Hi, I’m Brian Dys — a photographer from the inside looking out · a composer entangled in electronic music · a UX designer · a spouse, a parent, & everything in between.
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One of the items in the reading list is about copying and how it is inherent to design (and child development, actually). As designers, we pride ourselves of our originality — personally, to the point of stubbornness. I recall a period in my career when I avoided looking at other people’s works as inspiration — out of fear of being unoriginal. It was pride, as I retrospect.
Collaboration is key to almost anything one wants to accomplish efficiently. All of us rely on each other even indirectly. Copying is inevitable in a world where no person is an island. Legalities and what your conscience says, that’s a different story.
Sharing for free
“Really, you’re giving it away for free?” A mentee uttered in surprise (pertaining to a solicited advice). Perhaps our session provided her with some nuggets of wisdom (as it should be). I could imagine lightbulbs flashing in her mind as we discussed about her career.
“This is also how I got them through the years,” I said, “for free”.
To all the generous folks out there sharing their thoughts, resources, and anything that helps anyone, I’m also paying it forward.
In the spirit of copying
I liked the style of the copying article so I replicated it in the “Libre Sakay!” graphic design. If you would like to spin it out yourself, feel free!
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Ever since I was welcomed in Amazing Design People List, I’m having more opportunity to help my fellow practitioners in the tech industry. It is by sharing what I know and what I’m experiencing that coincide with what they are exploring — commonly among them — navigating their way in or into the world of user experience (UX).
Most of them who reached out to me were Filipinos. It makes sense to discuss with someone who has less cultural and language barrier. The conversations went smoothly as much as it could, especially that we both could express in Taglish (a combo of Tagalog and English languages).
Sharing, so far, is what I would call this stage of our engagements. The designers I’ve met on the other side of the screen — most of them are looking to break their way into the world of UX. I’m looking forward to be of help as these journeys unfold.
Mentorship feedback
Kuya Dys provided me with a wealth of information about the hiring process and how to make my resume and portfolio stand up. He is knows the field inside out and I really enjoyed his insights on design in the Philippines. I would recommend him if you need career advice and a good chat on design in general.
William Tolbize, 9 March 2021
Dys is very effective in providing mentorship. He can pinpoint your strengths and provide insightful advice. I am a career shifter and in our conversation, he has provided me with actionable points on how I can apply my current experience to the UX career that I want. Aside from this, his perspective comes from plenty of years of experience. If you are in need of career advice, I highly recommend scheduling with him.
Javi Veron, 17 February 2021
Hi there. I had a great time with Brian during our mentorship session. As a junior UI/UX Designer starting out in the industry, Brian gave me a lot of valuable feedback and career advice on how I can forge my UX career ahead. If you’re looking for a mentor or you need advice when you’re starting out, I highly recommend him to anyone who’s seeking mentorship in the design community. Ultimately, Brian’s really passionate, enthusiastic and knowledgeable in the field.
Nathan Santos, 19 January 2021
Brian was very passionate and straightforward in reviewing my portfolio when I contacted him in Adplist.org as my mentor. I highly recommend Brian in being a mentor specially if you want to be in the fintech industry as a UX Designer. He gave me a lot of information on how I can improve my portfolio as I am transitioning from Graphic Designer to a UX Designer.
John Patrick Juinio, 10 January 2021
Brian is the best design teacher anyone could come across. He explains concepts really well and has lots of patience.
Samuel Bartels, 18 December 2020
Brian is a great listener and would willingly review your portfolio on how you can improve it. He is comfortable not sugar-coating things which is a good thing for us designers so that we will have a honest feedback from a perspective of a designer. He gave me advice on what are my next step in my portfolio and on what are the things I should have improve in the future.
JP, 22 October 2020
Sharing his own journey in UX with me and helping me get a better understanding of UX team structures. He also pointed me towards new resources and opportunities! Helped me better understand UX in the Philippines.
Lindy, 7 October 2020
Since we were both new in our roles, Brian was able to help me craft a strategy on how to approach my first few months of work as a UX Strategist. We were able to cover the tactical aspects on the approach and layout a game plan.
Carlos, 5 October 2020
Prior to our session, I reached out to Brian on LinkedIn simply to connect and say ‘hi’ and he kindly offered to passively chat about questions I might have. He is an excellent listener and gives insightful and practical advice. He asked questions that made me ponder about my career.
Jean, 18 September 2020
He gave me a boost of confidence and a clearer view of what to expect upon career transitioning and the industry!
Rendell, 28 August 2020
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You’re on mute
A related experience that I had with regard to the oh-so-important “mute” button: so, there was this big presentation for a big local banking client wherein I would present this white-labeled web app mock-ups to the stakeholders. And I was on mute.
However, no matter how I set the visual state of the WebEx button, I was still on mute. Tinkering on the audio settings did not save me from the awkward silence of everyone in the call.
It ended up that I asked a colleague to save the day and present the designs while I became the slide switcher.
Right after the call, I noticed that a button on my keyboard was lit. Yep, it was the mute button and it was active. WebEx failed to deactivate it. What a learning experience in the expense of users!
The truth is
Sure, truth is subjective. We, humans, when we go out of our heads and into the world, we must share a common truth — the same things that we believe to be true — that will hold its ground for an indefinite time.
In user interface design, there’s this thing that we call “single source of truth”. It is a design artifact that everyone refers to when needed. For example, what is the single source of truth for our brand color red?
Surely, if that red’s color value exists in one designer’s safekeeping, they might have missed (whether they missed the news entirely or missed updating their own instance) that the branding department have already updated the shade of the red which they also have in their safekeeping.
Then we can surmise that the benefit of having a single source of truth for the color red boils down to efficiency. Efficiency of maintaining only one instance (works well in the digital world) and efficiency of communications because everyone trusts that the instance is aligned with everyone.
Oh, yeah, the reading list
- State-Switch Controls: The Infamous Case of the “Mute” Button
- In search of the truth, and a song…
- On compromise in product design
- The Psychology of Misinformation During the 2020 U.S. Elections
- The hermeneutic circle: a key to critical reading
- Daniel Ek on The Observer Effect
This comes back to how you view your role as a leader. My job is to try to be value-add. If you think about a pyramid, there’s a fellow Swede who ran SAS, Scandinavian Airlines, who said the right way to think about leadership is you’re not at the top of the pyramid. You should invert the pyramid and envision yourself as the guy at the bottom. You are there to enable all the work being done. That’s my mental image of what I’m here to do at Spotify.
Daniel Ek
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- A Personal Interface
- Being intentional about your career decisions — Rachel Inman
Taking on reports is a serious responsibility. I’ll be responsible for the careers of other people! If and when I do become a manager, I want to do a kick-ass job at it. I want to be there for my reports and support them in every way I can.
Rachel Inman
- How to listen — really listen — to someone you don’t agree with
- Survivorship bias: when failure gets forgotten
- Why Naval Ravikant Thinks Remote Work Is The Future
- Time is not a measure of productivity
- Microsoft will allow employees to stay remote permanently
- How to Resolve Conflicts with a Remote Coworker
- Refine, Remodel, Rebuild: 3 Strategies for Experience Improvement
- Full bleed layout using simple CSS
- The Widening Responsibility for Front-End Developers
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- It’s Not Only Women Who Want More Intimacy in Relationships
- Skill Mapping: A Digital Template for Remote Teams
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Advice for Living
What enabled me to take part in the effort to free our daughters and sons to achieve whatever their talents equipped them to accomplish, with no artificial barriers blocking their way? First, a mother who, by her example, made reading a delight and counseled me constantly to “be independent,” able to fend for myself, whatever fortune might have in store for me.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Being Smart is Not Enough
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Tokyo, October 5, 2020 – NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced the acquisition of Avaloq Group AG (Avaloq), a leading Swiss financial software company. The acquisition of Avaloq will provide NEC with digital finance software and domain knowledge as it enters into the field globally and strengthens its business in the digital government field. The acquisition is expected to be worth 2.05 billion Swiss francs, and to be completed by April 2021, following the confirmation of necessary procedures and approvals for each organization.
NEC acquires a leading Swiss financial software company, Avaloq