3 Ways to Remove Gender Bias from Early UX Design Phases

The first step to designing a solution is understanding who we’re designing for and what problem we’re solving. In a Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach, this means research, personas, and journey maps. We’re gathering knowledge about users’ goals, frustrations, preferences, responsibilities, and expertise. Documentation about users often includes things like their name, age, gender, and marital […]

Internal PDF Links Zooming In or Out? Set the Zoom Level

Using Acrobat to create an interactive PDF or a quick clickable prototype is my go-to when I want to keep things simple. Acrobat can, however, change the zoom level of the page you’re linking to, making the page smaller and smaller as you click through your deck. Here is a quick overview of how to […]

App User Experience Review: How We Feel

Delivering new software is a complex process. Doing so at the height of a global pandemic only adds complexity. I thought I’d share my thoughts on an example done well, the How We Feel app. How We Feel is a mobile app that fills the gap between virus testing limitations and having no data at all. […]

Six Great Icebreakers for Remote Meetings & Workshops

We’ve all participated in some cringe-worthy icebreakers before. A good meeting/workshop icebreaker should do three things: Bring people together Teach them something new about each other Get their minds in the right headspace for the task ahead Here are a few great non-traditional icebreakers for your next remote meeting or workshop. Superhero Imagine yourself as a […]

Adapting Design Thinking Methods to a Team’s Cultural Dimensions

When you start incorporating design thinking into a business, you usually bring more than practices. Why? The methods of design thinking are rooted in collaboration, out-of-the-box thinking, and taking measured risks. And at some companies, these attitudes are downplayed, or even outright discouraged. Bringing design thinking into a company like this can be very challenging. […]

Four Sources of Creative Inspiration for a New Design

A blank canvas. Infinite possibilities. Now… start creating. This feeling of creating something from nothing is probably familiar to anyone starting a new project. The pressure to create the best work yet (and fast!) can get in the way of just exploring some ideas. When I’m seeking inspiration, I look for threads to pull — […]

Informing Design with Context Scenarios

The planning phase of any project is crucial, and there are many deliverables that can help document it, including a project roadmap, a product backbone, and user research insights. The challenge comes when trying to turn these deliverables into a wireframe or design. For a recent project, I took to writing context scenarios to bridge […]

How to Facilitate a Remote Workshop

If you were to google how to facilitate a remote workshop, you’d find a lot of articles on which tools to use and even some opinions that you shouldn’t host a remote workshop at all. How can you bring your superstar facilitation skills to the table and create a remote workshop experience that’s both enjoyable […]

Six Principles for Planning and Facilitating a Workshop

There are hundreds of methods for planning workshop activities. In fact, one of my favorite resources is Vijay Kumar’s 101 Design Methods. By combining these methods, designers can create engaging workshops that bring people together to solve problems in just a couple of hours or over a few days. Regardless of how long the workshop […]

4 Simple Questions to Get Your Team Started on the Right Foot

Starting a project with a new team and a new client can be challenging. Everyone is dedicated to understanding the problem space and the project needs. At the same time, we’re learning how to work with each other, sometimes for the first time. We’ve found 4 questions that bring the team together in alignment and […]

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Atomic Object’s blog on everything we find fascinating.

By: Taylor Vanden Hoek

Author: Taylor Vanden Hoek