T-shaped skills save lives (and products). How and why to learn laterally for better outcomes
Louise Bloom at UX Brighton 2022
About this talk
Slides for T-shaped skills save lives (and products)
Product development requires the work of lots of different people with different skills to deliver their best efforts. So it’s natural we want to be the best at what we do. When those people work in silos and can’t share ideas or communicate, products suffer. Creating ‘t-shaped’ skill sets, with deep knowledge of your own field and insight into those around you, can help.
Using examples from the NHS, where multidisciplinary team working is critical to patient outcomes and supported by a culture of lateral learning and knowledge sharing, Louise looks at the benefits of knowing a little about a lot for product outcomes, team working and your own career, and shares a few surprising outcomes from her own ‘t-shaped’ approach to learning new skills.
About Louise
Louise is a Senior UX consultant professional who has spent over 15 years working for everyone from global banks to local butchers during which time she has contributed to books, blogs, conferences and podcasts on the future of work, digital wellbeing, ethical technology, and the physiology of technostress. Curious to understand more about how human-tech interactions were affecting levels of stress, Louise is now also a registered and practising Physiotherapist in the UK with a specialism in neurology.
Related reading
Books, research, ideas and people referenced in this talk.
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Papers and articles
- The return of the UX generalist00:11The talk introduces T-shaped skills as a deep core skill supported by broader knowledge of adjacent disciplines.
- Manchester Arena Inquiry reports02:59The talk refers to the Manchester bombings report and its finding that emergency services needed insight into each other's work and equipment.
Projects and resources
- NHS multidisciplinary teams02:14The talk describes multidisciplinary working in the NHS and uses a hospital discharge team to show how adjacent skills can support patient care.
Concepts
- Manifesto for Agile Software Development21:19The talk contrasts a handoff-heavy process with an agile approach in which people with adjacent skills can discuss and design together.



