Ordinary design; Measuring productivity; Bye Google
💡Think
Hey everyone 👋
It's been nearly a month, but the newsletter is back in working order. To cut a long story short, I've been pretty sick. Feeling nearly back to normal now though, and excited to pull together today's issue.
Even though I've spent most of the past few weeks in bed or on the sofa, I've been thinking a lot about the hiring process and how it's kind of broken.
Given how important referrals are – especially in big tech – I've been wondering why there isn't a job platform based entirely on that. Where you can effectively help your friends get jobs 🤷♂️ There was "hire my friend", but this has been inactive since 2015.
Stay safe, and have a great week!
📷 Look
📖 Read
❶ Why ordinary design almost always wins
What comes to mind when you think of a Toyota Corolla? It's probably something like "that's a car!" Hardly inspiring, huh? But this is the reality. Standard, ordinary, or...boring design is typically what people want. So why are we constantly trying to reinvent the wheel?
❷ Productivity, measuring, and innovation
This is quite a long article, but worth the read when you have time. It centers around productivity, and how measuring it is both hard and often done in a wrong way. Typically, businesses focus on output rather than outcome. This means the more you produce, the more productive you are. It's wrong. Based on this, the past two years' high productivity = an exhausted workforce. Sounds about right!
❸ Goodbye Google
Confession: this article is actually from 2009, but is very important right now! Why? I'm sure you've seen the viral tweets about Google's recent bizarre design choices, and this article explains why. When every decision has data at its foundation, you end up with an awkward-looking interface, and confusing user experience. Important 📣
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🎧 Listen
Sorry, but status matters
I liked this podcast so much, I recorded 5 minutes of it and sent it around to a few people. It explains how, in the workplace, status does actually matter; no matter how much we dislike that idea.
Not only does it matter, but there are ways we need to navigate the levels of seniority to make everyone's lives just that bit easier. There's a particularly great section of this episode where a listener asks what to do because they are in their 30s and have lost inspiration. The answers are great, I promise.
Listen to this podcast (37 minutes)