Positive Slope (S.Belsky) :: Disruptive Interfaces, Attack Of The Micro Brands, & More Fascinations.

I aspire for quality over quantity with these newsletters, but didn’t anticipate the new once-every-few-months cadence. Today, I find myself at 30,000 feet on a cross-country flight and figured I’d summarize some recent articles, fascinations, and things I’ve learned. We’ll cover design and my interest in “disruptive interfaces,” the attack of what I’ve come to call “the micro brands,” and an update 90-days into my return to building products for the creative world.

Last week I was interviewed by Nick Rockwell, Chief Technology Officer at The New York Times, about a wide range of questions related to developing leaders in design, the chemistry of effective product teams, and I even got to share my wish list for NYT features. We also covered a topic I’ve been thinking a lot about these days: what I’ve come to call “disruptive interfaces.” A disruptive interface is one that, either by consumer preference or brute force, layers on top of other products and services, and gains control of the end-user’s experience (and thus decisions). Disruptive interfaces are successful because they are simpler and offer a better user experience than the more clunky and complex systems they supplant. Here’s our full conversation.

Have you noticed all the unknown but remarkably compelling brands showing up in your Instagram feed lately? I posted up a few thoughts this week on the new wave of “micro brands” that use hyper-targeted marketing, just-in-time manufacturing, and social media to find and engage their audience wherever they may be. What is driving this new wave of commerce, and what are the implications? Here’s my take.

Those who know me well were not surprised that I jumped back into an operating role as Adobe’s Chief Product Officer and EVP of Creative Cloud because of the unique challenges and opportunities (and responsibilities) facing the creative world - and the company - at this exact moment. Adobe’s shift to Creative Cloud right before Behance’s acquisition in 2012 was a resounding success for the company, but Adobe’s products have yet to tap the full potential of Creative Cloud. What strikes me as Adobe’s greatest opportunity is improving the user experience and accessibility of its products — making world-changing products like Photoshop and Premiere Pro more accessible, efficient, and collaborative — and bringing new mediums of design like UX/UI, AR/VR, and voice to their full potential much like Photoshop did for digital imaging. Now, ninety days in, I couldn’t be more excited about our roadmap for AdobeXD and the future Experience Design, enabling the world of Augmented Reality, and transforming our flagship creative products to be more accessible, mobile, and collaborative. Here are a few more thoughts on the future of creativity.