Saar Byrne

Author: Saar

  • AI Maths Helper

    AI Maths Helper

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    GitHub: [coming soon]AI Co‑pilot: ChatGPT Why We Built It A friend of mine teaches maths for the Leaving Cert in Ireland. We were chatting about how students often revise on their own, stuck on a topic, without a way to get help beyond the textbook or YouTube. I had some time and curiosity, and he…

  • Slug Translate: My Weekend Hack from Pain Point to Chrome Extension

    Slug Translate: My Weekend Hack from Pain Point to Chrome Extension

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    GitHub: https://github.com/saarbyrne/slugtranslateAI Co‑pilot: Guided by ChatGPT Why I Built It Late one Friday I was hopping between English and Spanish tabs—copy‑pasting to Google Translate felt tedious. I sketched a quick idea: highlight text, click a “T,” see a translation right there. With almost zero prior extension experience, I teamed up with ChatGPT to fill in…

  • Design Manger Resources

    Design Manger Resources

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    This is a mishmash of stuff I have used and actually found useful. Hopefully it helps. Team and Staff I look to hire product designers. These designers have a strong knowledge of user research techniques, interaction design and visual design. Due to the approach being collaborative I see facilitation techniques as also being an ideal…

  • Design Strategy

    Design Strategy

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    This is the design strategy I use for Kitman Labs after we downsized the team based on a need for the company to mature and to start turning a net profit. It’s based on Roger L Martins book Playing to Win. The framework is summarised here: Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works. I use…

  • Design Moats

    Design Moats

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    What are they? Design moats are things that reinforce the design teams position and competitive advantage. They are things that create value for the business and drive its competitive advantage. These may be larger or smaller in size and impact, they may be internal production processes or external value adds for customers and users. Inevitably…

  • The business as a vessel

    The business as a vessel

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    The aim of this is piece is for me to describe my thinking on business as an entity in the world, why I see it as a vessel, and the implications of that. Concept I see the concept of a business as a vessel for an aim. I see a service or product as a…

  • My design philosophy [WIP]

    My design philosophy [WIP]

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    The aim of this document is to capture my thoughts on design.  I want to understand:  To do this I am going to: Crude philosophical foundation To ground my thinking, I want to quickly outline, very crudely, my philosophical foundation. There are multiple accounts of differing definitions of Philosophy from all types of philosophers. The 2…

  • Value of Design

    Value of Design

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    Design needs to advocate. I make the assumption, based on experience, that people still dont understand product / UX design. In making this assumption I need to then set an expectation on myself, to justify design. This feels horrible. But it is necessary for job security, not just my job, but my teams. Below is…

  • Leading a Design Team

    Leading a Design Team

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    My journey as a designer has been shaped by a variety of experiences, from working with top sports teams at Kitman Labs to developing healthcare products at IBM. Over the years, I’ve come to understand that leading a design team in the software industry is not just about managing work—it’s about cultivating a culture of…