> <figure><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="/images/8P3K-ApEFO-400.webp 400w, /images/8P3K-ApEFO-800.webp 800w,…
<p>I just finished a round of hiring for the first time! Here are things I personally have learned, for those of you applying for jobs. Keep in mind that since my team is so small and we have no money for recruiters, I was the one doing resume screens, phone screens, and panel interviews, and these are things that jumped out at me seeing this from the other side for the first time.</p> <ul>…
<h2 id="designing-adobe-xd-with-ainsley-wagoner" tabindex="-1">Designing Adobe XD with Ainsley Wagoner</h2> <p><em>Original thread on <a href="https://twitter.com/anitaycheng/status/1202424835906781184">Twitter</a></em></p> <p>First up is <a href="https://ainsleywagoner.com/">Ainsley Wagoner</a> to talk about her work with Adobe XD. It’s easy to add new features but it’s really about the…
<p>Content on government sites need a lot of work! San Francisco is no different. Digital Services is working hard making content as accessible and user-centered as possible.</p> <p>We’re handling it all between 2 content designers, and we need more help. We’re looking for a senior content strategist right now, and will post 2 content designer jobs later in the year.</p> <p>We need to recruit for…
<p><em>The following is the eulogy I gave at my mom’s memorial, in a chapel surrounded by her quilts.</em></p> <p>I would not be standing here, speaking to all of you wonderful people today, if it wasn’t for my mom. Not because of the obvious reason, but because during my childhood, I had a severe stutter. Speaking in front of anyone at all was out of the question.</p> <p>In high school, I did a…
<p>Did you know what you wanted to do with your life at 22? Neither did I!</p> <p>I had graduated with a hard science major, looking forward to a career mostly working alone and with my hands. I wanted to avoid “office politics,” and avoid writing. (I thought I wasn’t good at writing; I had gotten a better score on the SAT math section than the writing section.)</p> <p>I <em>thought</em> that’s…
<p>In 2017, I moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco to work at the <a href="https://sfmohcd.org/">Mayor’s Office of Housing & Community Development (MOHCD)</a>. I told my friends that I was going to work on affordable housing there. I’d always append that with, “Yes, I know there is no affordable housing in San Francisco!”</p> <p>But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people trying to change…
<p>10 years ago today, a Batman movie was released. Normally that’s nothing to celebrate, so I’m amused to see 10-year retrospectives of <em>The Dark Knight</em> across multiple entertainment news sites. There are already articles about how the film changed moviemaking and geek culture forever, for <a…
<p>It’s just about that time – a lot of people I know are looking for a new role. And one part of that experience looms over all others: the job interview!</p> <p>Turns out I have a lot of feelings about job interviews <a href="/writing/how-to-make-an-impact-as-a-designer">too</a>. Here’s what I have learned, as someone who doesn’t suck at job interviews even though she sucks at speaking (more on…
<p>So one thing has recently gotten my goat design-wise, and it’s not the usual handwringing about portfolios or coding or even <a href="https://twitter.com/mralancooper/status/992200502740893696">“what do we call ourselves?”</a> (Although those are entertaining too, in their own right.)</p> <p>I’m talking about something more inherent about design, in how newbies are approaching the design field.…
<p>Recent design grad, I can’t assure you that I know what I’m doing. I’m only a few years off of a career change into design myself, from a completely unrelated field. I still remember how I felt when I was totally green. But hey, I’m still here and actually being given more responsibilities the longer I do this, so I’d say it’s worked pretty well so far!</p> <p>Here are some tips I’ve learned,…
<p>In this era of job hunting, we hear it <em>all the time</em>: “To find a job, it’s all about networking!” Indeed, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-survey-reveals-85-all-jobs-filled-via-networking-lou-adler">studies have shown that up to 85% of all jobs are filled via networks,</a> although “networking” seems mysterious and insurmountable when you’re just starting out. And especially…
<p>Despite continued insistence that <a href="https://twitter.com/">Twitter</a> is on its way out, it’s still one of the best resources for design right now. Tech moves so fast, that by the time information reaches a book, it’s often already 6 months outdated. Twitter is the most immediate way to see what experienced designers are up to, and you can even engage with them personally if you like.…
<p>Psssst. Hey. Hey you. You new-grad/career-changer/just-curious looking into this coding stuff. I bet you’ve heard how hot the technology sector is, how it’s so easy to find a job. At the same time, you’ve also heard (and vehemently disagree with) the assertion that people nowadays, not just Millennials, only care about themselves and getting theirs. You want to do more with your life, you want…
<h2 id="dawn-ressel" tabindex="-1"><a href="https://twitter.com/uxdawn">Dawn Ressel</a></h2> <p>Was 1 of 3 designers at Intuit to 500 devs! Needed to have them empathize with customer makes for a stronger product.</p> <p>Intuit’s mission is to improve the customer’s financial experience so much “they can't go back to the old way.”</p> <p>Devs can be a powerful source of innovation because “they…
<p><a href="https://www.crowdcast.io/e/bobby-meeks-ama-autozone-ux/register">Crowdcast link to the original webinar</a></p> <p>Bobby Meeks from Autozone started out when UX was called “customer advocacy,” designing nurses stations in hospitals. Then onto FedEx and accessibility.</p> <p>Bobby has a great boss at Autozone. You have to have an executive sponsor who knows design and business!</p>…
<p>SoCal Code Camp 2016 took place at USC, which was nice because it was a quick train ride on the Expo Line. This was my <a href="/talk/devs-vs-designers/">second time speaking</a>, and I learned a ton! Every time I go and do this, it gets easier. (Hence all the Toastmaster-ing!)</p> <p>SoCal Code Camp is great because they open it up to absolutely anyone who wants to give a talk. One speaker I…
<h2 id="we%E2%80%99re-in-ux-to-help-people" tabindex="-1">We’re in UX to help people</h2> <p>UXers think, “This is bullshit, and I want to help fix this.”</p> <h2 id="ux-has-to-recruit-all-other-team-members-to-get-buy-in" tabindex="-1">UX has to recruit all other team members to get buy-in</h2> <p>Book rec: It’s Our Research by Erika Hall.</p> <p>Always fight for research, otherwise the HIPPO…
<p>Ever feel so tired and stressed, you can’t figure out how you ended up doing what you’re doing? Between work and/or school, family, friends, errands of adult life, we are running from one thing to another, not having a second to stop and take a breather. We just can’t afford the time.</p> <p>“It’s just the realities of adult life,” we tell ourselves. Adulthood means doing things we don’t want…
<p><strong>Update in 2023:</strong> A lot of things have changed since I originally wrote this! Most of it still holds true, but now there's <a href="https://desktop.github.com/">GitHub Desktop</a> which serves most of my content-updating needs. I highly recommend <a href="https://digital.gov/resources/an-introduction-github/">this tutorial video from Digital.gov about GitHub and GitHub…
<p>Let’s be honest here. “User research” seems like this giant mysterious thing that you can only have if your company has a dedicated UX department with trained UX researchers, and the financial resources to pay users generously for their time in talking with you. If you don’t have that, might as well throw up your hands and call it a lost cause, right? Wrong! There are always ways to find out…
<p>How many of you have a smartphone? How many of you sleep with it next to your bed at night? Don’t be shy! Pew Research says 44% of smartphone owners have done exactly that. Marketing research has also shown that 75% of smartphone owners use their smartphones in the bathroom. Clearly, we love being connected, all the time. Some of the largest websites in the world now are social media sites –…
<blockquote> <p>If you’re just here for the code, go to the <a href="https://github.com/AnitaYCheng/ParallaxFeaturedImage">project on GitHub</a>!</p> </blockquote> <p>This is a solution I made while working on the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150301192556/http://www.flyingeyes.biz/">Flying Eyes site </a>– check that out as a demo of this solution.</p> <p>Since I like making things easier…
<p>Okay, that’s kind of a lie. Rejection does suck on some level, always. But since it’s already happened to you and life is short, might as well learn from it, that’s my motto! Learn how to approach the situation differently, learn the situations to avoid, and maybe even let it shift your worldview a little.</p> <p>I had cold-emailed a developer, offering my skills to his company on a contract…
<p>I found out recently that I’m a “freakin’ unicorn.” <a href="https://youtu.be/0jTjYI_l8cg">A TEDx speaker had described herself as one</a>, and I realized I was part of her esteemed group. 1% of the population stutters. 80% of that 1% are men. I’m a stutterer, and I’m a woman. Yup, I’m a “freakin’ unicorn.”</p> <p>It always surprises me when people say, “Wow, when I first met you, I had no idea…
<p>So I quit my job a little more than a month ago. I did cancer research, and I decided to go into user experience design. A number of people, when I told them, kind of scoffed at the idea and probably thought that I had to turn in my hippie idealist card. <em>Design</em>? Isn’t that just making something pretty? How is <em>that</em> going to help people, besides making Apple fans even more…