In this episode, we go beyond the surface and dive deep into the art of balancing velocity and quality when it comes to designing digital products. As part of one of the industry-leading tech companies, Adam Furness, our Guest today has a wealth of experience in navigating the intricate landscape of design and development.One of the highlights of our conversation is Adam's unique framework called "Good, Better, Best," where he reveals how Atlassian prioritizes what to ship next. This invaluable approach allows them to strike the perfect balance between shipping fast while optimizing for business and customer value.But that's not all! Adam generously shares the frameworks he employs for his personal growth within the company. Whether you're a seasoned designer or just starting your journey, these insights are sure to leave you with a fresh perspective on continuous improvement and career development.This is the last episode of Growthmates seasson 1. We want to thank everyone who listened to us, sent us feedback and gave us reviews in Apple podcasts and of course, to the 10 amazing guest we had on this first seasson.We'll be back at the end of September with season 2. Please, keep sending us your feedback to [email protected] so we can improve the format of the podcast.Resources mentioned:* Atomic habits - James ClearWhere to find Adam Furness* Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfurnessdesign/Where to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/* Blog: https://medium.com/@kate_syuma* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katusyuma/* Website: https://katesyuma.com/Where to find Oscar Torres, Product Designer at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oscar_towers_/If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share it with your colleagues and like-minded friends, and give us a good review or send us your feedback to [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com

Today we had a very deep and balanced conversation Verna Bhargava, Senior Experience Design Manager at Growth in Adobe. We unpacked the topic of vulnerability for leaders and individuals who are constantly trying to achieve high results for themselves and their companiesJoin this conversation to hear about how Growth is organised at Adobe, what frameworks help to find space for innovation, and how vulnerability can help you build a stronger team culture.If you enjoy this episode, don't forget to share it with your friends and give us a good review.Resources mentioned:* The Emergence of a Growth Designer: https://adobe.design/stories/leading-design/the-emergence-of-the-growth-designer* Radical Candor, Kim Scott* The Making of a Manager, Julie Zhuo* Dare to Lead, Brene Brown* Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert* The Artist's Way, Julia CameronWhere to find Verna Bhargava, Sr. Experience Design manager, Growth at Adobe express:* Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/verna-bhargava/Where to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/* Blog: https://medium.com/@kate_syuma* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katusyuma/* Website: https://katesyuma.com/Where to find Oscar Torres, Product Designer at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oscar_towers_/If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share it with your colleagues and like-minded friends, and give us a good review or send us your feedback to [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com

Today we're going to dive deep into the topic of UX research and explore how it plays a crucial role in driving growth within Miro.We’re happy to welcome a man which we have the pleasure to work with, Andrej Balaz, UXR at Miro who will share with us some of the fascinating insights and practices he employs to conduct UX research in the growth field.Stay with us to hear about building a UXR culture in an Hyper-growth stage company, what are those unique things about running research at Miro, and some tips and best practices in that field.Resources mentioned:* www.elicit.org* Book: On the Self Regulation of Behavior – Charles S. Carver and Michael F. Scheier* Book : The New Economics - W. Edwards DemingWhere to find Andrej Balaz, Staff UX researcher at Miro:* Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrejbalaz/Where to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/* Blog: https://medium.com/@kate_syuma* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katusyuma/* Website: https://katesyuma.com/Where to find Oscar Torres, Product Designer at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oscar_towers_/If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share it with your colleagues and like-minded friends, and give us a good review or send us your feedback to [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com

In this episode we have none other than Lex Roman, the founder of Super Easy Digital and the Growth Tracker community, but most important, Lex is one of the true pioneers in the field of Growth Design.We dived into Lex's inspiring transition from a comfortable job in the tech industry to embarking on the path of solopreneurship. Leaving behind the security of established companies such as Invision, Carbon five and The Black Tux to name a few.Lex shared with us the importance of focusing on real problems and what should the term "Delightfulness" actually mean when it comes to create user experiences.Learn more about Lex at https://supereasydigital.comTake Lex’s course on getting clients and use code GROWTHMATES for a special discount https://supereasydigital.com/getmoreleadsBecome a Growthtracker: https://supereasydigital.com/growthtrackersFollow Lex on Instagram @supereasydoesit https://instagram.com/supereasydoesitResources mentioned:* Lex article about Growth Design written in 2018: https://medium.com/criticalpath/what-is-a-growth-designer-1b342d55a358* The story of Slawsa: https://www.sharktankblog.com/business/slawsa/Where to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/* Blog: https://medium.com/@kate_syuma* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katusyuma/* Website: https://katesyuma.com/Where to find Oscar Torres, Product Designer at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oscar_towers_/If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share it with your colleagues and like-minded friends, and give us a good review or send us your feedback to [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com

In this episode we had Zander Whitehurst, Founder of Memorisely, ex. UX Designer at HotJar and an owner of an enormous design community. If you've seen his "Supafast" reels on Instagram — You know this is Zander.During our discussion, Zander shared his remarkable journey and the challenges he encountered when transitioning from a comfortable full-time job to a Founder role, and how his design background played a pivotal role in establishing his own business.Furthermore, we dove into the future of education and explored the significance of bootcamps within it. We also talked about effective methods for continuous learning, personal growth, and the cultivation of community throughout this journey.Where to find Zander:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zanderwhitehurst/* Memorisely: https://www.memorisely.com/* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zanderwhitehurst/Resources mentioned:* The power of now: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1577314808* Just enough research: https://www.amazon.com/Just-Enough-Research-Erika-Hall/dp/1937557103Where to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/* Blog: https://medium.com/@kate_syuma* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katusyuma/* Website: https://katesyuma.com/Where to find Oscar Torres, Product Designer (Growth) at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share it with your colleagues and like-minded friends, and give us a good review or send us your feedback to [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com

Allen shared with us his journey into design, starting more than 20 years ago and working in top companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Ebay. He's been for 4 years now at Pinterest, where he manages the growth design team. We also dived into the current state of Growth Design on tech companies and talked about the future of this role.On the second half of our conversation, Kate and Allen shared the challenges they both faced when transitioning from IC’s to Managers, and dived into some of the learnings they've made so far.Where to find Allen:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allenjordan/* Website: http://allenjordan.com/* Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.es/allenjordanWhere to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/* Blog: https://medium.com/@kate_syuma* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katusyuma/* Website: https://katesyuma.com/* Twitter: https://twitter.com/kate_syumaWhere to find Oscar Torres:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share it with your colleagues and like-minded friends, and give us a good review or send us your feedback to [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com

Priya Bhatia is a Growth Product Manager at 7Shifts. We started our conversation with unpacking her story of becoming a Product Manager in Growth, and discussed collaboration with product design and how to make it impactful. Then we landed on some crucial topics such as maintaining wellbeing and mental health in a high-paced environment, and even reflected on our recent experience of practicing silent meditation and vipassana.We hope that this part of our conversation can inspire you to try out some of the practices that can help you grow, feel well, both personally and professionally.Where to find Priya:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyabhatia0210/* Newsletter: Where to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/* Blog: https://medium.com/@kate_syuma* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katusyuma/* Website: https://katesyuma.com/* Twitter: https://twitter.com/kate_syumaWhere to find Oscar Torres:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share it with your colleagues and like-minded friends, and give us a good review or send us your feedback to [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com

Ioana Teleanu is a UX Manager at Miro, founder of UX Goodies Community and ex. founder of Mento Design Academy. Ioana shared with us her fascinating story of building a personal brand, creating and sunsetting her own businesses and growing through that experience.We delved into topics such as finding balance between side projects and a full-time job, growing a design community to over 220k people, the process of growing and exiting a design school, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance amidst it all. Additionally, we explored the impact of AI on the design world. Tune in to discover insights and inspiration from this engaging conversation![07:23] Staring the design community[08:40] Sunsetting your own business[13:57] Balancing work and side projects[15:58] Work-life balance in tech[18:30] Building yourself as a brand and dealing with vulnerability[30:00] Journey at UiPath[36:00] What role do you think AI will play in tech[47:52] Where to find inspirationWhere to find Ioana:* UX goodies: https://www.instagram.com/uxgoodies/* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ioanateleanu/Where to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/* Blog: https://medium.com/@kate_syuma* Twitter: https://twitter.com/kate_syuma* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katusyuma/* Website: https://katesyuma.com/Where to find Oscar Torres:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/Resources mentioned:* Ben's bites newsletter: https://www.bensbites.co/* Visual Explanations, Edward R. Tufte: https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Explanations-Quantities-Evidence-Narrative/dp/1930824157Reach out to us for feedback or a potential podcast partnership → [email protected] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com

Joey Thompson is a Product Designer, Growth at Miro. Joey shared his personal growth story with us, transition from an opera singer to UX designer and how he developed his passion for behavioural design.Our discussion turned into a thought-provoking roundtable where we explored cognitive psychology principles, dark patterns, and bright patterns, and discussed examples from products like linking Duolingo, TikTok, and many more.What's inside:[02:57] Joey's transition from opera singer to UX and Growth designer[14:36] What is Behavioural design?[17:30] How Duolingo is using "boost" principles[30:16] Discussing "Hick's law" as one of behavioural principles[36:26] Where you can find "Dark patterns"[49:37] Bright patterns: Procreate, TikTok, Midjourney[1:03:00] Recommendations for inspirationWhere to find Joey Thompson:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephfordthompson/* Twitter: https://twitter.com/jfordthompsonWhere to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/* Blog: https://medium.com/@kate_syuma* Twitter: https://twitter.com/kate_syuma* Website: https://katesyuma.com/Where to find Oscar Torres:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/Resources mentioned:* Hooked by Nir Eyal: https://www.amazon.nl/-/en/Nir-Eyal/dp/0241184835/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3NEVI274VXSF6&keywords=hooked&qid=1680364867&sprefix=hooked%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-2* Growth.design | The Psychology of Design: https://growth.design/psychology* Engaged: Designing for Behavior Change by Amy Bucher: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/engaged-designing-for-behavior-change/Reach out to us for feedback or a potential podcast partnership → [email protected] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com

We were talking about building happy teams, growing as a Product manager in Growth, how to create the best partnership with product designers, and how to shift the mindset of the company to be more growth-oriented.Here's what we covered:[02:34] Willie's story of becoming a Growth PM[06:02] Coming back to Dropbox and shift to Growth mindset[16:48] How to keep up the high energy in the team[26:15] Collaboration between Product Manager and Product designer[37:20] Successful experiments are not always the most "sexy" solutions[43:35] Building and defining happy teams[53:02] Shaping the culture of Core teams to Growth[1:00:00] Start applying the atomic habitsWhere to find Willie Tran:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willietran/Where to find Kate Syuma, Head of Growth Design at Miro:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/Twitter: https://twitter.com/kate_syumaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/katusyuma/Website: https://katesyuma.com/Where to find Oscar Torres, Product Designer at Miro:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/Reach out to us for feedback or a potential podcast partnership → [email protected] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growthmates.substack.com