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5 Things You Need to Know Before Planning Your Next Website System Design

by Khaiersta English
Designers are problem solvers. We make order from chaos. There is a certain reward to be had from battling disordered systems and bringing information together in logical ways. Sometimes, it feels like putting together a puzzle. A large part of what goes into successful problem solving is understanding the framework from which to judge success....
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Browser sanity: Take back control of those tabs

by Eric Baldoni
There is a continuing argument over which browser was the first to implement tabs. I believed up until just now (simple Google search) that it was Opera. In my defense over the years Opera has seemingly been constantly ahead of the competition with new features. Apparently however many claim it was Firefox or more specifically...
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Humility: The Secret UX Superpower

by Rachel Anderson
What if I told you there was something that could transform your work and workplace? Nope, it’s not a new software, webinar, or widget. It’s a trait – a character trait. The name? Humility. Surprised? Don’t be! This new year has brought a changing shift to designers focusing on building their soft-skills and character qualities...
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From Handoff to Handshake

by Rachel Anderson
The handoff process between designers and developers will always be an important topic of discussion in the UX world. Given the difference between methodologies and ideologies, there is often miscommunication and misunderstanding. However, with careful thought and effort, this process can be done well to the satisfaction of all involved. Let’s explore how.   Documentation ...
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The Benefits of Reflection

by Khaiersta English
As a designer with 20+ years of experience handling client projects, I can say with certainty that the creation of brand assets, campaigns, taglines and visual designs all benefit from time for reflection. Time to step away from the work you’re considering has a way of changing its shape. Things can look different after only...
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Five UX Design Books to Add to Your Reading List

by Khaiersta English
In the world of user experience design, there are many approaches to solving design problems. Depending on how you gained your education and experience in the field, you may prefer one approach or another. I find it is helpful to read about other people’s experiences and approaches to solving design problems. Often, opportunities present themselves...
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Understanding Emotional Design

by Khaiersta English
Emotions play a crucial role in how we understand and experience the world. For generations scientists, psychologists and designers have worked to capture the essence of human emotion and various ways to appeal to it. Don Norman, author of Emotional Design made some valuable observations, which every designer should be familiar with. Where cognitive science...
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Designing Better Forms, A Top 10 Guide

by Khaiersta English
In digital product design, forms are a necessary evil. Whether you’re designing a registration flow, checkout experience or settings page, forms allow you to collect data from the end-user. There are fundamental best-practices you can use when putting forms together, which will help users process requests more quickly, increase data entry accuracy and increase your...
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SVGs: Vectors for the Web

by Khaiersta English
When working on visual design for the web, choosing the correct image format is essential.  The rise of responsive design, mobile devices, and high-pixel-density displays have made this process trickier than ever. When working with photography, and 3D imagery, JPGs and PNGs are still the best formats to use. Saving images up for 2x to...
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How to Quickly Evaluate Browser Compatibility for New Web Technologies

by Khaiersta English
When designing for the web, designers and developers are often tempted by new technologies. Recent advancements such as embedded fonts, parallax scrolling, JS animation, SVGs etc. have had varying levels of cross-platform support. Depending on the requirements of your website or application, browser support limitations may become a deal-breaker to including modern UI/UX advancements. Can...