Selling is a core design skill. That line has resonated with me ever since I heard Mule Design's Mike Monteiro yell it out in his fabulous keynote to the Interaction Design Association.

 

One of my favorite experiences selling my work was right after I graduated business school. Free Range Diggers gave people the chance to operate real heavy machinery without having to make it their career. I started the company with my friends Mandy and Scott, using rented equipment and the back forty of a friend's farm in Maryland. We designed the experience down to the littlest details, like the trophies we awarded at the bonfire at the end of each day.

 

Free Range Diggers was a wonderful success, but short-lived: I was simultaneously selling my qualifications as a marketing director to a pile driving company in Delaware. When they saw the pictures from our kickoff event, they sent me an enthusiastic job offer.