Richard W. Baker

Are you having fun, yet?

Design leader. Relentlessly optimistic. Fascinated by systems. Previously @PandaDoc, @OpenGovInc, @generalelectric, local government.

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

Any Paperclip AI gurus wiring up their Obsidian Vaults (or similar) to give their agents more context?

[Daniel Pink @DanielPink]

Thursday wisdom:

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

@askUHC I need help getting UHC to pay doctor bills that are covered by my plan, but you refuse. Customer support is friendly but not helpful. 5 months of claims have gone unpaid.

[PandaDoc @pandadoc]

It's time to celebrate because PandaDoc has officially reached 50,000 customers! 🐼🎉

So, thank you to our 50,000 customers for trusting us with your documents and your business. We can't wait to see what amazing things we can accomplish together in the future! 🚀 #PandaDoc50K

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

@MetLife Thanks for checking. It was an emergency so had to guess on a provider and ended up going out of network. Hope your website is up next time.

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

@MetLife Dental—Again, your website is down. We're paying our premiums, but you're not delivering the basic services.

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

Don't underestimate the power of simplicity. It applies to all aspects of business and life: strategy, user experience, team structure, and even recipes.

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

So this is the new Twitter now?

[PandaDoc @pandadoc]

Just in time for Valentine's Day. ❤️

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

Most designers really want to see their work make waves. Flashy or not. They just want their work to make a difference. It’s up to the design leader to tie that project directly to business goals. Get them excited about the project so they can jump in with both feet.

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

Opened Twitter, and the first 4 tweets were from @elonmusk over a ~6-hour timespan. I guess they 'fixed' the algorithm.

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

If you don’t have time for deep user research, what makes you think you’d have time to act on your insights?

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

Evaluating a design system is different than measuring. Once we’ve evaluated the design system and know our focus areas, we can begin to measure its impact.

[Tony Fadell @tfadell]

Half of what you put into any product needs to be emotional.

[Dan Brown (he/him) 👓 @brownorama]

If we're on a Zoom, and your dog comes into frame, please introduce them to me.
It's 2023, people. I should not have to ask.

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

One of the top priorities for a design leader is team engagement. Does your team actually want to be there?

A designer’s work should result in happy users. A design leader’s work should result in a healthy team.

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

“If it isn’t a clear yes, then it’s a clear no”—The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown

In many environments we operate in, speed is more important than accuracy. It’s imperative to take the available data, asses it, then take action. You can course-correct at any time.

[Kurtis Hanni @KurtisHanni]

3 ways to get unstuck:

1. Eliminate distractions
2. Set realistic expectations
3. Take action

What would you add?

[Richard W. Baker @rwbaker]

How do you know when you’re a Senior Designer? Ownership.

You can run a project from start to finish and own every step. That doesn’t mean you do everything yourself. You work with your stakeholders and are accountable. That’s what a Senior Designer brings to the table.

[Andrew Gazdecki @agazdecki]

Premature scaling is the kiss of death for startups, nail it then scale it.