Rally Design

Hot take: Design is too often slow and precious, when it should be fast and messy. Here’s another: Meetings are the least efficient way to get things done, 90% of the time. Enter Rally. Rally is a design service that offers month-to-month subscriptions, pause or cancel anytime—so you only pay for the design you need, when you need it. We turn designs around in 48-hr cycles, and operate fully asynchronously using Slack, Trello, and Loom—no meetings. 48-hr turnaround—how do we do this? Repeat after me: design is a process, not a picture—it should be fast and messy, and we should be sharing and collaborating early and often. Our design team has a strong bias-to-action, and—when there is ambiguity in a client brief or request—we are comfortable making assumptions to fill in the gaps, in service of progress. We believe in using the tangibility of design to drive conversation forward and bring shape to your project. No meetings—how does that work? We believe the best work happens together, in partnership, but the way work happens together is changing. Following the rise of remote work, most teams have struggled to make progress together without a full day of meetings—sound familiar? We want to show you a better way. We use Trello for tracking and commenting on design work, Slack for more nuanced discussion, and Loom when more hifi communication is needed (eg when tone matters, or when writing is too hard). That’s it. This means you get time back for deep work and making meaningful, tangible progress on the things that matter most to you—and you can engage with Rally when it works best for your schedule. Let Rally show you how design can unlock what your business is really capable of. Subscribe today at joinrally.co, and receive your first design in 2 days. Let’s rally.

Design hiring can feel like finding a needle in a haystack, especially now. Despite a market flooded with talent, many are struggling to find the right fit. If you know me, you know about (and have likely made fun of) my tendency to look for the good in people. I look for potential, the advantage in every disadvantage, especially when it’s not obvious. Maybe you've met the candidate that’s “really great but…” and you cut them loose. What was the “but”? Was it really a dealbreaker? One candidate you’ve maybe come across: the career switcher. This is the designer with a past life doing something else—maybe even in the industry you’re in—but with only 1-2 years as a designer. You maybe want a senior person, and 1-2 years isn’t enough. But while all the hard skills aren’t quite there, they’re great communicators and carry themselves with the maturity of a seasoned professional; in a stakeholder/client-facing situation, you think they’d do great. Don’t dismiss prior career experience. So much of what gets a designer to that senior level is soft skills. I’ve hired a few career switchers, and given the right opportunities, some can close the hard skills gap quickly towards being the senior designer you're looking for. A few common mistakes that might cause you to miss out on high-potential candidates: Dismissing candidates w/o [platform] experience If you need a state-of-the-art, consumer-grade mobile app experience—then yes, mobile should be a hard requirement. If not, I might question whether mobile experience is a must-have. An experienced designer worth their salt can find the right resources, study the best of what exists today, and quickly grow into the mobile designer you need. Dismissing candidates w/o [industry] experience I appreciate wanting a designer that has experience in your industry, especially if you’re a mission-driven company in a complex industry like healthcare or finance. But I’d point out: many innovative and genuinely “fresh” solutions come from cross-industry pollination and remixing of ideas. I’d also consider the kinds of experiences and workflows the designer has worked on; even if the industry is not a match, you might be surprised by the similarities in challenges. Bias towards/against big tech pedigree A common, unfair assumption: big tech designers aren't “startup scrappy.” Conversely, some assume that designers with a startup-only background lack the level of training and polish of their big tech counterparts. I’ve seen both to be untrue, which leads me to my last watchout… Not looking at the whole person Big tech or startup. First career or second. Specialist, generalist, t-shaped, pi-shaped… Sometimes it’s not about checking all the boxes, but instead how all the pieces come together, maybe in a way you didn’t know you wanted or needed. Seeing potential, especially where others don’t—it’s a superpower worth learning. Happy hunting! PS: Have an urgent need and want to get creative? My DMs are open.

Stop chasing unicorns—the perfect designer that’s 100% everything: An architect’s mind, to simplify complex flows and information hierarchy An artist’s eye, to craft distinctive, drop dead gorgeous visuals A scientist’s curiosity, for what’s working, what’s not, why A product sense, for what will be most impactful now, later A team player, who plays well with others, a “culture fit” A team of one, who can get it all done, yesterday … This job description familiar? Yea, I’ve posted this one too. I get it. You want the Swiss army knife of designers, for all needs and scenarios, now and in the future—because you’re not sure how your needs will change. You also want someone you can trust and rely on, and feels like part of your team. You’re maybe thinking about hiring someone full-time, but you’re not sure you should. You want flexibility, but you want stability too. What if you had an adaptive team of seasoned specialists? A team that will shape, and reshape, itself to the team you have Generalists, but with strong specialties, to serve your needs now and later Seniority to, not only execute, but also advise you on where to go next Specialists, over unicorns Advisors, over pixel pushers The adaptive team, over the design team of one If you’re struggling to find “the one,” maybe consider there’s a better path to get you where you need to go. We curate and deploy adaptive design teams for startups. To learn more, send me a message, or check us out at joinrally.co We'll help you understand your options and find the right path for you.

There is a huge need for product design. Over the past year, we’ve seen budget-conscious teams looking for fractional but ongoing support, and others in a rebuilding phase and hiring full-time again. And in all cases, the struggle is clear: It is super hard to find the right designer for your team’s specific needs—now, and in the future. Teams are burning through freelancers and agencies, one after another: Nearshore/offshore resources who are more affordable, but may have language barrier or timezone challenges (esp for complex projects or high-touch environments) Visual specialists who can make things that look great, but lack the chops for anything UX/product-heavy Jr/mid-level designers who can handle simple projects, but lack the experience to serve as a design partner who can provide a bigger picture POV on what to consider next and why Maybe you’re a: Product leader, with mature product and engineering functions—and even a design team—but your team lacks the design maturity to close the gap between where your product is, and where it needs to be. Maybe it’s your design process, or hiring process, or an overall need for design leadership to help pull the pieces together. Maybe you’re a: Product team of 1-2, working towards an MVP or redesign of your current product, juggling an engineering team and countless other priorities. You maybe even have a designer, but you don’t have time to manage them day-to-day, or to carve up work for them to do every week. You wish you had a more experienced, product-leaning design partner who can help carry the load. Maybe you’re a: Non-technical founder, and simply need help bringing shape to your ideas towards that first MVP. Designers are great at making, but maybe you also need someone who will take the lead. Some can make things look good, but maybe your problem isn’t (only) that your product is an ugly duck. Maybe it’s the what (defining the work to do, and doing it), but also the how: how your team is setup to design and build high-quality products. Need help sifting through the noise to find the “right” designer? Need to level up the design team you already have? Need to get designers up-and-running? And moving through the work smoothly week-to-week? If any of this resonates, I’d love to hear from you, and see if we can help. Send me a message, or check us out at joinrally.co

Been watching a lot of TV lately: the Olympics, among other things… (House of the Dragon, of course. GOT fans?) Combined with seeing all that’s happened in our industry (layoffs, back-to-office), while also building Rally and interacting with other companies, especially competitors—I can’t help but notice recurring themes in our world, our industry, and my day-to-day: - Scarcity vs abundance mindset - Zero-sum (win-lose) vs positive-sum (win-win) mentality - Binary (either/or) vs paradoxical (both/and) thinking If you’ve been following the Olympics, you might have seen this moment making the rounds. And if you’re like me, you probably ate up all the positivity the internet had to offer, because moments like this must be celebrated (on so many levels!). But you maybe also saw the negativity that inevitably shows up, in this case: a “winner takes all” “it’s us or them” binary mentality—one that seems especially dominant in the time we’re living in. By this point in the not-quite-post-pandemic era, we’ve all experienced burnout; we become the version of ourselves who can only handle simple, binary choices when faced with a problem—our cups are too empty for creative thinking or dealing with complexity well, in work and life. In our industry, we’ve seen this binary thinking manifest in how some companies address hard problems with blanket solutions: sweeping layoffs and back-to-office mandates. Over the last year building Rally, in spite of layoffs, we’ve noticed there is still a lot of need, and a lot of work to go around—but how we all go after it might need to look a bit different now, than what we’re used to. We’ve met with quite a few shops like ours (competitors, frankly) and it’s been mostly positive, and productive. We’ve built some great relationships and worked out ways to support each other. There’s also nothing like talking shop with peers who are going through the same things you are. The point is: relationships can be more than one thing—and we can be all the better for it. You can be teammates, fellow citizens of the world, as well as competitors, and still lift each other up. You can be friends and colleagues and business partners. You can choose to embrace complexity—a win-win, abundance mindset—and choose to take the harder, non-binary (but often more rewarding) path of growing together. There is enough room, and we can choose to make more, for each other. ?? AP Photo / Abbie Parr

This time last year, I’d just lost my job. My partner Dan and I jumped straight into building the Rally website, and the following week, I flew out to Chicago for the wedding of my close friend, Josh (who would become our third partner a few months later). I’ve known these fellas since my Boston U days: Josh was my dance teammate, Dan was my roommate (and the baddest Smash Bros player I knew, until Josh came along). Over the years, we’ve tried to find every opportunity to work together on fun projects. We even tried to do what we’re doing now together, 10 years ago, but our 9-5s were too cush. It’s one thing to be friends, another to also enjoy working together, and yet another to commit to being business partners. Almost a year on building Rally, and it’s honestly been a gift to get to work with these two everyday—it’s fun and rewarding, even (and sometimes especially) on the hard days. We’re just back from a week together in Chicago, planning the rest of the year and reflecting on some accomplishments that feel significant: ?? Built a small but mighty team of talented designers we trust and enjoy working with ?? Timesheets, payroll, and accounting—all moved to software, from spreadsheets (nightmare) ?? Built relationships with a few great channel partners—VC firms and other small shops—who continue to send us high-quality clients (this is the way) ??? Each of us took vacation for the first time this past May/Jun since starting Rally—truly unplugged—and came back to find the business running smoothly (this felt huge) It’s not all sunshine though. Are there things that suck about running a professional design services business? Yes. Absolutely. How much time you got? What does it look like to have “made it”? Are we there yet? We’ve certainly talked about what that looks like, for each of us. It’s going to be a journey—but it’s a journey we “get to” go on. I recognize it’s not everyone’s idea of a good time (and probably someone’s nightmare), but I get to see and work with my friends every week to build cool shit, and we get to decide how we do it based on our values. It’s not always a dream, but it’s a little bit the dream.

Update: We've filled the role, but we're continuing to review applicants with an eye towards future projects. We will reach out if there's a potential match. Thanks so much all for applying, sharing, and sending good folks from your networks ?? ?? ?? ------------------------- I'm hiring for a Product Designer! UX-leaning and startup savvy, with strong product thinking and a lean approach to design, concept testing, and collaborating with cross-functional partners. 5 years exp minimum Contract, 1 month to start, starting asap Remote, ET/CT timezones only If you're interested, or you know someone great, pls fill out (or share) this brief application:

We're 3 months into building our first (design services) biz—so how's it going? After losing my job in July—and after years of talking about it—my longtime friend and collaborator, Dan Lee, and I finally made the leap to launch our first business: a design agency called Rally Design, specializing in Brand (Dan) and UX/Product Design (me), supported by a network of super talented designers and some of our favorite people. I was dissatisfied with bare minimum "survival mode" design teams, without the budget and support to do more. I was tired of seeing most/all of my design team get laid off—3 times, at different companies, and esp the ones I'd built myself. I was frustrated by companies who could not figure out how to operate without weeks filled to the brim with Zoom calls—and employees left stealing time from their personal lives to get shit done. (To be fair, this can be such a hard problem to solve—esp if remote work is not in your company's DNA.) We wanted to build great products and brands, with people we like—and most days: time for lunch, a long walk after, and dinner at a reasonable hour. Since August, we've had lots of firsts... ?? Setup an LLC and bank account, launched our website ?? Published online, sent lots of messages ?? Received nice messages from new/old friends, and leads! ??♂? Received not-so-nice messages from internet randos ?? Fumbled through our first sales calls ?? Had a sales friend tear apart our pitch ???? Ran a few trial periods with prospects (free work, not fun) ?? Wrote a ton of proposals/SOWs (free work, not fun) ?? Got paid! ?? Got buried in client work (and went dark) ?? Stopped working “on” the biz ?? Delivered a ton of stuff: products, websites, brand guides ?? Signed our first subscription clients ?? Earned some great partners and referral sources ?? Took a—working—vacation with Dan (subscription model downside) ?? Started working “on” the biz again ?? Wrote a few contractor agreements ?? Hired great part-time help, for biz dev and client work ?? Ran marketing workshops (FigJam<3), created a roadmap ?? Talked RACI with Dan, and our small but mighty team (7!) ?? Set goals, priorities, owners through EOY / next few months ...and you're caught up! But how's it really going? It's a lot. The list has no end Boundaries are important There are weeks I forget to come up for air It's scary. What if clients don't renew? How do we spend time the “best” way each week? No ladder, no manager. How do I know I’m doing well? But also, fun and rewarding. In a “not sure I can go back” kind of way (But I'm also a workaholic, with privilege to take risks) Most of all, I've learned: I don't ask for help enough I'm absolutely a "team" guy Community is so important (The last few years, I thought I’d lost mine, but all I needed to do was ??) I was ?? for a bit, but excited to be sharing again. Our newsletter is back on, and shifting to short monthly updates. Follow along: joinrally.substack.com

Beers With Friends ??, james wood, and Dana Hork are wonderful to work with! If you're a designer looking for freelance work, definitely check them out ??

What is the “IKEA Effect”? The IKEA effect was coined by Michael Norton, Daniel Mochon, and Dan Ariely in their paper “The IKEA Effect: When labor leads to love” The effect is simple; people place a higher value on things they helped create. A similar phenomenon occurred with prepackaged cake mixes in the 1950s. Consumers felt that cooking became too easy. However, after a tweak to the formula that required adding an egg to the mix, they gained popularity. I’ve seen some differing opinions on the morality of this effect. The result of this effect for IKEA is that the company can save on the costs of assembly and transportation and charge, and they can charge the consumer close to the same price. I can see the cynical perspective, but can’t ignore the positive result of the IKEA effect in my own experience. I still have pieces of IKEA furniture that I feel attached to; because I assembled them and for the memory of putting them together with friends. Is there anything we can take from the IKEA effect into our process working with clients? How can we make clients feel more involved in the creation process? Is there a way to do so and actually save them money? #designprocess #designhack #brandhack #designagency