As the father of two black boys I’m acutely aware that design decisions often exclude people of color. When I put a Bandaid on a boo boo, it’s the color of a white person. When I put sunblock on my boys, the zinc in it turns their dark skin purple. When we watch movies, read books, or play video games we see white protagonists. If you’re a person of color, a lifetime of rarely seeing your reflection in pop culture creates a damaging narrative: you’re on the outside. You’re unseen.

When I started writing the second edition of Designing for Emotion in April of 2019 I thought it would be simple. I thought I’d update the examples, make some corrections, and refine things a bit. A year later I realized how wrong I was.

When you’re part a fast-growing company, it can often feel like the challenges and breakthroughs you’re experiencing are unique to your team and organization. In some ways, that’s true, but you can certainly learn from the experience of others rather than suffering in the school of hard knocks.

Design leaders far and wide are struggling to find solutions to these 7 problems.

As a company grows, everyone has to work harder — and smarter — at communicating. Designers who succeed in large organizations create social capital by developing a rapport with colleagues across the organization.

Hiring is hard. It requires time, patience, and sensitivity to subtle signals that help determine whether someone is a fit for the position.