I’ll probably be laying down my Reading List for a while because July is jam-packed with activities that will keep me occupied. For one, we are moving residences to one that has a relatively bigger space. For another, I’ve signed a deal with three various design projects (an app, a website, and a logo). My project management skills will ultimately be put into test, given that these go into the moonlight. On the other hand, at my day job, it’s excites me to think about opening up opportunities for junior designers to join Product Design Manila at Avaloq — my team and I just need to lay down the foundation to support this move by having key people ready to hand-hold them once they arrive. In any case, feel free to message me in LinkedIn (yes, you, the junior designer).
A great leader inspires the team and elevates the people around them. They build a vision that engages and rallies people. With their craft skills, design leads can present the North Star with a powerful enough narrative to excite all disciplines.
A RACI, also known as a responsibility-assignment matrix, outlines how individuals with different specializations will participate in tasks such as work phases (e.g., discovery), activities (e.g., usability testing), and creation of deliverables (e.g., writing a screener or designing a prototype).
Often, you’ve become a manager, because you’re someone who loved mentoring and developing junior folks, and you’ve been tapped for management because people thrived with your support.
Once we get rid of the illusionary multitasking and the toxic productivity, cognitive bottlenecks are not inherently bad. They are just characteristics of our mind we need to consider when we plan our work and interact with the world.
This semi-rabbit hole exploration started this laid-back Saturday morning when I saw that Shotcut has an update that supports JSON animations. That’s when I found out about LottieFiles where you can get free animations that are downloadable as JSON files. It’s interesting to know that I can now add vector animations in Shotcut, however, the latest version of Shotcut (22.06) has a bug that fails to export to my favorite setting which is “YouTube” in MP4 format.
This led me to wonder how I can integrate Lottie animations in Figma through a plugin and there were two things that I discovered for myself:
I can add the vector frame of the Lottie animation in Figma, and
I can enhance my Figma prototypes using GIF animations from LottieFiles
Next week, I have an upcoming presentation to the design team about an introduction to DesignOps. One type of visual approach that I am planning is a static timeline chart that shows how capacity planning works. Then I remembered how Prezi animates their presentations — that’s how I wanted it to be. So I created Figma components that resizes in each frame depending on the zoom focus. Then each frame is connected in sequence through the prototype instant animate.
In Figma, it works in reverse compared to Prezi in the sense that:
In Figma, the frame is fixed, and you define the subject’s zoom and angle
In Prezi, the subject is fixed, and you define the frame’s zoom and angle
Many claims never get ‘debunked’ or definitively refuted, they just fade away as people stop talking about them, and you don’t notice an absence if you are simply reading what is put in front of you by the media or journals.
Onboarding is less about delivering information about your company, and more about allowing new employees to get to know each other and ask questions in a safe and supportive setting.
The key is to understand that specificity trades off against freedom, and then to consciously choose for yourself a location that best suits your personality and temperament.
Just because someone presents an argument, it does not mean that it is as valid as another point of view. Trying to meet in the middle with a false compromise could lead you further from the truth or away from the correct conclusion.
[ntt_rl_unsplash href=”Dq0N1y0YHC8″ photographer=”Luke van Zyl”]
Being an empathetic leader means fighting against your own biases, listening carefully to your reports, then using any privileges you have (by virtue of your leadership role or other factors) to take action on their behalf.
Almost anyone you know and respect as a writer is known and respected because they’re able to muster brute, linear willfulness. Even if they use Roam Research or whatever, if they’re actually publishing a real body of work, then it’s their brute linear willfulness despite the handicapping of knowledge graph overwhelm.
But the deferred life plan was a bit more sinister. It was an elusive pursuit of fleeting happiness. It was a flawed belief that my life would start once I hit “my number.” Or when I retired at sixty.
Instead of blindly following organisational goals, servant leaders prioritise the well-being and development of individuals within their team. This results in better engagement, better mental health, and better personal growth.
Say you’re about to announce a decision. But instead of falling back on your authority to justify it — because after all, you’re the boss and what you say goes — imagine you have to justify your decision. You have to walk people through your data and analysis.
From the inside, via introspection, each of us feels that our beliefs are pretty damn sensible. Sure we might harbor a bit of doubt here and there. But for the most part, we imagine we have a firm grip on reality; we don’t lie awake at night fearing that we’re massively deluded.
Efficiency is highly overrated; Goofing off is highly underrated. Regularly scheduled sabbaths, sabbaticals, vacations, breaks, aimless walks and time off are essential for top performance of any kind. The best work ethic requires a good rest ethic.
You want to be sure that you can see yourself not just in the role you’re currently applying for but that there is a career path at the organization that you’re excited about.
A scanned page bearing the lyrics draft of “Rasyon ng Inspirasyon”.
Rasyon ng Inspirasyon on YouTube
Rasyon ng Inspirasyon on SoundCloud
Just several months after the covid lockdown of 2020, I was already in dire need of hope. While in a life and death, sink and swim situation, a figure appeared on TV who gave me goosebumps that indeed I can rely on the government that we, as Filipinos, got it together. A “we’re figuring it out” response was just what I needed.
What kind of Philippines do I want for myself and for my family? A country that stands for human rights. A country that stands for fairness and justice. A country that stands for accountability. A country that inspires hope that in order to have a better life, we need to be better with ourselves, and with one another. A holistic approach.
Thank you, Leni, for inspiring us to hope for a better now and future. That inspiration is the intrinsic spark of your vice-presidency and presidential campaign run.
Rasyon ng Inspirasyon on Spotify Podcast
Rasyon ng Inspirasyon Podcast Transcript
Naaalala niyo pa ba nung magsimula ang covid lockdown dito sa Manila? On-going pa noon ang ashfall mula sa Taal volcano, kaya mag stock na kami ng masks. Magkasunod na pagsubok bumagsak sa ating lahat. Makalipas ang ilang buwan tsaka ko naramdaman ang kawalan ng pag-asa. Pakiramdam ko parang bangkang may butas ang ating bansa pagdating sa pandemic response. Isang araw, lumabas sa TV si Leni at nagpahayag ng mensahe ng pag-asa. Literal na tumindig ang balahibo ko dahil tsaka ko lang na-realize na pwede pala akong kumapit sa gobyerno.
Ito sa harapan ko ang isang tao na nakatayo sa gitna ng kaguluhan, nagsasabi na ito ang mga pwede nating gawin para ‘di tayo maglugmok ng epekto ng pandemya — sa kalusugan at ekonomiya. Salita lang ang mga ‘yon pero napakalaking bagay para sa akin na maging matatag at harapin ang takot.
Anong klaseng Pilipinas ang gusto ko para sa sarili at para sa pamilya ko? Pilipinas na nagpapahalaga sa buhay at karapatang pantao. Isang bansang makatarungan at patas. Isang bansang pinamumunuan ng mga tao na responsable sa kanilang mga tungkulin sa bayan. At higit sa lahat, isang bansa na nangingibabaw ang pag-asa. Pag-asa ang gas at langis natin upang bumangon at magpatuloy, upang maging mabuti unang-una sa ating sarili at sa isa’t-isa. Sa pamamagitan ng pag-asa tayo yayabong.
Nagpapasalamat ako sa’yo, Leni, dahil para sa akin naipakita mo kung ano ang posible para sa isang pinuno. Ang pagiging matino at pagbibigay ng inspirasyon at pag-asa.
Para sa inspirasyon na dulot mo ang kantang ito. May mga ilang salita akong naisulat na nagsisilbing pundasyon ng gusto kong sabihin sa kanta:
Tuloy-tuloy lang Huwag pigilan Ang pagbuhos ng rasyon ng inspirasyon
Tindig-balahibo Solusyon May pag-asa
May takdang araw May araw-araw
Ang mismong eleksyon, isang araw. Ang buhay natin, araw-araw.
Lahat tayong mga Pilipino ay nasa iisang bansa. Nasa iisang bangka. Magkakaiba tayo at magkakasama tayo. Isang matapat na pamumuno ang pinanghahawakan natin para patuloy tayo sa paglayag.
What I’m showing in this video is a microphone recording of a guitar that’s why there’s an amount of noise. To enhance it, I apply noise reduction and normalize in Audacity.
Some psychologists call this constant chasing of pleasure the “hedonic treadmill” because people who are constantly striving for a “better life” end up expending a ton of effort only to end up in the same place.
Many projects begin with principles (ex: easy, simple). But the hard part isn’t coming up with the principles so much as adhering to them or rather becoming subservient to them.
So moderating spam seems to quite clearly enable more free speech by making platforms for speech more usable. Without such moderation, the platforms would get less use and people would be less likely to be able to speak in the same manner.
While many of us have thought of being a good listener being like a sponge that accurately absorbs what the other person is saying, instead, what these findings show is that good listeners are like trampolines.
