This week Jaclyn & Kyle catch up on streamlining UI, building landing pages in Hubspot CMS, first impressions of Tailwind, and auto-layout in Figma. Also, we reminisce as we say adieu to Kyle and his tenure on Tentative. 👋🥲

106: Note-n-Map 'n Stuff

Mar 5th, 2021 16m 54s

This week Jaclyn & Kyle discuss neglecting your backlog, the emotions around a design sprint, and changes to the design and development team structure at thoughtbot.Become a Sponsor (https://thoughtbot.com/sponsorship) of Tentative!

105: User Focused (Nelsy Hubb)

Feb 19th, 2021 37m 6s

Nelsy Hubb, Product Manager at Neocova, joins Jaclyn to discuss engaging with outside partners, maintaining a design system, customer feedback, trusting your subject matter experts, design debt, and many, many allusions to The Lord of the Rings

104: The Phone is Back!

Dec 23rd, 2020 25m 33s

To wrap up our year, this week Kyle & Jaclyn run a retro for 2020. So put on those comfy pants and join us while they reflect on their most used tools, new amenities, and favorite hobbies of the year; as well as air some behind the scenes goodn

103: If We Don't, Who Will? (Lloyd Bennett)

Dec 11th, 2020 34m 50s

Lloyd Bennett, designer at thoughtbot London, joins the show to discuss Tones & Shades, his new digital magazine, as well as designing a brand identity, prototyping early in the design process, and animating with intent.This episode is brought

102: Automation is the Goal (Adekunle Oduye)

Nov 20th, 2020 31m 21s

Adekunle Oduye, UX Engineer at Mailchimp, discusses working on a design-system team, setting goals for 2021, storing documentation in Figma, and conducting user research for design systems.This episode is brought to you by:ExpressVPN (https:/

101: Unconsulting (Ryan Rumsey)

Nov 6th, 2020 43m 56s

Ryan Rumsey, founder & CEO of Second Wave Dive, discusses building programs that solve systems problems through design thinking, and struggling with critique.This episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN (https://www.expressvpn.com/tentative).

100: Who We Are as Designers (Senongo Akpem)

Oct 23rd, 2020 44m 48s

Senongo Akpem, author of Cross-Cultural Design, joins the show to discuss design in civic-tech, ways to include cross-cultural design thinking into short engagements, staying dedicated to long-term projects, and memories of Dreamweaver.This ep

99: Organic Backlog Gardening (Erin May & JH Forster)

Oct 9th, 2020 44m 34s

From User Interviews, Erin May (VP Growth & Marketing) & JH Forster (VP Product) join the show to discuss hiring during Covid, onboarding remotely, using GitHub for documentation, backlog management, managing team morale while remote, and work

98: Think About the Edge Cases (Hannah Yang)

Sep 18th, 2020 37m 52s

Hannah Yang, Product Manager of Provider Experience at Oscar Health Insurance, joins us to discuss feature prioritization during COVID, designing towards a KPI goal, customer relationships at small & large companies, qualitative vs quantitative

97: Park the Train-Car in Harvard Yard (Elaina Natario & Vendela Larsson)

Sep 4th, 2020 32m 31s

Elaina Natario and Vendela Larsson join us to discuss the research, procedure, and findings, that went into their Glides project for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. "Gliding to Success" (https://designmuseumfoundation.org/glidi

96: Updating the UX

Aug 21st, 2020 12m 6s

Hey Tentative listeners, this week we're bringing you an announcement of upcoming changes to the format of Tentative. We'll be exploring more focused topics, bringing in guests from around the design community, and discussing the intersection o

95: My Clipboard-History History

Aug 7th, 2020 17m 11s

This week, Kyle updates case studies in our CMS and Jaclyn returns from PTO. Also, tips & tricks for Alfred, working in non-traditional design tools, and a design-team book club. Alfred (https://www.alfredapp.com/)Prismic (https://prismic.io/

94: Livin' in Google Docs

Jul 24th, 2020 32m 15s

This week, Jaclyn volunteers on a design sprint and prepares for PTO, while Kyle preps for a website redesign workshop. Also, collaboration vs customization in presentations, preparing a 2 day Pre-MVP workshop, approaches to editing, and balanc

93: Janice and the Vampires

Jul 10th, 2020 16m 32s

This week, Kyle works on documentation and updating pages in our CMS, while Jackie hosts an internal trivia game as well as troubleshoots her terminal setup. Also, avoiding burnout, extending Covid protections, and Zoom fatigue.Become a Sponso

92: Pay Attention to the Shade

Jun 26th, 2020 28m 30s

This week, Jaclyn conducted a remote design sprint and Kyle utilizes "no Slack" communication on a project. Also, cutting scope, the importance of the human element in product validation, and the varied usage of "It depends".Remote Design Spri

91: Design Your Way Out of a Box

Jun 19th, 2020 26m 38s

This week Kyle discusses his iterative approach to everything, and Jaclyn discusses take-aways from her Lightning Design Jam. Also, a design-thinking escape room, life lessons learned from previous jobs, and human corn.Lightning Design Jam (ht

90: Seeking Strengths (Gareth Burrowes)

Jun 5th, 2020 40m 7s

We are pushing back our normally scheduled podcast in support of the protests this week and the Black community as a whole. To give space for their words, their actions, and all of the grieving caused by the killing of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbe

89: Learning T-Rex Arms (the hard way)

May 22nd, 2020 30m 4s

This week we contemplate how people see their time, posture tips to reduce physical stress while working from home, and conducting a 'consulting skills' workshop.Here Are Some Excellent Zoom Backgrounds (https://www.themarysue.com/best-zoom-ba

88: A Very Brady Standup

May 8th, 2020 31m 11s

Kyle serves as interim Design Director for London while Jaclyn prepares for a design workshop. Also, shifting locations to improve focus, the importance of ergonomics, content audits, and an impromptu live-feedback session.Unstick Your Product

87: An Homage to Mean Girls

Apr 24th, 2020 37m 39s

Kyle gets stressed out by grocery shopping, and prepares for a workshop. Jaclyn finishes a draft on a case study and benefits from the value of time-boxing. Also, tricking Zoom, staying productive, the importance of routine, and little things t

86: Just a Square on a Screen

Mar 27th, 2020 30m 29s

As thoughtbot transitions to working remotely, we discuss the tools and tips we use when conducting remote design sprints. Enroll in our free online-workshop on going remote Being Human in the Absence of Humans: A Live Q&A for Product Teams (h

85: People Like Vegetables

Mar 13th, 2020 28m 58s

Kyle kicks off a new project, and Jaclyn plans a design sprint workshop. Also, remote camera etiquette, the labels of 'designer' & 'developer', and creating professional bios.This episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN (https://www.expressvpn

84: Feedback, and Insight, and Learnings, Oh My!

Feb 28th, 2020 33m 43s

Jaclyn shares insights from running a large design-thinking workshop, Kyle discusses the methodology of the new thoughtbot.com redesign, and the highs & lows of the Frosty™.Shape up (https://basecamp.com/shapeup)thoughtbot.com Redesign (https

83: The Future is Beige

Jan 31st, 2020 23m 12s

Jaclyn plans an intimate design sprint exercise for developers as well as a large design-thinking workshop, discusses why you can't just start ideating, and getting a large group to converge on a problem-statement.3-12-3 BrainstormingRoyal Tene