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5 Top UI/UX Trends for 2021

by Sandhya Iyer
The field of UX is constantly changing, and we should expect nothing less in 2021. Here are five of the top design trends you should keep an eye out for (and look to implement) this year: 1) Motion Graphics — Animated elements on both mobile and desktop apps engage the user so much more than...
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Skills Every Budding UX Designer Should Have

by Sandhya Iyer
UX design is a field that’s always changing — the tools and softwares used, the guidelines for effective design, needs of consumers and clients — so in order for designers to build the best user experience, their “skill Rolodex” constantly needs to be up-to-date. Here are the current top skills all designers should know or...
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Improving UX Design with AI

by Sandhya Iyer
Artificial intelligence has been the biggest tech buzzword of the last few years. The idea of AI sometimes is daunting and reminiscent of science fiction, but it’s rapidly becoming integrated into different products and into the daily lives of many people. The more obvious examples of AI include Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google Home and...
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Increasing Diversity in Design

by Sandhya Iyer
Design, specifically UX and UI, lies at the intersection of understanding people, technology and branding. You can’t build effective, easy-to-use products and platforms without connecting with the end-user and understanding their needs, desires and pain points. So, technically, the more diverse a design team is — with regards to gender, race, thought, experiences, abilities and...
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Designing for Accessibility

by Sandhya Iyer
The Interaction Design Foundation succinctly summarizes the importance of accessible design: “A design is only useful if it’s accessible to the user: any user, anywhere, anytime.” People often think the need for accessibility is only targeted at people with disabilities, but really, it’s just about making sure that anyone can understand, interact with and contribute...
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Dos and Don’ts for Designing a Stand-out Resume

by Sandhya Iyer
The most important thing about a resume, is, of course, the content — education, experiences, activities and skills. But another crucial element to a resume, often overlooked, is its layout and design. Well-designed resumes are critical not only because they look different and stand out, but also because they make it easier for recruiters to...
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Article.com Streamlines Login/Registration Experience

by Sandhya Iyer
The best changes to UX are those that satisfy needs you don’t even realize you have. Nearly every site you visit to purchase a product or read a few articles requires you to login to or create an account. But most login and registration experiences are over-complicated, with multiple options and the sign in versus...
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How to Calculate Design ROI

by Sandhya Iyer
It’s widely known that design-forward companies perform better than their counterparts, generating nearly 32% more revenue than companies where design takes a backseat. But why? The direct correlation between UX and revenue generation still isn’t clear to most executives. Here are some tips that will help you effectively communicate the importance of your design work...
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Designing Against Misinformation

by Sandhya Iyer
With our current 24/7 news cycle, we’re subject to new information from publications and across social media platforms nearly every second of the day. It’s overwhelming to begin with, but it becomes even worse when you have to sort through fake news as well, something most people didn’t realize was so prominent until the 2016...
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5 Tips to Stand Out in the Competitive Online Shopping Sphere

by Sandhya Iyer
Due to lockdown restrictions, many people have shopped online more in the last few months than they have their whole lives. But even during non-pandemic times, the ease and convenience of online shopping is often just too good to give up — does anyone really like to scavenge through clothing racks or wait in line...
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Using the Chrome Inspector to View CSS Animations

by Eric Baldoni
Recently google added a nice new feature to the Chrome Inspector. If you’re not familiar with the inspector it is an indispensable tool for web development included with the Chrome browser (all browsers have one form or another of it). With the Chrome Inspector we now have the ability to inspect CSS animations. This can...
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Why Design Mentorship Matters

by Rachel Anderson
Recently I’ve been reading a book about the life of Leonardo Da Vinci. And while I am impressed with his fascinating character and personality, what has resonated with me the most are the incredible opportunities and mentorship he received. This got me thinking about how powerful mentorship truly is. But, why? Because mentorship feeds the...
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CSS Filters for Quick Effects without Image Manipulation

by Eric Baldoni
CSS filters offer a variety of simple effects you can add to an image, saving you the work of having to manipulate the actual graphic files. We can easily apply filters to an image using the following available properties. Here is what the syntax for some pre defined functions looks like. filter: blur(10px); filter: brightness(0.6);...
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Diving into WordPress Taxonomy

by Eric Baldoni
WordPress offers a few ways for you to organize your content using built in taxonomies. One common question we get is “Should we use tags or categories to make our posts easy to find”. To answer this it’s probably best to get a brief understanding of the history of WordPress taxonomies. Initially WordPress only offered...
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A Summary of the Design Leadership Summit

by Rachel Anderson
Last month I had an incredible opportunity to attend the Design Leadership Summit in Toronto. After a quick flight out of Newark, I landed in Canada and spent the next few days exploring the beautiful city and enjoying an excellent conference. The Design Leadership Summit was hosted by the Toronto chapter of the DesignX Community....
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Gamification in Design

by Rachel Anderson
Today, the gaming industry in the United States and across the world is a multi-billion dollar industry. There are conferences, competitions, and communities everywhere you look. From Mario Kart to Fortnite, the global interest in games is obvious and intriguing. Given the stunning success of this hobby, how can other industries model the same? How...
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What’s Inspiring Me Right Now

by Rachel Anderson
I love learning. Whether it’s online classes, podcasts, or documentaries – I simply cannot resist an opportunity to increase my knowledge and open my mind. This year I have dedicated significant time and energy to learning from an eclectic array of sources; it has undoubtedly benefited me. I can attest to the inspiration, information, and...