Artificial intelligence. Just hearing the phrase has been a trigger for many in the technology world since that creepy Haley Joel Osment film circa 2001. But more recently, artificial intelligence and machine learning strike fear into the hearts of skilled workers for an entirely different reason: job security, or lack thereof. Smart-home devices, streaming services, self-checkouts,… Continue reading Why AI & Automation Are Actually Friends to Design
Tag: Featured
When Does Emotional Design Cross a Line?
Designing for emotion in and of itself is not a problem. Websites are bound to elicit an emotional reaction from visitors, even if it’s as simple as them feeling at ease because of the soft, pastel color palette you’ve designed the site with. I don’t want to outright villainize emotional design. Unless there is some… Continue reading When Does Emotional Design Cross a Line?
How to Design the Perfect Developer Portfolio
As a freelance web developer, how many clients do you get from your website? If you’re like most, you’re probably lucky to get one client every 2-3 months. Unfortunately, that’s very common. These days it’s not enough just to be a web developer if you want to make really good money. You have to be… Continue reading How to Design the Perfect Developer Portfolio
Looping Measures of Effectiveness Back to the Creative Team
When analysts for professional sports teams noticed that marketing promotions that included the team’s logo vastly outperformed similar creative assets that featured player imagery — something which, to the casual observer, this may simply sound like good analyst work — it showed something significant: creatives rarely receive an analytical assessment of their work. More than half… Continue reading Looping Measures of Effectiveness Back to the Creative Team
8 Easy Ways To Ruin Your User Onboarding
To understand why user onboarding is such an indispensable tool, we need to empathize with the people using our products; we all come from different backgrounds and cultures, we make different assumptions, and we see the world differently. User onboarding helps mitigate these differences by making your product’s learning curve less steep. However, companies often… Continue reading 8 Easy Ways To Ruin Your User Onboarding
The Latest Research for Web Designers, August 2020
While a lot of the research for web designers that’s come out this year has to do with COVID-19, we’re starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Many of these reports aren’t just looking at the effects of the pandemic on business and marketing today. They’re now looking at what consumers… Continue reading The Latest Research for Web Designers, August 2020
Diversity Initiatives in Web Design
Web developers have been the bedrock of any company’s business strategy for some time, and the industry is continuing to thrive and grow at a rapid pace. This is why it’s surprising that it is so lacklustre when it comes to diversity. A recent study revealed 80% of those in the design industry are male,… Continue reading Diversity Initiatives in Web Design
How To Benefit From Mental Models in UX Design
Users come to your website with certain expectations already in their mind; they’ve seen thousands of other websites before and it’s only natural that they’ve adopted certain habits. Instead of trying to change these patterns, it’s much better to incorporate them into your design. To learn more, let’s have a closer look at a psychological… Continue reading How To Benefit From Mental Models in UX Design
How to Define Effective Milestones in Design Projects
When it comes to creating and launching a website, it’s important to deliver realistic time expectations to the client, and establish the different stages you can bill them for. After all, creating a site is about so much more than putting some code together. From the initial brief to the launch of the site there… Continue reading How to Define Effective Milestones in Design Projects
Building Brand Trust with Transparency: What Web Designers Can Do
The web has made it all too easy for consumers to look up anything and everything they’re interested in or have questions about. “Pet stores near me.” “Best web hosting 2020.” “Tom Brady net worth.” And it’s with this easy access to data that consumers have grown pickier about who they do business with. Because… Continue reading Building Brand Trust with Transparency: What Web Designers Can Do
Thanks to Covid-19, Website Accessibility Has Never Been More Important
The first global pandemic of the digital era is upon us. We’re living in unprecedented and uncomfortable times. For our senior citizens, these past several weeks have been particularly discomforting. According to the CDC, men and women over the age of 65 are significantly more likely to develop complications from COVID-19. As we seek to… Continue reading Thanks to Covid-19, Website Accessibility Has Never Been More Important
The Latest Research for Web Designers, April 2020
In today’s roundup of the latest research for web designers, we’re going to look at a variety of topics, from 2020 holiday shopping predictions to missed opportunities in SEO. Retail Experts Predict Huge Uptick in E-commerce Holiday Sales Shelley E. Kohan wrote a piece for Forbes entitled, “Coronavirus Fears May Drive U.S. E-Commerce Sales Beyond… Continue reading The Latest Research for Web Designers, April 2020
You’Re (Probably) Doing Digital Accessibility Wrong
Thirty years after the historic passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark legislation that transformed the US’s workplaces and common spaces for the better, so much of our lives have moved out of the physical world and into the digital one. The urgency of equality — and the need to ensure that web… Continue reading You’Re (Probably) Doing Digital Accessibility Wrong
What Women LOVE to Hear, Remote Work, UI Checklist — and more UX this week
[unable to retrieve full-text content] A weekly selection of design links, brought to you by your friends at the UX Collective. 5 principles for better designer-developer collaboration →Prescriptive guides on how to hand off designs to developers are easy to follow and cross out from one’s list. But are they future-proof enough? Photo Privacy →What… Continue reading What Women LOVE to Hear, Remote Work, UI Checklist — and more UX this week
5 Simple Responsive Blunders (And How To Avoid Them)
Nearly 49% of all the web traffic worldwide originates from mobile devices (excluding tablets). If you don’t design mobile-friendly websites, you’ll likely lose out on this massive chunk of your target audience. Additionally if you wish to improve your SEO, you can’t afford to ignore smartphones; Google gives priority to mobiles with mobile-first indexing. All… Continue reading 5 Simple Responsive Blunders (And How To Avoid Them)
3 Strategies to Follow When Your Site is Failing
Here are 3 strategies you should consider if your website is struggling. We’ll cover: Web analytics and split testing In-person testing Simplifying your sales process If possible, implement these strategies ahead of time before you run into any issues. I’m going to cover why these strategies are effective and what they are good at resolving.… Continue reading 3 Strategies to Follow When Your Site is Failing
5 Pitfalls of User-Generated Content (And How to Avoid Them)
It brings with it a host of benefits. UGC can greatly increase engagement with websites, as well as shareability and authenticity. Of course, along with benefits are a host of pitfalls, from having to take the time to moderate content, to establishing an engaged community to submit the content in the first place. It’s important… Continue reading 5 Pitfalls of User-Generated Content (And How to Avoid Them)
6 Tips for Writing Content Regularly
Okay, you need three to five new ideas for articles, all on the same general topic. Go… Now here’s where we separate the people who have to come up with regular content all the time from the people who don’t. The people who have things they want to write about but can never get around… Continue reading 6 Tips for Writing Content Regularly
Is The F-Pattern Still Relevant in Web Design?
It’s always good to have a set of guidelines to follow when designing a website — especially if you have little to no user data to go on. Over the years, we’ve been introduced to tons of these guidelines and design trends; some of which have fallen out of favor while others have persisted over… Continue reading Is The F-Pattern Still Relevant in Web Design?
Is There a Viable Alternative to Javascript?
The short answer to the title question is “no.” The long answer is more complex, and begins with, “kindof…” There are several JavaScript alternatives for developers, but (for now) they have to be transpiled into JavaScript before they’re deployed. People Love to Hate JavaScript This is not a surprise, if we consider some obvious drawbacks… Continue reading Is There a Viable Alternative to Javascript?
Forget Trick or Treat, Here Are 5 Horrifying Technologies That Should Really Scare You!
You know, I remember the good old days when all you had to worry about at Halloween was how to stop a gang of sugar-crazed 8 year-olds throwing eggs at your house. Not any more. Here are 5 emerging technologies that are bound to give you the creeps: 1. Quantum Supremacy Perhaps the biggest tech… Continue reading Forget Trick or Treat, Here Are 5 Horrifying Technologies That Should Really Scare You!
Dark Mode Looks Good, But Is It Actually Hurting You?
Over the last few years, everyone’s been talking about Dark Mode. It’s said to boost productivity and focus while reducing eye strain. It’s also supposed to be better for your battery life. But is that the whole story? Research into the matter suggests that Dark Mode might not be so healthy for us after all.… Continue reading Dark Mode Looks Good, But Is It Actually Hurting You?
5 Unexpected UX Design Skills to Help You Level Up
Whenever a hiring boom like this happens, you have to consider how it could work against you. Sure, there are more job openings. However, that means that more UX designers (and designer wannabes) are going to come out of the woodwork, trying to snag up the highly coveted gigs. So, let’s assume that you’re all… Continue reading 5 Unexpected UX Design Skills to Help You Level Up
How to Use Proven Industry Data to Guide Your Clients
As a web designer, you may be starting with little to no data of your own. It’s not until a website has launched (or relaunched) that you can start gathering real analytics on its performance. Even then, it can take awhile to draw any meaningful insights from it. So, in many cases, what web designers… Continue reading How to Use Proven Industry Data to Guide Your Clients