Wes O'Haire

Wes O'Haire

Product Designer at Dropbox

Product Designer at @Dropbox. Previously at @Hudl. All day every day.

5 action items

Maintain the quality of design work as your team grows

    • In addition to design systems, you'll want to focus on fixing this problem at an organizational level.

    • Shorten your feedback loops

      Lot's of inconsistency problems can be traced back to poor communication. As a design org grows, so does the time it takes to get feedback on work. Make sure the team is getting constant critique time in. Encourage showing work very early and very often.... See more

    • Focus on highly-collaborative designers

      Yes, designers need maker time, but we also need to be more collaborative with our counterparts in other functions. Hiring a team of great solo designers will only add to the consistency problem. Look for signals on how a designer works with other designers/PMs/engineers when you're interviewing them.... See more

    • Highlight poor quality and inconsistency

      It's hard to fix a problem unless you constantly see it. Do a regular audit of some of the major flows within your product (e.g. purchase flows or sharing flows). Post them to your #design Slack channel. The goal isn't to publicly shame, but the goal is to be transparent about the product we're designing together.... See more

Know the signs of burnout

    • We're all different, so the signs will be different. Learn what makes you tick, and measure those things on a monthly basis. If you're not constantly getting fed and challenged, you'll burnout.

    • Take care of your body.

      You hear it all of the time, but it's true. Eat right, and exercise weekly. It's good for managing stress.

    • Learn something new.

      If you haven't learned anything new in awhile, that will burn you out. Take a year and focus on a new soft skill, or meet some interesting people.