Last Thing Sunday
First Thing Monday, edition #115
If 2023 taught us anything, it's that everything changes, all of the time. Week by week, it's getting harder and harder to stay on top of our ever changing industry. You need to force yourself to keep on learning, and it can be exhausting at times.
But honestly, that's one thing I've always loved about being a product designer, working in tech. There’s always something new to learn.
So I thought I'd kick 2024 by sharing a list of the people I listen to the closest, the books I've enjoyed the most, and my favourite podcasts I've heard in 2023.
For me, this last year has been one of my wildest years, both professionally and personally. I've learned a lot.
5 people I’ve followed
Here are the top 5 people that I've learnt the most from this year. My dream team!
John Maeda
John Maeda needs no introduction, but I've never really connected with his work until later this year. I'm still spinnning after watching his talk on Design and Artificial Intelligence, and will be sure to follow him more closely in 2024.
Sophia Prater
Sophia is the brains behind Object Oriented UX - or OOUX for short. This framework has completely changed the way I think about information architecture and digital product design. I did a short course on OOUX this year, but planning to dive deeper in 2024.
Dan Mall
I've been sharpening my thinking around design systems this year, and Dan Mall has been my go-to for everything about design systems. Excited to be doing one of his Design System University courses at the moment.
Jakob Nielsen
Jakob Nielsen, one of the most influential thought leaders on AI? That wasn't on my 2023 Bingo card. But Jakob has been a trailblazer. His perspective on the intersection of AI and UX has been crucial, and his newsletter is required reading.
Mia Blume
And finally - If there's one person who has influenced my thinking around Design and AI tools, it's Mia Blume. Her newsletter and courses have been such a learning inspiration for me. And special shout-out to her AI Playbook for Design Teams. It’s really helped me to think about the future of our industry.
5 books I’ve read
My 5 favourite books for the year:
Design That Scales - Dan Mall
This book only just shipped, but I haven't been able to put it down. I can see myself referring to it again and again. Truly one of the most comprehensive guides to design systems that I've ever come across.
Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin
Every year I vow to read more fiction, and most years I fail. This year was no exception.
My fiction highlight for the year was Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, a novel by Gabrielle Zevin. Such a sweet book about video games and a whole lot more.
Conversational Design - Erika Hall
Conversations with Things - Diana Deibel and Rebecca Evanhoe
With sooooo much going on in the chatbot and other conversational UI space, I really wanted to dig into conversational design this year. I think it’s going to be an increasingly important skill for designers to have. These two books have taught me well.
Stuck - Abby Covert
A whole book about diagrams? Yeah, go on! This is a great little read on how to think about diagrams, work on your diagramming skills, and to be more intentional when creating them. A cracker of a book.
Pledging again to read more fiction this year.
10 Podcasts
Since moving to the US, I've been doing a LOT more dog walking. Which means more podcast listening.
Pockecasts tells me that I've listened to an additional week (7 days x 24 hours) of podcasts this year.
I listen to all sorts of stuff, but these are my go-to podcasts that are design, product and AI related.
- Offline
Thanks for reading!
Fun Fact - First Thing Monday was sent out on Monday only 26% of the time. It might be time for a re-brand this year. Or maybe just get my shit together in 2024, and deliver it on time.
Either way, i wanted to say thanks so much for reading my little newsletter during the past year. It's been refreshing to dust off the writing cobwebs after a long hiatus.
Happy new year!
Ben
How about ' The Weekly Rowe' for a new name idea Ben..!