Also, check out an honest UX design portfolio, 5 reasons why I hate being a UX designer, and a case study review!
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[ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS]
Should “cancel” be a button or a link?
When I scrolled past this article, I thought it was going to be another one of those “this or that” posts that invade my LinkedIn feed. I was happily surprised to find an article that provides a definitive answer to this design question because I pondered these distinctions in my design system.
The definitive answer: the cancel option should be a hyperlink (rather than a button). The reason for this is because buttons are supposed to be associated with actions and why ‘cancel’ may seem like an action, it is the opposite. When you cancel your actions or decisions, you are aborting the situation and most likely wanted to return to the beginning of the task flow. Therefore, a hyperlink would navigate or take you out of your current flow. Since navigation is a link and action is a button, it would only make sense for “cancel” to be a link.
[SOMETHING FUN]
An honest UX design portfolio
This is the funniest UX design portfolio because this is exactly how portfolios online are with the number of bootcamp graduates being produced… My portfolio was like this at one point in time too…
[SOMETHING COOL]
#100CoolWebMoments
100 Chrome-related events that made the web from 2008 to 2022 to celebrate Google Chrome’s 100th release.
[UX QUOTE]
“The dumbest mistake is viewing design as something you do at the end of the process to ’tidy up’ the mess, as opposed to understanding it’s a ‘day one’ issue and part of everything.”
[WATCH THIS]
5 Reasons Why I HATE Being A UX Designer
- No one really knows what UX design is
- It’s difficult to get into the UX design career
- UX designers have to work with others frequently
- Be prepared to defend your work and designs
- You have to win over your stakeholders, every time
[BOOK RECO]
Navigating the Politics of UX: Strategies and Stories from 40 Years in the Trenches
“I’ve discovered that skilled UX practitioners often find their best efforts thwarted by political obstacles. Either they haven’t learned how to deal with a corporate culture that doesn’t fully grok the value of UX, or they have yet to develop working relationships with other functional teams that are essential for UX initiatives to succeed.”
This is a good book for a UX practitioner who’s been in the field for a little while to have noticed the dynamics and working relationships in a company or product team. It helps to explain how to skillfully approach the issues that might arise in a work environment.
[DESIGN TOOL]
Sneakpeekit.com
This site offers free downloadable and printable grids to help you design wireframes. It’s great for those who love to start with pencil and paper.
[DESIGN CASE STUDY SPOTLIGHT]
In-class review game
Designer: Elizabeth Lin
Case Study: Khan Academy math review game
Why this case study is awesome:
- Meaningful visuals — real artifacts from her project, not just random illustrations
- Excellent storytelling — on the far right-hand side, there are pink bite-sized notes and reflections to add context to her thought process
This case study is very thorough in telling the story. The case study is documented with artifacts to show her process from start to finish. I love the pink comments on the side of the case study because they’re really easy to scan and they add more to the story than just following along design process. There’s a great use of color and visuals to break up text and showcase what the final products look like. This case study was super enjoyable to read.
