Compilations By Paddi MacDonnell September 02, 2024 Welcome to September’s toolbox. This time around we are aiming to simplify life, with some light and fast analytics, an all-in-one productivity dashboard, an excellent project scope management tool, and some helpful Mac utilities among other goodies. Enjoy! Seline is minimalist, privacy-friendly analytics. It is cookie-less but still… Continue reading Exciting New Tools for Designers, September 2024
How to create underwater effects in Photoshop
Create an underwater effect in Photoshop Now, we need to start making everything look as if it’s underwater. Here are the steps to follow: Step 1 Go to the sky layer, add a layer mask, and remove the waves in the background at the bottom of the image. Underwater effect in Photoshop Step 2 Now… Continue reading How to create underwater effects in Photoshop
How to start a Photoshop composite for an album cover
In this seven-part advanced Photoshop compositing course, you’ll learn how to create a highly creative music album cover design. You’ll be compositing multiple images together, adjusting the lighting, submerging half of the design in water, and adding plenty of visual effects. In this lesson, we’ll start with preparing and composing the assets we’re using in… Continue reading How to start a Photoshop composite for an album cover
Continuous Product Design: Step-by-step Guide
Most IT-supplied products and functions are not used in practice. Resources, applications, and software remain idle. Not all companies consider whether their products are effective for the users. Consequently, 91% of unsatisfied customers don’t complain about their bad experience. They simply leave without giving feedback. A vivid proof is the mobile development market, which has… Continue reading Continuous Product Design: Step-by-step Guide
Best Figma User and Usability Testing Plugin
Key Takeaways 👉 UXtweak seamlessly connects with Figma, making it easy to start testing your prototypes without complicated setup. 👉 The plugin provides in-depth analytics, including statistics, heat maps, and funnels, to help you understand user behavior. 👉 UXtweak offers access to a reliable pool of testers, ensuring dependable feedback from your respondents. 👉 The… Continue reading Best Figma User and Usability Testing Plugin
Top 9 Fintech Design Agencies – 2024
If you need to hire FinTech designers or find an agency to improve your digital presence, choosing the right one is key. Designing for FinTech means combining creativity with technical know-how to make sure everything from UI to UX is top-notch. When choosing a fintech branding firm, it’s crucial to consider your specific needs, budget,… Continue reading Top 9 Fintech Design Agencies – 2024
Objection Handling: The Secret to Improving Your Website Conversion Rate
Let’s face it, users are naturally cautious online. They’ve got questions buzzing in their heads and concerns that need addressing before they’ll even think about clicking that “Buy Now” button. In the digital marketplace, understanding and addressing these customer objections is crucial for success. In this article, I will explore sales objection handling techniques, its… Continue reading Objection Handling: The Secret to Improving Your Website Conversion Rate
A/B Testing 101
Summary: A/B tests incrementally improve the user experience of a product while effectively reaching business goals. A/B testing (sometimes also referred to as split testing) is a popular UX research method, with widespread adoption across businesses and industries. To ensure reliable, meaningful, and beneficial results for your organization, follow best practices and avoid common mistakes… Continue reading A/B Testing 101
UX Design Mistakes of the B2C E-Commerce Galaxy
Want to know more? Come with me to meet some design mistakes in the galaxy of e-commerce far, far away. 1. The petrol station approach – main navigation issue Finding the toilet in a petrol station’s cafeteria can be stressful.You enter the main door and find yourself in an open space. While figuring out if… Continue reading UX Design Mistakes of the B2C E-Commerce Galaxy
How to put variable fonts to work in WordPress
Variable fonts make it easier to design websites. After all, they offer a more flexible and efficient way to handle typography. And with the introduction of WordPress 6.5, leveraging these fonts has become easier than ever thanks to the new Font Library feature. Whether you’re a professional developer or a DIY website owner, understanding how… Continue reading How to put variable fonts to work in WordPress
Dark Theme: 5 UI Design Tips
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Light and dark modes. Image by Brainly When designing a dark theme, you should consider a few factors to maintain usability and aesthetic appeal. Why to use dark theme A dark theme reduces the luminance emitted by device screens, creating a more comfortable experience for a viewer. 1. Avoid pure black (#000000) When… Continue reading Dark Theme: 5 UI Design Tips
Explicitly State the Difference Between Options
Summary: When the key differences between choices are implied or buried, users often select the wrong option or misunderstand the features. This is an updated version of an article written by Jakob Nielsen in 2013. Users are bombarded with choices on the internet. That’s why the best websites make it easy for users to analyze… Continue reading Explicitly State the Difference Between Options
Vibrating Boundaries: Making Colors POP!
warning This article covers vibrating colors, which may be difficult to read for people with visual and sensory processing issues. There are very few color illusions as visually striking as vibrating boundaries. This optical phenomenon is a kind of simultaneous contrast that occurs when two highly saturated, complementary colors are close to each other in… Continue reading Vibrating Boundaries: Making Colors POP!
The software development war
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Fantasy characters face each other in terrible combat. Just how typical stakeholders on a project fight about how best to build their software product. Credit: Me. Turning product managers and engineers from frustrating foes into advocating allies DESIGNERS! TO ARMS!!! Each and every one of our UX compatriots on every software production… Continue reading The software development war
Prepare, shelve, reveal (don’t push) — an in-house product design tip
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Have you ever tried to raise a concern about a usability issue, only to be met with a silent nod? — a question for in-house product… Continue reading on UX Planet »
How to animate CSS Grid layouts (image grid project)
That’s right—it turns out we can animate some of the CSS Grid properties! Today, we’ll see this behavior in action by building a responsive image grid with hover effects. Taking this opportunity, we’ll also utilize the powerful :has() CSS selector. Let’s get started! Our Image Grid Here’s what we’re going to create—be sure to view… Continue reading How to animate CSS Grid layouts (image grid project)
Photoshop Pencil Sketch Effect Tutorial
This simple combination of Photoshop filters creates a pencil sketch effect that quickly converts a photograph into a realistic drawing. The result features a mix of rough sketch lines and shading, along with a subtle paper texture which makes the effect much more believable. Choose between a traditional graphic pencil appearance, or toggle off the… Continue reading Photoshop Pencil Sketch Effect Tutorial
How to design an anti-design poster
The anti-design movement, as the name implies, is a style that ignores all rules proposed by traditional graphic design. Many artistic movements are considered anti-design, like Dada and De Stijl, due to their strong opinions on politics, society, and art. While some of these anti-design styles are rooted almost 100 years ago, this is a… Continue reading How to design an anti-design poster
Flow: Revolutionizing Creative Design with a Free AI Generator
Digital design is a wild ride. To stay ahead of the game, you need to jump on the latest tech trends and create mind-blowing designs. One such groundbreaking innovation is Flow, a cutting-edge Free AI Generator that has captured the attention of designers, artists, and creators worldwide. Unlike traditional AI tools that offer basic image… Continue reading Flow: Revolutionizing Creative Design with a Free AI Generator
35+ Free Poster Mockups: Perfect for Showcasing Your Work
If you’re searching for free poster mockups to showcase your design projects, you’re in the right place. Free poster mockups are indispensable tools for designers, marketers, and creatives who want to present their work in a realistic and appealing way. These mockups allow you to display your designs as they would appear in the real… Continue reading 35+ Free Poster Mockups: Perfect for Showcasing Your Work
UX Conference December Announced (Dec 7 – Dec 13)
How will the Virtual Event work? Meetings will take place using the video conferencing tool Zoom, collaboration tools (such as group document editing and whiteboarding tools), and the social discussion tool Slack. You’ll also be able to use Slack before, during, and after the event to participate in social events and network with other… Continue reading UX Conference December Announced (Dec 7 – Dec 13)
Create a JavaScript tab component with an adaptive stepper UI
In the past, I’ve shown you how to create different tabbed interfaces. Today, we’ll build another responsive JavaScript tab component where the clickable tabs will appear as a stepper component. If you aren’t familiar with stepper components, their primary goal is to improve the user experience by organizing large logical content blocks into smaller sequential… Continue reading Create a JavaScript tab component with an adaptive stepper UI
How to create a lettering design in Adobe Illustrator
Learn how to create a hand lettering poster step by step in Adobe Illustrator. Inspired by Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, this design highlights her famous quote: “The stars don’t look bigger, but they do look brighter.” We’ll walk through each step to transform your sketch into a digital… Continue reading How to create a lettering design in Adobe Illustrator
Why we see ghost images: After-images and successive contrast
In this next article of our Advanced Color Theory series, we’ll discover the science behind “ghost images” and how after-image and successive contrast affect your designs. This article explores physiological and psychological reasons for these intriguing visual effects, based on how our eyes and brain process color and value. Learn how these phenomena not only… Continue reading Why we see ghost images: After-images and successive contrast