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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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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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A UX Lesson From Coffee

by Rachel Anderson
“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like.” Steve Jobs once quipped, “People think it’s this veneer – that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how...
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The Complement of Repeat Business

by Khaiersta English
If you’re working as a designer, chances are you’re working for clients. Your clients may be in-house departments or different companies. Either way, the dynamics are largely the same. If you do a good job listening, creating, and delivering solutions for clients, they will pay you back with repeat business, testimonials, and referrals. If your...
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Working Well With Others

by Rachel Anderson
As designers, we are in a unique position to collaborate with cross-functional teams throughout our companies. While it is a great honor and joy to serve others in different disciplines, it can also be difficult. Other teams have their own unique goals, objectives, workflows, timelines, and constraints. Despite the certainty of these challenges, it is...
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The State of UX in 2019 Report Summary

by Rachel Anderson
At the beginning of a new year, it’s important to take time and consider the previous 365 days – for learning, reflection, and growth. Since 2016, the UX Collective has published a summary report on the State of UX – what designers, thinkers, and engineers were designing, doing, and developing. This year’s report was a...
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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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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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Issue Tracking and Team Workflow with BitBucket

by Khaiersta English
With multiple projects and competing demands, issue trackers can be a lifesaver. Our team at Flower Press Creative Studio relies pretty heavily on BitBucket, which is compatible with our GitHub repositories. Designers and developers work together to tackle new functional requirements, design deliverables and bug tracking. There are plenty of competitors on the market with...
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How to Export SVGs for the Web from Illustrator

by Khaiersta English
Adobe Illustrator is by far the most established, and popular Illustration tool in the design community. But until recently, it had a major shortcoming when exporting SVGs (Scalable Vector Graphics) cleanly for the web. Now, Adobe has upped its game by adding a clean, export function targeted at the web. Please note: there are actually...