There’s a growing demand for designers to make their products accessible to all users. According to the CDC, 26% of the US population is living with a disability of some sort. That’s 61 million adults in this country alone. Even if you’re not directly affected by this at the moment, its long-term and short-term effects will impact all of us during our lifetime.

As a designer, I want to actively work on becoming more mindful about creating inclusive experiences that enable everyone to have valuable and meaningful experiences. …

Recently, I’ve been exploring the community-generated resources in Figma, and have found some super useful plug-ins that have really simplified my workflow.

The Figma community is actually a goldmine of awesome kits and templates, but I found that it’s not always easy to discover new resources if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. I wanted to share some of my current favorites because I only wish that I had discovered these sooner!

We’ve all heard it. Taking breaks from working is essential for recharging and restoring our mental energy, focus, and motivation levels. As a designer, it’s important for me to plan and take deliberate breaks to stay creative and productive and to avoid burnout. But not all breaks are created equal.

I’m definitely guilty of thinking that an adequate break from my laptop simply means pulling out my phone to scroll through a newsfeed. …

As a UX designer, the focus of my training has been on how products function rather than how they look. Lately, with more time to practice and improve my UI skills, I’ve developed an interest in creating more eye-catching visual assets, most of which takes place in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop (and neither of which I have much experience in). When it comes to learning these new skills, YouTube is the perfect place to turn for quick and easy tutorials.

I wanted to share some of my favorite design educators on YouTube who can help up your visual design game…

What do the Coca Cola bottle, Air Force One, and NASA’s first space station have in common? These iconic products were all were designed in some way by Raymond Loewy, the father of industrial design. Even if his name doesn’t ring a bell, you are most likely familiar with his work. Loewy’s innovations helped to shape the landscape of American culture in the 20th century, and his secret was based upon a universal principle that can be applied to design across all fields.

That theory is called the MAYA Principle, which stands for “Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable.” It is the…

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to take part in my first hackathon as a designer. I learned SO much from this jam-packed session of brainstorming and building, and I wanted to share some reflections on my memorable experience.

Prioritization is key

With this UX hackathon, my team and I knew that time would be of the essence since Saturday was our only full day to design. We made sure to time-block our day so we knew how much time to spend on each phase in order to stay on track for the submission deadline. To our surprise, we actually didn’t fall…

An intuitive mental model

The basis for the tool is super simple and intuitive. You select an object, add a trigger, and assign a desired response. The properties for these interactions are highly customizable in terms of parameters and animation effects. With 25 different triggers and 17 response types, the possibilities for what you can create are virtually endless. You can explore the definitions, properties, and examples of these interactions on their site here.

I remember when I was first starting out in UX design, I struggled with knowing where to begin looking for resources like free visuals, UI kits, mobile patterns, inspiration, and more. With more experience, I’ve come to discover a trove of useful resources online that I wish I knew existed earlier on.

That’s why I wanted to share a collection of my favorite resources for budding UX designers who are just getting started, as well as for designers at any level looking for valuable material to add to their bookmarks.