The Miscellaneous Debris of a UX Designer: Week 34, 2020
Every week, I’ll share with you how I find UX inspiration. I’ll literally go through my browsing history and share the creative nuggets and helpful resources that keep me on this creative path. The UX practitioner must embrace continuous learning and a commitment to constant creativity if they want to stay relevant in the product industry.
Here’s my miscellaneous debris for this week:
Apps
The following apps caught my attention this week. In some way, they are inspiring me, well designed, and helping me explore new thoughts, perspectives & hobbies.
Yousician
My wife and I made it a goal to learn ukelele and piano…we even had our piano tuned this past weekend to give us no excuse! One of the best apps we’ve found so far to learn (we haven’t found a teacher yet) is this gem called Yousician. You can learn with real-time feedback, great beginner courses, and using songs everyone knows. We’re already seeing improvements in our playing and it’s only been a week!
For iOS:
For Android:
Books
Whether I’m listening to an audiobook or feeling the pages on my fingertips, UX inspiration comes to me in the form of a good book by an exceptional author. The key is to then go practice what you read!
Business Thinking for Designers, by Ryan Rumsey/InVision
Bring a business mind to design, and transform your career and company, with this free book by Apple and Electronic Arts design veteran Ryan Rumsey. InVision is constantly cranking out great content and if you want to see yourself succeed in UX, you NEED to speak the language of business!
Fonts
Fonts give character, life, and meaning to a design. Throughout my week, I’ll usually have a chance to try something new and give my designs a bit of flair with some new fonts.
Awwwards Free Font Resource
So rather than sharing a specific font this week, I wanted to call out this sweet resource from the team over at Awwwards. There are so many cool fonts on this page I found myself downloading a bunch and loving each one. See what you think!
Find the resource here: https://www.awwwards.com/awwwards/collections/free-fonts/
Podcasts
There a so many podcasts, it’s hard to find the time to listen to just one consistently. But, finding just a little bit of time to let one hit your ear throughout the week can give you a creative spark!
The Crazy One Podcast by Steven Gates
This summary is taken from his site: “The Crazy One is created out of the real experiences and insights that host and award-winning design leader Stephen Gates who gives you actionable insights to be more creative, become a better leader, create more innovative work, build better relationships with your clients, grow a stronger career and more.”
There are lots of ways to listen and his advice is practical, consistent, and has provided me some good direction in my career.
Quotes
Sometimes you come across that one quote in the week that changes your whole perspective on work, life, or things greater than yourself.
The Note Mr. Rogers Carried Around From a Social Worker:
I’ve shared this one before in other articles, but I love it so much!
“Frankly, there isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love once you’ve heard their story.”
Social
We all consume design content through various forms and mediums. Occasionally, I like to peruse the various designers on social platforms and quickly take in some inspiration for the day. You’ll find amazing, popular content on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social sites.
William Ntim, LinkedIn
I recently came across William’s page at random and I hit the follow button right away. I really like the perspective he gives to junior UX designers and to the design community at large. He’s currently working as a Senior UX Designer at The Home Depot and is preparing to launch a book I can’t wait to read called, “UX-tinguish”.
Tools & Resources
Ah, the neverending list of UX tools! There are so many tools to help in your creative process. I won’t be able to cover even a fraction of what’s out there, but here’s what I’ve been using this week.
Khroma
Khroma uses AI to learn which colors you like and creates limitless palettes for you to discover, search, and save. You’ll go through and pick your favorites and it’ll do the magic behind the scenes to generate some amazing palettes!
Who to Watch
There are so many great leaders and voices in the design space, people that are championing others and making a difference around the world. These are the folks I’ve been paying attention to this week.
Sarah Doody
When I first came across Sarah’s work, I really only thought she helped people with their UX portfolios… boy was I wrong. She does so much to help the worldwide design community that I wonder how she has time for it! From workshops to speaking engagements to writing a book and more, she’s one I’ve been looking more into this week!
YouTube
Each week brings new opportunities to find exceptional, educational content on YouTube and from other videos across the interwebs. These resources help me be a better UX practitioner and a better person.
Christine Chun, Product Designer
Christine has a fun approach to her YouTube channel where she mixes in both her UX expertise and a day-in-the-life … so you get a unique mix of helpful career content with what else she’s got going on in her life. She recently revealed how much she makes as a UX/Product Designer and it really resonated with the community!
Stay tuned for next week’s miscellaneous debris!
