Version control is a skill UX can learn to make their lives easier

Use Components, Variants, and Pages to provide different design versions your team members need Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash Version control for your design prototypes is one of those things you never think about until you desperately need it. Version control is so essential that many Engineers will devote time and effort to build… Continue reading Version control is a skill UX can learn to make their lives easier

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Tips for design influencers, unethical bridges, right-to-left UI

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. Moses, the so-called “master builder” of mid-20th century New York, was very concerned that white-only spaces in America (like beaches) might eventually be opened to all people. When designing the Grand Central Parkway in the late 1920s — a road intended, in part, to give New Yorkers “an easy way to… Continue reading Tips for design influencers, unethical bridges, right-to-left UI

Anatomy of a dazzling business email: 15 tips from creative and UX writing

Learn to use drama, information architecture, voice and tone, and more to rocket your business emails from boring to bombastic. Image by Mikayla Mallek Long before I started this job, I began writing long, well thought out emails. But they often weren’t well received. With so many other modes of communication, emails tend to be… Continue reading Anatomy of a dazzling business email: 15 tips from creative and UX writing

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Analytics are leaving out user intent: UX benchmarking can help

Using analytics alone to measure UX misses key navigational data you need to know about your product. tl;dr —With log-based analytics alone, we can’t see users that want to start a task but cannot find it. This leads us to overcount success rates. With behavioral UX benchmarking, we understand a user’s intent so we know… Continue reading Analytics are leaving out user intent: UX benchmarking can help

Measuring simulator sickness in VR: a guide for UX researchers

Understand and mitigate the impact of simulator sickness on VR users. Photo by Norbert Kowalczyk on Unsplash Given that up to 1 in 3 people [1, 2] experience some type of motion sickness, it’s highly likely that either you or someone you know has felt a bit queasy after using a virtual reality (VR) simulator… Continue reading Measuring simulator sickness in VR: a guide for UX researchers

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Good handoff improves UX quality

A guide to a streamlined design handoff between designers <> developers Photo by Chris Chow on Unsplash Handing off deliverables and design specifications to developers is always an ongoing debate inside the product design community and product teams I’ve worked with. I believe there are no right or wrong answers because, in a given context,… Continue reading Good handoff improves UX quality

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Are silos where UX goes to die?

Prototyping is a simple (not easy) catalyst for transformative change in UX Continue reading on UX Collective »

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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”?

7 behavioural UX approaches encouraging sustainable purchases

A review and summary of 7 behavioural UX approaches used to inform, enable, and encourage users to purchase planet-friendlier products Photo of Earth by NASA on Unsplash Changing behaviours is not easy. But with the wasteful cycles of consumer products being responsible for 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the global population estimated to… Continue reading 7 behavioural UX approaches encouraging sustainable purchases

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10 Key Principles of User-Centered Design

Many firms’ design and development decisions are increasingly oriented toward human-centered innovation. Instead of rushing goods to market, these firms are using a user-centered design approach. Design and development teams build high-performing digital products or websites that uniquely meet customers’ demands by concentrating on the user experience. After all, a good web design is helpful… Continue reading 10 Key Principles of User-Centered Design

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 does your team measure UX quality?

This year on my team, we had a moment where we realized that our UX quality was slipping. It started with a few surprising feedback tickets, then we noticed some patterns in our dovetail user research sessions, then got some rather harsh NPS scores, until finally we realized we needed to quantify our UX quality… Continue reading How does your team measure UX quality?

What a robbery taught me about validating assumptions in UX

A reminder to test assumptions when building or designing. At 2am, on Thursday, 10th November 2022, armed men broke down the door to my apartment and then the door to my bathroom where I was hiding. They carted away with my laptop, iPhone, and half my sanity. I wouldn’t say I saw the robbery coming, but… Continue reading What a robbery taught me about validating assumptions in UX

Should you do UX Research yourself, or hire an agency?

The Pros and Cons of these two options — plus a third you might have ignored The number at the end of the agency’s proposal was over one million Euros. I was floored. A client of mine had sent me a proposal from the latest research consulting firm in the runnings to help them explore a new market. Of the… Continue reading Should you do UX Research yourself, or hire an agency?

UX for evil: the truth about Trump’s truth app

Image credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Christoph Dernbach/picture alliance via Getty Images Back in February, the much-anticipated “Truth Social” app was launched. Intended to be a social network for “Truth”, it’s essentially a carbon copy of Twitter, except instead of Tweets, you write and share “Truths”. When it launched, a lot of people smirked at reports of… Continue reading UX for evil: the truth about Trump’s truth app

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Personas should be living and breathing

Too often, designers create a persona at the start of a project, then put it up on a wall like a graduation picture and simply leave it there to be looked at and referenced occasionally…pulling out interesting stories when the situation demands. But your persona should be alive. It should live, grow, evolve and adapt.… Continue reading Personas should be living and breathing

AI is going to change UX research forever

The rise of AI will impact everyone. But in what way can UX designers use AI to their benefit? And how do we design AI systems? AI will revolutionize every sector, but unexpectedly UX research might suffer a huge impact. Photo by me. The rise of AI is creating a lot of buzz in almost every modern… Continue reading AI is going to change UX research forever

Shhh: don’t tell anyone, Figma’s latest feature, Design in uncertain times

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. You say you won’t detach instances. You will detach instances. Shhh: don’t tell the new designers →By Michael McWatters The UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices, reaching over 500k+ designers every week. Editor picks Design in uncertain times →How design can shape our… Continue reading Shhh: don’t tell anyone, Figma’s latest feature, Design in uncertain times

Are Modals In Web Design A UX Disaster?

Modals, a nifty little feature that allows you to display different messages at the top of your website, have been touted as extremely useful. Some even claim that they are helpful enough to completely replace the banner ads we all hate so much. But are modals in web design a UX disaster? If you are… Continue reading Are Modals In Web Design A UX Disaster?

Figma next steps, is Design Thinking overhyped, the UX of Stable Diffusion

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “It’s 2022. Figma has completely taken over the Product Design world over the last four years. It’s rare to see a company gain such rapid adoption across an entire industry so quickly. With that kind of growth comes a lot of problems. The product accrues debt in different areas (both… Continue reading Figma next steps, is Design Thinking overhyped, the UX of Stable Diffusion

Ask a UXR #2: introducing user research to an organization

On asking the existential questions about a UXR’s purpose, being a thought partner, and bringing questions, not just answers This is the second post in a bi-weekly UXR Q+A series. Submit your questions in the comments, or in this Google form, and it they may be answered in future posts. Follow “Ask a UXR” by subscribing… Continue reading Ask a UXR #2: introducing user research to an organization