Articles

The User Experience of Public Restrooms

The User Experience of Public Restrooms

Public restrooms have so many UX problems that can go wrong. From a UX designer's perspective, they are a surprisingly rich opportunity space — a collision of human behaviors, psychology, and physical interaction design.

UX DesignObservationHuman Behavior 4 min read
12 Traits of a Great UX Designer

12 Traits of a Great UX Designer

Aside from knowledge and skills, there's another side of the coin — traits and mindset. Here are the 12 traits I've observed in great UX designers throughout my career.

UX DesignCareer 7 min read
Competitive Analysis: How to Approach It Effectively

Competitive Analysis: How to Approach It Effectively

If you do competitive analysis with the right approach, you can learn an enormous amount that will benefit your UX work. Here is one effective approach to conducting it in a UX project.

UX DesignResearchProcess 5 min read
The Importance of Process Documentation in a UX Project

The Importance of Process Documentation in a UX Project

When working on a UX project, things can easily get messy. I learned over time that keeping up with process documentation as I go is more valuable than it first appears — for clarity, for career, and for the craft.

UX DesignProcessDocumentation 6 min read
UX/PM/Engineer Collaboration — A Critical Factor for a Product's Success

UX/PM/Engineer Collaboration — A Critical Factor for a Product's Success

Many UX educations put UX in isolation and disregard the importance of UX/PM/engineer collaboration. In reality, a product's success is more affected by how well these three disciplines collaborate than by what a UX team can do alone.

UX DesignProduct ManagementCollaboration 10 min read
How to Visualize Layered Data to Show Holistic Relationships

How to Visualize Layered Data to Show Holistic Relationships

I worked on infographics for the UNDERSTANDING USA TED conference textbook in the year 2000. Twenty years later, re-examining that project revealed insights about layered data visualization that are more relevant than ever.

Information DesignData VisualizationUX Design 10 min read
Seeing the World as 1000 People

Seeing the World as 1000 People

Twenty years ago, I worked on a project called Global Village — a data visualization animation presented at TED 2000. Here is what it taught me about content strategy, design systems, and why simplicity is never simple.

UX DesignContent StrategyDesign Systems 10 min read