#objective critique

I truly believe that Blue Apron is a great example of a service that is human-centered. I have been using Blue Apron for about 2 years and every week I am relieved that I do not have to sit down for a half hour and decide what I am going to make for dinner and then end up throwing out most of it and wasting money. For $60, three meals to feed two people, a week, I get just the right amount of ingredients for the meals I have chosen for the week and it is always just enough food where I do not have to throw much, or any, food away. This is a service that was designed for people who want to save money and resources when it comes to making dinner. 

Image from asana.com One of the key design leadership tools I rely on is feedback—specifically, objective critiques. A great platform for facilitating this is the Asana app, which I use to collaborate with my team and stakeholders. Asana provides a space where we can share constructive feedback, keeping discussions focused and productive, even when working remotely. This approach has helped us stay on track and meet deadlines more effectively. It’s a far cry from my early design days, when the process was often less streamlined and things took a lot longer to get done!

My kids are still young, which allows me to have plenty of oversight of their interactions with screens. I've been thinking a lot about how to be open an honest with them about what the dangers are, while still allowing them to learn how to use computers and iPads as tools, that certainly aren't going anywhere. I haven't even begun to think about what it will be like when they start to ask for phones. There's a need for design intervention.

This course really opened my mind up to a different way to approach the design process. As a design leader, there a lot of things to consider when leading and designing. This project has helped me tap into a new level of my creativity and has really helped me grow my confidence in pitching my ideas more. I’m not quite at the point where I feel I can completely lead a whole design project but I’m confident I am on the right path and will be able to soon. I have never really noticed how much research can go into a design project (maybe I just didn’t realize because I wasn’t the one doing it) but now it’s clear how important and necessary it is. I may not actually see my problem for this project to be solved in the real world but the things I have learned from metaphorically solving it will be applied else where and help me solve an actual one.

I think pill bottles can be both a wicked design and amazing solution. It can be an amazing solution because they are designed to be hard to open so that small children can’t get to the pills which could potentially hand them. Though this is great, the pill bottle being hard to open may not only be stopping children. They could also be stopping those who have arthritis or and other ailment that may cause them to not be able to perform the action of pushing down and twisting to open. That could prevent them from taking the meds they need to help them.

This company Tropic uses balloon packaging that allows for every drop of their product to be used. A lot of skincare products I use I’m constantly having to take off the top or even cut the container open to get the last bit of product, which usually is still a good amount but unable to get out the mirando due to the shape of the container. Tropic’s choice to use balloon was a great example of responsibility in design leadership because they want their customers to get what they’re paying for.

I think the brand Nutrafol has done a great job practicing responsibility in design leadership. Nutrafol provides a hair growth supplements and their packaging is quite sustainable. When you first order you’ll receive your vitamins in a hard reusable container and then every order after that, in order to reduce waste, Nutrafol just sends your monthly refills in a bag that you can fill the original bottle up with.

I have designed and crocheted this mini dinosaur to give to my goddaughter. I just recently got into crocheting so my work isn’t quite up there yet but I feel like the effort and thought is what matters most.