Massive Online Open Courses or MOOCs have gained quite a bit of popularity in the last five years. The word ‘massive’ is to be understood in the sense that 100,000 learners or more at the same time have open and equal opportunities to attend these courses. MOOCs are truly a tremendous technological leap, and what makes them so attractive is that they don’t imply any cost to learners. UX Design (User Experience Design) and UI Design (User Interface Design) work closely together to create IT products that are both easy to use and look good. The two fields require different skills, but you'll have a competitive advantage if you can do both UX and UI design. These skills are among the most sought-after by employers and jobs in these two fields can fetch from $65,000 to $85,000 according to LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network. Discover below the hand-picked list of MOOC-based programs from leading universities and organizations to help you master skills in UX and UI Design. User Interface Design Specialization By The University of Minnesota via Coursera | 5 courses In this Specialization, you will learn industry-standard theory and methods for developing successful user interfaces (UIs). Upon completing this Specialization, you will have fluency with the user research, prototyping, and evaluation techniques necessary for creating intuitive interfaces that facilitate good user experiences. You will also have demonstrated this fluency through an in-depth Capstone Project that can be shown to prospective employers in the fast-growing field of UI design. User Experience (UX) Research and Design MicroMasters By The University of Michigan via EdX | 9 courses Integrate UX Research and UX Design to create great products through understanding user needs, rapidly generating prototypes, and evaluating design concepts. Learners will gain hands-on experience with taking a product from the initial concept, through user research, ideation and refinement, formal analysis, prototyping, and user testing, applying perspectives and methods to ensure a great user experience at every step. Digital Skills: User Experience By Accenture via Futurelearn | 3 weeks, 2 hrs per week In this course, you will learn what UX is and why it’s so important. You’ll learn the foundations of UX design and what distinguishes good from bad UX. You will also explore the UX design process; user research, designing your experience, using your goals and ideas to draw wireframes, and then building usable prototypes. Interaction Design Specialization By The UC San Diego via Coursera | 8 courses You will learn how to design technologies that bring people joy, rather than frustration. You'll learn how to generate design ideas, techniques for quickly prototyping them, and how to use prototypes to get feedback from other stakeholders like your teammates, clients, and users. You'll also learn principles of visual design, perception, and cognition that inform effective interaction design. Best Practices for iOS User Interface Design By University of California, Irvine via Coursera | 1 course You will learn to develop sophisticated user interfaces for iOS, with a focus on user interface design best practices, UI animations, and responsive design. You will learn about the key UI widgets, mapping interfaces, and view restoration. What is the point of taking a MOOC? The importance of MOOCs in education, and especially in higher education, is currently a hot topic. For some students and educators, MOOCs present challenges in terms of quality, consistency, and delivery of courses and programs. The question in itself raises other questions like: Are students moving toward a common goal? Are there quality educators present to guide students through the materials? How do we measure the academic rigor of these courses? Educators are challenging the quality of learning that MOOCs can provide and the competencies and skills that students can gain. Educators and learners are asking ‘if everything that can be learned online can be considered “online learning”? For learners looking for MOOCs to boost their knowledge in many different areas, MOOCs are indeed a learning tool and are a part of online learning. MOOCs can bring knowledge to students who may not have access otherwise, and be of use to learners who can’t afford the costs of higher education. Non-traditional education realized through MOOCs is a useful form of online learning and can complement traditional university learning. Why are MOOCs so popular? As a global society, getting an education has become increasingly important, but increasingly difficult beyond the high school level. Institutions of higher education present the obstacles of entrance examinations, tuition, distance, living expenses, and so much more. All over the world, there are universities that are opening their virtual doors to students in the form of MOOCs. Ivy League institutions like Harvard in Boston, Massachusetts are offering MOOCs that range from education to bioengineering. In addition to top-tier schools offering free courses, companies such as Apple offer free course creation tools for educators through iTunesU. These are two examples of how learners and educators can take advantage of or create a MOOC learning experience. Many more tools like these are available through platforms such as Coursera, edX, Udacity, and Udemy. This is just a shortlist. Many other companies and universities are creating open online learning structures for any student interested in learning. Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

This is a question that is most frequently asked when someone is planning a shift in their career to become a UX designer. UX is a great conversion career because it welcomes skills from different disciplines and backgrounds. Whether you’ve worked in marketing, graphic design or hospitality there will be transferable skills you can bring to the table. Due to the scale and complexity of what it takes to create successful products and services, becoming a successful UX designer requires perspectives from all walks of life. From research to development to management, UX design is a multifaceted field. Here are five tips to help switch your career to UX design. 1. Online Courses In a previous article, I already introduced the best MOOCs available on the internet which should help getting started on gaining knowledge on UX. Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) have gained quite a bit of popularity in the last few years, they offer accessible and affordable remote learning opportunities to students all over the world. I found it pretty amazing! Taking a course is a great way to get started and earn the knowledge you need to be able to enter the field and get to work. When choosing a UX design course to invest your time, money, and energy into, it’s essential to consider what your goals are. Are you simply looking to dip your toes into UX design? Do you want to develop your current skill set? Or are you ready to commit to a full career change? Remember, in today’s tech-driven landscape, having skills in UX design can take you a long way. 2. Build a UX portfolio Having a portfolio is essential if you want to break into UX design. It shows that you understand the UX design process and can solve user problems with the relevant tools and techniques. Your portfolio is also an opportunity to showcase some of your personality. In an age where there is more emphasis on hiring people who match the culture of the business, a portfolio is a perfect opportunity to show that you’re a cultural fit. It’s much harder to get your personality across on a CV given that approximately 99% of CVs follow the same format. Even if you are not interested in UI or graphic design, I am a firm believer a visually-pleasing portfolio is important! It’s just good sense. Pay attention to color palette and fonts—create and follow your own personal mini style guide, i.e make sure that page 3 matches with page 10. It could be the detail that gets people to admire and sharing your work, resulting in deeper exposure in the UX market. Remember, people are visual animals. 3. Network with the UX community Firstly, don’t undervalue the importance of networking. Networking can open up many doors when you’re trying to break into UX, but the idea of networking is intimidating for many people. LinkedIn is a great place to start. It is incredibly important and it’s something that a lot of people miss. Own your network, share posts, and aim to have a large network of meaningful connections with the likes of UX managers, UX recruiters, UX leads, design managers, and UX architects in industries you want to work in. Once you’ve added these meaningful connections, your feed will be filled with relevant UX content. Don't be afraid to jump in, share posts, interact with other people, and aim to build a strong online presence. 4. Show employers that you’re a lifelong learner Many employers want to see candidates who are lifelong learners – professionals who are always looking for opportunities to grow. When you are trying to break into UX, work hard on your portfolio and always include as much project work as possible, also don't forget to highlight your other skills to help the application stand out. At the heart of any successful business is its people. Being genuinely interested in learning is great. Wise employers want employees whose minds are open and whose curiosity is boundless. These employees will think creatively, seek solutions and be delightful to work with. The benefits of lifelong learning are plentiful. Employees who constantly evolve their skill sets are able to take advantage of the latest technologies. That translates to better productivity and innovation. 5. Treat the application like a UX project My final tip to help you to break into UX is to send applications that are relevant to the company. Applications that show that they understand the employer’s needs (like understanding the user in the UX process) have greater chances of success. Many people make the mistake of sending many generic applications to companies in different industries. It’s important to tailor your portfolio to the industry you want to work in. If it’s your goal to do UX design for a health and wellness app, make sure your portfolio is relevant to this industry. I hope the article has provided some ideas on getting started as a UX designer. Stay curious, experiment, and have fun! Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash

Books are one of the most essential learning resources. Regardless the subject books are always the best way to learn basics or improve your current skills quickly and systematically. Whether you’re a student or senior practitioner, these helpful must-read books books can deepen your UX Design, Usability and HCI knowledge. Good design is never easy. It doesn’t matter where you’re at in UX design - beginner, intermediate, or expert, you should keep learning and working hard to improve your design skills. So, here are 7 of the must-read UX books, I chose the following titles either because they have played a significant role in the way I view my place as a UX designer or because they address foundational design topics that every UX designer should understand. I am sure they will help you anytime, anywhere. 1. The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman Don Norman is considered to be one of the founding members of modern UX design. The Design of Everyday Things was first published in 1988, and it’s known as the usability bible. It’s a must-read for anyone who designs for humans. The book’s main theme explores the relationship between a user and an object’s design. It highlights that although we’re often keen to blame ourselves when objects appear to malfunction; it’s rarely the fault of the user but rather poor design. The book claims that: “It could forever change how you experience and interact with your physical surroundings, open your eyes to the perversity of bad design and the desirability of good design, and raise your expectations about how things should be designed.” Its insights are just as relevant today as they were thirty years ago, making it a UX classic. 2. The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web by Jesse James Garrett Jesse James Garrett is a UX designer who has worked on the web since 1995. Aside from writing The Elements of User Experience, Garrett has developed the Visual Vocabulary, a notation system for documenting UX design; and defining Ajax, an approach to creating web applications. His book The Elements of User Experience adds more structure to UX design theory classics like The Design of Everyday Things and The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. It carefully dissects the UX process and looks at how its various stages influence a product. Here’s what you can expect to read: “With so many issues involved—usability, brand identity, information architecture, interaction design— creating the user experience can be overwhelmingly complex. This edition cuts through that complexity with clear explanations and vivid illustrations that focus on ideas rather than tools or techniques. Garrett gives readers the big picture of user experience development, from strategy and requirements to information architecture and visual design.” It’s another foundational UX book that you’ll want to keep close to your desk. 3. Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug was first published in 2000. It examines how good software is easy to use, and why it shouldn’t make you think. This is reflected in its writing style. It’s like reading a very well-written, punchy comic book. You’ll instantly understand the points, but it will also make you think deeply about usability and accessibility. You’ll understand UX – what it’s about and why research is so important. It uses real-world analogies to illustrate how UX can make products and people’s lives so much better. Krug thinks that people are good at satisficing, taking the first available solution to fix their problem. He thinks design should take advantage of this opportunity. His publisher says that “anyone involved in creating digital products should read this book.” I agree. 4. Human-Computer Interaction: Concepts And Design by by Jenny Preece, Yvonne Rogers, Helen Sharp, David Benyon, Simon Holland, and Tom Carey Offering the most comprehensive account of the multidisciplinary field of HCI, this book illustrates the powerful benefits of a user-oriented approach to the design of modern computer systems. This is a classic book about human-computer interaction. Despite it is nearly 30 years old, its topics are still very current and it is highly recommended for an interdisciplinary point of view. Human-Computer Interaction is flexibly structured to allow a variety of learning paths for students in computer science, engineering, psychology and cognitive science. Programmers and system designers will appreciate its emphasis on the design of interactive systems. A unique feature is the inclusion of interviews with many leading authorities in HCI, providing personal insight into their work and conveying the excitement of current research activity: Deborah Hix, Roy Kalawsky, Marilyn Mantei, Tom Moran, Donald Norman, Brian Shackel, Ben Shneiderman, Bill Verplank, and Terry Winograd. I personally have used this book in my course in Usability and User Centered Design, and have found that the presentation and segmentation of issues in the book provides a good framework to teach the concepts of HCI especially to Computer Science majors. 5. Prioritizing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen In 2000, Jakob Nielsen, the world's leading expert on Web usability, published this book that changed how people think about the Web. Funny enough, despite 20 years, many of the problems of that time are still on the Internet. Anyone who has any influence over the design and creation sites should be made to read this book. Even better, each client should be made to read it as well. Even with the web being more then a decade old, sites continually make the same simple mistakes that frustrate and turn away users. Every lost customer due to simple web usability problems is just money straight down the drain. Prioritizing Web Usability really gets to the heart of creating sites that users find unobtrusive and that enable them to reach their goals with as little hassle as possible. From focusing on writing good content that users can understand, to the placement of elements on the page, Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Loranger really lay down the guidelines that we should follow to create successful sites. There are plenty of good examples throughout the book, with demonstrations of how sites were improved or at least suggestions as to where things could be changed. And it's an extremely accessible with concepts written clearly and concisely. Throughout the book I was constantly thinking "Why did I not think of this before!" and was left with no end of ideas for tweaks to make to my own site in the hope of making them better. 6. UX Research by Brad Nunnally, and David Farkas Nunnally and Farkas cover things to do before you begin research, logistics around scheduling (certain forms of qualitative) research, a general outline of research methods (qualitative and quantitative), some clever tricks for interviewing, and a few good rules of thumb for what to do to finish up a bit of research. The goal here is to transition your organization from a place that makes decisions based on mere opinion to an organization that makes decisions based on opinions referencing research (p 195). I am skeptical that this transition really happens most places, but it obviously makes a place for someone to do UX research that will benefit users, so it makes sense as a goal. There is a lot of good stuff in this book. In particular, on the sections on improve UX research and body language, which could be helpful in developing your soft skills for qualitative research. The bigger picture here is weak, and as a technical manual it’s not very thorough. Still, I think it incumbent on the blossoming researcher to study what others have learned, then go out and learn it all over again yourself! 7. Lean UX: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams by Jeff Gothelf, and Josh Seiden Team collaboration is one of the most effective approaches for designers to create a great product. So, to become an advanced UX designer, you should know how to collaborate with others effectively. Lean UX is the perfect book for you to learn how to communicate and collaborate closely with team members of an agile product team, as well as gather feedback early and often. Whether you want to call the theory and techniques discussed in this book “Lean” or just “How we work” doesn’t matter as much, in my opinion. What is important is that we understand the benefits of moving towards a more iterative, outcomes-based design approach, while letting go of some our reliance on classic design deliverables. Lean UX is a great overview of what an effective UX process should look like. There’s a good balance between theory, practical advice, and case studies. This makes it a valuable resource for those new to the field, but it also gives experienced UX practitioners a framework to structure and communicate the work they do every day. Highly recommended. Conclusion I couldn’t include all of my favorite user experience books on this list. There are just too many amazing titles, and I already have about three times as many on my “to-read” list. These must-read UX design books are a great place to get started if you’re looking for some summer reading to help you advance your design career. Photo by Mohamed Boumaiza on Unsplash

Most design students will leave formal education with the necessary skills to work at entry level in their chosen design discipline, whether that is broad based or particularly niche. Some have other soft skills which set them apart. These softer skills are the ones which will make them brilliant as design practitioners, but also open up new career opportunities to apply design thinking at senior levels in the world of work. However, it turns out that so-called “soft skills” — negotiating, building morale, and maintaining relationships — are far more important to a leader’s success. They are the skills which will make the most difference to the world. Controlled bravery A great design thinker will challenge the accepted, whether that is the design brief, the end user’s behavior or the limitations of the medium. Importantly they will also know when to stop, when to rein the challenge back to deliver a solution which is different, but viable. Persuasive collaboration Few designers operate as islands. A key skill is in collaboration to bring together diversity of skills and knowledge to deliver a successful outcome. A designer with these skills facilitates and brokers conversations to drive consensus, then communicates, evangelizes and generates support for their designs. Listening & empathy Designers are seldom designing for themselves. To design for others they need to gather real insight and develop empathy with the needs, expectations, limitations and concerns of the end users, the business and their colleagues. To do this they must be able to listen, and observe to uncover opportunities and constraints. Only then can they balance the needs of the end users with the needs of the business. Calm simplification Designers are often asked to deal with extreme complexity. Context of use, materials, technology, data, skills, law, politics, visuals, user needs, security are all examples of the kinds of often opposing pressures which can overwhelm and lead to mediocrity or failure. A great designer can embrace the complexity, simplifying and managing it so that they keep their eye on both the big picture and the detail. Something different Design is not a self-contained profession. It is manifest through its application to something else. The best designers relish this ever-changing platform, and the resultant varied challenges. This means that a broad base of knowledge, and an inquiring mind, is of great benefit to the designer. Many of these skills are character traits which grow through experience, but I believe that in the three to six years of higher education which designers do, they should be nurturing these skills so that they are ready to be honed in the workplace. Employers, like Foolproof, should then take the mantle and provide the opportunities and support for the designer to grow. Conclusion Every business prefers to have multi-skilled versatile employees as this ensures they do not have to hire someone for every single task around the office. That’s why the fate of your UX design career will depend as much on non-design skills as it will on your UX design expertise. Photo by davisuko on Unsplash

Animation is a powerful tool in a designer’s toolkit. Animated effects can help transport users between navigational contexts, explain changes in the arrangement of elements on a screen, and reinforce the hierarchy of UI elements. Consequently, they are an essential element of interaction design. When it comes to digital product design, animation is often an afterthought for many product teams. Teams often introduce motion language when the work is almost over. What makes things worse is that many designers have no UX animation experience, and they animate based on their gut feeling, which can lead to bad user experience. In this article, I want to describe the concept of motion design and share a few fundamental animation principles that are worth keeping in mind when working on animation. What is motion design? Motion design is a discipline that applies graphic design principles to digital products through the use of animation and visual effects. Motion designers are responsible for creating animated effects. To create decent animated effects, motion designers should have skills in graphic design, digital choreography, and storytelling. They should be able to use tools like Adobe After Effects. Principles of UX animation Motion design UX drives the entire user interface. It creates a more natural experience by adding a new level of depth to the interaction design. All this happens when you implement the motion language properly. Make animation meaningful Adding animation to digital products without much thought is one of the common mistakes among product teams. What looks nice doesn’t necessarily add value to user interactions. Don’t animate just for the sake of animation. Both functional and delightful animations should be meaningful for users. Animations should always serve a purpose. When an animation doesn’t fit a purpose, it can feel awkward or annoying, especially when it is slowing down a process that could be faster without any animation. Good animation aligns with users’ goals; it allows users to understand what to expect from the interface. Here are a few common cases when the animation is especially helpful. State transitions (animation can prevent change blindness) State changes in UI often involve hard cuts (the change from one screen to another without any transition effects in between) by default, which can make them difficult to follow. In the real world, most things don’t just appear or disappear immediately. When you drive a car and want to stop at a red light, you go slower and slower, and only after that, you stop. The same rules apply to digital products. When something has two or more states, the changes between states will be much easier for users to understand and follow if the transitions are animated instead of being instantaneous. Good motion design UX gives the viewer a clue as to what’s about to happen. Let’s look at the example below where the user taps on the small card, and the item is zoom-in into its detailed view. Animation makes it’s crystal clear to users how they got the new state. UX Animation can fill the gap between states by creating an in-between state that gradually turns the initial state into the final state. Image by Dribbble. Visual cues (animation helps us understand how to deal with UI) When the user starts using a product, it might be unclear to them where to look and what to do (especially if your product has a lot of different features). The role of animation is to create the visual cues necessary for letting the user know where they are and what they’re doing. A well-designed, animated transition guides your user’s attention—it helps direct user’s focus to the right spot at the right time. It emphasizes the right elements depending on what the objective is. That’s why animation is especially good at onboarding new users. UX animation drives the user’s attention and hints at what will happen if a user makes this gesture. Image by Material Design. Visual feedback (action and reaction) The interaction between humans and computers is an essential part of human-computer interaction. Graphical user interfaces are reactive by nature. When users interact with digital products, something constantly changes on their screen. As one of Jakob Nielsen’s 10 original heuristics for usability, visibility of system status remains among the most important principles in user-interface design. Users want to know their current context in a system at any given time, and products shouldn’t keep them guessing — they should tell the user what’s happening via appropriate visual feedback. Animation is an excellent tool for providing visual feedback for user actions. Visual feedback makes you feel like you’re interacting with real elements on the screen and demonstrates the result of this interaction (whether it was successful or not). Almost any user interaction can benefit from using animation. For instance, when you press a button, you expect a reaction, and animation can make this reaction more memorable. Visual feedback on like reaction. Image by Li Junfei. Visual feedback is also helpful when you need to inform users about the results of an operation. Cases in which operations aren’t done successfully, animation can provide information about the problem in a fast and easy way Users see this animation and immediately understand the problem. Image by thekineticui. Animate as minimum objects as possible at one time Less is more concerning animation and transitions in particular. Every motion on the screen attracts attention, so too much animation at the same time creates chaos. It becomes hard for the user to track the movement if they see more than one moving object. Therefore, if you have several elements that you want to animate, you need to clearly define the sequence of their motion and animate as few objects as possible at one time. Select an optimal duration and speed for the animation Timing is arguably one of the most important considerations when designing transitions. It plays a huge role in creating realistic animations. When it comes to selecting the duration of the functional animation, you need to have a balance. Regardless of an animation’s style, transitions shouldn’t be jarringly fast or so slow that they keep the user waiting. The animation should be slow enough to give users the option to notice the change but quick enough not to cause waiting. The animation should be quick and precise, with little or no lag time between the user’s initiating action and the beginning of the animation. The animation on the top example makes the user wait for the content is this causes bad UX. Image by Material Design. Researchers have discovered that optimal speed for interface animation is between 200 and 500 ms. Any animation shorter than 100 ms is instantaneous and won’t be recognized at all. On the other hand, an animation longer than 1 second would convey a sense of delay and thus will make the user wait. At the same time, don’t rely on those rules when you are working on a decorative animation. For decorative animation, you can select the time based on your needs. Make sure the easing of your UX animation is right All live objects that we have in the physical world move with some acceleration or deceleration. When it comes to animating UI objects, you should follow the same rules. Avoid using linear movement (when objects move with a constant speed); otherwise, the movement will look mechanical. Linear animation is only applicable for decorative animated effects when the object doesn’t change position. Ensure the motion language fits the nature of your product The motion language that you choose to use should resemble the nature of your product. Imagine you design a banking app and want to introduce a bouncing animation on the money transfer confirmation screen. By its nature, bouncing animation creates a sense of something not serious, so it’s probably not a good choice for business products. For financial operations it’s better to use subtle animated effects such as sliding. Image by Olga Tsebro. Keep longevity in mind Even good animation can be annoying when it’s overused. When designing an animation, ask yourself a question: “Will the animation get annoying on the 100th use, or is it universally clear and unobtrusive?” Delight your users with animation Focusing on user emotions plays a huge role in UI interactions. As Aarron Walter said in his book Designing for Emotion: “Personality is the mysterious force that attracts us to certain people and repels us from others.” It’s possible to reward the user with an animation when they accomplish personal goals. For example, when a user reaches inbox zero in the email app or completes certain tasks in the task management tool, it’s possible to create deeper engagement with a product using animation. Asana shows an animated unicorn when the user completes certain tasks. Design accessible UI Animated interactions will need some additional consideration to make them accessible. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provide a number of recommendations for animated content and interactions. These include guidelines for on when to provide pause and play controls, limits for blinking or flashing the screen, and advice on when to provide reduced motion options for users with motion sensitivities. Both the web and native platforms also provide a way for users to indicate they require reduced motion effects (the prefers-reduction-motion query on the web), and it’s a good practice to provide a reduced version of highly animated content when that preference is present. Prototype and test your UX animation Prototyping is the absolute best way to convey how you intend to use animation in your design. If you use interactive prototypes, you will get a clear picture as to what works and where the flaws in your app are hiding. Very often, this leads to a complete rework because the look of your animation differs from how it feels. Thus, don’t think that you will create a perfect animation effect right from the first attempt. Instead, iterate often and iterate fast! Iterating numerous times on even the tiniest detail will make your animation great. Conclusion UX animation is an essential ingredient of modern digital products because it brings the user interface to life. It not only makes products more usable but also makes them more visually appealing for end-users. However, it happens only when designers use proper motion language. Good animation is invisible. Users shouldn’t notice that they are looking at animation. But they should notice the great user experience that you provide. Photo by Fakurian Design on Unsplash

I’m going to be honest, this is a big one. I am sure if you are like me then whenever you browse Dribbble/Behance you get a sense that everyone is a great designer except you. You marvel at the creations which seem out of this world and curse yourself when you are going to reach that level. Imposter syndrome seems to be a trendy term I see these days and it’s something that I go back and forth in-between, especially when I encounter new situations. The truth is, designers often can feel like an imposter much of the time. Everyone seems to be an expert besides you. Dr Valerie Young, has classified imposter syndrome into five types: the Perfectionist, the Superwoman/man, the Natural Genius, the Soloist, and the Expert. In her book, The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer From the Imposter Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It, Dr Young shares her decades of research studying phony feelings among high achievers. If you’re just starting out as a new designer, chances are you’re probably feeling some type of imposter syndrome. Beginning any new career is scary, and there’s always a learning curve, but it can be especially nerve-wracking for those in creative fields where there isn’t really a right answer to anything. Read through these five categories to see which type of imposter syndrome resonates most with you, and then read on for some tips about how to overcome imposter syndrome. 5 Types of Imposter Syndrome 1. The Perfectionist The Perfectionist is focused primarily on the “how.” How something gets done and how it turns out can cause major hangups for the perfectionist. This type of imposter syndrome often causes excessively high goal setting that is simply unattainable. For the perfectionist, 99/100, an A-, or a near-perfect performance report with one slight critique, is a failure. To use another colloquialism, this type can usually be classified (often by themselves) as a control freak. They have a tendency to ruminate on feedback, and even once they feel that success has been achieved, it’s rarely satisfying. As a designer, the only way to improve the effectiveness of your designs is to always be seeking quality design feedback. So if you identify as a Perfectionist, it’s time to take action. 2. The Superwoman/man The Superwoman or Superman focuses on “how many.” How many roles, relationships, and projects they can juggle is directly tied to their self-worth. This can be harmful—both to themselves, and to the people around them. Superbeings tend to think of themselves as phonies standing next to the real deal. They often focus on quantity over quality, and eventually that comes to light, hurting their cause in the long run. These people tend to be addicted to the external validation that work provides, and not actually to the work itself. 3. The Natural Genius The Natural Genius is inclined to spotlight the “how and when”. This type of person tends to think that everything should be handled with ease and speed, and if it’s not, then they’re not talented. If a product is not perfect on the first try, the Natural Genius will likely toss it aside in favor of something that comes to them much more easily. These people don’t value the struggle of mastering a new skill. Design is all about failing: testing, learning, and iterating. So if you’re a Natural Genius type trying to become a designer, it’s important to realize that early on, and work to overcome it. 4. The Soloist The Soloist cares mostly about the “who.” And the who, is almost always, them. Often considering themselves to be a lone wolf, the Soloist has a hard time asking for help. These types of people often reject the mentor/mentee relationship dynamic, which can be detrimental to their learning journey. Because of the Soloist’s need to always do things on their own, they tend to neglect their own needs in favor of taking on too much at work or home. Soloist types should remember that no man is an island when it comes to learning and growing, especially in the design field, where collaboration is key. 5. The Expert The Expert’s main focus is on “what and how much” one can know or do. Their biggest fear is being exposed as inexperienced or unknowledgeable. The Expert is like the knowledge version of a perfectionist where even a minor lack of knowledge means failure. In a field like design, where tools are constantly changing and improving, Expert types should take note and be kind to themselves when they don’t (yet) know something. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Always strive for small increments of improvement. The next step is owning your successes and take them in stride. We are always going to need to improve somewhere, but if something awesome happens like a presentation went well overall, don’t just think about the downfalls and what you could have done better. Celebrate those small wins and be more aware of them so you can leverage them in future presentations. The reason why imposter syndrome happens is because we downplay these moments with what we could have done better. This feeling can hinder you from improving yourself or it causes you to work overwhelmingly hard without giving yourself time to ruminate on what happened and be intentional with how you want to improve. Photo by Belinda Fewings on Unsplash

Looking to get more involved with the UX community? There are many supportive and welcoming UX communities out there. We all know how important is to find communities that align with what matters to you. To help you get started, I’ve listed 5 key UX communities that can expand your network and mind. Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF) Let's start with the community that I am member of. Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF) is an educational organization[1] which produces open access educational materials online with the stated goal of "democratizing education by making world-class educational materials free for anyone, anywhere." The platform also offers courses taught by industry experts and professors in user experience, psychology, user interface design, and more. Join now: https://www.interaction-design.org/ Dribbble Dribbble is one of the main social networking communities for designers. And there’s a big UX presence on it. Here you can like, comment and get inspiration from other UX professionals. Get involved with the Dribbble community by sharing your own work too. It also has a great jobs board that lists plenty of UX roles. Sign up: dribbble.com Ladies that UX Ladies that UX was founded in 2013 by UX professionals Lizzie Dyson and Gerogie Bottomley. They both noticed that there weren’t many women in senior UX roles and wanted more role models. It’s a female only, global UX community that’s all about giving women a community to support each other. Ladies that UX regularly post educational content on their YouTube too. Join your local chapter: www.ladiesthatux.com Latinxs Who Design Latinxs Who Design is a living directory of Latinxs in the design industry. It’s a community where you can find key voices to follow on Twitter, find a mentor to help you, network, and make new friends too. Latinxs Who Design also has an active Slack community with over 2,000 members. Join: www.latinxswhodesign.com Blacks Who Design Blacks Who Design is a directory and community of all of the inspiring Black designers in the UX industry. The goal of the community is to inspire new designers, encourage people to diversify their social media feeds, and discover new individuals to join your team. Blacks Who Design have a Slack community too. Join: https://blackswho.design/ Why you should join a design community Designing is not an isolated creative process, we take and grow from the ideas, images and well… everything that is around us. Most design can be improved with communication and exposition, when we interact with others — colleagues, friends, experts, our family, or maybe even our own pet- creative ideas will evolve and become bigger and better. Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

A/B testing (split testing) is a quantitative method of finding the best performing version of CTA, copy, image, or any other variable. To start A/B testing, prepare two or more versions of a single element, randomly split your user group in two, and see which version performs better. Great tools for A/B testing are Unbounce, VWO, or Optimizely. Designing a digital product brings about numerous dilemmas: which font reads best? What call-to-action copy converts more? The multitude of options to choose from can give designers a headache. Sure, following best practices and gut feelings is a good place to start, but it won’t take you far in a business setting, and bad design choices can negatively impact your revenue stream. So, what should you do? Base all your UX decisions on solid data. Where do you get them from? Use A/B testing. Continue reading to learn all about it. What is A/B Testing? An A/B test – also called split testing – is a simple experiment where users are shown two variants of a design (e.g. background image on a webpage, font size or CTA copy on a homepage, etc.) at random to find out which one performs better. The variant that makes the most users take the desired action (e.g. click the CTA button) is the winner and should be implemented, while the alternative should be discarded. What can be tested using this method? Well, pretty much everything – from text or phrasing on buttons, through different sizes, colors, or shapes of buttons, to button or CTA placement on the page. Why is A/B Testing Important in UX? As mentioned, A/B testing allows you to base your product design decisions on data rather than on an opinion or a guesswork. It both democratizes design and allows your users to participate in your decision-making. A/B testing can help you learn how small changes influence user behavior, decide which approach towards design to implement, and confirms that a new design is going in the right direction. Using A/B testing for different elements of your digital product will also improve the overall user experience over time, as well as increase your conversion. Importantly, a good UX will make users stay on a website or in the app – or will make them visit it again – while bad UX will do the opposite. So, running A/B tests is a great way of conducting UX research while your product is live, and deciding what works and what doesn’t work for your target users. It’s a much more effective approach as it saves your time and resources spent on the expensive, environmental testing conducted before bringing a product to market. How to Conduct A/B Testing Just Right You need to base your A/B test on an educated guess – try to figure out what could be your target users’ pain point, i.e. what could be preventing them from taking a desired action. To conduct an A/B test you need to define a goal (e.g. I want my “Request a demo” page to generate more leads), formulate a solid hypothesis (e.g. I think that changing the CTA copy from “Contact us” to “Book demo” will engage our website visitors more and increase the number of leads), and two versions of a variable (e.g. Book demo and Contact us). The latter are called the altered test (test B, the variable), while the controlled test (test A) is what you compare your altered test against. Create the two versions of a single variable and make your prototype ready to share for testing. Then monitor it to make sure the test is running correctly. For high-traffic websites, test the smallest change possible; for low-traffic websites you can go bigger and test e.g. two completely different versions of a web design. Your test should run long enough to provide you with meaningful, statistically significant results. The bigger the sample size and the more information you collect, the more reliable your test results will be. Remember to only analyze the results of a completed A/B test and only implement the clear winner into your digital product. And what should you do with a “no difference” result? Well, be glad about it, as it proves that you can implement the design you prefer with no risk! Remember: don’t be afraid to formulate different hypotheses and test them. In A/B testing there are no stupid questions! Just make sure you prioritize your tests according to what you know from your customer research. A/B Testing Tools There are a lot of tools dedicated to A/B testing out there. Among the most popular are: Unbounce – a drag-and-drop landing page builder that allows you create and publish them without the need to use coding. It is an easy-to-use and fast tool for getting more conversions from your traffic. VWO – the world’s leading web testing and conversion optimization platform. It allows you to conduct qualitative and quantitative user research, build an experimentation roadmap and run continuous experiments on your digital products. Optimizely – an experimentation platform that helps build and run A/B tests on websites. The service allows you to create and run a variety of experiments for making design choices that will increase your conversion rates. Stop Guessing, Start Testing! Photo by Adrià Tormo on Unsplash

One of the inescapable challenges of UX design is catering for the diversity of users. When UX practitioners design platforms, they must consider the needs of several different user types. It is a tough dilemma – with differing goals and expectations. It would be much easier if there was something all users had in common. Some invariable principle, a rule without exception. The good news: there is! The bad news: that commonality every user shares is an intense dislike of advertising, an often unavoidable component of most websites. Forced to design around this necessary evil, it is entirely reasonable that most UX practitioners are going to be at odds with online adverts. Most ads we see interrupt the flow of the user, whether it is an obnoxious pop-up, a gaudy banner, or – my personal bane – the auto-playing video. In short, ads can completely disrupt the user experience. But the world of advertising is changing, and the direction it is travelling in is on a collision course with UX design. Though it is a seemingly unlikely partnership, the convergence of UX design & advertising is not as far-fetched as it appears. In fact, their union is not just useful – it is necessary for both fields. The Evolution Of Adverts In the past, target audiences had no say in the advertisements they were consuming. When watching TV, commercial breaks were inevitable. There were no ad-free streaming services like Netflix. Online ads, once inescapably ubiquitous, have been dealt a major blow with the prevalence of ad-blocking browser plugins and YouTube’s “skip” button. Adblock, one of the most popular ad-blocking browser plugins This is not to say the Internet is officially an ad-free space – it is far from it. However, there has been a sharp increase in the control users have over the ads they see. This presents a new challenge for online marketers: with less opportunities to advertise, they need to ensure the ads that do reach the user are impactful and relevant. Creating impactful, relevant experiences for the user? Sounds like a job description for the UX designer. And when marketers create ads customized to the user, UX designers can leverage these relevant, even meaningful advertisements to enhance the experience of their audience. You read that correctly: when UX and advertising are leveraged together, the result can be an ad that the user actually makes a connection with. This symbiotic relationship between designer and marketer is a relatively new phenomenon, but their collaboration is not a mere trend. Finding Common Ground Both Google and Facebook, the veritable keepers of the online domain, have validated this relationship between adverts and UX. Both websites’ advertising algorithms heavily favor brands that deliver a high-quality user experience. Google even emphasizes this in its cryptic search ranking algorithm – sites with ads that employ better UX rank higher than those without. When examining the underlying nature of UX design and advertising, their intersection is not all that surprising. The crux of both fields rests on answering a similar, if not identical, set of questions: who is this for? What do they value? These are questions of empathy, of emotional insight into the user. Both ad creatives and UX designers must consider these when crafting a new campaign or platform. The UX design agency I work for even reserves a sizable portion of the design process to the generation of an “empathy map”, a diagram outlining different user personas and their feelings, thoughts, and reactions when interfacing with various parts of the site. An example of an empathy map (Source) Injecting UX Into Online Adverts So what does a UX-driven advertisement look like today? Regarding content, the guideline is pretty straightforward. Any advertisement that is presented should ideally be aligned with the target audience of your website. Another useful tip is to avoid showing adverts that go against the core values of your organisation. In terms of presentation, it is probably easier to first nail down what it does not look like. It is not incessant, irrelevant pop-ups that interrupt your users workflow (see Bumble’s pop-ups I recently wrote about). It is not the pop-up’s evil stepbrother, the pop-under. And it is certainly not those god-awful auto-playing videos. A degree of balance should also be maintained in terms of the space allocated between content and advertising space. An advertisement informed by UX is unintrusive, yet noticeable. It is driven by aggregated data to be supremely relevant to the user, offering personalized content based on their browsing history, habits, and routines. On mobile platforms, some companies leverage gestures to inject interaction into their ads, like this ad from Kohl’s. Image source: Kohl’s Another important guideline is that adverts that take the form of articles should be clearly marked as such. Users should never be misled into thinking that a product is being genuinely recommended when in reality it is paid content. Ideally, this disclosure should not take the form of some really fine print hidden at the end of an advert. There is no formula for a perfect online ad, just like there is no formula for the perfect website. Both UX designers and ad creatives have to rely on research and iterative design to craft a product that users can emotionally connect with. The Future Of UX & Advertising I do not know any UX designers who would consider themselves ‘advertisers’, but the truth is that more and more ad agencies are opening positions for the UX-minded. Some have even created an industry-specific title for them – the “creative technologist”. Whatever the business card says, it is important to recognise the relationship between advertising and user experience. While they seem incompatible, their forces combined can benefit both sides: for the marketer, a more engaging, effective ad, and for the designer, a more relevant, helpful user experience. Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

You’ll often see the terms design system, pattern library, and style guide used interchangeably. The three concepts are connected but definitely not the same. Let’s clarify definitions, visualize how they fit together, and discuss the major milestones in building a design system. What is a Design System? A Design System is essentially an automated atomic design library. It consists of a digital pattern library with predefined and, more importantly reusable, assets: the atoms, molecules and organisms of atomic design. Instead of manually entering the same elements, designers simply ‘pull’ from the library whenever that exact element is needed. What is a Pattern Library? Pattern libraries are similar to design systems in many ways. They are repositories of UX and UI elements that frequently appear on a website. Navigation elements, carousels, social media features and more can all be considered part of a pattern library. Once one design creates them, they’re added to the library for everyone to use. What is a Style Guide? If a pattern library showcases visual elements, a style guide is the broader documentation. It describes how to use the elements, as well as rules for how the brand should feel, what language to use and how it should work overall. They’re more “instructions” and less “reusable components”. Illustration of the differences between the parts of a design system and how they fit together. Credits to PEGA Community. So, how do you use each of these resources effectively? Use a style guide to learn about the brand and its visual implementation in the UI. A style guide is a prescribed, brand-specific encyclopedia of UI guidelines that will help you better understand the look and feel of a brand – so that you can carry that over when designing your application. For example, a style guide might show you an example of a button, its preferred colors, or shapes. Use a pattern library to understand how various visual elements can address specific user needs within the application, together. Pattern libraries can help you learn preexisting combinations of design elements so that you don’t need to recreate the wheel when mapping out landing pages, home pages, and more. A pattern library will consistently illustrate where your button appears in modals and illustrate the various page designs in which such a button might appear. But while a style guide will help you design an on-brand, stylish application, and a pattern library can offer many ideas for combining components according to user needs, it’s the design system that will help you use your components and patterns to focus on your customer’s experience. That’s because it encompasses all the above to present your software as functional, trustworthy, consistent, and beautifully aligned to your company’s brand. The design system contains a much bigger structural framework to combine how the visual designs work with the underlying technology. It allows you to build your application, while patterns and style libraries tell you about what your application should look like. Style guides, pattern libraries, and design systems are all important tools for enterprise design. But when it comes to taking your prototype and making it functional, scalable, and user-driven, the robust design system is your best instrument. Photo by Balázs Kétyi on Unsplash

Welcome to 2022! As a blog, whose main focus is to provide resources and to support anyone interested in self learning, I’ve prepared my recommendations for 5 learning resolutions to help you make the most of 2022. The world of self-learning can be a little daunting. However, if we want to achieve our aspirations and stay relevant in an ever-changing world, self-learning is critical to us in the 21st Century. As Warren Buffett said, “The best investment you can make, is an investment in yourself. The more you learn, the more you’ll earn.” Resolution 1: “Discover what is most important to me” Finding your purpose and your passions is important. Once you uncover what’s most important to you and what gives your life purpose, you can find new ways to explore your life’s calling. Resolution 2: “Add new skills to my resume” The new year is a great time to update your resume and your LinkedIn profile. Take a look and see if you’re seeing any gaps in your professional skills. Courses and Specializations are a great way to gain new knowledge quickly and at your own pace. Resolution 3: “Make the next move in my career” If you’re ready for the next step in your career or if you’re looking to change your professional path, the new year is a great time to level-up your negotiation skills, lead teams to success, or communicate more effectively in person or in writing. Resolution 4: “Positively impact my community” Perhaps you’re looking to make a difference within your community for a better world in 2022. Sometimes that means understanding the systems and structures at the foundations of our society. Other times, change requires a framework to help you get started. Resolution 5: “Take a deeper dive in a subject I love” When you decide to combine your passion and purpose with your professional career, you’ll uncover a pathway to continue your academic journey. Take the first step in 2022. Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash

There’s a misconception that users with disabilities make up a minority of online users. We tend to relate accessibility only to people with assistive technologies or visual impairments like color blindness. But design teams must also consider how people with cognitive disorders and dyslexia experience digital products. According to the United States’ 2012 census, “56.7 million Americans (18.7% of the US population) have some type of disability, and out of this number, an estimated 38.3 million (12.6%) have a severe disability.” How US citizens’ disabilities relate to technology: 19.9 million (8.2%) have difficulty lifting or grasping, thus impacting their use of a mouse or keyboard. 15.2 million (6.3%) have a cognitive, mental, or emotional impairment, affecting focus, absorbing content/instructions, and cognitive load. 8.1 million (3.3%) have a vision impairment, requiring screen readers or magnifiers to view content. Visual impairments also include color blindness disabilities. 7.6 million (3.1%) have a hearing impairment, relying on transcripts and captions for video and audio. Making digital experiences inclusive for all people is essential. However, when looking at the numbers above, organizations must also consider the business value people with disabilities offer. Accessibility Improves User Experience Making designs accessible benefits all users. A great example is a web page’s table of contents and headings (hierarchy) for articles and documentation. These accessibility features allow users with screen readers to absorb content and find what they’re looking for quickly. Other users can use the same features to scan a page’s header tags or use the table of contents to move around the page with minimal scrolling. How Design Systems Can Help With Accessibility When an organization builds accessibility into its design system, teams are free to develop product experiences knowing that designs are consistent and conform to web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG). From a business perspective, design system accessibility saves time while increasing consistency, thus creating positive experiences for all users. Making Components and UI Patterns Accessible Organizations should treat design system components as the baseline for accessibility. This baseline includes colors, typography, spacing, sizing, and other component-based factors. The goal is to take baseline accessibility decision-making away from designers so they can focus on design. Designers must still be aware of accessibility, but they’re not starting from scratch every time. A Holistic Accessibility Approach Design system accessibility is just the baseline towards making user interfaces accessible. Designers must still conduct accessibility tests on interfaces, navigation, and user flows. Testing Accessible Design Systems Testing is critical to ensuring your design system is accessible. UX designers should always start by testing design system components using tools, followed by live tests with participants to confirm these results. Once components pass accessibility tests using tools, designers must conduct live usability studies with relevant participants. For example, people with visual/hearing impairments, cognitive challenges, and those using assistive technologies. If you have never done a UX audit, we highly recommend completing this before moving on to solving accessibility issues! Conducting a UX audit will ensure you eliminate fundamental usability issues and design system inconsistencies. For example, many organizations discover that design system components have inconsistent color palettes because designers use the wrong hex codes. You’ll want a clean slate before you audit for accessibility, or you may end up doing double or unnecessary work. Start your design system accessibility audit by listing every component, UI pattern, color, icon, asset, typeface, and other UI items. This way, you have a step-by-step checklist of everything you need to audit. Conclusion Creating an accessible design system promotes inclusivity and gives designers a baseline to scale accessibility to user flows, navigation, page layouts, and other areas quicker and easier. Designers no longer have to worry about colors, typography, contrast, hierarchy, and other factors, because that work is already done! They only have to evaluate what happens when you combine these elements to design user interfaces and navigational flows. Photo by Birger Strahl on Unsplash