@niallokelly
Leading global experience design at adidas — mostly figuring out marketing automation & personalization, enterprise content tech innovations, & reimagining employee workflows. Mentor ADPL /// Irish 🇮🇪, via Brooklyn NYC, now living in Amsterdam 🇳🇱
User researchers already document findings at a faster velocity than orgs can act on them. It strains credulity that tech leaders are clamoring for even more yet worse AI-generated findings.
My new blog post, "The only winning move is not to play."
gregg.io/the-only-win...
When art lost its attachment to time, when life changed from a linear progression to an algorithmic suckhole, our museums changed, too. Once storehouses of modern history, they became just another venue in an attention economy.
@nyt goes hard for todays Tate Modern
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/a...
“Even when it’s politically diverse, social media … creates echo chambers. If Bluesky wants to remain relevant, it will have to evolve beyond its relatively monocultural milieu.”
@chaykak.bsky.social details 🦋 origins, leadership, and future for @newyorker.com
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Companies sold the idea that we could self-correct through consumption, making brands our moral agents of societal change.
Will a return to ‘simpler’ #marketing strategies create space for the more authentic & durable activism required in this moment?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
We are looking for several Senior Service Designers for teams working on super interesting things all across the Ministry of Justice! Please share with your network!
Closing date: 21/04/2025 www.jobtrain.co.uk/justicedigit...
When I moved to NYC in 2006 I relied on the subway map to navigate & learn the city. Long before Google Maps was a thing!
Yet I always loved Vignelli’s map for its boldness & clarity, despite its topographical unhelpfulness. Cool to see its roots in the ‘25 update!
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/n...
During these times, you may want to consider divesting from US-located digital services and products to ones based in the EU. Here's a website that might help you.
european-alternatives.eu
Even the tiny subset of viewers who know anything about fonts will think it’s Helvetica. The fact that it should be, but isn’t quite, seeps through to the audience and adds to the shows weirdness…
Enjoy this #severance titles art deep-dive #typography nerds!
www.artofthetitle.com/title/severa...
Couldn’t agree more Ben! My most rewarding moments of late came through helping ‘not designers’ with responsibility for actual consumer experience by reframing their solid instincts with basic design techniques. Unlocks so much creativity & new opportunities, while elevating our wider biz impact.
CMOs future role… “will be an architect of customer experiences, a champion for marketing tech & ethical AI, and a catalyst for societal change.”
Agree with Aquents Simon Lusty on #marketing’s opportunity, esp via consumer-centricity powered by insights & content tech.
aquent.com/blog/redefin...
“The future of design leadership is not to aspire to ever-higher executive roles, ruling over a vast UX empire. Rather, embrace the “Founder Mode” concept of hands-on and vision-based leadership of small and highly effective design teams.”
Seems on point; WDYT?
www.uxtigers.com/post/founder...
Very helpful overview of (some of) the great design talent + leaders active on Bluesky. Let’s build the supportive, inspiring, thought-provoking community we all need right now!
Thanks for putting this together @jonas.do 🙌
This is the best analysis I've seen of the current UX job market. @jmspool.bsky.social's latest is a must-read for anyone in the UX industry, not just those currently job hunting.
Long read but very interesting walk through of the relationships between developers, communities, and buyers considerations that drive #architecture design decisions for modern skyscrapers.
Interesting parallels to current software development & design landscape too imo.
Handy overview of the best conferences for designers working #AI or #conversationdesign in 2025.
What conferences are you looking forward to this year? Especially for designers or leaders based in Europe :)
uxplanet.org/2025-list-of...
“F1 is having its streetwear moment, just as Adidas perfected the art of turning performance gear into cultural currency..”
www.linkedin.com/pulse/inked-...
We need to stop trying to do everything ourselves and instead focus on empowering others across the organization to improve the user experience. In other words, we need to become true leaders rather than just practitioners.
Lots of very useful tools to try out here via @kaplich.me 🙌
Thanks for taking the time to share the extra context Ben, very helpful! I imagine this is less necessary, or takes a lighter form, for ongoing product team work?
Regardless, I’m always happy to see design proposals shared with clear rationales; really helps to get stronger feedback & buy-in 🙏
example stakeholder map, axis of interest x influence
New year, new projects & plans! This time will be different — this time I’ll finally create a proper #stakeholdermap to guide my strategies!
Snag; adidas has 1000s of people — do you have some tips for creating an actionable stakeholder map more effectively??
My go-to base map here for reference ☺️
“we’ve been witnessing the death of the campaign and the birth of the cultural moment. Traditional advertising is entertainment’s understudy, while brands are learning merely to be protagonists in culture stories.” digiday.com/marketing/cu...
Solid approach & nicely written up Ben 💪
Curious if you have situations in which this depth of documentation (& associated effort) is most valuable?
And where not (eg based on opportunity size, closeness to product team through discovery etc)? Asking to understand, & guide sharing with my team 😊
Illustration of a woman in an Adidas tracksuit top manifesting her brighter future self!
Not something I’ll claim to be good at (yet!), but a worthwhile intent to start the new year by manifesting a more positive & constructive outlook on the possibilities that lie ahead of us.
www.adidas.com/us/blog/9519...
Anyway, started all this intending to share this piece by Christina Caron & Dana G Smith.
Seems a useful beginning to the new year, especially one we can already anticipate to be fraught with economic uncertainty, workplace challenges, and constant political noise.
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/30/w...
In the meantime, will be prepping more practically today by finishing up some household holiday tasks, getting a haircut, and getting in some more quality time with the kids. Snow & rain here in Amsterdam will make that look like board games, family dinner, and movie evening :)
I’ll take time tomorrow to reflect back on previous months progress, and prepare overarching 2025 goals & quarterly approaches. Then resetting all recurring meetings & focus working time slots accordingly.
Getting ready to go ‘back to school’ tomorrow after lovely & much-needed two weeks vacation. Enjoyed a week in Amsterdam & another in Limerick; reconnecting with family over nice food, warm fires, and activities with the kids. Lucky me. Hope you’re similarly recharged for the year ahead?
We wrestle with a pervasive sense of despair about techs ability to solve our problems. Social media brought loneliness instead of connection. AI brought job risk instead of ease.
We lost the optimism for a brighter tomorrow that fueled #Googie. Will we get it back?
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/r...
Well written, albeit somewhat depressing piece by @alex_shephard here on what the awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia really means. TLDR; mega-money trumps inclusion, human rights, and actual football quality every time.
newrepublic.com/article/1893... via @newrepublic.com