Published inModus·PinnedMember-onlyMicro Design Systems: Breaking the MonolithModular design systems will scale better, make design faster, and be less likely to fail — Designers love to talk about a single source of truth. A singular, universal solution that forms the foundation of everything we do. A pervasive, all-encompassing system. A design system. But, is that centralized, monolithic approach to structuring and documenting all things design the best way to go? …Design Thinking10 min readDesign Thinking10 min read
Published inBootcamp·Apr 1Defining design systemsDeveloping a shared understanding — Design systems. Possibly the most overused, inflated, and yet poorly understood term in product development. It’s a term that might make your eyes glaze over if you’re not in the world of design or development. But stay with with me, because design systems can be like the secret sauce that…UX5 min readUX5 min read
Published inUX Collective·Aug 31, 20203 tips on giving a virtual conference talkKnowledge-sharing in a digital-first world. — While virtual conferences have been around since the late 1990s, they haven’t really taken off until now. With a world in the grips of a globe-spanning pandemic, virtual meetings are the new normal. And conferences are no exception. …Conference6 min readConference6 min read
Published inModus·Sep 27, 2019Member-onlyWhat Is Design Evangelism?4 key things evangelists do for design — The developer world has seen a recent upsurge in roles and titles such as Developer Advocate or Developer Evangelist. The vagueness of these titles has prompted questions such as “What does a developer evangelist/advocate do?” and “What in the world is a developer evangelist?” …Developer Relations7 min readDeveloper Relations7 min read
Published inUX Collective·May 4, 20185 Tips for Designing Data-Dense ProductsHow Smartly.io designs for complex data experiences — One of the biggest challenges our design team faces day-to-day over at Smartly.io is designing for large amounts of data. Our users process, interpret and act upon a myriad of different variables on a daily basis. …Design6 min readDesign6 min read
Published inUX Collective·Jul 20, 2017Make War, Not InterfacesSun Tzu’s Lessons on Product Design — Product Design is a lot like warfare. Think about it. Users are the enemy. Like Clone Troopers straight out of Episode II, they are legion. Their numbers are seemingly without end. …Design5 min readDesign5 min read
Published inUX Collective·Apr 19, 2017Don't Be A CreepBe aware of invasiveness in Anticipatory Design — Imagine, however outlandish the scenario might be for you, that you're a high school girl. Like any other teenager, your hormonal imbalance and boundless curiosity is driving you to explore some intimate activities with another person. Nothing wrong with a little experimentation, right? By some unfortunate chance however, you end…Design6 min readDesign6 min read
Published inUX Collective·Feb 14, 2017Why Less Choice is a Better ChoiceDesigning to preempt a user's every want and need — A few weeks ago I decided to make a reservation at one of Berlin’s finer restaurants. After spending a good amount of time checking out the reviews on Foursquare, I eventually settled on a place called Katz Orange. I hopped onto OpenTable and found a table for two at 8…UX7 min readUX7 min read
Published inUX Collective·Feb 6, 2017The Transformative Power of MotionWhy motion is an essential part of the designer toolkit — Motion is a storytelling medium. It builds a narrative that provides context to the user. By visibly linking screens and elements together, it provides structured guidance. In establishing spatial relationships between elements it helps us understand the organization of an application. Through fluid, dynamic and purposeful use, motion can improve…Design6 min readDesign6 min read
Jan 25, 2017Motion design handovers made easyVisualizing motion design specifications — Animation creates energy within an interface and lets the user know what’s happening before, during and after an action — IBM Motion is an inescapable element of design these days. The days that motion design sat squarely in the domain of animators and VFX specialists are long gone. Major companies…Design5 min readDesign5 min read
