The Knowdell Career Values Card Sort is a straightforward online card sort tool to help prioritize what aspects of your career you value or those you could pursue. I did an assessment as part of my MBA program, among many others. My report indicates the following variables that are key to my work satisfaction, in …
Author Archives: David Panarelli
What self-assessments reveal about me
Over the course of my MBA, I have taken a series of assessments to determine strengths, weaknesses, and skills. These are mostly provided by my program in an effort for every student to be come more attuned to their abilities and strategize ways to address their weaknesses, whether that means taking on new skills or …
Burnout Recovery
Last week, I was let go in a re-organization. It was a pretty great ride, and the people I have met during my tenure there have been remarkable partners and coworkers. No hard feelings. The reality is that I’ve been dealing with pretty significant burnout for about… 9 months, maybe longer. Eventually, I would read …
Avon Calling
We used to go here in the summer, to the Outer Banks. I have so many wonderful memories of time spent on the beach and in beach houses and at mini golf and getting ice cream and eating crabs and so many more things. One year, maybe in the early 2000s, I remember hearing on …
One of the laws of stress
I think about stress a lot. I learned yesterday about an interesting study conducted in 1908 related to the application of stress and the affect on productivity, a study that is still impacting how organizations view worker productivity today. Robert M. Yerkes and John Dodson conducted an experiment with a box. The box had set …
I’m going for an MBA
Well, here we go. Why would a designer get an MBA? Early in my design career, I was the only interaction designer at a burgeoning ecommerce startup. I found myself pushing pixels around my computer screen after hours in the latest of a string of late nights. I was in the process of transforming our …
Building a Design System Without a Team
Update: I changed the title of this post from “Design Systems for Small Teams” to “Building a Design System Without a Team.” This is a more accurate description of the content of this post and addresses the key issues: building a design system when it is impossible to dedicate full-time resources. When a new design …
A lunch for my 8 year old
When it’s lunch time, it’s not uncommon for my 8yo to balk, turning up her nose at the day’s meal. She usually comes around with some cajoling, but I find the process exhausting. Today I told her I wanted to see how high we could stack up her lunch using ritz crackers. I grabbed an …
Reflections on XOXO 2019
XOXO felt like many things. There’s a feeling I get around genuinely creative people. I remember feeling it in college, surrounded by artists, photographers, actors, and designers, many of whom continue to be artists, photographers, actors, and designers. I don’t get to feel that feeling very often. Sure, I may go to a design meetup …
XOXO Day 2
Another great day! Conference presentations Tracy Clayton discussed her battle with depression and how online addiction helps and hurts. She reminded us all: Log off, Fam. Emma Kinema is organizing gaming industry workers, one unfair work environment at a time. Support the cause » Harry Brewis (hbomberguy) played Donkey Kong 64 for 36+ hours to …