In the report “The Business Value of Design” recently published by McKinsey & Company there are four themes that are key for business and design leaders to focus on if they are committed to maximizing the business benefits of design in their organizations: Cross-functional talent Continuous iteration User Experience Analytical leadership The report leaves us… Continue reading Designers need to understand data to create and measure business impact
Category: Design
Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.
Productivo time management — a UX case study
After hearing many of my friends and co-workers talk about forgetting assignments or their problems balancing school with work, I made my next UX case study a daily planner app. As someone who lives with a bullet journal attached to her hip, I wanted to understand why the people around me didn’t use the myriad… Continue reading Productivo time management — a UX case study
Go Rogue: how to turn frustration into opportunity
Managing frustration Communicate: Sending up a flare Communication and escalation are your best friends. Communicate with your mentors and managers about your frustrations, this helps move the energy out of you and place it above you. It’s like sending your energy up into the air like a flare. Your mentors are there to help you. Once… Continue reading Go Rogue: how to turn frustration into opportunity
Stop being clever — a UX case study
My answer: “Be the opposite of clever… show the painfully obvious.” Allow me to explain with a story: Imagine you work with an engineering team. Both you and the team are very close to the product. You both know where the bugs lie. The team has outlined each bug in a ticket. Time after time… Continue reading Stop being clever — a UX case study
The playlist theory
Vasudha MamtaniBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Jan 1 Most people who use Spotify, extensively use the playlists curated by the application when picking their music. Gone are the days when people carefully selected songs that they wanted to listen to and recorded them on a mixtape in a particular order. Not many people even take an effort to select… Continue reading The playlist theory
Can I un-update you, Instagram?
Linh Giang NguyenBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Dec 27 If you are lucky enough, you haven’t updated your Instagram today. Wondering why? Let’s explore Instagram update today. As a user who has just tried this update five minutes ago and about to throw my phone away after 2 seconds, I’ll tell you why I want to un-update it. 1.Unfamiliar and… Continue reading Can I un-update you, Instagram?
Facebook’s language settings — a UX writing case study
Anh Thu NguyenBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Dec 23 Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash When I was scrolling my feed on Facebook, I came across something oddly unfamiliar. I saw a post from a Vietnamese food page that was written in English, and underneath, it says ‘Rate this Translation’ with a gear icon. I found this encounter strange because… Continue reading Facebook’s language settings — a UX writing case study
Letting go of the flows: inspiration from the game industry
Product teams, I’ve got bad news: We’re in a rut. For the last decade, we have designed apps (and websites) in the same tightly controlled way: prioritized interaction flows for an ever growing amount of use cases, screens made of templates with a component system, and a rigid app information architecture. We have created tools… Continue reading Letting go of the flows: inspiration from the game industry
Heuristic evaluation: Goodreads
Kurt YalcinBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Dec 19 There are times when a designer or researcher is tasked with evaluating an interface but not given access to actual people. If you find yourself backed into a user-less corner, an inspection method is a great way for you to assess the usability of a design. Similar to a cognitive walkthrough,… Continue reading Heuristic evaluation: Goodreads
How to use powerful Gestalt principles in design (with infographic)
The human brain processes about 4 billion bits of information per second (most of it unconsciously) and transmits information at 200 miles per hour. You don’t believe me? Look it up. All this neural activity would consume an enormous amount of energy if we were to be conscious of it all, so in order to… Continue reading How to use powerful Gestalt principles in design (with infographic)
Our favorite UX initiatives this year
Caio BragaBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Dec 15 Fabricio and I are big believers in the power of the design community: sharing knowledge, honing our practice, and bringing a critical perspective on our work. Of course, like any industry that is expanding and maturing we have our growing pains, but when we put our energy as thinkers and makers… Continue reading Our favorite UX initiatives this year
How _______ made me a better designer
I was falling behind and didn’t even know it Sitting in my bedroom as my old classmates moved out to Los Angeles, Boston, and New York was tougher than I thought. I constantly distracted myself by rewatching TV shows and trying to get in a last lunch with friends I wouldn’t see again for a long… Continue reading How _______ made me a better designer
Stop asking for/providing multiple solutions
To be fair, this trend is fortunately declining, but especially with small clients or in some particular environment, the thing is still happening. In most cases it’s better to focus on THE BEST solution possible, rather than diluting the effort to pursue more than one.I’m not saying to follow blindly only one option and ignore… Continue reading Stop asking for/providing multiple solutions
Collingwood Neighbourhood House: UI responsive design
Julie BiBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing Dec 4 Website redesign for a non-profit neighbourhood house to increase the awareness about their programs and services as well as welcome everyone to the community. I. Introduction Collingwood Neighbourhood House provides services and community development initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life of residents in the Collingwood area of east Vancouver.… Continue reading Collingwood Neighbourhood House: UI responsive design
The best holiday gift for a designer
The holidays will soon be here. Since last year’s holidays, I’ve been thinking about what would make the best gift for a designer. The best holiday gift for a designer is… a testimonial. Take 15–25 minutes out of your day and write a testimonial for the designer you’re working with. That’s better than anything you… Continue reading The best holiday gift for a designer
Five pitfalls to avoid when writing UX research questions
UX research, as a discipline is growing rapidly. When I started my UX career, the few UX researchers I knew about were all based in Silicon Valley and were almost always from a HCI background. Things have changed, for the better, with UX research evolving as a separate discipline and more people becoming UX researchers.… Continue reading Five pitfalls to avoid when writing UX research questions
Heuristics and the Wikipedia of Galactic Babel
Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash Galactic Babel What would you do if I didn’t smile at you? I mean, not me in particular, but me as the stranger that you passed yesterday morning while checking the mail. You said, “hello,” because you’re a nice person — everyone knows that. But I didn’t respond. I grimaced. And I’m… Continue reading Heuristics and the Wikipedia of Galactic Babel
Nappy: a digital solution to nap at work — a UX case study
Nappy iOS app design During my bootcamp to learn UX/UI at Ironhack Paris, I had to create a digital solution in the wellness field. I decided to focus on tiredness at work. In less than two weeks, my goal was to identify the problem regarding how to deal with tiredness at work & solve it. To… Continue reading Nappy: a digital solution to nap at work — a UX case study
Empathy for everyone, not only for your users
But wait, now, in order for your validated design to transform into a reality, is InVision really going to help remove the bridge between Designers vocabulary and Engineering? Nope. If you don’t want tot confuse upside down your developers colleagues, you should start by not only having a basic html/css/javascript knowledge, but also key concepts… Continue reading Empathy for everyone, not only for your users
The overlap between designing and acting — and more UX links this week
Shared lessons for actors and user researchers › It’s a Monday evening and my first day of acting class at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. Jack, our instructor, starts our class off with a couple improv games and then goes over our schedule for the next 10 weeks. We don’t touch a play until Week 6.… Continue reading The overlap between designing and acting — and more UX links this week
Modernising the hiring process — a UX case study
Competitor Analysis From the competitors we looked at 2 key insights were found: The most effective way employees were keeping up to date with their referrals was through continuous updates. The preferred methods were through notifications e.g. HR email updates, live job boards updates, and newsfeeds. A few of the competitors we looked at also… Continue reading Modernising the hiring process — a UX case study
Sketchnotes & key takeaways from the Amuse UX Conference 2018
14 Sketchnotes from Amuse 2018 Conference Two weeks ago I attended the Amuse UX Conference, and I had a lot of fun capturing the talks by creating sketchnotes. Amuse is a 3-in-1 conference, it’s held together with Impact and Crunch. I missed the first talk of Amuse, since I decided to listen to Marty Cagan’s… Continue reading Sketchnotes & key takeaways from the Amuse UX Conference 2018
What can a Product Designer learn from people’s belief in God?
Alright, I know this might probably be the weirdest headline you’ll come across Medium today. However, sometimes the weirdest things can help us think critically and that’s what this thought did to me. While I am writing this, billions of people across the world are celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali. Diwali is primarily known… Continue reading What can a Product Designer learn from people’s belief in God?
Benchmarking in UX research
Credit Many user researchers, especially those who focus on qualitative methods, are often asked about quantifying the user experience. We are asked to include quantitative data to supplement quotes or video/audio clips. Qualitative-based user researchers, including myself, may look towards surveys to help add that quantitate spice. However, there is much more to quantitative data… Continue reading Benchmarking in UX research