I know I should probably start with an intro for the first one but I’m just jumping right in.
Florida!!!
This week a small group of us spent some time in our Gainesville office. It’s one of my favorite offices that we have. Some of our engineering leaders are based there, the hotel is super close, and I enjoy spending time with our designers in that area whenever I can.
Those of us who traveled to Gainesville for the week were there to workshop a simplified version of our experience. Leading into the week we had some of the team map out the current experience so that we could all share the same understanding of where we were starting from.
I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of the team. In just two days we identified two different personas, mapped out flows with two entry points, and then designed all of the necessary screens. By the time the week was over the prototypes were built out and ready to test. We’ll be sharing it with senior product management leaders next week and I’ll be walking key executives through the work at our Design SteerCo on Tuesday afternoon.
New Photos
A few weeks ago I had some new photos taken for the Design Executive Council. I was able to spend some time in the studio with Carrie Allen one week that I happened to be home in Charlotte. It’s been awhile since I’ve had headshots taken and I am really happy with how these turned out. There are so many that I like that I’m probably going to experiment with different ones across different platforms.
Here are two that I haven’t posted anywhere before.
Other highlights and links from the week
Obviously the song of the week is Florida!!! by Taylor Swift feat. Florence + The Machine from The Tortured Poets Department, which I’ve listened to coast to coast quite a few times already.
Favorite place I ate: Dragonfly is one of my favorite places in Gainesville. I have been there every time I’ve visited the office out there. The spicy tuna crispy rice is 👌
What I’m reading: I just finished Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. Our Chief Product Officer was in the Navy and I wanted to read something to help me deepen my connection with him and see if there were any insights I could gather about his leadership style.
What I started watching: Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story on Hulu
I also picked up this New Era hat that is the perfect summer hat and totally me.
Well, that’s about it for this week. As I get the hang of this, I’ll share more details about myself, the things I enjoy, and the nuances (exciting developments and challenges) of being a Chief Design Officer.
Thanks for reading. 👋