Books versus people

Recently I’ve realised that I’m not spending enough time talking through the problems I face at work. This has been a hard-won realisation for me. I used to be able to solve work problems by reading things in books and articles and then practicing them on my own. This is how I learned to be a designer and a researcher. I learned how to interview people, make prototypes, do usability testing, give presentations, run workshops, and many other things like this. It felt like a superpower.