Julie Zhuo Profile picture
May 14, 2019 7 tweets 1 min read Read on X
How to describe your design work in a portfolio or presentation (thread below)
Describe the problem you set out to solve.
Explain the things that made this problem interesting or challenging—what was the space of options? What were the constraints you were forced to balance?
(If you want to go more in-depth), show other variants you tried along the way, and why they didn’t quite work for you.
Explain why you went with the final solution you chose.
(If possible to share), show the the measurable outcomes of your solution on the problem, whether quantitative or qualitative.
(If you want to be comprehensive), explain the limitations of your final solution and what you'd do if you had infinite time or resources.

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More from @joulee

Jul 16
Someone on your team says: “Our goal should be to move Metric X up Y% this half.” Your inclination is to nod, say “Cool” and get on with the actual building.

But pause!

The goals you agree to determine what you build. So consider them carefully and ask the following:
1) If we were wildly successful this half, what’s the ideal outcome for customers using our product?

The point of target metrics is to keep ourselves accountable to doing our best for customers, and in turn, the business.

Any metric will be a proxy; THIS is the real goal.
2: In what scenarios would we get closer to our ideal outcome but not make progress on our goal metric(s)?

If you can come up with tons of examples, you need to pick better proxy metrics.

A few metrics typically work better than a single metric as a proxy for success.
Read 12 tweets
Jul 1
40 things I wish I knew when I was 20

1. For whatever action scares you (and isn’t life-threatening), remember this surefire way to eliminate the fear: do it 100 times.
2. Taking advantage of youthful invulnerability is like taking out a loan. Over decades, your body eventually comes to call the debt.
3. The dimension of time explains why you are not your thoughts, your emotions, or your capabilities. None of these persist against the ticking of the clock.
Read 41 tweets
May 4, 2023
7 Questions to Impress your Boss
(if you respect them)

1. What do you think are the 3 biggest issues for our team right now?

⇒ Shows big-picture thinking and caring about the team’s success
2. My top 3 priorities are X, Y and Z — do you feel they’re the most impactful way for me to spend my time?

⇒ Shows desire to have impact and work on the most important things
3. I noticed X happened and I’m worried it might impact our team’s goal for Z — am I looking at this the right way?

⇒ Shows proactivity and transparency in identifying blockers
Read 7 tweets
Mar 21, 2023
The only way I know of to develop better product intuition for your own product is to:

1) constantly use your product as a real user would
2) constantly research your target customer

12 ways to make this practical in your week-to-week 👇
1. Use the product daily as a real user would [15 minutes / day]

2. Watch one or two user research or replay sessions [10 minutes / day]

3. Check your key usage metrics dashboard [5 minutes / day]
4. Interview a prospective client and ask them to describe a specific workflow related to your product [30 min / week]

5. Email or slack 1-3 existing clients with a specific feedback question [30 min / week]
Read 8 tweets
Mar 19, 2023
THE MAKING OF A MANAGER is 4 years old today!

As someone who works in data, I always joke to my friends that I have incredibly poor data visibility on how my book is doing. I don't know how many copies have sold, for example. I don't know how many people have read it.
Most importantly, I don't know how many people found it *useful* and what is the ratio of readers who found it useful versus not, which are the metrics I most care about!

(And if not useful, I'd like to know why, so I can learn something in the process.)
What I have to go on are anecdotes. I'm grateful for each person who has reached out about my book over the years. It floods me with warmth whenever someone tells me they picked it up after a promotion, or when their whole team read it, or when they recommended it to a friend.
Read 6 tweets
Mar 15, 2023
The loudest way to lead is by example.

If you care about putting forth a quality product, then you should be the biggest dogfooder.

If you expect members of your team to be on call on weekends, then you too should be available and responsive at that time.
If want your team to focus on their top priorities, then you shouldn’t schedule a wall of recurring meetings.

If you expect others to care about excellence, then you need to be the first to call out sloppy work.
If you wish for your team to invest in growth, then you should be the first to share what you’ve learned.
Read 4 tweets

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