Imagination is a superpower in problem solving, empowering people to generate effective and innovative solutions in realms beyond the obvious. But imagination alone is not enough to effectively and efficiently problem solve. Problem solving also takes critical thinking. The two forces balance each other to foster creativity and unique ideas. Critical thinking vs. imagination …

Taking a holistic approach to user research means taking a human-centered approach. Since people have both rationale and emotional response to the world, they also have a rationale and emotional response your app or product. This means that each user has a multi-faceted perspective of your product that can only…

Design systems are a method for creating and maintaining organized standards for design and development at scale. These systems account for design elements as they pertain to a wide range of use cases, standards, components, and patterns. Ultimately, design systems ensure consistency and flexibility across teams and bridge the gap…

Design frameworks are essentially a method for organizing information and ideas with a particular goal or goals in mind. Most frameworks can be visualized which helps ground information and ideas in the real world. In this article we will… Dissect the anatomy of design frameworks Identify the pitfalls of design frameworks The anatomy of a design framework Design frameworks are often…

Here are a series of tips from my own journey that helped me tremendously in my career pivot to UX Design. Everyone is different, use what works for you and drop the rest! Key ideas Talk with people Dream big, start small Develop a philosophy Be confident and disciplined 1. Talk with people If nothing else…

Show, don’t tell… Sketching is an essential tool for every product designer because it allows you to quickly communicate ideas in a visual format without wasting the time or energy it would take to build a high fidelity prototype. It is especially important for designers to sketch when collaborating with…

The world is in chaos until human cognition organizes it for perception. Psychologists have studied this human ability and discovered ground rules for way in which human cognition approaches organization. Enter the Gestalt (ɡəˈSHtält) Principles. Essentially, The Gestalt Principles are a set of rules in cognition psychology that attempt to…

Behavioral scripts are deeply cultural and psychological workings of behavioral instructions. These instructions can be understood, mapped, and audited to make user experiences better and more intuitive. Simply put, behavioral scripts are instructions that execute at the subconscious level to respond to situations (aka. combinations of settings, expectations, sequences, events…

Working with a cross-functional product team necessitates collaboration with a variety of people from diverse backgrounds, with different skills, and different goals. As a designer, collaborating with developers is an essential skill. Since you quite literally build a product together, the product is only as good as your collaboration. But…