I’ll admit, I wasn’t exactly the first to hop on the ChatGPT or MidJourney AI bandwagon. “So we are just plugging in cheat codes for our jobs and remote controlling what will eventually replace all of us now?” … Slow down. Take a deep breath. Allow yourself to properly embrace the next wave of tech.

The Opportunities & Challenges of AI in UX

Although intriguing and sometimes impressive, AI image generators are not something that I use for projects, personally, but are they fun? Yeah. Will Adobe Firefly and Midjourney play a consistent role in my everyday work? Probably not.

Rather than filling out search queries and prompts to generate an image to be used directly in designs, I’ve found that the best use of AI resources is to generate quick ideas, brainstorm visual solutions, and get top-level inspiration.

. And if you treat AI as a whole, as just that - another tool. That’s when you can unlock its full potential.

By the end of this blog, you’ll have a deeper understanding of four robust AI-powered tools, their best uses, and how (through my experience) not to use them. If used correctly, these resources can significantly streamline your workflow, help you take advantage of insightful analytics and historical data, and above all, empower you to take your designs to the next level.

4 Efficient & Highly-Effective AI Powered Figma Plugins

“Generates copy with ChatGPT in Figma or FigJam! Easily change the style, length, or formatting of text in just one click.”

! This has proved to be VERY useful in the early stages of design when content is still being generated. FigGPT allows you access to (literally) a magic button to populate your layouts with placeholder copy. You can provide specific prompts, adjust tone, fix grammar, ask for a shorter or lengthened copy around the same subject, and even “improve writing”.

. Often, you’re approaching content design with a content outline, but not necessarily completed 

 for the whole site. This allows you to have related copy to the project / outline and generate desired length / tone to guide the content creator.

 And yes, that includes long-form copy, clever headlines, or introduction paragraphs. It can help to quickly generate ideas to spark inspiration.

 I would never hit the “magic button” and call it a day.

 is another great resource that I’ve used for the same reasons listed above.

“Artificial intelligence instantly predicts where users will look after engaging with your design. Learn if a CTA button is visible enough, conduct A/B testing to see which object attracts the most attention, and create better UX based on data.”

This one is pretty neat, but you have to know how to use it. It’s based on data and predictions. Not necessarily reality. Essentially you select a frame of a full-page design, select what type of website it is (e-commerce, marketing, landing page, etc), Attention Insight does its thing and VOILA! You have fully generated heatmaps and focus maps of your design, predicting where users will be drawn to look.

 To make sure your layout decisions are accessible and support conversion goals. There is value in using a ton of historical data to predict user outcomes. Use it as a measuring stick early on in the design process to help you make decisions.

This should not replace post-launch analytics and/or performance metrics.

 You are putting a lot of trust in the plugin’s algorithm and while I’m sure they spent a ton of research making sure this is reliable, it shouldn’t replace the tried and true.

“WireGen uses chat GPT AI to generate wireframe designs quickly and easily. Just input the description of the design you want to create, and the plugin will generate wireframes for you in minutes. Not satisfied with the first result? Simply ask the AI to change something, or generate with a slight change in the prompt.”

I have a very specific way I go about conducting wireframes and setting things up for a smooth transition into design. This plugin could never replace that but it does act as a really fun tool for fast idea generation and could help you get unstuck if you are in a layout / UX rut.

Quickly iterate on ideas and layout / content decisions.

 It spits out full layouts that insinuate UI, component needs, CTA placement and copy. It’s possible that it could generate a layout decision based on its algorithm and data trove that you may not have previously thought of.

It’s not meant to be a final deliverable or replace wireframing

. It can’t take into account all of the strategy work that you’ve done to get to wireframes. User flows, personas, sitemap, etc.

“Build custom drag and drop automations that do time-sensitive Figma tasks for you in one click.”

This is a super powerful tool. Unfortunately, it costs money, but it does offer a free trial. Essentially, it allows you to build automation based on a preset number of specific 

. So trivial and repetitive adjustments to layout that would usually be a bit time-consuming and mind-numbing can be accomplished in a single click. Either create your own customized automation or use a library of pre-made actions.

Create custom automations that cater to your workflow. 

You can save time by combining batch actions, commonly performed.

 I use it for creating batch actions, BUT there is so much more. You can convert designs into skeleton or loading pages, generate full-style guides from designs, import data/content from Airtable, etc. I’m just breaching the surface of its potential. Maybe I’ll report back with additional findings 🙂

There is no doubt that AI has generated mixed perceptions. It’s powerful and impressive but it can also be seen as compromising originality and creativity. No matter how you feel about it, one thing seems certain - It’s not going anywhere.

, 80% of business executives claim that their businesses will adopt AI technology between 2020 to 2027.

At the end of the day, I think it’s less about what AI does and more about how you use it. The purpose of AI resources for designers (in their current state) should be to improve workflow, create efficiencies and save you time. 

Let AI technology carry the weight of some of that grunt work. 

Let it perform some of those routine operations. Let it act as inspiration to help you reach a more creative solution, faster. AI provides designers with a competitive advantage if used properly. It’s not here to replace us. It’s here to help us.

“As long as we are designing for humans, we’ll always need human designers.”

AI is here to stay. We are here to stay. Let’s figure out how we can work together.

 if you have any questions or want to talk about how we can help your business navigate this next wave of tech. 

User-focused design is at the core of what we do. User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) design are two of our most critical specialities. Designing thoughtful experiences and intuitive website, app and content interfaces for your potential customers is always job number one for us.

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4 AI Resources To Add To Your UX Design Toolbox

When talking about something complex, I’m a big fan of using relatable metaphors. In this instance, I’ll pull from art at its most basic level.

Everyone has taken a stab at filling a blank page or canvas with something, right? A pencil sketch in a notebook or a coloring page where you filled in shapes. Web design, like art, has countless mediums, layers to expression, and varying levels of complexities. So, what’s the equivalent of a beginner wanting to learn to draw by following a tutorial and sketching a simple still-life in a notebook? Probably Wix or Squarespace using a basic template. And that’s totally fine. It gets the job done. But: hundreds, if not thousands have followed that same tutorial and drawn that same still-life, just like thousands of others have used that same template.

What’s a much more complex expression? Having a full team — designer, developer, account manager, content strategist, etc and starting with a blank project in Figma. It’s a different beast. Just as an artist stares at a blank canvas on their easel. You haven’t created anything yet, but you have every resource imaginable at your disposal. You get to create the rules. You’re not coloring within the lines because you are the one creating the lines.

Intimidating? Maybe. Rewarding? Hell yeah.

Enough of the Romanticism. What is a Design System?

Example of an open source, Figma Community Design System

A set of rules and guidelines that act as a single source of truth for digital interpretation of your brand. 

 is essentially a complex digital brand guide. The building blocks for any web work.

The Layers (No Pun Intended) of a Design System

I can’t break this down any better than Brad Frost did in his 

Source: Brad Frost’s Atomic Design Methodologies, Chapter 2 on Atoms, Molecules, Organisms, Templates & Pages

 represent base-level, foundational elements of your design system. Things like the brand’s logo, color palette, and typography.

 are basic rules and standards around combinations of atoms. Think of a color assigned to a specific header style. Or a border-radius applied to all shapes/masks.

 are combinations of atoms and molecules that come together to build more complex clusters. Essentially organisms = components.

 are then pieced together using your collection of organisms.

. The brand guidelines are your dictionary no matter the medium - From a t-shirt design to your brand’s website. It should all follow the same language.

 within your system are your foundations - Color, typography, specifications like spacing, border radiuses, effects such as drop shadows, iconography, illustration, etc.

or core elements should be things like buttons, link styles, radio buttons, toggles, form fields, etc.

are when all of the above come together. UI elements are used with foundational tokens, which are combined using specific standards of implementation that create a cohesive, flexible, and scalable system with infinite potential.

Ok. That was a lot to digest. What does this mean for you? For your team? For your clients?


1. Better interdisciplinary collaboration

To create a design system, specifically in Figma, is to bring together teams and form a shared language. For example, designing on a component level gives designers a single source of truth to extend across multiple pages, creating consistency and holding yourself accountable. It also gives developers 1 “thing” to build, with rules and guidelines around it so that work isn’t being duplicated.

All components and tokens are stored globally, so instead of varying fills and hex codes floating around, you are applying singular, global styles. Everything is centralized. You have your puzzle pieces at your disposal and so does dev. Likewise, say you bring a new designer onto the team or introduce a new account manager to the project. There is a centralized repository for knowledge sharing with other designers, PMs, AMs, developers, and even the client.

You have rules to follow! Want to add a component to a system? Need a new feature? Throw away the bandaids, your design system is here to help.

Scaling design, adding features, and having another designer work on a project they’re unfamiliar with. These are all things that run the risk of misalignment, accidentally introducing new styles and patterns, slight variations, and inconsistencies creating a mess in both design and code quality. But if you have a system, you create a consistent design language to be followed.

Components become a reflection of these standards. And any future addition of components follows the same guidelines to ensure consistency. For design, this means applying styles and working from your core bank of tokens and components. For development, this means not having to make code decisions. Decisions are made by pulling from a centralized bank of rules that hold design and dev accountable and create reliable user experiences.

Starting with a core set of principles to then build more complex components allows you to create changes globally without having to go back and do a ton of rework. If you are using your building blocks to construct pages, you then have a much simpler way to maintain your designs and thus, the flexibility to make changes. Go to your design token and update the style, that change is then applied across the board on all pages. Go to a global component and reorder content or change the background color. Again, global application, not a singular instance change. Using a combination of tokens and components means consistency, it means saving time and it means updating or making changes becomes a million times easier.

With a component-level approach to design and implementation, page building becomes easy. You are grabbing puzzle pieces to build out new pages, combining building blocks to enable a modular, flexible system. Likewise, developers can spend less time tediously coding out section by section of pages or adding unique features. You have a cross-departmental system that houses a single source of truth for all past, present, and future iterations of product design and development.



5. I’m a UX designer, so I have to sneak this one in. But it’s true. Having a design system improves a website’s user experience.

My goal as a designer is to spend more time-solving high-level problems and less time being consumed by busy work and pixel pushing. Figma and a component-level approach to design help me accomplish both of these. Strategy and UX collaboration work are done upfront. You solve the most complex issues and answer complicated user questions at the beginning of the project to inform the remaining work. This becomes your guiding star for building out a design system. 

It gives you the parameters to build a successful system that focuses on who it is serving. 

A good design system creates a great user experience because it feels authentic, consistent, and trustworthy.

So, What Does This Have to Do With Figma?

Great question. To which I respond EVERYTHING. I get made fun of for being such a Figma fan but I can’t help it.

When I started in Sketch, I immediately fell in love. It was the first design software that told me web design was what I wanted to be doing. I could create vectors like in Illustrator but I could focus solely on digital and UI implementation without print-based features crowding the interface. I continued to use Sketch and XD in tandem for a few years before building up the courage to convert fully to Figma. And there was no going back.

What makes Figma great is collaboration. Figma was built with collaboration in mind. You can have multiple people working on the same file at the same time, it has version history so you can always reference past iterations, you can hop on a call while in the app with another contributor, or leave comments directly on designs with the chat functionality, it’s browser-based so you don’t even need to download software or have an app. I can share links to designs and/or prototypes with project managers to bring up during a presentation, or open access to clients to leave comments directly in the file. I can share a Figma link with a developer who has viewing permissions and they can comment, export assets and even “inspect” to pull CSS code directly from the designs. The list goes on.

Figma is THE tool for creating design systems for all of the reasons that design systems are so great. It comes full circle.

It offers better collaboration, it’s easier to scale designs, things like auto-layout create massive efficiencies between disciplines and the UX of the platform itself is top-notch. There’s a 

, open-source design files to be shared, team collaboration templates through 

This is a lot of Unicorn and Rainbow Talk. What's the Catch?

Figma has a pretty steep learning curve. It can be intimidating to start in because there is just so much to learn. You have to put in the time in order to grasp some of the more complex nuances and advantages that it has to offer. That being said, it’s pretty easy to learn the basics and Figma offers a ton of 

I’d say the things that take the most time are learning to control 

capabilities, and building a repository of go-to 

. But that’s life, right? It takes time to get comfortable with something and Figma offers enough right off the bat to be dangerous.

This is something that I try to be conscious of every time I set out to design a website or create a design system. Creating a design system offers a framework and set of rules to create alignment and manage consistency at scale. This is all great, just as long as it’s not at the expense of creativity and innovation. The age old form / function argument. 

Craft and creativity should not take a back seat to efficiency. 

Create principles and guidelines that inspire and guide. Use these to influence further exploration, experimentation, and creativity. Be consistently creative and fun. Bend the rules without breaking them.

Creating a base set of rules doesn’t have to be boring. Be happy with a kickass solution and then use that as your status quo. Go back to the benefits of a design system — 

 If you need a new component don’t try to force a circle into a square. Design a new component! Define its purpose and add it to the system. It becomes another piece of your puzzle. 

Pull in some fun micro interactions. Build animation and movement 

into your system to inject life and personality. Rules don’t have to = boring product. It’s something I push myself to be better at every day.

“A system defines solutions. YOUR solutions define the system.”

at VIA for any questions or inquiries about creating a design system for YOUR brand. We have a few fun design system-based projects that will be launching in the very near future. Stay tuned!


Creating a Design System in Figma

Dynamic display ads are the recommended way to run display campaigns on Google Ads and the Google Display Network. Dynamic ads with animations and motion graphics are more likely to catch a user’s attention and result in a click.

However, not all campaigns have the budget or time to create a full suite of HTML5 display ads recommended by Google Ads. Rather than using static image ads, .gif display ads can offer a nice balance between production cost and end results.

The Problem: Google Was Rejecting Our .gif Display Ads

The Google Ads platform is picky about which .gif assets it allows to be uploaded for use. Even worse, in our experience, we kept receiving the same error message that didn't even correctly identify the problem with the assets we were trying to upload. “We've detected strobing or Flashing effects. Make sure the frame rate of your ad is less than 5 FPS for GIFs. 

" kept popping up, despite our .gif display ads being below 5 FPS. So, what do you do?

In our experience, the answer lies within specifically, how you are exporting the animation from After Effects into a .mov file and then, what method you are using for compression and how you are converting that compressed file into a .gif. Previously, we created .gif display assets as a video file exported from 

 at 4fps, then converted that .mov into a compressed, web optimized .mp4 using 

's free video compression tool and lastly, to a .gif using Photoshop’s import “video frame to layers” feature, or 

free video to .gif conversion platform. It's a process, but one that met the picky standards of Google. Until it didn't. 

Assets produced this way were being denied by Google Ads and causing frustration. We had to figure out why. It took some trial and error, but the solution to this issue is relatively simple. Once you know it.


The Solution: Export .gif Ads as PNG Sequences from After Effects

The solution that we found to make Google Ads accept our .gif ad assets was instead of exporting them from After Effects as a .mov and converting that .mov file to a .gif file; we exported as a "png sequence" for each ad. Essentially a series of images/frames rather than a movie. This allowed us to have full control over the mysterious frame rate issue and the png images/frames rendered higher quality as a frame by frame animation rather than a .mov file, converted to an animated .gif. We then used the png sequence and brought the series of images into Photoshop to create the .gif files for use in Google Ads. A step by step breakdown of this process:

Create your dynamic animation for the display ads in After Effects

Export your dynamic display ads as a .png sequence from After Effects

Import your series of images into your Timeline in Photoshop as “frames”

Customize your frame rate, timing and tweening 

Export for web from Photoshop as a looping .gif

A few parameters that Google Ads has in regards to these ads that you should keep in mind include:

The simpler the animation, the easier this is to meet

Animation length must be 30 seconds or shorter - 

Recommend a short, looping animation. You don't have a users attention for long with display ads. Make the movement more ambient rather than necessary to the message  

Animations can be looped, but the animations must stop after 30 seconds

Animated GIF ads must be slower than 5 FPS - 

Make sure you set your frame rate in step 1 - Go to After Effects > Compositions Settings > Frame Rate to adjust

Full Display Ads Specifications from Google

So there you have it, use this process to create .gif display ads accepted by Google Ads. There are other ways to do it, but we've found this process to provide the best quality, the most control and the best chance to meet the 150kb max file size requirement.

Remember, if your budget or production timeline is tight, .gif display ads are the perfect solution for your next campaign. Good luck!

Researching and planning is key to effective marketing strategy. We use data, insights, our gained knowledge and research born from curiosity to plan inventive, value-drive marketing plans for our clients.

Marketing Strategy

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Marketing Campaigns

How To Upload .gif Display Ads to Google Ads

I remember when I first started out as a designer (professionally), having to play Photoshop Tetris with cut up image blocks to piece together a full email layout. As a UX designer, we are taught that nothing is more important than usability and utility … and let’s just say, nothing puts those things to the test quite like Photoshop Tetris. Thankfully we have more sensible solutions now, but email design still comes with its added constraints and limitations. Luckily, I’ve had enough time and practice to be able to share a bit of knowledge, tips & tricks with you fine folks. So, let’s cut it up:

That’s the main thing. What works for one browser/client combo, may break for another.

There exists a sea of inconsistencies across browsers and platforms that you must be aware of in order to make sure an email functions cross-platform … Which makes designing for email uniquely challenging. Email forces designers to simplify, limit chaos of content and reduce cognitive load for the user. You don’t have a lot of space and you don’t have a lot of time, so using both wisely becomes immensely important.

Overcomplicating with tons of drop shadows, too many grid alignments, massive visual assets, or fancy fonts (which usually means image-based text

 us to pay closer attention to decisions being made, it’s also making us more thoughtful designers. In designing for email you 

 to prioritize and strategically solve the challenge at hand.

It’s a balancing act between performance and design. An email can look beautiful, but not be effective, in which case it’s not a successful email. Emails are not meant to be a piece of art, they are measured by specific metrics that dictate good vs bad. Design works as an addendum to the customer experience of the email’s content and messaging. It’s used as an aid to the overall strategy and as a line item on the grading rubric of performance for the success or failure of a campaign.

The biggest mistake that is consistently made in designing emails is simple – complexity 

. We try to limit that desire to overcomplicate in our own process at VIA by collaborating early and often with the development team. When designing an email, a designer and developer get together and go over the goals at hand and constraints within our email editor of choice. This helps eliminate future issues and aligns our priorities before any design work is done. It ends up being a huge time-saver and efficiency boost.

After eliminating complexity in handoff and process, you then must focus on the design itself. Remember, it’s about serving the person you're sending the email to, not your personal design vision or preferences. Email isn’t the place to test out complicated layouts and fancy designs. Use that energy on the consumer, their needs, and the effectiveness of having a focused message.

Tip: If you are really looking to get cute, throw in some fun or engaging copywriting. Copy can go a long way with holding your audience’s attention. BUT, keep it short and sweet. Most people spend less than 15 seconds reading marketing emails, so prioritizing is key.

So, going back to the constraints and limitations that I keep referring to. You must be asking – “Are there 

 rules I can follow?” It’s a loaded question but a valid one. My answer is – There isn’t really a single checklist to follow. Rules are ever-changing, BUT there are guidelines and standards to keep top of mind to improve your chances of success. Let’s run through some.

The first is simple and it’s that you need to 

. A common example of what not to do here (it’s one that I see often) is having an image with a block of text or headline in it. It looks PERFECT on desktop. It’s large and in charge, eye-catching and memorable. But when you go to open it on your phone, you need a magnifying glass. People utilize mobile email. Cater to them.

. Use trends that lend to legibility like high contrast and large body copy. Make it scannable and quick hitting. A tried-and-true layout doesn’t have to be boring – It can be adapted for any brand and made unique.

To ensure email renders for every client, 

for your design. I personally keep designs to 600px wide.

If you are using visuals in your email, be sure to 

 before uploading. Especially on mobile, large images take large amounts of loading time. I find that 

 is incredibly helpful for sizing down images without compromising quality. You’ll also want to save images out 2x the intended size to ensure that they are nice and crisp. Then, you can adjust the image attributes or CSS to scale down

. This will make your email more accessible. If your image doesn’t load, the text will still be shown (or read for screen readers), so the message isn’t entirely lost.

 Personalization has been linked to success in emails. Whether that’s using the person’s name in the email subject (personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened), catering content to specific audiences, or using relatable, custom photography that speaks to your brand.

This one is a bummer, but it’s important. 

. Email-safe fonts have the highest likelihood of being downloaded on your audience’s computer, thus rendering in the email without altering the design. Here is a list of the fonts considered most bullet proof:

. Make your email design digestible and give each section its own space to live. This helps guide your user along a curated path, without being overwhelmed by content and calls to action. It limits cognitive dissonance and increases likelihood of conversion. Win, win.

, I tend to stick to 1 column layouts, at least 16px font size for body copy, and keep said copy short and focused.

(easy to click) with not a lot of copy (easy to scan). Typically, I go 50px tall for CTAs and for the button-copy, I use a verb or action word to reiterate the call for the user to complete an action (EX: read, visit, learn, explore).

Make sure your images are large enough and 

. If they are tiny and busy, the message can easily get lost when scaled down.

 There are technically ways of including video in an email, but the success rate is low. Almost half of all email clients don’t support the technical requirements required to play a video in an email. You’re better off converting that mov or mp4 to an animated gif. Shorter load time, higher success rate and auto-plays.

Here are some examples of successful results following the above criteria by brands that consistently put out engaging, successful email campaigns.

Branded illustrated email campaign examples.

Branded email campaigns are an extension of the user experience.

Email Campaign Layouts

I’ll leave you with a bit of confidence in where I see email design going and our current process here at VIA.

Clean code supported by a modular based design. 

Component based design allows you to mix and match to create unique templates that feel consistent but different at the same time. Rather than 1 restrictive template design, you have 9 or 10 modules to pull from for different instances or content types. It makes the design more flexible. I’m a strong advocate for creating patterns or building a visual design language and emails are just another outlet where I find that to be a successful approach. Here are a couple of examples of companies reusing components / establishing a design language to come across as consistent, but unique each time they send something out.

5 colorful examples of Mail Chimp email campaigns.

Mail Chimp's email integrations allow for custom email campaigns.

Mail Chimp Email Campaigns

5 examples of email campaigns formatted in Zapier.

Zapier connections make personalized email marketing campaigns easier.

Zapier Email Campaigns Triggers

 to keep in mind when designing for email, but I hope the tips and tricks provided in this article help give you a solid foundation to build on. 

Email can be a beast and each discipline has their own set of principles and rules that they need to follow (which is why we did this series ☺). Be on the lookout for more posts on email in the future!

Reach out if you have any questions! Unless it’s about Photoshop Tetris. Can’t help you there. I’m retired.

View All Entries in the Email @ 50 Series:

Part I: Email @ 50: Email Marketing Still Works... Half a Century Later

Part IV: Email @ 50: Retrospective + The Future of Email

Email

Email stands the test of time as a reliable, trusted, always-there medium - and we’re big believers in its place and power with users. From developing interested audiences to supporting customers post-purchase and beyond, we can help you attract high-value, qualified emails leads and provide them engaging, valuable content through sophisticated email campaign strategy, design and development.

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User Experience (UX) is the driving design philosophy around building web and mobile applications, putting your audience (the “User”) first. The methodology requires research, wireframing, UI design, branding, and user testing to achieve exceptional results. We have the expertise in User Experience to design any experience you require.

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Email @ 50: The Art of Email Design 

1. Design for your user, not for yourself:

Your user should be your focus at every step of the design process. The most basic principle of interaction design is to meet the user’s needs. What are they looking for? Answer that first. What other products are they familiar with? Learn from those. Are there any common threads or patterns in the products that your users frequent? Borrow. Observe your user’s behavior, analyze existing data, form scenarios and flows and most important of all, test, refine, repeat.

The U in UX does not stand for “you”. At its core, user experience design is about eliminating ego from your process and doing what is best for others. This makes user testing and engagement with your product vital. Put your product in front of an audience, form user interviews, ask questions and don’t be afraid to fail. Your end product will be better for it.

It’s not stealing, just borrowing. When you begin to learn about your user, you will gain insight into what they are used to interacting with. The more familiar your design is to your audience, the faster and easier it will be for them to use. Consistency in UI, user flows, design patterns, even tone and language are all at play here. You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel, just get some new rims.

4. Make it (for lack of a better word) useable

Duh, right? Well... If only everyone followed this rule. Let’s get one thing straight – Accessibility should not compromise design, but rather give you a toolbox of constraints to create a better product for all. We design products for people to use and it’s crucial that said products can be used by as many people as possible. Consider color blindness – don’t use color as a sole means to communicate something, let it be a compliment. Triple check contrast – There are some great tools out there that can help with this 

 is one of them. Create CTA’s that look like buttons and links. Don’t get too crazy (goes back to familiarity). This is just the tip of the iceberg. In general, always try and remove obstacles for your users, design for disabilities and test, test, test. There are tons of plugins and resources out there when it comes to accessibility. Use 'em!

It can be tempting to want to pack everything in one place, but in web design, the focus should always be on the project goals and conversion. Focus on what is important in that journey from start to finish and everything in between. What is going to lead to more user engagement? Reduce any unnecessary operational and cognitive costs for your user and focus on content value.

Knock, knock? Who’s there? It’s familiarity again. UX-focussed copywriting has really taken off as a best practice in the past year. People are busy, and they don’t want to have to strain to understand or use your product. Make the language simple and easy. Use familiar language, figure out what your audience already knows and what they WANT to know. Consider the tone your communication needs to adopt and keep that consistent. Be clear and be concise.

Users crave feedback. If you click something, there needs to be something in return – 

changes color, changes shape, vibrates, morphs. 

Give your use SOMETHING. This helps communicate status, gives a sense of direct manipulation of the product, shows results of an action and increases engagement. Define user-initiated triggers, set rules around these triggers, create feedback – What happens/what does your user see? Create loops and modes that determine meta-rules based on different conditions.

8. Hand over the keys and let them drive:

Remind the user where they are within your product using visual cues, allow them to back-pedal so that they don’t get lost in sub-page land, utilize page templates and component based design principles for repetitive functions and improved efficiencies. All of these things help – and users will have a better experience if you give them control over what they interact with, how they interact with it and where they ultimately go.

Morgan Plappert

Journal Entries

4 AI Resources To Add To Your UX Design Toolbox

Creating a Design System in Figma

How To Upload .gif Display Ads to Google Ads

Email @ 50: The Art of Email Design

10 essential UX best practices to keep in your tool-box

Wireframing vs. Prototyping and Everything In-Between

Favorite UX Resources for Prototyping

The Fold: Above or Below?

The Role of Microinteractions in Successful UX

The Importance of Curiosity in Design

UI Animation in eCommerce, Some Do's and Don’ts