Don’t let fragile user onboarding ruin your UX — In 2006, I made a big decision: I resolved to throw everything I had into pursuing a career in software design. I’d been handcrafting GeoCities-like websites for myself and others since the late ’90s, but now I wanted to get serious about it. I hit the books hard and was…

“Whoa, there’s a workshop for user onboarding?” Yes, there is! Ever feel like your hard-earned signups aren’t sticking around as long as they could be? Or that your onboarding experience isn’t quite right, but you’re just not sure how to improve it? This workshop is designed to make you SUPER smart with all of that. “And you’re teaching it?” Yep, this…

Ask yourself a simple question and create a product that people love. — An elementary school teacher of mine once assigned us an exercise that seemed simple on the surface, but turned out to be surprisingly complex. It also wound up informing my entire philosophy on creating software. The assignment’s simple-seeming description was this: “Write out each of the steps involved in making…

When I was a kid, I saw an episode of Full House that in a small, weird way, helped make me the designer I am today. The episode involved D.J. going to middle school for the first time. …

Or: Why I Don’t Keep Office Hours — I reside in Portland, OR, which means I live in the Pacific Time Zone. However, I don’t really “live” on Pacific Time Zone hours. The hours I keep are more like someone from Tokyo. In fact, no matter where on Earth I live, the hours I keep are more like…

*deep breath* *pause* Ok let’s do this. I’m a UX designer, and I find a lot of satisfaction in my work because it’s all about making software better at helping people improve their lives. And, I like to think, it plays a small part in making the world better itself. …

I was flying to Europe when I noticed something strange and seemingly inconsequential. The seatback in front of me had an interactive screen set to “flight tracker” mode, aka the “watch a tiny icon of your airplane fly across a globe, Indiana Jones style” view. One of these kind of…

Unless your product is eyebrow-raisingly basic, there’s a very, very good chance that a new user won’t get to experience all the value you have to offer in their very first sitting. And since user onboarding isn’t merely the process of introducing your new signups to your product’s features, but…

“Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny; they have only shifted it to another shoulder.” — George Bernard Shaw Hey there, Slack. This won’t be easy, but it’s for the best. As you and I both know, things started out so wonderfully. Me with my exploding inbox, you with…