• Who I Hire

    One of the questions I got asked a few times after last week's post on recruiting was What are the consistent things you find in product designers...

  • Recruiting Designers - By the Numbers

    For the last six months or so I've been leading the charge for recruiting design talent at Etsy. We've hired at a brisk pace in that time and I've...

  • Just Ship*

    For years, my career has been centered around one short, simple phrase. When you're the only designer at a five-person, seed-funded startup, "just...

  • Uninformed Redesigns

    I was telling this story to someone the other day and thought it might be worthwhile to post it. A few years ago, I found myself on a phone interview...

  • Iterating on Culture

    Whenever I hear someone speaking about their company's iterative culture, they're usually talking about product development. Ship fast and break...

  • The UX of Interviewing

    As I've spent more and more time recruiting designers over the last six months, I've had a lot of chances to consider the interview process and what...

  • Your Process Isn't Sacred

    When I started my Creative Writing degree, I was a bit of a perfectionist. I'd write, rewrite, tweak, fiddle, throw it all away, write it again, etc....

  • Product Patience

    Recently, my team at Etsy and I have been doing some roadmap planning for next year. First, we made a huge list of ideas and pain points we could...

  • User Experience Belongs to Everybody

    "Everybody thinks they're a designer," is a phrase I hear time to time from frustrated designer friends. I'm personally guilty of using this phrase...

  • No Surprises

    As organizations grow, it's incredibly easy for teams to accidentally become islands, silo'ing themselves and their work until it's time to ship. The...