Thanks for this post, Maya! It's so important to notice which mental model(s) we are using when we think about the way we make things. Even something as simple as visualizing the design process moving from left to right can totally affect where and when and whether we see a role for the traditional skills of designers & researchers (nowadays I call those "UX Skills for Business Strategy" 😍). If you haven't already I recommend looking into Erika Flowers' thinking about the mental models underlying our work now such as "Trade Your Double Diamonds for Steel" (https://eflowers.substack.com/p/trade-your-double-diamonds-for-steel) and "Zero Stage to Orbit" (https://eflowers.substack.com/p/zero-stage-to-orbit) - it's fun to see what happens when we toss out the whole left-to-right model! Please keep writing about this, it's important 📚
Great point. Our go to mental models are such a limiting factor in how we make. Thank you for sharing Erika's piece, I had not read it and it is brilliant. I'm currently digesting, there's so much good thinking to consider. I need to lean into this optimism "discovery and delivery mix continuously" because I'm not seeing much of the former, but perhaps language is the problem: process and models have validated how we work, they've helped us communicate, supported alignment efforts, and sometimes they've been our strong arm. I love the idea of starting fresh. More to come.
Thanks for this post, Maya! It's so important to notice which mental model(s) we are using when we think about the way we make things. Even something as simple as visualizing the design process moving from left to right can totally affect where and when and whether we see a role for the traditional skills of designers & researchers (nowadays I call those "UX Skills for Business Strategy" 😍). If you haven't already I recommend looking into Erika Flowers' thinking about the mental models underlying our work now such as "Trade Your Double Diamonds for Steel" (https://eflowers.substack.com/p/trade-your-double-diamonds-for-steel) and "Zero Stage to Orbit" (https://eflowers.substack.com/p/zero-stage-to-orbit) - it's fun to see what happens when we toss out the whole left-to-right model! Please keep writing about this, it's important 📚
Great point. Our go to mental models are such a limiting factor in how we make. Thank you for sharing Erika's piece, I had not read it and it is brilliant. I'm currently digesting, there's so much good thinking to consider. I need to lean into this optimism "discovery and delivery mix continuously" because I'm not seeing much of the former, but perhaps language is the problem: process and models have validated how we work, they've helped us communicate, supported alignment efforts, and sometimes they've been our strong arm. I love the idea of starting fresh. More to come.