Weekly roundup of UX nuggets to stay up to date in the design industry. Want updates? Sign up for the UX newsletter here.
The one you’re looking for [7 Reasons Why You Should Date a UX Designer]
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and if you’re still swiping right on Tinder or waiting for a special lady to make the first move on Bumble, you might want to consider who you’re looking for: a UX designer.
Aside from having a great eye for aesthetics, here are 7 reasons why you should consider dating us:
- Curiosity
- Willingness to experiment
- Jack of all trades, master of some
- Sees the connections between things
- And…read the article for the last 3:)
This article is based on 7 soft skills that would make a good UX designer but that doesn’t mean those skills aren’t transferable! *wink*
Don’t know whether to push or pull? [UX 101: Norman Doors]
A Norman door, named after Don Norman (the author of “The Design of Everyday Things”), is a non-intuitive door design which often requires instructions for use. Don states that “doors shouldn’t need instructions – their shape should tell you how to interact with them just fine”.
Tania Vieira discusses Norman doors and human-centered design as essentials to considering how people interact with everyday things. Regardless of the product – apps, services, experiences, things that are made easy-to-use are more pleasurable. You don’t want to be closed out (literally).
Figma + LEGO = FLEGO [Figma on Figma: How We Build Our Website Design System]
The phrase ‘design systems’ has gained high popularity in the new decade. Every year, more tools and processes are produced to optimize how designers and developers work. When using a design system, you have access to organized rules that can be employed during development which goes beyond icons, typography, in-depth effects, and color palettes.
For Figma, a major factor for an established design system stemmed from the lack of consistency and accessibility. Andrea Helmbolt, a newly joined marketing web producer, noticed that designers and developers were inventing their own different systems to maintain the marketing site. Although there were similarities, the slight differences made it hard to maintain and update. Therefore, she began by gathering the key components that needed to be consistent and implemented a flexible design system to increase marketing.
The icon to my eye [7 Principles of Icon Design]
Sometimes, icons are taken-for-granted – they’re small but have an important duty to communicate a concept quickly to the user. While pictures are worth a thousand words, it’s important to realize that for icons, less is more.
Helena Zhang shares with us, through plentiful real-world examples, 7 principles of creating high-quality icons:
- Brevity
- Clarity
- Readability
- Ease of use
- Consistency
- Personality
- Alignment
FREE One-Hour Delivery [Meet The Creators of Amazon Dating, A Parody Site With 10,000 Real Applicants]
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, director and conceptual artist Ani Acopian partnered with music producer and writer Suzy Shinn to spearhead a project called Amazon Dating. This funny parody is meant to revolutionize online dating and make people laugh by delivering “hot singles near me” (please note that this is not real, so don’t expect a hot delivery of a person at your doorstep in an hour).
This fun creation exemplified the potential of online dating through the usage of Amazon’s phenomenal UX. While it’s sad to admit it doesn’t actually exist, the idea is intriguing for potential dating platforms in the future.
Creative Inspiration: 6 Valentine’s Day Cards for Every Kind of Designer
Whether it’s your significant other or work best friend, Valentine’s Day cards should be a must this Friday to show your love and appreciation to your favorite designer(s). Shayna Hodkin inspires us with 6 punny ideas for cards to put a smile on any designer’s face. Whether done digitally on Adobe Illustrator or traditionally with construction paper, spread some love this Hallmark holiday.
Remote UX Jobs
GovPredict builds products to make the government more transparent and politics more efficient. Despite being all along the political spectrum, personal political views never affect their work! They’re hiring a Product Designer who will work closely with product managers to develop long and short term product rollouts. Proficiency in front-end development such as HTML, CSS (SASS), JS (React JS), etc. is a desired qualification.
Ferpection is a European-based service while helps simplify user research and testing. They were founded by former Coca-Cola and BlaBlaCar managers who enjoy growth through highly satisfied customers. They’re hiring a UX Researcher who is fluent both in English and French to help their clients in defining their user research strategy. To apply, have your CV and Linkedin profile ready as well as 10 questions you’d like to ask (no cover letter required!).
Twenty Over Ten is a team passionate about empowering financial advisors to easily build a beautiful and unique online presence. They’re hiring a UI/UX Designer who has demonstrable experience working with SaaS type platforms with the ability to both design and implement. Some of the minimal skills to have are HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript along with experience with InVision.
GooseChase is a fully remote web and mobile platform for creating and facilitating scavenger hunts or organizers such as onboarding new employees, touring museums, engaging at festivals, etc.! They’re onboarding their first full-time Product Designer to research and create new features for the product. This is a smaller team with regular working hours in CST.
Remote Senior UX Positions
MotorsportReg.com keeps driving for car lovers to find and attend automotive and motorsport events. Similar to Eventbrite, MotorsportReg.com is an event search engine for all things from racing, track days, autocross, karting, drifting, motorcycles, and more! They’re hiring a lead and sole UI/UX Product Designer for their product team. You will be fully responsible for the UI/UX mobile and web design for MotorsportReg.com. Please note that this is a 15-person team so you’ll be expected to come in and hit the ground running!
Platform.sh is an idea-to-cloud application platform that simplifies cloud infrastructures. They provide developers with tools to experiment, innovate and get rapid feedback. They’re seeking a Senior UX Designer to be a crucial part of developing the product strategy. Something that would be a plus is the drive to improve user experiences in the DevOps landscape!