Before you look at a single font

Write down 2 or 3 things you want people to feel or understand about the brand when they interact with the product or website. Depending on the project, you may or may not need to talk to clients or other stakeholders to get clear on this.

As you’re exploring potential typefaces, you’re going to continue asking yourself: “Does this font make the product feel _____?”

Every typeface has an inherent feeling or mood associated with it. …

1. It should demonstrate design thinking and problem solving.

The number one mistake I see designers make is re-skinning popular apps or websites for their portfolios. This is a great way to practice your UI skills, but it doesn’t show that you’re capable of creating a good experience. Visuals are just one part of experience design, so don’t ignore the other part which is, according to Eric Reiss,

“the conscious act of coordinating interactions that are controllable, acknowledging interactions that are beyond our control and reducing negative interactions.”

In order to practice this and demonstrate it, make sure you’re choosing a design problem to solve and not just an…

As creators, the most beneficial thing we can do for our business is just that — to create! But sometimes we get stuck. If you’re someone who often feels stuck, try using this article to identify your weaknesses, and then use your strengths to… uh… ‘unstick’ yourself? You get what I mean.

You may identify with more than one of these “types.” I know I do. But my hope is that you can apply little tidbits from each to your own process and mindset.

The Ideator

Ideators are always coming up with new ideas. …

UX is a fairly popular industry to get into these days, and as it grows in popularity, the field also becomes more competitive. There are tons of online courses and boot camps available, which is great! But it also makes it difficult for students to focus on the strengths they need to cultivate and puts more emphasis on the certificates and resume builders.

Whenever students ask me what they can do to get into UX, I always recommend honing your skills and strengths to help you stand out from the crowd.

Develop a Problem-Solving Mindset

The number one strength of a UX designer (and…

By now, we’ve all heard the prediction that a post-COVID-19 world will bring more remote work flexibility and less business travel. I believe that, with these changes, will also come a huge mindset shift, both for companies and many creative professionals. It’s going to change how we work and the products we create — in many ways, for the better.

As designers, we’re trained to solve problems. Look around and you’ll see that COVID-19 has illuminated countless opportunities for problem solving. These opportunities have little to do with selling more products and a lot to do with empowering individuals to…

This week we’re gonna tackle a tough question that I don’t really have the ~right~ answer to, but I wanted to share my take anyway. Have you ever found yourself working on a project where you can’t seem to align on the visual direction? Or where there are so many opinions you have trouble vetting them? Or where you know you’ve got a great visual concept but the client doesn’t get it? Let’s be real… we’ve all been there at least once before.

Dear Maddy,

I’d love to get your take on overcoming team disagreements on aesthetics.

— Stephen

Dear…

This month I’m coming to you with some UI/UX design portfolio tips thanks to a lovely Instagram friend who posed this question to me:

Dear Maddy,

I am currently pursuing UX design and I wanted to create my first portfolio. Could you tell me what a UX portfolio should consist of and where should I compile it? What all should I include? How should I present it? It would really help if you could give me some tips for this.

— Radha

Dear Radha,

The most important thing to know is that showcasing your process is just as important as…

Collaboration is such an important skill to master as a designer. As much as we think of the stereotypical designer shutting out the world with their noise cancelling headphones and multiple monitors, that’s just not the reality a lot of the time. We never work completely alone on a project, so especially during a time like this when we can’t be in a room with our team, it’s so crucial that we’re intentional about how we collaborate.

I’m going to walk through a real freelance project of mine in order to illustrate these 6 tips. But if you’re not a…