#Weeknotes 101 (22 Nov) — Visualisations, meetups, and the pervasive cultural apathy
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Work wise:
I had a few design review sessions with stakeholders. The same people shared a lot of feedback and questions in advance after going through the related user stories that the designs were based on. A user story is a short description of a software feature or requirement that explains what the user wants to achieve and why. They are great for understanding what needs are being addressed by features. However, user stories don’t always explain how a feature would work. That was the struggle these stakeholders had, they couldn’t envisage how the feature would work in its entirety and how it would be used. The missing puzzle was having visuals to accompany the user stories so they could see how it could all work. And this is what happened in the design review sessions. As soon as the designs, in wireframes, were shown, more than half of the questions and concerns they had coming into the session were answered. While the user stories talked about various capabilities, it was the visuals that strung it all together and formed a complete picture and experience. This is a classic example of how visualisations reinforce understanding and speak volumes. This is also why I always advocate visuals when presenting ideas, and getting sign-offs on product and service features. Often visuals can help speed up understanding in ways that words, which can be interpreted differently by different people, cannot.
Life wise:
Last night, I attended a product meetup in London. I used to attend meetups quite often before the COVID-19 pandemic and before I became a parent. When I arrived in the UK over 7 years ago, I thought meetups were a great way to get a sense of the London scene. I joined several groups that focused on User experience, service and product Design, and technology and I got to meet a lot of interesting people in those meetups. Now with remote work and being a mom, finding time outside of work and family duties can be rather challenging. If it wasn’t for a friend’s recommendation for this product meetup, I wouldn’t have thought of it!
In the end, my friend couldn’t go and I decided to show up anyway since I already committed my evening. I’m glad I went. There’s a benefit in going solo. Because I didn’t know anyone, I was more open to having conversations and ended up meeting so many interesting people from founders to product owners. I learned about new products and tools people were using in my field, and I got to hear people speak about their work and experiences. I could feel the energy and passion in the air. It was really nice to be in a room full of people who understand and can relate to the challenges that come with the kind of work that I do. It was a very supportive setting. We can all use more of that! I was also very thankful for the event organisers who provided wine for the event which greatly helped with my confidence in starting conversations with strangers.
Separately this week, my partner’s mom Marion did her usual 5-day-at-a-time visit from Berlin to see her son and grandchildren. I always look forward to her visits. Not only is her cooking top-notch, but she is also very helpful around the house and is so good with all the kids. It feels like a ‘break’ whenever she’s around. I also love that the house always smells of cake when she visits. Yes, she makes sure that there is always cake! It’s a nice feeling.
Things I came across:
I read this beautifully written article titled “Everyone is numbing out” by Catherine Shannon and loved it. It contained so many wonderful quotes and wisdom that resonated with me:
“It’s easy to identify the presence of something, but it’s much harder to identify the absence of something.”
“…so many of the things that once gave the average person’s life real meaning are now treated with sarcasm and contempt: college is a waste of money, work is a waste of your life, getting married is just a piece of paper, having kids is a nightmare, family is a burden, hobbies are merely quaint, earnestly expressing yourself is cringe, leaving the house is exhausting, religion is for idiots, the list goes on. If you allow yourself to internalize this perspective, eventually everything becomes a dumb joke.”
“Thanks to the internet and our insatiably consumerist culture, it is finally possible to distract yourself for every waking minute of your life and barely even notice you’re doing it. When you mix all colors of paint together, you get black. Everything quickly becomes nothing.”
I’ll stop quoting as I’ll end up pasting the entire article!
It does ring true that it feels like there’s a “pervasive cultural apathy” as Catherine puts it. There’s a constant feeling of restlessness in the background which I can’t quite explain, yet Catherine can articulate so well. I admire writers who can describe so succinctly the emotions I’ve been grappling with but don’t quite understand.
Photo of the day:
