Ross Chapman A weekly 💌 of Design Sprints, Product Design, Strategy and Coolness from @rosschapman ⚡️ 313 subscribers 128 issues Subscribe to my list This thingy has to be empti pwieshh
#125 Sep 14, 2018 Say no to mediocre 🛑 #125 – Consistency can sometimes be confused with mediocrity. Having things look uniform but find that they
#124 Sep 3, 2018 Influenced by Sprint 🖼 #124 – I've just come back from a 2-day workshop with one of our Etch partners in Cornwall. It wasn't a Desi
#123 Aug 24, 2018 Get uncomfortable 😲 #123 – Back from holiday, I'm re-energised. I know what I want to accomplish and I believe I know how to exe
#122 Aug 10, 2018 Running before I can walk - seriously 🎽 #122 – I've started a bit of running and in my usual style, going for it before planning for it. As a result
#121 Aug 7, 2018 Set unrealistic goals 💪 #121 – You know what? I have moments where I just can't be bothered.Yep, you read right.I think one issue I'
#120 Jul 27, 2018 Giving without expectation 🤝 #120 – I've tried to get ahead with content this week. That's involved:recording our first Etch Audio episod
#119 Jul 23, 2018 Inspiration helps perspiration 💦 #119 – I had a day-off today, which in my case is pretty rare. With an Ikea cabinet waiting in a brown cardb
#118 Jul 20, 2018 I'm failing and learning 📖 #118 – If you've been following my Instagram Story content this week, you'll be see that I've learnt a boatl
#117 Jul 13, 2018 You don't get older, you get better 🍰 #117 – Hey folks,It's my birthday! This year's was like any typical day and because it was a Thursday, that
#116 Jul 8, 2018 Are we slowing up? ✋ #116 – Looking back at an issue from two years ago. The theme was Plan, adapt, DO THE RIGHT THING! What's in
#115 Jun 25, 2018 How do you measure productivity? 💪 #115 – I'm reminded of the post from a few weeks back about how Design Sprints can at least double productiv
#114 Jun 15, 2018 Big changes in small ways ☀️ #114 – The Design Sprint training event last week was intense! Ten participants came to learn more about th
#113 Jun 3, 2018 Iterate or die 💀 #113 – Get busy trying or get busy dying (in business). The more you experiment, the more you can learn and
#112 May 25, 2018 Super clean issue 🛀 #112 – Welcome to a brighter, GDPR world ☀️. You'll be pleased to learn that this issue is fully compliant (
#111 May 18, 2018 Those who are earning, are learning 🎒#111 – Completing an Iteration Sprint this week with long-term partners Equiniti. Much learning has occurred
#110 May 12, 2018 Get it done ⚙️ #110 – This week, I'm working with a long-term partner of Etch's on improving their productivity. It's quite
#109 Apr 24, 2018 What happens after the sprint? ⚡️ #109 – I'm often asked where the Design Sprint fits in with project work and business as usual. I also get a
#108 Apr 20, 2018 Do, then learn ⏰ #108 – I'm running my first Design Sprint training event in London, UK on 7th June. It'll be a day of demons
#107 Apr 13, 2018 What is the social role of this service? #107 – I was looking back at Collyn Ahart's talk at the Do Lectures where she talks about selling your pursu
#106 Apr 9, 2018 I made a podcast 🎙 #106 – No deep, meaningful theme this week folks. I MADE A PODCAST ⚡️I've wanted to do one for years, but th
#105 Mar 26, 2018 Keep in the present moment ⏳ #105 – "Anything that keeps me in the present moment, is an asset" - Phil DeekerSubject inspired by a quote
#104 Mar 16, 2018 Love what you do 💗 #104 – And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking.
#103 Mar 9, 2018 If you're going to do it, do it right ✋ #103 – Steve Jobs: Oh, yeah, no we have wonderful arguments. Walt Mossberg: And do you win them all? Jobs: O
#102 Mar 2, 2018 Procrastination (and a trip to a cold destination!) 🇨🇭 #102 – This week I flew to Copenhagen to attend the Design Sprint Workshop with Jake Knapp and Berlin-based
#101 Feb 23, 2018 Design sprint #101 – Next Monday, I'm attending Jake Knapp's (the inventor of the Design Sprint) workshop with AJ&Smar
#100 Feb 16, 2018 HOLY MOLY 💯 #100 – 100 issues. That's big! I have never stuck to something like I have with these weekly issues and I ho
#99 Jan 13, 2018 99 ideas but you gotta pick just 1 🎲 #99 – Issue 99 - crazy! That's two years of sharing insights, adapting the format and content based on feed
#98 Jan 5, 2018 Start fresh 🍳 #98 – Welcome back! I hope you had a good break. This week we've been running two design sprints here at Et
#97 Dec 17, 2017 Christmas rush issue ❄️ #97 – We are running two design sprints concurrently this week which mean's it's probably been the busiest
#96 Dec 4, 2017 Emo design 👨🎤 #96 – The term "emotional design" seems to be gaining traction, but should it? I've linked to a couple of a
#95 Nov 21, 2017 Finish what you started ⏲ #95 – Some designers like to start, but they find finishing hard. The enthusiasm from starting something ne
#94 Nov 8, 2017 Empathy is not an emotion, it's a skill 🍳 #94 – Empathy is about standing in someone else's shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or
#93 Oct 30, 2017 Originality 🤥 #93 – Many years ago, I was working as a digital designer at an international business school. I was doing
#92 Oct 23, 2017 Find that balance 🎚 #92 – A little later than usual - sorry!I was reminded by this quote from Yoda this past weekend: "You must
#91 Oct 13, 2017 Why I put out stuff ✌️ #91 – I've received some good qualitative feedback from the last issue, as well as from the audio recording
#90 Oct 6, 2017 Learning from the genius of great filmmakers 👍 #90 – This week, I've been looking into other industries to gain some perspective and knowledge that I can
#89 Sep 27, 2017 Deep understanding 💆 #89 – I'm reminded this week that great design can only be achieved once deeply understanding the problem.
#88 Sep 14, 2017 Share, don't care 💌 #88 – Last Friday, Etch hosted the Summer Summit: An afternoon of digital and drinks. I shared my views on
#87 Sep 2, 2017 Coping with the workload 📇 #87 – The long break is over and I'm back!I've been reading a couple of books and it's really made me think
#86 Aug 8, 2017 Summer vacation ☀️ #86 – I'm on my summer holidays next week, so no issue from me this or next Friday (and sorry this issue is
#85 Jul 28, 2017 More workshops, less meetings ✏️ #85 – This week, we met with a new client who works in the events sector and ran a requirements gathering w
#84 Jul 21, 2017 Know yourself to improve yourself 👨🎨 #84 – Do you know what your role is? Understanding that can help you decide on the next step. It did for me
#83 Jul 16, 2017 Designers can sell too 🤑 #83 – It's been a while since I sent my first proposal for a design project. Luckily, times have changed an
#82 Jul 7, 2017 Tomato timing for discipline 🍅 #82 – I've been looking at improving focus this week, and it seems it's a common problem in the industry. I
#81 Jul 5, 2017 Don't forget the "U" in "UX" 👩🚀 #81 – In a bid to improve our design process, I've been evaluating each part and this week, I've been looki
#80 Jun 30, 2017 Product design process 🦄 #80 – This week, I've been trying to discover how to improve our product design process for a design agency
#79 Jun 23, 2017 I've joined Etch ✌️ #79 – Who? Etch UK is a user experience design and marketing studio. Why? You had better read this Medium p
#78 Jun 9, 2017 I'm leaving Wiggle 👋 #78 – Well, if you somehow missed the subject line, then read again - I'm leaving Wiggle.I'm stepping out o
#77 Jun 2, 2017 Where do you get your inspiration? 🌟 #77 – When you're part of an in-house design team, sometimes you can get under-nourished. I make sure I'm k
#76 May 26, 2017 Copy that 📝 #76 – Copy guides are so important. They detail tone of voice. They talk about the direction words should f
#75 May 19, 2017 Complexion reduction ✂️ #75 – “I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things.
#74 May 14, 2017 Create best practice ✔︎ #74 – Looking back at past issues, I've been sharing links on what some call "best practice." I'm asked wha
#73 May 8, 2017 Drive digital transformation 💻 #73 – Businesses leveraging digital are going to accelerate their growth. And as we learnt from last week's
#72 May 1, 2017 Conversion begins with conversation 📈 #72 – Quoted from the father of web design: Jeffrey Zeldman. I've often strived to balance qualitative and
#71 Apr 21, 2017 If I rest, I rust ⛲️ #71 – Davie Bell was a pioneering off road cyclist and tourer/randonneur. His motto was "if I rest, I rust.
#70 Apr 12, 2017 Issue #70 🎯 Staying on target – I set targets in my work and even my personal life. What they do is ensure that I have a long-term pl
#69 Mar 31, 2017 You either win or you learn 🎖 Issue #69 – According to Daniel Burka, design partner at Google Ventures - you either "win or you learn" in a des
#68 Mar 27, 2017 Quality or speed 💫 Issue #68 – There's been a conversation recently about speed over quality - something you get with a minimum viab
#67 Mar 17, 2017 Show and tell (and sell) 😎 Issue #67 – Never launch on a Friday? 😂 Happy to share with you the new Design Manual we've been working on at W
#66 Mar 14, 2017 Gender diversity✌️ - Issue #66 – I've enjoyed reading lots of articles this past week about women in tech, cycling and design.With Int
#65 Mar 3, 2017 It's not colour. It's contrast 🌓 Issue #65 – I had a conversation with my team on Wednesday and we were talking about design. The conversation got
#64 Feb 28, 2017 Play the long game 🎲 Issue #64 – "Play the long game ... Treat people with the intent of having a relationship forever" @GaryVeeI beli
#63 Feb 17, 2017 Push on 🚨 Issue #63 – One thing athletes do well is push on. I was reminded of this with Rapha's new film Perspectives, tha
#62 Feb 10, 2017 Show off ⭐️ Issue #62 – I saw a question posted on LinkedIn asking:What's the difference between a good UX professional and a
#61 Feb 2, 2017 Culture recruits 👏 Issue #61 – Many companies local to ours are hiring, but getting mixed success. Experienced designers and develop
#60 Jan 27, 2017 Design is now different 🍥 Issue #60 – Design has evolved. The role of design used to be that designers would get a brief, go away for a few
#59 Jan 20, 2017 👫 Together is better 👫 Issue #59 – Doing things as a group is far more interesting to me than as an individual, whether that be work or
#58 Jan 13, 2017 🙏 How not to fail 🙏 - Issue #58 – 7 out of 8 digital transformation projects result in failure, according to Forbes (great share Nomens
#57 Jan 6, 2017 🔔 Establish a routine 🔔 Issue #57 – Now most of us are back at work after a long break, I personally find it a good opportunity to look a
#56 Dec 30, 2016 Issue #56: How to do UX design – I met Thomas Barber of Svelte London on Wednesday (after a freezing 6 hour ride from Southampton). Ov
#55 Dec 29, 2016 Issue #55: Any fool can sing at night – Give me a man who can sing in the morning ....any fool can sing at night (ref)I love the mornings. My
#54 Dec 16, 2016 Issue #54: Time well spent – I find getting to work is a pain. According to a recent report:Traffic congestion costs UK business a
#53 Dec 9, 2016 Issue #53: Bricks versus Clicks – Bricks versus Clicks. In the same week that the 309 year old Fortnum and Mason announce 12% growth in
#52 Dec 2, 2016 Issue #52: Let's go retro – I find retrospectives invaluable. Identifying what was good, bad and what you'd do differently next t
#51 Nov 25, 2016 Issue #51: Understand the problem before you design the solution – Understand the problem before you design the solution.It's Black Friday and it's really interesting f
#50 Nov 21, 2016 Issue #50: Get past the numbers – It was Frontier Conference last week! So pleasing to share some ideas and experiences, but also hear
#49 Nov 11, 2016 Issue #49: Happiness is unachievable – It's around this time of year that I start looking towards the next. What do I want to do? What do I
#48 Nov 4, 2016 Issue #48: Thinking versus making – Thinking versus making.I find an increasing amount of my time is spent thinking through problems or s
#47 Nov 2, 2016 Issue #47: Lead with design – I attended the first Leading Design Conference in London last week. It was a fantastic opportunity to
#46 Oct 21, 2016 Issue #46: Hiring people smarter than you – I went to the Evening Of event last night in Southampton to hear from Rob Hampson about how he design
#45 Oct 19, 2016 Issue #45: How you do UX design – I'm getting lots of good feedback from the post I shared last time on how we do usability testing out
#44 Sep 29, 2016 Issue #44 - Feedback is how we learn – I'm just putting the finishing touches on to a usability testing session evaluation that we ran at th
#43 Sep 16, 2016 Issue #43 - Bringing people with you – There's no point in doing great design if you don't bring people along the process with you. That's b
#42 Sep 12, 2016 Issue #42 - New perspectives – I've been looking at screen readers today. It's just one experience that I haven't really investigate
#41 Sep 6, 2016 Issue #41 - Change for great and don't settle for good – Change can take a long time and that's why it's worth celebrating the rewards they bring. We've been
#40 Aug 22, 2016 Issue #40 - There is only hard work – Quite often, there isn't a process. More than often, people ask for one.The interesting thing about U
#39 Aug 12, 2016 Issue #39 - Keeping on keeping on – "There is an increasing demand for digital devices for children, especially in schools to provide an
#38 Aug 9, 2016 Issue #38 - Design never stops – So late publishing this issue, but not ready to disappoint!I've been designing for both iOS and the w
#37 Jul 29, 2016 Issue #37 - Fall in love with customers – Marcin Treder said this week on Twitter that "falling in love with your competitors leads to a medioc
#36 Jul 22, 2016 Issue #36 - Just Do It! 👍 – When I went to secondary school, I had a multi-coloured Nike branded backpack. The message emblazoned
#35 Jul 20, 2016 Issue #35 - What's your priority? – I've never missed a publish date until now. What happened?! Life got in the way, and rightfully so -
#34 Jul 8, 2016 Issue #34 - Plan, adapt, DO THE RIGHT THING! – So great to pass 100 subscribers - thank you so much! That might be a relatively small number, but ha
#33 Jul 1, 2016 Issue #33 - Bucking trends and analysing spend – Copycats never prosper.In nearly every single meeting I go to, we somehow end up looking at what othe
#32 Jun 24, 2016 Issue #32 - Painting stripes on a horse and calling it a zebra – I was invited to a rather lovely wine-tasting evening yesterday on HMS Warrior, from the fab guys at
#31 Jun 17, 2016 Issue #31 - Original content from me! – I've been wary of sharing ideas in the past, fearing that I'd add to the noise I find in design. I al
#30 Jun 10, 2016 Issue #30 - Focus – Putting the hours of work in is important, but they need to be focused hours, otherwise you're going
#29 Jun 3, 2016 Issue #29 - Execution is the GAME – "It’s impossible to have a good strategy poorly executed. That’s because execution actually is strate
#28 May 27, 2016 Issue #28 - Some decisions aren't yours to make – "The time is always right to do the right thing." - Martin Luther King, Jr.I'm asked to make decision
#27 May 21, 2016 Issue #27 - Which path will you choose? – Given a choice between increasing revenue or increasing customer happiness - which do you choose?That
#26 May 13, 2016 Issue #26 - Hot this week! – This issue starts with a bang (quite literally!).Design needs to be bold and sometimes you need to te
#25 May 9, 2016 Issue #25 - UX design, User Research and eCommerce – There's been an awakening. Have you felt it? Businesses are waking up to the fact that to stay in bus
#24 Apr 29, 2016 Issue #24 – Execution. It's all very well collecting great ideas, reading articles, going to conferences, writing
#23 Apr 25, 2016 Issue #23 – Knowing that I have to keep learning to keep earning means that I'm constantly challenging myself to
#22 Apr 15, 2016 Issue #22 – Apple famously doesn't use focus groups. Why? Probably because focus groups tell you what you want to
#21 Apr 11, 2016 Issue #21 – I design to solve the big problems. The problem statements where I'm able to offer the most value are
#20 Apr 4, 2016 Issue #20 – Shipping late, but shipping great!I was fortunate to meet some really inspiring people last week in L
#19 Mar 25, 2016 Issue #19 – Just prepping this issue before the Easter holidays!Last week's issue resonated well on the subject o
#18 Mar 18, 2016 Issue #18 – After talking to a couple of rather excellent people last week, I felt like making this issue about g
#17 Mar 11, 2016 Issue #17 – Yesterday, I made my way to London to visit the Retail Design Expo at Olympia, and to meet up with ne
#16 Mar 4, 2016 Issue #16 – I've been challenging the status quo most of my adult life. Why are things like this? Why do I have t
#15 Feb 29, 2016 Issue #15 – A couple of days late, but just as great!I've been sharing my 10 UX Design Hacks this past week, with
#14 Feb 19, 2016 Issue #14 – This week has been mental! Making connections, talking to people and generating new ideas (while also
#13 Feb 12, 2016 Issue #13 – We're nearly 50-strong in issue #13. Unlucky for some, but not for me - thank you for reading!The not
#12 Feb 5, 2016 Issue #12 – Over 40 subscribers! Thank you for supporting this mailshot - it gives me hope that what I'm sharing
#11 Jan 29, 2016 Issue #11 – Thank you for following and welcome new subscribers!This week I've started to get my mojo back, after
#10 Jan 22, 2016 Issue #10 – Changing stuff just for changes sake is old news. Designing with data is hot. Making design decisions
#9 Jan 15, 2016 Issue #9 – It's been a week of talking, sharing and asking "Why?" When I pick up a task and go through the docum
#8 Jan 8, 2016 Issue #8 – With the first working week of 2016 behind us, I'm focusing all my energy into being the best designe
#7 Jan 2, 2016 Issue #7 – Late, but great. I've been taking time out this Christmas period to spend time with the family, think
#6 Dec 18, 2015 Issue #6 – A slimmer version this week (as it's been a bit busy with work!) and a slightly tweaked format, but h
#5 Dec 11, 2015 Issue #5 – Another action-packed week has passed. I've started to think about how people understand UX design. I
#4 Dec 4, 2015 Issue #4 – Hello again! How quickly a week goes by!This week, I've been coding prototypes, firmly believing that
#3 Nov 27, 2015 Issue #3 – It might be Black Friday, but colour me inspired! Lots of learning this week, researching our users,
#2 Nov 20, 2015 Issue #2 – The difficult second issue! This week I've focused on teams - it's best to do stuff with each other!
#1 Nov 13, 2015 Issue #1 – Welcome to the first weekly mailshot from me, Ross Chapman, a user experience designer in the UK. I h
