Weeknote #024

— 14 minute read

A busy, busy week and I still have some work to do. I will be travelling with Leili next week to rest. I plan to stay offline as much as I can.

My blog post of the week is The Post Corona World by Matthias Horx. It is a very positive perspective of the future. He wrote this in March, and I keep reading every week as it gives me an extra boost of hope.

Good things permalink

DNA release is live with a focus on a11y permalink

This week we closed the sprint with a release on Thursday. I was proud of the team and the work—lots of small improvements and two significant changes. We now have our accessibility guidelines and a search feature.

Linsey and Kevin Telfer drafted a Content Strategy specific for a11y content. This release is our phase one. I am excited about this. Creating documentation to support developers is always a challenge. Plain language for guidelines is something we have been talking a lot.

I can’t forget how many small acts enabled this. The expression “Building on the shoulders of giants” always comes to my mind. The fantastic work that Fred and the Tetralogical team started will continue now with a new format in DNA. Onward.

Facilitation Lab #002 permalink

Had the opportunity to run another facilitation method experiment. This time we talked about ice-breakers. It was an opportunity for me to reflect on different types of ice-breakers and how to translate some of the techniques for this screen-based world.

Design Principles permalink

Another highlight of the week was a conversation about design principles. There is not too much literature and content available. One resource I found useful is the book Orchestrating Experiences.

We talked about how principles can lose their meaning. If we only focus on the conditions needed for good design to happen, they will suck. An example is the obvious "Start with user needs". The capacity to enable better decisions is pivotal. I had the same conversation before with Ben Sauer. We were organising the team offsite last year, and he shared a litmus test for this.

Principles are contextual to organisation design maturity and product-market fit stage. As there is a lot of change in the business, I am curious to see how this work will unfold. The wizard Daniel Harvey is leading on this, so we are on a good path.

Learned things permalink

Don’t forget the Alt text on Google Slides permalink

Fred Warburton reminded me about Alt Text on Google Slides one hour before a big meeting. He showed me how to do it, and I found some guidance on the Shopify UX blog on how to write alternative text. This is something I am interested to learn more about, so if you have tips, send me!

Things that bring me joy permalink

Ossobuco and my first Instagram live permalink

Ossobuco is a monthly event (and community) I co-founded in Brazil 10 years ago. Ossobuco helps people to tell their life stories, in 10 minutes. This week I joined them on Instagram, to talk about storytelling. I created a method to support people who are new to speaking in public. The conversation was about the elements that make an impactful presentation. Thum, an eternal partner in crime for crazy creative stuff, was moderating. Pedro Sangeon Gurulino, one of my favourite Brazilian artists, was also in the panel. I had the honour to support him when he delivered his first talk, and Pedro shared how this was important to his career as an artist.

Tender loving care permalink

I learned this expression with Jane Austin a few months ago. Taking care of others is a hard mission. This week I am grateful again to have Leili with me on this lockdown. She is more attentive to my health than me. And also, she bakes incredible banana cakes.

Healthcheck permalink

This week an odd episode of food poisoning got me. Later on, I had a minor leg injury. I was mad with all this bullshit, to be honest, but now I am better.

Weight: 96.7 kg Food: Good food and some deliveroo. Terrible Pizza. Drinks: No alcohol this week Smoking: 5 Juul pods

It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” – Epictetus