UX/Design Tools

A Simple Way To Quickly Animate SVGs with Vivus.js

Creating thoughtful, handcrafted animations is not something we get to do on our projects very often. When faced with tight deadlines and budgets, building out the core feature base has to be our top priority, so there’s not much time to devote to simply delighting users.

However, animations add a lot of value. A little movement on the page can go a long way. If only they weren’t so time-consuming to implement. That’s why I was so excited to find a new tool that quickly combines illustrations and animation. Read more on A Simple Way To Quickly Animate SVGs with Vivus.js…

Pivotal + Invision – Our Two-Tool Solution for Managing Design & Software Implementation

It’s not often that design is completed before implementation begins. With multiple to-do lists taking place at the same time, finding a way to keep track of everything that needs to be done is crucial to staying on top of a project.

There are two great tools to help make this happen—Pivotal Tracker and InVision. Together, they’ve given us a powerful combination to keep us and our clients apprised of progress. Read more on Pivotal + Invision – Our Two-Tool Solution for Managing Design & Software Implementation…

The Many Pros of Using Zeplin for Design Collaboration

There are countless design collaboration tools out there today. It can be overwhelming to know which ones are worth the time (and cost) investment, and which ones will turn into another item you need to maintain. I’ve recently started using Zeplin on a few of my projects, and I can confidently say it has improved my teams’ workflows. Read more on The Many Pros of Using Zeplin for Design Collaboration…

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…

The Case for Starting Your Project with an Ecosystem Map

At the start of every software project, we spend a few intensive days gathering information about the client, their business, and what they want to build. We have a toolkit of exercises to choose from when we’re planning a customized kickoff. One that always starts us off on the right foot is the Ecosystem Map.

Read more on The Case for Starting Your Project with an Ecosystem Map…

Inspecting Safari’s Web Browser on a Mobile Device

Inspecting the browser gives you access to the details of a website or application. Using built-in developer tools and third-party add-ons, we can view the inner workings of an application.

For example, you can see the content structure in DOM, view the console for logs or error messages, and review network requests for assets being loaded. When debugging a user interface problem, you can use the elements panel to modify live content on the screen, changing the content, type color, or button sizes. Read more on Inspecting Safari’s Web Browser on a Mobile Device…

The Developer’s Guide to Sketch

After several instances of developers ooh-ing and ahh-ing while they watch me quickly navigate and edit in Sketch, I’ve decided it’s time for a developer’s guide to Sketch. This guide will start with the basics and then jump into some very handy tips and tricks, equipping you with the knowledge you’ll need to quickly and painlessly dissect your designer’s files.
Read more on The Developer’s Guide to Sketch…

Using Nested Symbols in Sketch to Build Powerful, Customizable, Enterprise UI Mock-ups – Part 3: Putting it All Together

In the previous two posts, we went through creating some basic building blocks, such as colors and icons as symbols, and combining them into nested symbols for buttons and table cell elements.

If you’ve already read those two posts, I hope you were able to think of other elements that could be “symbolized”–such as primary and secondary navigation, form elements, and other widgets.

Today, I want to talk about how we can put all of these elements together to quickly create Enterprise UI mock-ups that are flexible and customizable.
Read more on Using Nested Symbols in Sketch to Build Powerful, Customizable, Enterprise UI Mock-ups – Part 3: Putting it All Together…