A quick overview of how and why I made Confetti, the better way to track habits and achieve goals.
I rolled over in my bed and reached for my phone. Blackout curtains created the illusion of night with only a few pockets of light able to sneak through the corners revealing the daylight beyond them.
As I squinted at the piercing blue light from my smartphone, I made out the time, 11:08 am. I could hear the chirping of motorbike horns from the bustling nearby road and smelled the thick aroma of beef soup from the street food vendor beneath my studio apartment in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. …
Best practices, tips, and terminology for using typography in UI
Typography involves so much more than choosing a great font. When used effectively, it can enhance usability, readability, accessibility, and hierarchy within an interface. In this piece, I’ll share some tips and industry-standard principles for using type like a pro in a UI.
1. Typography Terminology
Typography terminology creates the foundation of our knowledge of type. Think of typography terms like kerning, leading, and weight as levers that we can pull to create more readable and aesthetically pleasing designs.
Tracking
Check out this suite of resources to take your development process to the next level.
This article was written by Paul Rowe, Engineering Manager.
General Tools
1. Zshell + oh-my-zsh — A prettier, clearer terminal experience
A how-to for fundamental skills every designer should hone.
Designers are often eager to jump straight into UI animations, trendy UIs, and high performing roles before really honing the basics.
Well, I’m here today to take a step back and explain topics like creating a usability test or the perfect color palette as simply as I can.
1. How to space objects properly
Following a convention for spacing brings uniformity to our designs and ensures that we create consistent designs while collaborating with other designers.
There are two methods that designers frequently rely on to accurately space elements on the page. …
Ways to make digital products more accessible, usable, and user friendly for everyone.
I wrote this article to help designers, product owners, product managers, UXers, developers, and anyone else to craft more inclusive product experiences.
It’s normal to approach design through the lens of our own perspective, believing our experiences reflect those of everyone else. This natural bias in our human nature can work against us when solving design problems since we’re only solving for people who are like us.
The challenge in design is to create experiences that are adaptable, flexible, scalable, and most importantly, usable by as many people as possible. …
A career in UX can take many paths — here are a few routes to consider.
This post was guest written by Shannon Groom, Senior UX Designer.
I stumbled into UX several years ago after working in a combination of communication, marketing, and graphic design roles. I was unhappy in my position at the time, and I had filled my Google search history with sad entries like “how to find your passion,” “does anyone like their job?” and “where do I belong?”. After endless googling, I found some advice that resonated with me, and I still 100% agree with — work for a company about which you are genuinely passionate.
This was the best, most-actionable career…
All of the best websites I’ve bookmarked as a designer.
The design space is awash with countless design tools, plugins, websites, resources, and more promising to improve your workflow and make you a savvier designer. I’ve tried my hand at a lot of them over the years, but there are only a few that really stand out.
This list is the cream of the crop — the most obscure, creative, unique, helpful or exceptional. Some are fun sites to be inspired from; others are tools and resources that will absolutely make you a better designer.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what your favorite tools are on Twitter.
1. The preposterous web portal of Erik Bernacchi
UI & UX best practices from Google’s design system documentation.
Google is one of the biggest and most influential players in the tech space, so it’s no mystery why their design system has a tremendous impact on how digital products are designed. The company’s Material design guidelines outline worthwhile principles for every designer to follow — regardless of whether they’re designing for iOS or Android.
In this piece, I’ll share key takeaways that I found while reviewing Material’s guidelines and provide my take on how best to execute their rules and methods. …
How to turn passion into a paycheck for the average designer.
Whether you’re laid off, unemployed, furloughed, or want to make some extra money on the side as a designer — this article will give you ten ways to start making money from your design chops today.
There is no magic to making money as a designer, but I’ve had personal experience or seen all of the following methods be fruitful for anyone who gives it their best effort and is patient for results.
As a college dropout, I needed to hustle to make a living. I’ve tried dozens of ways to make money online — everything from getting rich quick…
Lessons from designing and launching my product from scratch.
In 2016, I recognized that I wasn’t achieving my goals, learning new skills, meeting new people, getting in shape, or focusing on my mental health not because I wasn’t motivated, but because I wasn’t tracking it.
Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured gets managed.” This maxim became the cornerstone that I used to transform my life. With that quote in mind, I decided to outline my goals and then break them down into simple habits that I could achieve in bite-sized amounts daily.
