Viewpoint

“Why should a designer write?” When talking to designers about the importance of content and sharing ideas, this is a common question that comes up. Many designers create a personal website to showcase their portfolio, add their contact information, and that’s about it. There can often be limited written works, with the focus mainly on design outcomes and graphic elements…. Read More ￫

Let’s say that one day, I wrote out the steps of a typical UCD-based process on a whiteboard (just pick any reputable textbook)…and then someone walked into that room, memorised this process as a template or recipe and then executed it accurately — is that person now a designer? That’s exactly the question a professor asked our class, in the… Read More ￫

This week’s design principle is focusing on Hick’s Law, which is related to the KISS principle. Let’s first say a few words to introduce Hick’s Law. Do you remember the old video games from before 20 years and how much fun it was to play them. The controls were so simple you could learn to play in seconds. For example,… Read More ￫

An introduction to Product Management A product manager defines, decides and helps the company ship the right features in a product. So, for example, if you see the launch of Facebook reactions on your feed the product manager at Facebook worked with people to define, prioritize and ship it. There are three key words here: Define. Decide. Ship. Define: Product Managers… Read More ￫

In preparation for my upcoming course on Sketch and SVG workflows, I’ve spoken with a bunch of designers, both junior and senior, about their use of the format. And I’ve noticed a common misunderstanding about SVG: “We often expect SVG to behave like a bitmap graphic—like a PNG with infinite resolution. But it really isn’t.” For one, certain things are more… Read More ￫

It’s common for designers and web developers to suffer from decision paralysis. You know you’ve battled with it if you had problems like: Spending hours choosing the right typefaces Obsessing over choosing the right framework Scratching your head over what to learn next Facing writer’s block Do any of those sound familiar? Decision paralysis has been the bane of my… Read More ￫

This will be the first post of series of articles I will be writing on design principles. The idea is to share my perspective on timeless design principles that can be applicable across many mediums and contexts. It is aimed mainly at new designers and designers like me who tend to forget this stuff, and need a refresher. I have… Read More ￫

This guide will cover what you need to know about wireframes, why and how you should use them in your workflow.

Google launched Android Lollipop which introduced some major changes and a new visual language called Material Design. With this new OS, Android is bringing a comprehensive guide for visual, motion, and interaction design across platforms and devices. Last October, I attended a workshop hosted at Google where Material Design’s UX team shared insights on this new approach to Android’s design… Read More ￫

This is a story about a GV style design sprint. If you’ve never heard of this, you can learn more here. Europe’s leading smart thermostat platform Toon® just opened up its API on toonapi.com. Toon is now accessible to developers, designers, startups, corporates and universities to re-imagine smart home and energy solutions. With this community, Toon wants to create smart… Read More ￫

In November 2016 I found myself leaving a really truly great experience design team at a solid software company to go onto… nothing. Happily for me, marriage took me to a different town which then made me look at the prospect of a new job, new team, new design challenges and purpose. Leaving a decent job and great team made me… Read More ￫

The virtual realm is uncharted territory for many designers. In the last few years, we’ve witnessed an explosion in virtual reality (VR) hardware and applications. VR experiences range from the mundane to the wondrous, their complexity and utility varying greatly. “You don’t need to be an expert in VR; you just need to be willing to apply your skills to… Read More ￫