Published in UX Collective·Aug 11, 2019Be ready to accept design system helpA cross-team design system can only flourish if people from outside the systems team are properly equipped to participate and contribute to the system. These contributions can take different formats: suggestions, feedback, bug reports, proposals for new components, etc. …Design Systems4 min read
May 7, 2019My secret to remembering my achievements — write them downSince starting 5th Grade in Portugal in the 90s, I dread self-evaluations. To this day, every time, I feel I minimise (or just forget!) …Productivity2 min read
Oct 9, 2018My notes on Rachel Andrew’s “The New CSS Layout”“The New CSS Layout” was released when I was about to embark on the challenge of refactoring an old site to be responsive and have grid support and support for old browsers. Yikes! …CSS2 min read
May 29, 2018My notes from UX London 2018I had the pleasure to attend UX London for the second time last week, and, as with any other Clearleft event, it didn’t disappoint. The speakers, the workshops, the food, and the coffee: 👌🏼 My notes are a bit scattered, as I tried to pay attention to what was being…UX4 min read
Feb 19, 2018Why side projects aren’t a good ideaIt’s common knowledge that your side projects and open source contributions can be the key to landing your next job. But when hiring for diversity, this can be a problem. I was watching Brenna O’Brien’s video The myth of the “Real JavaScript Developer” when she said something that piqued my…Working Parents3 min read
Jan 17, 2018Designer interview tests: should designers write?Knowing whether a candidate is right for a role isn’t straight forward. Jobs are different, teams work differently, and assessing someone’s ability to adapt to a different set of circumstances can feel like an impossible task. I’m not particularly fond of design exercises. They can easily feel like spec work…Design1 min read
Jan 8, 2018Technically Wrong: the book I needed to start the yearThose who know me know I’m not a fan of surprises — I choose my Christmas and birthday presents. And this year was not an exception. …Inclusive Design3 min read
Jan 4, 2018What’s in a name?As I consider a move away from having my blog separate from my namesake domain, something dawned on me: my blog is called Web Designer Notebook, but is that name still accurate? How many of us still call ourselves web designers? Recently I advised a friend looking for a new job to not only search for the term “web designer” but also “product designer”, as that describes what many companies are looking for today. She did find more job ads.Design1 min read
Published in YLD Blog·Dec 12, 2017Do I need a design system?Design systems are hot right now. Every big company has one and each new release or update is flaunted in style. You’d be justified to think you need one too. But do you? Before we move on any further, here is a definition of what a design system is that…Design Systems4 min read
Apr 4, 2017What we learned at our first official GV design sprintLast month the web team ran its first design sprint as outlined in The Sprint Book, by Google Ventures’ Jake Knapp. Some of us had read the book recently and really wanted to give the method a try, following the book to the letter. In this post I will outline…Design16 min read
