Sep 23, 2020Member-onlyA 5-minute masterclass: Interaction DesignI’m a big believer in heuristics — quick rules of thumb that apply across a wide variety of situations. For designers, heuristics are literally a superpower. There’s certain phrases, rules, and ideas that — if you always keep them in mind, you’ll quickly become a MUCH better designer. I’m going…UX6 min readUX6 min read
Aug 12, 2019Member-only4 Rules for Intuitive UXImprove your app’s usability without a major research initiative — This is my advice on improving the UX of your designs WITHOUT hours of user research sessions, paper prototyping playtime, or any other trendy UX buzzwords. (Seriously, search “design thinking”. 0 results. Nailed it!) Who’s this article for? I’m looking at you: Developers. You created your own app, but every…UX17 min readUX17 min read
Jan 21, 2019Member-onlyHow to Create Your UX/UI Portfolio (Without Much Experience)A 4,000-word guide to creating a top 1% design portfolio — There’s a real chicken-and-egg problem with getting hired as a designer these days: It’s hard to get a job without a good portfolio It’s hard to create a good portfolio without first having good jobs (This is true of freelance work, agency work, and full-time work at a startup or…Design17 min readDesign17 min read
Published in UX Power Tools·Feb 13, 2017Tiny Trend #4: Vegetation OverlaysDashes of flair to kick your designs up a notch. — UX Power Tools is featuring new authors (like me) as a part of their TinyTrends series. Sweet. Now let’s see what the next little thing is. Wouldn’t it be cool and unique if your design featured text with vines/flowers/leaves wrapping around the letterforms, as if they existed in the same…UX3 min readUX3 min read
Jan 18, 2017Color in UI Design: A (Practical) FrameworkNOTE: for the full, updated article, please go here. This is an abbreviated (and non-updated version). Being pretty self-taught as far as UI design goes, I’ve always wondered why so many articles and books talk about color theory and palettes. …Design8 min readDesign8 min read
Nov 20, 20147 Rules for Creating Gorgeous UI — Part 2A guide to visual aesthetics, written by a nerd NOTE: For the updated, complete version of this article, please go here. This is the second part in a two-part series. You should read the first part first. We’re talking about rules for designing clean and simple UI without needing to…Design12 min readDesign12 min read
Nov 13, 20147 Rules for Creating Gorgeous UIA non-artsy guide to creating beautiful apps and sites NOTE: For the full, updated version of this article, please go here. Introduction OK, first things first. This guide is not for everyone. Who is this guide for? Developers who want to be able to design their own good-looking UI in a…Design11 min readDesign11 min read
