As much as design is a visual language, interfaces also need to be translated and localized accordingly across written languages and cultures to make sense to a global userbase. Setting the context: a mobile world The majority of the world’s internet users are mobile-based. Mobile internet traffic has gone up 222% in the last 7 years. It is estimated that by 2025, 72% of people who use the internet will do so only on a mobile device. …

Background A few months after I joined 99.co, our design lead left, and we were two junior/mid level designers who had to hold up the entire design team across three product squads in a small startup. 😊 Starting and growing PD Syncs I soon realized we were working over each other’s work due to lack of communication…

How do language learners seem to get so much done? — Let me share how successful language learners seem to learn so fast, get more done and appear smarter than struggling language learners. They set habits that are easy to stick to, and adjust their routines accordingly. Four things to do for setting goals and habits, and sticking to them: Habit stacking Creating a schedule for the week Using a language planner

Introducing a design system for an already-established app — Project background Skritter is a language learning app for Chinese and Japanese, giving learners flashcards and vocabulary to learn Hanzi/Kanji. …

The rise of short video apps The internet has blurred boundaries between languages, interface designs and ethnic groups, especially with the rise of video features on mega apps such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook videos, the Chinese version of TikTok called Douyin and YouTube shorts, all promoting short videos from all around the world dubbed with…

My original dream For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in design. When we had to write book reports in English class at school, I would spend more time designing the layout of the document than I did writing the actual report! I also loved drawing and designing…

It’s OK to take a break​ but there are ways to ease back into it With apps that push streaks, YouTubers showing their highly productive morning routines, and social media pushing hustle culture, it’s easy to start to think that we need to perform at the same level of productivity each day. I’ve found that my energy levels and mental health differs from week to…

Improving conversion for the world’s leading survey creation tool — Solvers.io was approached by SurveyMonkey with a number of briefs to grow conversion and encourage users to purchase more paid plans. These were large, nebulous problems which came together over time to form three distinct experiments that impact user behavior positively. The problem At the core, SurveyMonkey sought to improve conversion rates…

Please note: This is written based on my own experience as a product design team manager and might not be reflective of all design manager experiences at all companies. Take it with a pinch of salt! Recently, my post about how I became a design manager in 1.5 years went…