Diplomacy, humility, introspection, and more—drawing parallels between practitioners of design thinking and wielders of the Force — Hello there! I love Star Wars, and I love design. I spend a lot of time thinking about them both. So, naturally, I needed to write this piece comparing digital product designers and Jedi Knights. 😅 Product designers: practitioners of design thinking and masters of the pixel. Jedi Knights: disciples…

Nice writeup! You present some valid points–I do agree overall the redesign streamlines things relatively well. However, I'm still unfortunately in the "or not" (re: better UX) camp. 😅 There are three critical shortfalls of the redesign I keep running into time and time again. First, the search field has…

Insights from 3 challenges during a recent UX design project. — One of the many things I love about working in a design agency is the variety of projects. We are hired to parachute into often unfamiliar territory to help bring a product vision to life. …

Extending UX and interface design principles beyond digital products…again — This article is a sequel to: An exploration of visual indicators IRL Indicators that exist in the physical world that use color, orientation, and movement to communicate status and…uxdesign.cc A year ago, I published a list of observations about visual indicators that exist in the world around us. Similar to those in the digital world, these small visual cues communicate information to help us differentiate like-items. …

How enterprise software is responding to growing consumer-driven user expectations — I’m a millennial. I value pretty branding, avocado toast, and most importantly, easy-to-use software. As a digital native, I grew up with dial-up internet and witnessed its exciting evolution to the on-demand economy. Today, I’m a master of my smartphone, frequently multitasking between apps while maintaining conversations with friends.

An exploration of the many surprising similarities between ASL and visual iconography. — This year, I was fortunate enough to enroll in San Francisco’s recently-implemented Free City program and spend a semester learning a language I’ve always wanted. …

When faced with overwhelming content, focusing on user behavior can help define the design approach. — Enterprise applications are complex. They often contain large amounts of information from various sources, modules, and users. In order to present this wealth of information, these applications frequently make use of tables. Well-designed data tables allow users to scan, compare, and analyze information to take action. However, creating a mobile-friendly…

Using synesthesia to show the importance of conceptual and mental models in UX — “A conceptual model is an explanation, usually highly simplified, of how something works. It doesn’t have to be complete or even accurate as long as it is useful.” – Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things When someone opens an app, visits a website, or uses a product, they rely…

Extending UX and interface design principles beyond digital products — Visual indicators are used to make certain items stand out from the crowd. They don’t require the user to take action, but act as communication tools to cue something noteworthy. Indicators are not always present but appear under certain conditions. …