Design Thoughts

There are lots of great tools for drawing wireframes today. However, I still prefer my good ol’ paper wireframing kit. In this post I’ll tell you why and explain how paper wireframing will make you a better designer. In 2012 I was planning on taking my wireframing skills to the next level. I had gotten the excellent app Paper by… Read More ￫

Companies can no longer afford to ignore the ethical ramifications of their products. Here’s how designers can pave the way for ethical decision-making in tech. This is the first part of a two part series. Check out Designing Ethically Pt. 2 for a deeper dive into the nitty-gritty of evaluating problem statements, forecasting “unforeseen consequences,” and monitoring your product’s ethical progress…. Read More ￫

These books have been the most impactful books in my work+life. They have helped me stay inspired, learn from the experts and motivate my best work. Use these books to examine your beliefs, attitudes, habits and skills. You’ll learn how to invest in yourself, build a remarkable career and live a fulfilling creative life. If you’re looking specifically for UX/Product… Read More ￫

I’m Matt, the founder of Lucid, the tool that makes it super easy for you to manage and share design systems. As a UX designer I love digital products and have always wanted to create something of my own, but because I’m not a developer I’ve never had the skills to actually build software and make it happen. It’s been… Read More ￫

Finding the right person for a startup can be hard, but finding the first product designer to strengthen your product in terms of aesthetics and usability may be even harder. From the very beginning, you want someone who is capable of leading the design process. You want someone who will do everything they can to solve the problems of your… Read More ￫

UX writing is the practice of crafting UI copy that guides users within a product and helps them interact with it. UI copy includes buttons and menu labels, error messages, security notes, terms and conditions, as well as any instructions on product usage. The primary aim of UX writing is to settle communication between users and a digital product. In… Read More ￫

So much goes into building a website. There is a fairly standard design process which every designer should work through to achieve great results and minimise the risk of failure when starting a new project, including journey maps, site maps, user flows, personas, content, Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi Wireframes, UI audits. However, it’s not just about creating a good set of… Read More ￫

This brief guide introduces UX designers to color contrast ratios and how to effectively apply this principle to your designs. This article does not delve into the complexities of choosing accessible colors for color blindness. Read more on color accessibility here. The purpose of UX design is to facilitate a seamless interactive experience for users. As such, color selection and… Read More ￫

Buttons are an essential element of interaction design. They have a primary role in the conversation between a user and the system. In this article, I’ll review seven basic principles you need to know to create effective button design. 1. Make buttons look like buttons When it comes to interacting with user interface, users need to know instantly what is ‘clickable’… Read More ￫

It’s hard to imagine a modern product design process without prototyping and testing. By following a technique “Show, don’t tell.” Many product teams use prototypes today to sell or test ideas. At the same time, quite often product teams fall into traps that reduce the effectiveness of their prototyping efforts. Here are six of the most common pitfalls. Prototyping without a purpose… Read More ￫

Life can be tough sometimes for UI designers. While they get to create great designs, they also get to deal with pressure from clients or PMs. They’re required to consider user experience and user flow. And they often struggle to find an effective way to communicate with developers. To relieve some of the pressure from my fellow designers, I want… Read More ￫

Welcome to the latest instalment of my series on writing as user experience design. I’m discussing key principles of user-centered design with the aim of applying these ideas to writers’ contributions UX and UI. Let’s talk about testing. As UX writers, we’re well aware that we work in a space obsessed with evaluating usability. And we love it! We’re in… Read More ￫