90% of designers are unhirable?

Or why your cookie-cutter portfolio doesn’t cut it and how to fix it Image by Matej Latin (Author) Here’s the harsh truth: I’ve reviewed more than 1,000 portfolios in my design career so far, and I turned 90% of them down because of one thing — the linear design process. By “linear design process” I mean cookie-cutter case studies that… Continue reading 90% of designers are unhirable?

UX leadership is failing, multi-brand design systems, proxies in UX

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “What is the effect of constant exposure to information on our attention? Who benefits from a dramatic change in our attention, and when and why has this happened? One hypothesis is that companies have created an ecosystem to encourage continual consumption of information, and they profit from our addiction… Continue reading UX leadership is failing, multi-brand design systems, proxies in UX

Company culture is more than just office perks

How product culture and company culture are intrinsically related. Image by Creative Lab @ scop.io “Company culture is the backbone of any successful organization.”—Gary Vaynerchuk A goal is something to aim at Company culture is a powerful hiring magnet and a common discussion topic both in- and outside of companies. It starts with providing good environment and… Continue reading Company culture is more than just office perks

Designing genAI-enhanced features

Elevating user experience through intelligent content enhancement and personalization. Futuristic workspace (Created with Dall-E) Chatbots serve as an accessible gateway to the realm of Generative AI features, a fact underscored by the success of ChatGPT. Their simplicity, requiring only basic instructions to engage in natural dialogues, allows them to integrate across various digital platforms seamlessly. Yet,… Continue reading Designing genAI-enhanced features

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?

Making Waves in India 2023: Why Accessibility Deserves a Spot on Tech Giants’ Radar

India has a new rising economy that is catching everybody’s attention with its development, innovation, and growth. But we won’t be talking about what’s out there on the internet. We will be diving deep into a topic that’s making waves and deserves a prime spot on the radar of tech giants – Web Accessibility. Now,… Continue reading Making Waves in India 2023: Why Accessibility Deserves a Spot on Tech Giants’ Radar

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?

30 Amazing Chrome Extensions for Designers and Developers

Compilations By Robert Reeve 2 days ago Searching for a tool to make cross-platform design a breeze? Desperate for an extension that helps you figure out the HTML code of that fantastic color palette? Looking for a trick that will supercharge your productivity this year? We’ve got you covered. Chrome extensions are the bread and… Continue reading 30 Amazing Chrome Extensions for Designers and Developers

The extended designer, and the design machine

The Extended Designer spends less time making products, and more time making progress. The Extended Designer spends less time making products, and more time making progress. 2023 has been Generative AI’s breakout year, but that has been greeted by some fairly mixed responses, particularly from Designers. As the terrain we all live on reconfigures around… Continue reading The extended designer, and the design machine

Enhancing Accessibility with AI and ML

There has been a lot of buzz recently about Artificial Intelligence, with some people speculating that we are approaching the long-awaited AI revolution. This hype has been chiefly generated by recent advanced algorithms powering ChatGPT and other language-related models. While I believe that these models are still a far cry from general AI (AI which… Continue reading Enhancing Accessibility with AI and ML

We’re turning designers into factory workers

Considering the availability of modern tools and recent advancements in governance (design systems), one might think designers could relax and enjoy some leisure time. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. In fact, it feels like designers have even less time than before. As we’re frantically pushing towards an auto-governed future, we ought to stop and think… Continue reading We’re turning designers into factory workers

Building a Core Accessibility Team: The Keys to the Kingdom

Have you noticed that in today’s digital age accessibility is not just a nice-to-have feature but a fundamental requirement for any product or service? Creating an inclusive user experience is not only ethically responsible but also just makes good business sense. Sustainability in this conquest can be successful or a disaster, depending on how you… Continue reading Building a Core Accessibility Team: The Keys to the Kingdom

Ethical growth, AI authors, the mind of a type designer, UX research emails

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “Growth hacks or so-called psychology tricks have a negative reputation. and it’s not a surprise. Think about the last time you stumbled upon such a “smart” hack — maybe when you were trying to unsubscribe from newsletters you didn’t mean to sign up for, or when booking a low-cost flight became… Continue reading Ethical growth, AI authors, the mind of a type designer, UX research emails

5 things I learned as a product designer: a 10-year journey at Amazon, Walmart and startups

In 2019, I wrote an article titled What I learned as a Product Designer over the last 6 years — a snapshot of my journey with points I deemed relevant to any upcoming designers interested in the field of UX or Product Design. Little did I know that the following years would bring an abundance of experiences,… Continue reading 5 things I learned as a product designer: a 10-year journey at Amazon, Walmart and startups

Our desire for certainty can make us terrible planners

Memory, Image Theory, and the empty pursuit of certainty Midjourney Sometimes it feels like all we do is plan — and then plan for more planning. But what are the cognitive mechanisms we use to ‘plan’? and are they optimized for getting things ‘right’? If we were optimized to be right, we probably wouldn’t be so quick to… Continue reading Our desire for certainty can make us terrible planners

Our dangerous tendency to hold on to losing bets

Tools to mitigate commitment bias and overconfidence Midjourney Last week, we wrote about how ‘conviction’ is a very human attribute responsible for our powerful, yet irrational ability to almost will positive outcomes into existence; presumably against all odds. Today we’ll cover the dark side of conviction and overconfidence — and unfortunately, the more common tendency to overcommit and… Continue reading Our dangerous tendency to hold on to losing bets

Setting up performance reviews for Product Designers

Take a few shortcuts with my comprehensive guide on evaluating designers Why is evaluating designers so difficult? Evaluating the performance of a product designer within a startup or agency environment is challenging. It involves a mixture of objective and subjective data that is synthesized in an attempt to gauge if someone is to be rewarded,… Continue reading Setting up performance reviews for Product Designers

5 book recommendations to help drive accessibility adoption and strategy

These books helped us help our coaching crews, and they may help you and yours Deque offers a unique accessibility coaching service. We embed coaches in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) across whole teams as well as side-by-side with specific roles. Coaches support teams in incorporating accessibility practices into their design/build/test processes. A coach’s responsibilities… Continue reading 5 book recommendations to help drive accessibility adoption and strategy

Choosing humanity over automation

Navigating the role of AI in design discipleship. Designers can learn AI skills and practice similar techniques as UX researchers. Pain is a part of the design process, and designers should choose which pain they are willing to endure to achieve their desired outcomes. And they can learn intangible values from their masters to become… Continue reading Choosing humanity over automation

Conversational AI search: beware of smoke and mirrors

Search bots based on LLMs contain hidden dangers Photo by Julius Drost on Unsplash At the moment, conversational AI search is in a perilous place. In the midst of an AI hype boom, it’s easy to overlook the challenges and dangers inherent in the way major search companies are applying large language models to our information ecosystems.… Continue reading Conversational AI search: beware of smoke and mirrors

The role of grid systems in graphic design

Grid System: Vertical and horizontal lines grid. What is a grid system? The vertical and horizontal axes are divided in proportion to the coordinate system. In graphic design, the grid is used to control the font and image position layout design matrix, which has an important role in Mesh design, in different periods and geographical, people have… Continue reading The role of grid systems in graphic design

5 Web Design Trends You Need to Be Aware of in 2023

Posted · Category: Best Collections, Design The beginning of a new year is typically a time when we plan to find ways to make life a little better. The same applies to web designers who look for new and better ways to make their designs more engaging and productive. In this post we will look… Continue reading 5 Web Design Trends You Need to Be Aware of in 2023

Seven mental models for UX Writing

Mental models to help you mature your work and deliverables. This article is part of the UX Translations series. It was originally written in portuguese by Camila Gaidarji via UX Collective 🇧🇷 and was translated to english with the intention of helping more designers and reaching an even wider audience. You can check the original… Continue reading Seven mental models for UX Writing