Tag: life

Designing for accessibility beyond compliance

Companies approach accessibility as a checklist of standards — but a client with disabilities showed me how to think beyond compliance. Source: Photo by Marcus Aurelius During my time volunteering at Neil Squire Society, and helping Hunter, a client with disabilities, be more comfortable using a computer, I learned a lot about how to better design from three… Continue reading Designing for accessibility beyond compliance

Housing, It’s a Human Right (Part 2)

A 3-Part Series on the digital accessibility of the housing process experienced by people with disabilities. In this 3-part series, we will look at the challenges and rewards of the entire experience surrounding the process of acquiring housing for people who live with a disability.  We will look at: Buying an existing home Leasing an… Continue reading Housing, It’s a Human Right (Part 2)

Housing, It’s a Human Right (Part 1)

A 3-Part Series on the digital accessibility of the housing process experienced by people with disabilities. In this 3-part series, we will look at the challenges and rewards of the entire experience surrounding the process of acquiring housing for people who live with a disability.  We will look at: Buying an existing home Leasing an… Continue reading Housing, It’s a Human Right (Part 1)

9 Best AI Writing Tools and SEO Content Writing AI for Businesses

The written word is as important as ever. Having well-written messages can help you communicate with your employees, clients and investors. This is where AI writing tools and SEO content writing tools can help! Use AI tools for content writing and SEO to your advantage. Image source: Envato Elements Everyday we learn more ways in… Continue reading 9 Best AI Writing Tools and SEO Content Writing AI for Businesses

Digital Accessibility As A Self-Evident Right: How US Federal Government Agencies Can Improve Digital Services

The Federal government of the United States was founded on a set of key principles. While there have been amendments and additions to these principles throughout history, it can still be said that three foundational principles are unwavering: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Monumental, persistent efforts are needed to ensure that these core… Continue reading Digital Accessibility As A Self-Evident Right: How US Federal Government Agencies Can Improve Digital Services

11 Free Website Builders to Try in 2023

Before we go any further, let’s get the whole ​‘all you need to make a website is a basic text editor and a browser’ thing out of the way before we start: Yes, it’s true, you can make a fully functioning, good-looking website with NotePad or TextEdit, but you also need a not inconsiderable level of knowledge and skill. And even… Continue reading 11 Free Website Builders to Try in 2023

Why Ive's way of doing personal projects is good for designers

Why Ive’s way of doing personal projects is good for designers Personal projects should be an important part of life as designers, but is mixed with the work and the realities of an in-house design team, which can be a messy process. Often, the question of fulfilment comes into play. Surprisingly, the answers to fulfilment… Continue reading Why Ive's way of doing personal projects is good for designers

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

Innovative Home Decor: How Custom Neon Signs Elevate Interior Design Strategies

‍“There’s No Place Like Home” LED sign by VoodooNeon.com Introduction to innovative home decor In recent years, the world of interior design has seen a significant shift towards innovative and unconventional home decor ideas. As homeowners, we are always on the lookout for unique ways to express our individuality and creativity in our living spaces.… Continue reading Innovative Home Decor: How Custom Neon Signs Elevate Interior Design Strategies

Apple Vision Pro: how to turn people into 24/7 surveillance agents for capitalism

From Apple.com In the world of tech, innovation is a double-edged sword. On one side, we have the allure of cutting-edge technology, promising to revolutionize our lives. But what happens when this revolution infringes on our privacy? The latest product from Apple, the Vision Pro AR headset, is a perfect example of this dichotomy. The… Continue reading Apple Vision Pro: how to turn people into 24/7 surveillance agents for capitalism

The purpose of a system is how we shape it

We are not masters of our information, but we can be if we build information systems shaped like human consciousness. Why are our information systems places where ideas go to die? Why are they clogged with shallow, soulless filler? Why can so few of us, and fewer organizations, gain any level of mastery over our… Continue reading The purpose of a system is how we shape it

An urban planner’s guide to designing software

Urban planners have been designing for human experiences for nearly 200 years, UI/UX designers can learn from this It’s July of 2016. The augmented reality game Pokémon GO was just released. Within days, millions of teens and Millennials are suddenly spending hour upon hour outside in search of rare Pokémon, battling one another, and living in… Continue reading An urban planner’s guide to designing software

AI is about to kill creativity

AI has a massive disruptive quality on the creative sector. Is AI going to benefit us, or will it create a new dark age for innovation? The Aeolipile (left) and the Steam engine (right) on a section of Bosch’s masterpiece The Last Judgment (Wikimedia) In the early first century, the first steam engine was invented… Continue reading AI is about to kill creativity

Patterns are good

Why should you care about them? Apple Magic Mouse Versus Logitech MX Master. Source: Tidbits A design pattern is a document that describes a common solution to a recurring design problem. According to Tibor Kunert (2009), using design patterns allows designers to quickly find solutions to problems using proven designs, rather than starting from scratch each time.… Continue reading Patterns are good

Software accessibility for users with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)

When discussing accessibility, the first person that pops into the minds of people is probably a person in a wheelchair. Thinking about software accessibility, the next two types of disabilities might come into mind are blindness and deafness. These are three types of disabilities most people commonly think of when talking about accessibility: blindness, deaf… Continue reading Software accessibility for users with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)

Digital death, neurodesign, Notion AI, Figma automated UI builder

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “We live in a hyper-connected world where things don’t seem to have happened unless you post about them. An emotion hardly seems validated until it’s been shared with others online. On average, we spend a quarter of our lives online. For people we never met in person, all they know… Continue reading Digital death, neurodesign, Notion AI, Figma automated UI builder

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

Digital humans are here. They sound and look just like us.

Now digital humans are here. They sound and look just like us. Digital humans, AI-powered digital counterparts, are going to change how we interact with the world around us. https://medium.com/media/5d057cb8920f355e7fa126d3cedcac2c/href In 2016 Miquela Sousa, or @lilmiquela, quickly grew to be one of Instagram's top influencers. At a first glance, there is little wrong with the 19-year-old Brazilian-American… Continue reading Digital humans are here. They sound and look just like us.

Handling cross-team feedback loops on design work

Escape the siloing trap when you are both part of a design team and a product team, involve people early and often, and foster the right conversation at the right time If you are a designer working in a product organization you are maybe also part of two teams at the same time: a design team… Continue reading Handling cross-team feedback loops on design work

Let me be stupid — Creating experiences that are effortless

Let me be stupid — Creating experiences that are effortless While browsing Reddit the other day I stumbled upon this thread.The question asked was simple: ‘Do you ever wish you were a little more intelligent?’ I clicked on the thread expecting answers to range from ‘Duh’ to ‘HELL YES’, but I was extremely surprised when I saw… Continue reading Let me be stupid — Creating experiences that are effortless

Everything You Need to Know About Book Design

Are you interested in book design but don’t know where to start? You’ve landed in the right place. If you’re a book lover and you’ve always wondered how to design a book, here you’ll find a collection of resources and tutorials that will point you in the right direction. We’ll cover what book design is,… Continue reading Everything You Need to Know About Book Design

Are we going to need food in the Metaverse?

A vision for how the world of food could evolve with web3. I was skeptical. I shouldn’t have been. Last week, I had the opportunity to attend YFood’s Insights & Innovation event, which took a deep dive into rising trends in the food tech space, specifically web3 and automation. As a UX designer, I’m interested in… Continue reading Are we going to need food in the Metaverse?