Notes.Hiran

Welcome to my working notes - a personal knowledge space made for learning and ideation. It's a collection of atomic, ever-growing notes that I keep updating as I gain more clarity over the topic. If notes don't make much sense to you - I am sorry, and if it does make sense, do let me know your thoughts!
Also, here are a few handpicked notes.

Focus on Outcome, not Output

Output is measured based on scope, cost, and time. Outcome is based on behavior, satisfaction, and Impact. Impacts like ROI, Market share, etc., might be lagging indicators. At most of the time, we will have too many ideas. In such ca...

Prioritize enablers and blockers

'Additive Enablers' and 'Removing Blockers' Enablers enable new functionality that makes the product more valuable Blockers are the friction that prevents a user from using your product. Before building a feature, ...

Look for rabbit holes

Finding solutions are usually a fast-moving, fast-paced process. It might not be a 'deeper' exploration, but a 'broader'. Once we have solutions, it's essential to slow down and critically go through each step to see if we are missing ...

Design and engineering handover

How I do Design Handover Sync Conduct a planned 30 min meeting with the whole team - frontend and backend engineers, product managers, QA, and everyone involved. PM presents the feature objective, goals, and business impact. And then, the designer expl...

Write your own issues

Everyone on the team should write their own issues. It's faster. Also, from the clarity, it's easier to understand how clear they abound the end goal, thus setting up the team to do a better job. Writing their own tasks provide them enough space...

Stop spending time on Wireframing

Balsamiq and other wireframing apps work very similar to screen designing apps like Figma or sketch. It provides all actions, from having multiple variants of components to alignment setup to UX writing. The difference is in certain skinning and limitatio...

Solve the problem not the feature

Users focus on their needs. They have goals and objectives. And that's their perspective. They are not worried about the product you are building. It is a common thing that users will ask for features, that product should include. In such context, we ...

Software design should be opinionated

Chair that fits all buttocks is an old way of thinking. Software, by design, should be opinionated. It should have principles, a manifesto, and a targeted user persona. Building flexible software will end up creating a chaos. Source Loosely based on ...

Keep user experience discussions at the product level

User experience is the overall experience, and it has to be taken into consideration (and hence in discussion) at the product level and not at the feature level. The persona, flow learning curve, expected feedbacks, etc., should be on the product level. ...

Design early to fail faster

Earlier you fail, it's better and cheaper. Start design in the ideation phase, even before setting defined goals or commitments. Thinking for visual designs provides enough space to think deeply about complexities and limitations and a better perspect...

Changelogs as a consistent communication tool

Write changelogs Consistently. It provides a clear idea of what the team has achieved and when. Also, it communicates to the user about new features, the value they get from your product, and your commitment to improving it. Source Linear Method ...

Breadboarding over Wireframes

I prefer Product Managers creating Breadboarding over Wireframing, as initial product documentation especially to interact with designers. Wireframes are too detailed. This Extra detailing kills the possibility of abstraction. Wireframes provides an outpu...

Multi-spectrum colors for data visualization accessibility

Monotone has its own aesthetic appeal. But there is a higher chance that it fails on accessibility due to color blindness. While choosing colors for data visualizations, pick colors across the spectrum. Different hues, tints, and tones. This makes it more...

Brand tribe influence buying decisions

Buying rely on trust. A Brand Tribe is a group of customers trying to achieve similar goals, and they talk to each other. They congregate around a particular product or company that will empower them to achieve their aims. First, their buying decisions ...

Brand differs from person to person

A Brand is NOT the logo, or identity, or consistency, or product itself. A brand is an individual's emotional feeling about a product, service, or company. It differs from person to person. Once too many people feel the same way about a company/service...

Strategic Laziness

There is no need that things you do has to be 'hard'. Easier way to get things done is 'strategically' better. Ali Abdaal's The RAD System Reduce Reduce committed projects. Decide on what '...

Writing the way you think

The format of writing can change based on the intention of writing. It can be rapid logging bullet points, like what Bullet Journaling recommends, or Outline Notes so that their structure is defined, or atomic notes recommended by Zettelkasten, or its new-g...

Use the language the others are speaking

To have clarity in communication, it is good to be empathetic and use the language the others are speaking. Talk to a salesperson about how they can sell the products, not technology. Don't nerd talk to Finance people Source –BOOK- Creative Strat...

Non-linear Note making

Normal notes are linear, mainly focused on subjects, topics, and subtopics. It's a good way if the intention is to collect data. But Normal note taking fails to connect ideas Non-linear systems offer a better way of note-collection. Visual note-taking...

Lego-like structure

An easier way of understanding Atomicity is by comparing it with Lego Box. Lego Box contains a set of 'blocks,' a basic unit of the game. Atomic Concept Lego Blocks are the smallest component. You can't break it into the smaller component. ...

Design Debt as a Performance Indicator

Design debt is not maintained for documentation. Meeting standards is a basic quality expected in product building. By not following the standards, we break Implimenting a design System Design System practices and...

UID are not needed in Digital Zettelkasten

Zettelkasten recommends having a Unique ID on every literature note made so that it's easier to refer, discover, and hence connect. I don't do that Reasons are: My Zettel is digital. Hyperlink/WikiLinks will do this job, as it is supposed to do. ...

Slam it shut and move on

Stop seeing books or any source of knowledge as a measurement of success. Quantity of source is not the criteria of success. You don't have to consume 'full' content. You can skip. Some contents are not made for you, (or for anyone). "S...

Never brainstorm for a topic

Advantage of having atomic knowledge bases, like a Zettelkasten, is that you don't have to brainstorm for a topic. Looking into the slip-box and going thorough the connections will work as a starting point. For this, you have to practice questioning...

Making notes is the easiest part

It's easy to make notes. And there are many easier ways to make notes - like Copy-pasting or Quoting. What we miss while doing that is the intention of note-taking. Note-taking is not to collect ideas but to develop ideas, arguments, and discussions...

Lots of inputs and a strong filter

It’s better to be selective and read fewer, better articles than to be indiscriminate and read zilch. Reading the same authors on the same topics builds a Confirmation bias. Break such formats. Related Topics Slam it shut and move on Source –BLO...

Insights are not tasks to be planned

Insights are the result of active thinking. Unlike an objective/goal, it cannot be planned. Most of the productivity methods, like Getting Things Done, are objective-focused. There is a clear definition of the objectives. For insights, it can'...

Find interesting content and follow curiosity

Living your brain wandering and assuming that it will come with new subjects or ideas is a time-consuming process. Instead of that, it is better to start from an exciting knowledge you have in your second brain, see the potential, ask questions, go throug...

Better Thinking over Better Note-taking

In Note-taking, Making notes is the easiest part, especially one with a focus and subjective intention. The content is already structured, primarily polished, and made with a purpose of revising than reusing or thinking it over. Normal note taking fails t...

Decide when to stop

Stop aiming for an ideal perfect design. We'll never get there. Instead of keeping 'perfect design' as the benchmark, compare with the baseline - the current reality and how much this change enhanced their experience. Comparing with baseline a...

Is this a real problem

There are two main definitions for the problem, a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome. an inquiry starting from given conditions to investigate or demons...

UX templates for Stable Design

It is always good to start defining design from top-down, as we need to Keep user experience discussions at the product level and not restricted to some features. Once we have clarity on a product idea and user goals, we can spend some time planning scree...

User stories are obsolete

User stories are complex time and resource-consuming 'rituals' built in the early days of software building. There are standards and expected features for common features that we don't have to explain most of them 'in detail.' Also, ...

Nobody plays the role of the taskmaster

Assign projects, not tasks. There is no need for someone to play the role of a “taskmaster” who splits the project up into pieces for other people to execute. Splitting the project into tasks upfront is like putting the pitch through a paper shredder. It ...

Normal note taking fails to connect ideas

In standard note-taking, we sort by topics and sub-topics, building a hierarchical tree structure of knowledge. The information is sorted and has a "flow," but chances of connecting two different ideas are rare. Intention of notes is not just to...

Implementing a design System

Definition Design System is a collection of reusable Components, build using Atomicity and Sub-atomic Design Tokens particles that follow the guideline, behave consistently, and together work as the building block of the product. A design system is not...

Design is Scaling

Design is not just about visual aesthetics. One reason businesses invest in design is that it defines the products, builds consistency, reduces the learning curve, thus attracts and retains customers, and reduces support costs. Source BOOK- Design Syste...

Design sprints aren’t just for designers.

Design Sprints is a problem-solving process that provides validation to the solutions. The focus is on identifying and understand the problems and developing solutions, and not design. Here, design is just the medium of communication. The result will ...

Lean UX and Design Sprint

Lean UX follows a build > test > iterate loop, while Design Sprints follows unpack > ideate > evaluate > test > refine loop. Design Sprint is more about evaluation, while lean UX is about evolution. At times, th...

Lettering Calligraphy and Typography are different

Calligraphy is writing letters; lettering is drawing letters, and Typography is making a set of letters that goes together. Single Stroke, hand movement, writing = Calligraphy Ideating, Modifying, Filling = Lettering Fonts you use = T...