UX & Design

How Traditional Design Principles Apply to Software Design

There’s a perceived divide between “traditional” designers (who work in print and branding) and software designers. But the reality is, most of us received the same foundational education and follow the same design principles. The tools and outcomes are often different, but the ingredients have a lot in common. Read more on How Traditional Design Principles Apply to Software Design…

My Five Favorite Tools for Mobile App Design

My work as a digital designer has focused on creating digital experiences for (mostly) desktop or laptop users. When I’m designing in Sketch, what I see is really close to what I’ll see in the finished interaction. But what about designing for mobile or tablet apps?

It can be easy to underestimate the size of text or buttons, or even what feels natural when interacting on a mobile device. There is no shortage of tools, free and paid, that attempt to simulate a developed solution. However, I like to keep it simple. Here are the five tools I use to design mobile applications. Read more on My Five Favorite Tools for Mobile App Design…

Design Thinking Toolkit, Activity 13 – Hopes & Fears

Welcome to our series on Design Thinking Methods and Activities. You’ll find a full list of posts in this series at the end of the page.

If you’re new to the Design Thinking Toolkit, check out the introductory post to learn more about design thinking. For those who have been along for the entire ride thus far… gold stars for you! Our next lesson explores an exercise called Hopes & Fears.
Read more on Design Thinking Toolkit, Activity 13 – Hopes & Fears…

How to Bundle & Deliver Design Assets Properly

As a software designer, it is inevitable that at some point in time, you’ll need to hand your design files off to someone else. That person may be another designer within your organization, a designer within a client’s organization, or perhaps not even a designer at all.

I’ve been fiddling with different ways to bundle up deliverables over the years, while simultaneously growing more frustrated with the state of design deliverables I’ve received from others. We can do better. Follow these tips for a seamless design asset handoff. Read more on How to Bundle & Deliver Design Assets Properly…

Hacking a Product Roadmap for Uncertain Circumstances

Product roadmaps have long been used to illustrate the direction of product development, including how much time the project will take to complete, what tasks need to be completed, and who is responsible for those tasks. In my experience, a roadmap has been the best tool to align the team and leadership around the same expectations.

During a recent mobile app project, our team wanted to align with leadership and needed a way to communicate our progress to other departments. A product roadmap would have been a perfect solution, but we knew that as soon as we had a draft, it would be out of date. Read more on Hacking a Product Roadmap for Uncertain Circumstances…

To Err Is Human – So Test your Error Conditions

Humans are going to use your app, and they are not going to get everything right every time. If and when they make a mistake, how does your app cope? This can be a fertile ground for testers looking for issues, as often the Happy Path case is written first and assumes everything is good, and then the conditions to catch and deal with exceptions are added onto this. Read more on To Err Is Human – So Test your Error Conditions…