Uday Gajendar s musings on design
Value is an overused word. Particularly in Silicon Valley tech culture, amid investor-led conversations, value is so very heavily overused. Value this, value that. Keep generating value. Yes, yes, of course! Yet, it all seems just so trite, and empty, as a practical concept. What does value even mean to those striving to improve people s Continue reading "Design as value "
Design is about quality. Design is so loaded of a word, right!? Either it s too emotional or too pedantic, with over-justified rationale that’s evolved into trendy buzzwords plastered on magazine covers (ahem, design thinking ?). And still, in 2020, design is seen primarily as simply making things look sexy, exciting, glamorous. Pretty. Sigh. However, quality is Continue reading "Design as…
Design is about discipline. I’ve learned over the years that “process†can be a touchy word in hi-tech culture. It connotes bureaucracy and politics, time-wasting tedium on checks-and-balances, for their own sake. To suggest that a team follow a design process can imply emphasis on the project management aspects, sauntering through a sequentialized, mechanized, procedure. Continue reading…
As we’re forced to go fully virtual during the COVID-19 global pandemic, questions arise about how to virtualize those we take for granted as routine normal when we’re in the office. For instance, what does it mean to be present? How do we organize our attention? What level of fidelity of communications is good? Continue reading "Presence comms for virtual work"
Now that working from home has been mandated as the new norm, while we endure the uneasy uncertainty of the coronavirus, it’s a good time to reflect upon some nuances that impact the quality of productivity, when going fully virtual. This goes beyond useful tips for remote work practices, or arranging a suitable home-office setup. Continue reading "Anchors rhythms in a virtual existence"
With fearsome speed the covid-19 global pandemic has prompted some radical transformations, not mere changes, that will have long-standing effects — as a true “black swan†event like 9/11. A new normalcy will prevail, demanding profound adjustments to our behaviors, and attitudes. This is true across many facets of our lives — but I’d like Continue reading "What are we missing here?"
I often joke that Friday is when I can finally catch my breath after a hectic week at work, and survey the damage. With so much context-shifting and decision-making — it’s a head-holding moment of “what the hell happened� Well, these last couple Fridays (and perhaps into the foreseeable future) this joke has taken a Continue reading "Sense-making what doesn’t make sense"
Being a design leader is worthwhile challenge rewarding yet difficult. Indeed, it involves a mix of paradoxical qualities that take practice effort to master, over much time! Be humble in receiving inputs, yet defend a point of view Know when to say you don’t know, yet project confidence in knowing the path to Continue reading "Paradoxes of (design) leadership"
As designers, we re constantly being thrown into situations whereby we must help a team who often believes that having some screens will fix everything go through a (not-so-straightforward) journey of understanding and discovery and ultimately resolution. We all know it s not easy and often takes multiple iterative attempts, usually with changing players and adjusted Continue reading "From…
My current title/role at Automation Anywhere is UX Architect — but what does this mean? Titles mean all kinds of things per various contexts to different people. For me and my team, I approach this role in terms of three pillars: 1 Lead a joint ongoing effort (via our Design Ops team coordinating Continue reading "Being a UX Architect"