Episode 251 | James Stone - Bridging the Gap

Guest: James Stone @jamesstoneco James Stone talks with Dave Rael about diverse backgrounds, school and education, compensation, and the differences and similarities between design and engineering James Stone is a Design Systems Engineer and a top contributor to the Open Source ZURB Foundation CSS front-end framework. He is most well known for his videos on YouTube which have had over 294k views to date. He has written for UX Pin and ZURB University and is an Adjunct Professor at Penn State's School of Visual Art, where he teaches an online introduction to scripting course targeted at artists and designers. Interesting fact about the course: many CS, SE, and IST majors take it because they want to do something a bit more creative with their code. Chapters: 2:42 - Dave introduces the show and James Stone4:24 - James's path to expertise in both design and engineering6:47 - James's journey through schooling11:27 - Family history, learning that software was a driver for James, and getting into professional development15:58 - Working as a programmer, at a record store, and going back to school20:55 - James's deep interest in creating great experiences22:25 - The nature of design and what it has in common with software development25:38 - Bridging the gap between designers and developers32:22 - Applying the engineering mindset to the design problem33:23 - James's story of failure - failing to finish high school39:07 - James's success story - discovering the value of having an email list and focusing on the audience45:09 - James's book recommendation46:41 - James's top 3 tips for delivering more value48:40 - Keeping up with James Resources: James's Design Systems Crash Course James's YouTube Channel Atari 600XL Pulse! Magazine The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change - Stephen R. Covey Design Systems Style Guide Design Tokens Guy Kawasaki Guy Kawasaki on Making Your Boss Look Awesome James's book recommendation: The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future - Chris Guillebeau James's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Have empathy for the people you're interacting with Really focus on business values Do great work, share your work, and continue to iterate and improve