Google Maps: a refreshing turn in the right direction

Finally! Google Maps gets a much-needed makeover… and we’re here for it. Sometimes, a reroute is all it takes to rediscover the joy of the journey — Google Maps’ latest update is a testament to that. What’s New Since My Last Rant A few months back, I ripped into some serious user experience flaws in Google Maps. Google Maps: about that… Continue reading Google Maps: a refreshing turn in the right direction

Good design is subjective, contextual, and intentional

Urban planners have been designing for human experiences for nearly 200 years, and UI/UX designers can learn from this. Examples of The Chicago School of Architecture | Photo Credit: Tom Seiple When I finished my graduate degree, I was lucky to find my first job in Chicago. From a very early age, I had always hoped to… Continue reading Good design is subjective, contextual, and intentional

Norman Doors: how do we still get this wrong?

The confusing design of Cybertruck’s doors. Tesla Cybertruck The concept of the “Norman door” is a well-known and widely recognized principle among designers. Named after design guru Don Norman, it describes any door that proves confusing or difficult to use, highlighting a common design flaw. In this article, we will discuss the application of the… Continue reading Norman Doors: how do we still get this wrong?

3 Common Color Accessibility Issues One Can Easily Avoid

Color is often used to evoke emotions and emphasis. That’s one of the reasons why designers see color as an important element in their work. Colors communicate messages on both psychological and visual level. The importance of color is undeniable, but is basing the message solely on color the right thing to do? This post… Continue reading 3 Common Color Accessibility Issues One Can Easily Avoid

Name/Role/Value – Whose Role Is It Anyway?

Welcome to the next edition of my Design Strategy blog series. Today, I’m sharing a client story with the hope that y’all will focus on thinking about WHY you should do things differently so that your program can rapidly mature and scale quickly. I will once again skip the “how-to” article formula and dry laundry… Continue reading Name/Role/Value – Whose Role Is It Anyway?

How to create a color ramp used in design systems

Whether you’re a brand designer putting the finishing touches on a color palette or a product designer laying the foundational work for a design system, I will walk you through how to create color ramps utilized in design systems. If you’re new to creating color palettes for digital spaces, check out my previous article, Color for… Continue reading How to create a color ramp used in design systems

Introducing the Next Generation of Mobile Accessibility Testing

If you can run an app in iOS or Android, now you can test it for accessibility with us.  Deque’s axe DevTools Mobile redefines mobile testing for digital accessibility for cross-platform apps, such as those built with React Native. It’s the easiest mobile testing solution to install and run. It also provides clear direction to… Continue reading Introducing the Next Generation of Mobile Accessibility Testing

Think Inside the Box: How Accessibility Shapes Digital Product Design

Think inside the box: How accessibility shapes digital product design How constraints ignite creativity, spark innovation, and why accessibility is a uniquely effective constraint everyone should embrace. “Design depends largely on constraints.” — Charles Eames Access to digital technologies is a fundamental human right¹ and legal obligation². In an ideal world, there would be no need for more justification to… Continue reading Think Inside the Box: How Accessibility Shapes Digital Product Design

What Your Organization Needs to Navigate Canada Digital Accessibility Laws

A comprehensive guide to understanding digital accessibility requirements in Canada Digital accessibility is an integral aspect of equality and inclusivity, providing the same opportunity for all in the modern, digital world. In recognition of this, Canadian federal and provincial governments have implemented various legislative acts to ensure that individuals with disabilities have digital access without… Continue reading What Your Organization Needs to Navigate Canada Digital Accessibility Laws

WWDC 2023 Accessibility Goodies for Developers

This year, Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) was a big deal! Among the many announcements this year, Apple introduced the new Apple Vision Pro headset which has arguably and understandably stolen the show this year.  Although Vision Pro may be the big talk of the town post-WWDC, there was also a myriad of exciting… Continue reading WWDC 2023 Accessibility Goodies for Developers

An Introductory Guide to Understanding Cognitive Disabilities

“For most people, technology makes things easier. But for people with disabilities, technology makes things possible” – Mary Pat Radabaugh By Glenda Sims and Jennie Delisi Think about the last time you hit “Snooze” on your phone’s alarm. Do you even remember pressing the button? Chances are you successfully went back to sleep for another… Continue reading An Introductory Guide to Understanding Cognitive Disabilities

Design Risks: How to Assess, Mitigate, and Manage Them

It’s impossible to see into the future and anticipate every possible outcome of our design decisions. As a result, every major design decision comes with risks: risk that the design will be unfamiliar or hard to use or unpopular, risk that it will cost too much money, or risk that it will be abused or… Continue reading Design Risks: How to Assess, Mitigate, and Manage Them

Starting design work in a spreadsheet

In the early phases of a project a spreadsheet can be a more useful design tool than Figma. If you’re redesigning an existing website there are huge benefits in getting to know the content you’ll be working with. The earlier in the project the better. A little upfront investigation will help you make informed design decisions.… Continue reading Starting design work in a spreadsheet

The state of SaaS marketplace UX

A comprehensive review of popular SaaS marketplaces, including Airtable, Figma, Miro, Slack, and Zoom. Designing a SaaS marketplace or platform? Want to understand the SaaS marketplace experience of today? You’re in the right place. In this article, you’ll find a summary of the research I gathered to support my team in building our emerging platform. By reading… Continue reading The state of SaaS marketplace UX

5 lesser-known tips on spacing for product designers

5 lesser-known spacing tips for product designers Your BAE might not give you space but after reading this article you will definitely give your UI objects some well-deserved space :p When we start out as designers, spacing is often the most neglected aspect of the design process. Various objects are spaced based on what we, at… Continue reading 5 lesser-known tips on spacing for product designers

The UX of Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen seems to have its mind in the right place when it comes to embracing present and future technologies to offer an amazing UX. Image by Sweetgreen. Sweetgreen has come a long way since opening its first Washington, D.C. salad bar in 2007. 15 years have passed, and they are now on track to reach over 200… Continue reading The UX of Sweetgreen

What did Victor Papanek leave for UX designers in “Design for Real Word”?

In the “Back to basics” series, I would like to rediscover the content of the textbooks I read at the beginning of my industrial design studies. I am a supporter of wise (prudent) use of the achievements of the predecessors, which is why I re-read these valuable, twentieth-century books on design and try to extract… Continue reading What did Victor Papanek leave for UX designers in “Design for Real Word”?

How playing improvised music can train the ability to synthesize in design

Improv form #1. Drawing by Alexander Pryshyvalka (Instagram) My experience with Minsk Improvisers Orchestra I was always certain that only those who are trained in understanding musical notation and playing music instrument, are allowed to create music — only these special kinds of people are eligible to be called musicians. I’m not one of this special kind… Continue reading How playing improvised music can train the ability to synthesize in design

How To Make Your Designs Scannable (And Why You Should)

Jakob Nielsen’s How Users Read on the Web is 25 years old this week, and one glance at an eye-tracking study will tell you its key observations are still relevant today. Simply put, users don’t read a web page; they scan it for individual words and sentences. A typical pattern shown in eye-tracking reports is that… Continue reading How To Make Your Designs Scannable (And Why You Should)

How to create responsive cards with the help of auto-layout in Figma?

Auto Layout is one of the most powerful features of Figma and today we will be creating a card design inside Figma using Auto-Layout which will be fully responsive, i.e would respond to the screen size. demonstrates the responsive design of the card Before we get started, there are 3 main things we are talking about in… Continue reading How to create responsive cards with the help of auto-layout in Figma?

3 Essential Design Trends, July 2022

There are a lot of dark, retro vibes trending in website design right now. Although there are still some light projects popping up – including a pastel trend below – a lot of what we are seeing has a quite moody feel. Here’s what’s trending in design this month.   Pastel Color Palettes Let’s start… Continue reading 3 Essential Design Trends, July 2022

I’m not a robot (but, are you?)

The case for authenticating humans, reclaiming our identities, and defending against the coming swarm of bots. It’s 2022 and we are living in the opening scene of a dystopian Black Mirror episode. The line between what is real and what is fake has already blurred. The line between who is real and who is fake is now… Continue reading I’m not a robot (but, are you?)

What does your design cause?

What does your design cause which is undesirable or unintended or at odds with the design intent? How does one ask and answer these questions? In these next few posts I’m going to propose some ways of answering these questions that build up in complexity and propose some ways of thinking about causality and modeling… Continue reading What does your design cause?

Breaking UX preconceived notions

Breaking UX Preconceived Notions If you’re a UI/UX designer, Product Designer, or work as someone who has some influence in creating the user experience in your products, I think we all can agree on one thing. That’s what makes a good UX is quite subjective. There are a lot of different aspects that could result… Continue reading Breaking UX preconceived notions