A must-read: How product design saved my hair

Bridget
Community Manager
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October 24, 2018

Hello D+I Community!

I wanted to give you the heads up about a post on the Atlassian blog that is a must-read for this Group. The post is written by Nichole Burton, a product designer at Atlassian who is a black woman. The post is about how Nichole tested some of her theories about design and diversity by applying her own product design processes to her hair. Here’s a quick snippet from her post:

"I used a comprehensive product design process to tackle one of my biggest challenges in self-care: my kinky-curly hair. Here I would like to share my findings with you. My hope is that reviewing this particular application of the product design process will not only help you learn more about it, but also shed light on how we might increase empathy for the diversity presented by the world around us. You might even learn a thing or two about your hair!"

To read Nichole's full post, click here!

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Kat Warner
Marketplace Partner
Marketplace Partners provide apps and integrations available on the Atlassian Marketplace that extend the power of Atlassian products.
October 24, 2018

I watched Nichole's presentation. I learnt that a 1-hour hair-care routine can be considered low effort for some people.

It was interesting to learn some of the 'why' behind the use of weaves in the US - which had baffled me from afar.

Jodi LeBlanc
Rising Star
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October 30, 2018

Thank you so much for sharing Bridget! Yes Empathy is so crucial in everything we do. Some people think they are practicing empathy but in fact are practicing sympathy. Brene Brown has a great short video on the difference between the two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw

Aaron Williams
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October 30, 2018

That was a fantastic read, thank you for sharing.

It's a long one to get through, but I was hooked with the high-level gist; I took a screenshot of that part to reference later for myself!

The part that stuck out to me in particular was this: After all, if I lack a thorough understanding of the problem throughout the remainder of the design process, my solutions may be entirely inappropriate.

I can wholly identify with this, and it's incredibly frustrating trying to get others around you to break their habits of running headfirst into a problem; a fuller understanding can actually be massively timesaving in the long run, you just need to be more willing to have an open mind to ask the questions you need answers to from the get go.

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