lindseya

As a vegan, I'm very excited by this news because it might convince others to give it a try. Today someone told me that they recently ate a chicken burger at Veggie Grill and she didn't know until later that it was not chicken. She said at the time she thought, that was a really good chicken sandwich!

Great article! In it you mentioned the Laramie Robotics Club. As the founder of a social robotics company, I'm wondering if there is something specific about robots that makes them a good medium for learning to code. I have some ideas about this but I would like to see what others think.

What do you plan to do as a next step post-crowdfunding (other than delivering your product, of course)?

What strategies did you use to get the word out about your campaign?

Did you make your own videos or work with a video production company?

At what stage should your product be before you launch your campaign?

Does anyone know when the attendees are notified? I applied to attend and I'm wondering when we will hear back. Thanks!

I'm wondering if you select edtech when you apply to YC? My company, a social robot for kids, could be considered edtech but it is also a toy and a therapeutic tool. Who decides if my company is considered edtech or not?

I was surprised to read that "Google has struggled to create such network effects with both Hangouts and Messenger." At my university, all the student groups that I have worked on use Google docs, Messenger, and Hangouts to coordinate. We don't use Messenger a lot, only when we are online working on a document together, but we do use Hangouts weekly. For us, Google is for group productivity (sort of like Slack), but I couldn't see using Google Messenger for communicating with friends or asking questions to a chat bot. I wonder who their target audience is for this new product. Any ideas?

There is a lot of focus in the literature right now on developing habits. What I'm interested in is the deeper motivations that drive a person to select their habits in the first place. Why does Andrew read research papers and books all day on a Saturday? Why did you decided to add two pushups to your daily routine? I think that without understanding these deeper motivations, we are left with habits that do not have enough fuel to drive them, leaving us to resort to the habits with the least resistance (i.e. lazy habits).

"44 percent of jobs will be automated in the next 10 years."

These kinds of scare tactic statistics are what make people afraid of automation and robotics. There were similar concerns when computers were brought into offices (i.e. that people's jobs would be replaced). Yes, people's jobs WERE replaced, but many new jobs were created.

Article with more info on this topic: http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/538401/who-wil... "Many economists see little convincing evidence that advances in technology will be responsible for a net decrease in the number of jobs, or that what we’re undergoing is any different from earlier transitions when technology destroyed some jobs but improved employment opportunities over time."

As a UXer, here's my 2 cents:

"Design team morale is a leading indicator for a company’s design health. Are the designers in the company positive and happy, or do they complain about feeling disempowered or disenfranchised?"

It's a bad sign when ANY entire team in the organization has low morale and is feeling disenfranchised, whether they are the design team, engineering team, or business team.

"If designers are not happy, it likely reflects larger issues with the company that impact current and future products under development. Moreover, if designers are not happy, it’s really hard for them to create a joyful experience."

No so. Designers are never happy. We are always striving to do better and to improve the customer experience. The fact that the experience is not the best that it could be drives us to do more.

"It’s incumbent upon the design leader and CEO to rally the team to see the opportunity ahead and be excited about delivering it."

The leaders need to be respected by the team in order to have the ability to rally them. In my experience, it's best to have the respected leaders talk to their teams rather than having a lead designer try to motivate a team of engineers, for example.

Overall, I think this article is a lot of complaining about designers not having enough respect in a company. From my experience, if you want respect, you have to earn it by showing that you can deliver value, not by whining that the environment is not optimal. Good UX designers are able to see inefficiencies and design a better way, both for the customers and for their own work processes.

What level of fidelity (e.g. self-made prototype, small batch of manufactured prototypes, etc.) would you recommend before going on kickstarter?