logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2020
29m 18s

344: Knowing When to Give Up a Fight

Brian Lovin, Marshall Bock
About this episode

This week, we try to figure out the right time to give up on a fight when collaborating with stakeholders who have different opinions and priorities. We also cover a lot of feedback this week, discuss new design resources in The Sidebar, and share our cool things of the week.


Golden Ratio Patrons:

We're looking for partners to work with. If your team is hiring, launching a new product, or wants us to get the word out about a new initiative, please get in touch!


Latest VIP Patrons:

Huge shoutouts to our latest Very Important Pixels!

  • Udoka Chima
  • Achal Srinivasan
  • Priyanka Kodikal
  • Sean Kennedy
  • Lucas Morales
  • Sam Bazalo
  • Luciano Infanti
  • Pavel Fomchenkov

The Sidebar:

The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe for just $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! https://patreon.com/designdetails.

In this week's Sidebar we share a neat CSS library and a pro tip for customizing your personal websites.


Follow-up:

  • Some of ya'll finally shared your shameful early work - thank you! We love it.
    • Patrick Marx shared some relatively new work from 2014.
    • Katarina Blind shared an early stage mock for a "pirate Uber" to request a ride from her brother. Smart.
    • Zain Khoja shared his first Medium case study.
    • Keaton Taylor shared a live URL for some early work and, boy oh boy, is it fun.
    • Lucas Morales also shared a live URL for some earlier work, complete with a splash page!
  • Kevin Bennett agreed with our thoughts on paper prototypes - there's a time and a place, and for this type of work, it's exceedingly rare.
  • Keaton Taylor also agreed with our thoughts on the overvalue placed on pixel perfection and originality - glad to hear it resonated!

Listener Question:

  • Karl asks:
    • Sometimes, and we’ve all been there, you know what you’re doing is right. Let’s say, fighting for a darker blue to pass accessibility requirements or visualising data in a simplified graphic rather than a complex multi-dimensional graph, to appeal to a wider audience. You’ve presented this with justification and examples or clear guideline recommendations (say a design system) but it’s ignored. How do you guys generally know when to back down and stop fighting for what you know to be right based your design experience, and bow to the Product Manager/Owner’s opinion even if it’s not steeped in fact?
    • Cap Watkins' Sliding Scale of Giving a Fuck is a wonderful framework for picking battles.

Cool Things:

  • Brian shared a very fun 12-minute "single cut" action sequence from the latest Netflix movie, Extraction.
    • You can read more about how this scene was created here.
    • This reminded Marshall of the [crazy mirror sequence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD0_5HFMPIg from Contact.
  • Marshall shared his ongoing journey to beat the Juul addiction. Quarantine as a forcing function for positive habit development - win!

Design Details on the Web:


BYEEEEE!

Up next
Nov 2023
464: AI Grab Bag
This week, we talk about Open AI's GPTs-as-apps strategy, FigJam's AI tools, and our dreams for a future Jarvis-like experience.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to bonus conten ... Show More
34m 27s
Oct 2023
463: Design Medley, Vol. 1
This week, we talk about the delicate art of using animation in interface design, how to use button sizes, and managing margins in type styles.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access ... Show More
34m 13s
Sep 2023
462: Refactoring a Design System
This week, Marshall breaks down his process, tips, and tricks to redesign a design system in Figma.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to bonus content going forward! Sign up at p ... Show More
47m 33s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2020
The Power of Play
It's our very last episode for this season of Overtime! Before riding off into 2021, let's take a look at some of the predicted design trends for next year. Then, we'll talk about the pros and cons of being a niche vs. generalist designer to help you figure out which path is righ ... Show More
36m 20s
Oct 2022
Episode 250: The Laws of Creativity with Joey Cofone
Designers or not, we practice creativity every day. What are some of the laws that govern creativity? Our guest today is Joey Cofone, founder of Baron Fig. You’ll learn about his decade-long journey of writing the book, his advice for storytelling, why you should care about creat ... Show More
44m 14s
Mar 2023
Episode 263: Sharing Work in Progress with Brian Lovin
What value can designers get from sharing their work in progress? Does it outweigh the fears? Our guest today is Brian Lovin, the founder of Campsite. You’ll learn about Brian’s motivation for creating the platform, how peer feedback improves the design process, the anxiety that ... Show More
39m 22s
Dec 2020
Artist Plans for the Year Ahead - Bonus workbook episode [101]
As we develop our plans for the coming year, we dive into a discussion about our goals. This episode was recorded two weeks in advance, so it’s early in our planning process, but we already have some ideas forming. Our discussion includes how we each use Trello as an organisation ... Show More
48m 58s
Jan 2024
11. Snowvians: Any Way The Wind Blows chapters 27-28
Today we are discussing chapters 27 and 28 of Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell. Interested in a portrait by Lark? You can commission one either by joining our Patreon for a full year or order one through our shop! Here’s the instagram post with details as well. Find all o ... Show More
38m 15s
Apr 2020
Episode 166: Continuous Product Validation with Arvid Kahl
Should you relax once you find that mythical product-market fit? Our guest today is Arvid Kahl, the author of The Bootstrapped Founder blog. You'll learn how to stay in touch with your market, proactively collect customer feedback, overcome technical challenges, and make sure you ... Show More
47m 15s
Dec 2021
Episode 228: Design Advisory with Brian Lovin
Can designers make an impact as startup advisors instead of providing capital? Our guest is Brian Lovin, founder of Staff Design and product designer at GitHub. You’ll learn how Brian invests in companies with design expertise instead of capital, why design advisory is helpful to ... Show More
38m 45s
Feb 2024
12. Penny Should Learn to Play Darts: Any Way The Wind Blows chapters 29-30
Today we are discussing chapters 29 and 30 of Any Way The Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell. Interested in a portrait by Lark? You can commission one either by joining our Patreon for a full year or order one through our shop! Here’s the instagram post with details as well. You can wa ... Show More
41m 54s
May 2022
Episode 240: Designing for Play & Delight with Richard Ward
Can play and delight be an afterthought? Or must they be integral to a product from day one? Our guest today is Richard Ward, chief design officer at Otter.ai. You'll learn how to balance designing for delight and utility, how to bring joy to product users, ways to get design ins ... Show More
37m 32s
Dec 2022
Episode 255: Running a Design Vision Program with Nick Myers
How exactly do you run a successful design vision program? Our guest today is Nick Myers, VP of Design and Research at Patreon. You’ll learn what a design vision program is, its components, why it’s applicable to any company size, and more.Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds ... Show More
38m 35s