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A Toast To Tiny Triumphs
When we think about progress, we often think about how good it feels to achieve a long-term goal or experience a major breakthrough.
These big wins are great, but let's recognize the power of celebrating every day, small victories.
In the realm of User Experience (UX), acknowledging and rejoicing in these small wins becomes even more crucial.
They might seem like minor steps forward, but they have the potential to evoke outsize positive reactions and boost our inner work life tremendously.
Even ordinary, incremental progress can increase people's engagement in their work and enhance overall employee happiness.
Small wins, as coined by organizational theorist Karl Weick, are concrete, complete, and implemented outcomes of moderate importance.
For designers, these wins can be as simple as crafting a single button or designing an entire screen.
It's easy to dismiss these accomplishments as insignificant in the grand scheme of a project, but let's not underestimate their impact on our sanity.
We've all heard the legendary tales of the "300 million dollar button," where a well-designed button solved a major problem and resulted in a massive financial gain.
Celebrating these small wins is vital for our sanity as designers. They remind us that our efforts matter, boost our confidence, and fuel our motivation to tackle larger challenges.
Winning Habits & Finding Motivation
Let's explore two key aspects of celebrating wins in UX: building winning habits and finding motivation in the present moment.
- Building habits: Help others make an effort to win on a daily basis by consciously and consistently developing winning habits. Encourage activities performed effortlessly, without conscious thought, because the mind and body have been programmed to suit them. When we ask our team for wins, it sparks their creativity and inspires them to think about new ways to achieve success. By embedding winning habits into our daily routines, we create an environment where victories become the norm rather than the exception.
- Motivation: In our pursuit of future achievements, we often overlook the present moment and the small tasks that contribute to our growth trajectory. However, by paying attention to these small tasks and consciously celebrating the wins they bring, we can create a powerful momentum that propels us toward even greater success. Verbalizing and sharing our small wins not only motivate us but also inspires others to embrace their victories. It helps us recognize the positive outcomes of celebrating wins and encourages a culture of continuous improvement and achievement.
Encouraging managers and employees to cheer for each other's victories is a crucial ingredient for a thriving workplace.
This framework is part of UX Management Playbook—made for first-time managers building healthier and happier design teams.
Example: Where To Use
- During regular meetings, such as a committee check-in
- To wrap up a meeting
- During a workshop
- During stand-ups
- As an icebreaker
Example: Prompt Questions
- What good things happened this week?
- What went well?
- What made you happy?
- What challenges did you overcome?
- What or who helped you succeed?
- Who do you want to thank and why?
- Who did an awesome job? What did they do?
Key takeaways
When we celebrate our wins, it boosts engagement, and productivity, and strengthens our sense of unity, helping us tackle any challenges that come our way.
Plus, celebrating our work has a powerful impact on employee retention and turns our team into passionate advocates.
So, let's raise a toast to the power of small wins and keep our design sanity intact, one button at a time 🥂
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