Explore the Archive
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This is the continuation of part two, Design Thinking II - Wicked Problems & 1970s
In 1982, Nigel Cross, a British design researcher, in a paper called "Designlerly ways of knowing", compares designers' problem solving with the solutions to non-design problems that we develop in our daily lives.
If we start from Double Diamond's ultra-synthesized model, Research > Design, a model designed by the British Design Council in 2005, based on and adapted from the model of Hungarian-American linguist Béla H. Bánáthy, we can use these two steps in virtually every situation in our daily lives, whether personal or work-related.
If I have some asparagus in the fridge and I don't know what to make me to eat, don't you search the internet for what to do with this ingredient and keep researching different options? And when you finish this research phase, what comes next? Effectively, the production of the food, the design.
Nigel Cross also wrote several scientific papers on the development of design methodologies in 1984 and the book Engineering Design Methods in '89. All this led to his passion for design cognition, or what we now call Design Thinking.
Bryan Lawson, a professor at Sheffield University School of Architecture, did several very interesting studies using comparative scientific and architectural methods.
Lawson conducted a series of tests with graduate students in architecture (the "designers") and science (the "scientists"). He set each group a problem of arranging colored blocks, in which the student had to adhere to a set of rules, some of which they did not know.
Lawson realized that the scientists tended to systematically explore all possible combinations of blocks in order to formulate a hypothesis about the fundamental rule they should follow to produce the optimal arrangement of blocks. In other words, scientists were problem-centered problem solvers.
Designers, on the other hand, tended to quickly create multiple arrangements of colored blocks and then test whether they fit the requirements of the problem. Designers were solution-focused problem solvers who chose to generate a large number of solutions and eliminate those that did not work.
Articles & Ideas
Benchmark Usability Testing
Benchmark studies measure one or more KPIs (key performance indicators) of a user interface so that you can tell whether a redesign has measurably better (or worse) usability. Garrett Goldfield
A new UX method for building better data visualization products
Whether it’s buying a product, sharing a link, signing up to a newsletter, or whatever else you want people to do. In a now very popular UX Medium post, Alexander Hadley summarized a user flow this way: A user flow is a series of steps a user takes to achieve a meaningful goal. Benjamin Cooley
Opportunity canvas: design thinking method
This method is a great way to find out where you are and what opportunities you have for your product and customers. Lalatendu Satpathy
Getting started as a UX mentor
Mentorship is a huge part of being a great UX professional since it helps both mentor and mentee to grow in their field. Taking on a mentorship role allows the mentor to strengthen and reaffirm their skills by teaching and passing on knowledge to others. Amanda Spilchen
A Pocket Guide to Design Operations
I created this 101 level guide for my mentees through UX Coffee Hours. It answers eight of the most common questions I get from folks interested in or new to Design Operations. Rachel Posman
Understanding DesignOps as a strategic function: measuring impact
DesignOps relies on ongoing performance assessments to constantly evaluate what can be done better to impact positively the business metrics. Yes, DesignOps’ impact is quantifiable. Patrizia Bertini
Figma Tutorial: Create Interactive Components with a Real Project (In 7 Minutes)
A Figma Tutorial - Stop wasting time creating hundreds of screens to show UI and UX design interactions. Instead leverage the power of Figma Interactive Components! Mizko
Products
Around
Introducing video calls designed for energy, ideas and action. Gather in ultra small groups, infuse fresh energy into creative sessions, and get things done in real-time with real results.
Google Fonts Icons
Material Icons are available in five styles and a range of downloadable sizes and densities. The icons are crafted based on the core design principles and metrics of Material design guideline.
Uiflow
Uiflow enables enterprise teams to create software together at the speed of thought. Stop handing off and start building together.
Voiceflow
Where teams creates. Voiceflow helps teams design, prototype and launch conversational apps.
Zepel
There's more to product development than tracking issues in isolation. Zepel lets you track your entire development process and build software products together painlessly.
Craft
Built for digital devices from the ground up, Craft brings back the joy to writing.
Sensa Icons
All icons are ready for any scale and tool. Download as svg or png, add as library on Sketch or Figma.
Adee for Figma
Adee is a comprehensive and powerful accessibility testing tool. You can test color contrast and apply changes, simulate 8 color blind simulations and generate them, test touch target sized to make sure they meet the various device standards and share test results with your team! ... and more!
Kbee
Use Google Drive as a Knowledge Base. Turn your content into a fast, searchable wiki for you, your team, or your customers.
Lunatask
Lunatask is an all-in-one privacy-focused todo list, habit and mood tracker, and pomodoro timer. It remembers stuff for you and helps you prioritize what to work on next. Choose from a variety of productivity techniques to get stuff actually done.
e-Read My CV
We've built a tool to help you ensure that the machine will understand your CV with ease, and correct any issues before it is too late.
Remote Jobs
Github - Senior Product Designer
GitHub is where over 56 million developers shape the future of software, together. Contribute to the open source community & manage your Git repositories.
Netlify - Director of Design & User Research
A powerful serverless platform with an intuitive git-based workflow. Automated deployments, shareable previews, and much more. Get started for free!
Magic Leap - Senior Interaction Designer
Step aside VR and smartphone AR. Magic Leap 1 is a wearable spatial computer that brings the physical and digital worlds together as one.
