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By Design.

By Design is a fortnightly letter reaching ~170,000 people following the Prototypr Medium publication. Written by Sophie Clifton-Tucker, we unearth unheard voices, and break down the barriers in design and development

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Issue #1

Fur-NO to furlough. The last thing you need during a global pandemic is to lose your source of livelihood. With layoffs and job offers being rescinded left, right, and centre, our team here at Prototypr have put something in place to support you whilst you wrestle with Wix or Webflow to make those portfolio updates you’ve put off for months — we’re all guilty!

The brand new Prototypr ‘People’ page boosts users who are on the hunt for a job. Add your career info and tick ‘Available for Hire’ and your profile will appear more prominently on our listings page. Huzzah!

And that’s not all, folks. Each week, we’ll be featuring profiles of Prototypr People to increase chances of being seen by a potential new employer. Don’t say we’re not good to you.

Head to the end of this newsletter to see whose Dribbble shots and Github stars we’ve got for you this week.

Hot off the Press

Figma in QuarantineThe Figma team have taken a brief interlude from being design wizards to highlight how we’re all feeling during quarantine, through the medium of song. (We cannot be held accountable for this earworm taking over 90% of your brain for the remainder of the day.)
Glitch Layoffs: Coding platform, Glitch, had a slightly less jovial response to the pandemic as they laid off over a third of their employees.
After securing $30 million in funding back in 2018 in order to hire more people and grow the business, the spotlight is on Glitch (who have created more than 2.6 million remixed apps) to see what’s next for their community.
In an attempt to do right by his booted employees, CEO, Anil Dash, tweeted: “Several of the most talented, creative, and thoughtful people you can hire are looking for work… If your company is hiring in engineering, media or marketing, they will be the most valuable hires you can make.”
Airbnb Cuts: It’s not just small teams that have been hit hard; online accommodation giants, Airbnb, have sacked an eye-watering 1,900 of its employees, leaving data scientists, marketers, and designers out of work. “We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime.” wrote CEO, Brian Chesky, sitting atop his $3.1 billion.
Amidst the fallout, Airbnb released a talent directory of ex-employees, among which are 75 designers, shedding some light on the sheer volume of people affected by the crisis.
Class of COVID-19: Things aren’t looking too shiny for college grads either, now known as the ‘Class of COVID-19’. As if it wasn’t hard enough trying to navigate into a world where Pot Noodles are no longer an acceptable form of breakfast, and sleeping in until noon is a no-no, newly-qualified graduates are being thrust into what is arguably the most hostile job market of the 21st century.

Weekly Roundup

5 Parts of the Design Interview Process: So you’ve applied for the job, and clinched the interview. After letting out a few woo-hoos and calling your mum, what’s next? In a classic case of sensei-grasshopper role reversal, Angie reveals how being a designer interviewer made her a better interviewee. From nail-biting phone interviews to portfolio presentations and even off-the-cuff behavioural questions (why do they always want to know what type of biscuit I am?), Angie’s covered all bases.

Workshops for Wallflowers: When you picture your typical designer, ‘extrovert’ might not be the first adjective that pops into your mind, but in actual fact there are many face-to-face elements to it; user interviews, presentations, and facilitating workshops are just a few of the things that come with the gig. Self-confessed introvert and UX Designer Porhour has formulated a fool-proof four-point plan for prep & success (and perhaps most importantly, forgiving yourself for the occasional brain fart) that you can implement in the job interview process.

Communicating Effectively Through a Screen: I don’t know about you, but after my 9th Zoom call this week, I’ve actually found myself missing the small-talk-around-the-water-cooler chats. Even the ones where Office Bob tells me about his cat’s bow tie collection for the 45th time.

Coordinating the team for a video call can sometimes feel like herding frogs. Picasso’s video is glitching, Darth Vadar’s audio is intermittent, and you’re left feeling exhausted and exasperated as you watch your precious minutes tick away. In order to get the most out of your meetings whilst working remotely, Freda highlights how to achieve effective communication with the people on the other side of the screen.

The Connection Exercise: Whilst we’re on the subject of video calls — the lack of direct eye contact (unnerving), lag (annoying), and general feeling of self-consciousness (about pairing your shirt up top with your week-old pyjama pants on the bottom, say) can really fudge up that positive, human connection we usually get from face-to-face chats. (Except the ones with Office Bob, there’s no helping those). Christina has been experimenting with a remedy with her colleagues over at Tophatter, in the form of an icebreaker. Now before you go vanishing out the door in a panic, this isn’t your regular icebreaker. This is a cool icebreaker.

Available for Hire

Each week we’ll feature some of our members on the hunt for work in the world of design. Could this be you? Not if you don’t sign up first.

Windyasari Septriani • Illustration, UX Writing

LinkedIn | Website | Prototypr

Looking for the perfect illustration to accompany your work? View Windyasari’s collection over on Dribbble.
Take a look at her side hustle, UX Change, a collection of UX writings in Indonesian.

Soliudeen Ogonsola • Visual Developer, Content Writing

LinkedIn | Website | Prototypr

Soliudeen is a passionate creator, with a wide array of skills. He recently combined his love of writing with his technical skills to build Learn UX Writing, acurated resource of UX Writing videos.
Now he’s using playing with the new Framer and sharing his learnings through yet another new project, Awesome Framer Tips.

Ryan Yao • Product Designer

LinkedIn | Website | Prototypr

Ryan is a product designer specialising in prototyping and UI design. He’s also the creator ‘Designer Slack Communities’, a directory that helps designers from all different backgrounds connect with each other. Check out his recent article on how he built it using Webflow.

Leandro Fernandez • Product Designer

LinkedIn | Website | Prototypr

Leandro believes in breaking down complex problems to craft solutions to help people achieve their goals. Read about a landing page redesign he worked on in order to increase conversions and reduce bounce rate.