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Articles by Sean Dexter
A few advanced tips for UX/Product Design behavioral interviews at tech companies
I’ve been on both sides of many UX and Product design interviews over ~10 years and in the process I’ve gotten plenty of offers and rejections both (too many of the latter!) from lots of tech names you’d probably recognize. I’ve picked up a few tips along the way that I often find myself giving out when I’m asked for advice by those trying to land similar roles. A lot of this applies to engineering, product, etc roles but I’ll be focusing on the lens of a designer.
Learnings from designing for multi-language user interfaces
Designing for multiple languages has had an impact on the way I approach design decisions, regardless of the product being in one or several languages. The points covered in this story are based on some of the issues I encountered when designing for an existing and functioning product that was translated to accommodate new languages (and regions). The stage of the product can play a major role in design.
The rise and fall of Invision
The results of the UxTool’s 2020 Survey are in. One of the biggest takeaways? Things aren’t looking great for InVision. Usage for prototyping & handoff is way down In 2017 the Design Tools survey showed InVision leading its category as a prototyping tool with 60% of respondents indicating they used it. In 2020 that share has fallen to 23% with more than half of that number only using it as a secondary tool.
5 academic research papers every designer should read
Product design is now a mainstay in the working vocabularies of companies worldwide. We’d go so far as saying that it (product designs) may now be entering the portion of its lifespan where strategic maturity and academic thought are now taking up the centre stage as the cheap tricks and skin deep strategies cant hold up to the lofty tasks at hand that product designers will have to solve in this coming decade.
The Rise and Fall of Invision
The results of the UxTool’s 2020 Survey are in. One of the biggest takeaways? Things aren’t looking great for Invision. Usage for prototyping & handoff is way down In 2017 the Design Tools survey showed Invision leading its category as a prototyping tool with 60% of respondents indicating they used it. In 2020 that share has fallen to 23% with more than half of that number only using it as a secondary tool.
Why designers should be embedded into product teams and what that even means
Operating “like an internal agency” is rarely the ideal. Photo via https://unsplash.com/photos/ugm-yDj9Hi4 Consider these two schools of thought for how a product company might structure its teams: #1 — Project Teams In a project organization, individuals from different departments are assigned temporarily to projects (shocker!). Project members contribute temporarily until the project is completed, usually at a pre-determined deadline.
Why Designers Should be Embedded Into Product Teams and What That Even Means
Operating “like an internal agency” is rarely the ideal Consider these two schools of thought for how a product company might structure its teams: #1 — Project Teams In a project organization, individuals from different departments are assigned temporarily to projects (shocker!). Project members contribute temporarily until the project is completed, usually at a pre-determined deadline.
Flat Design: Why you should question Nielsen Norman’s research on the trendy design style.
The Nielsen Norman Group is probably the most influential usability consultancy in the design industry. So, when they publish an article about their research findings titled “Flat UI Elements Attract Less Attention and Cause Uncertainty”, many designers perk up and pay attention. In the few days after the article’s release I’ve already seen it shared several times as evidence of the weaknesses of flat as an interface aesthetic. But there’s a problem with that conclusion.
The grid of the mind
It was once winter in Buenos Aires when we were sitting at home and remembering old stories. “You were only three years old when you would sit on the floor, open a drawer, take everything out, and then carefully start to put everything back in its place again,” my mother said while she served everybody another round of green tea. ‘“I’m organizing’ you would say to me,” she said, still amazed by that scene from 22 years ago.
Why Visual Design Skills are a Must-Have for Good UX
It’s no secret that user experience design has historically struggled to avoid being seen as focused only on “look and feel”. This makes sense, and unfortunately there are plenty of practicing interface designers out there who optimize only for their own visual preferences.
The Baymard Institute: A glorious, evidence-based trove of UX best practices
What’s so great about Baymard and why aren’t there more organizations on the same level? I realized I wanted to write this piece when I mentioned the Baymard Institute to a User Researcher with 10+ years of experience and they had no idea what I was talking about. They aren’t alone! I’ve gotten plenty of raised eyebrows on the subject before.
Beware SAFe (the Scaled Agile Framework for Enterprise), an Unholy Incarnation of Darkness
“And, in the next place, since evil is specially characterized by its diffusion, and attains its greatest height when it simulates the appearance of the good, for that reason are signs, and marvels, and lying miracles found to accompany evil, through the cooperation of its father the devil.” — The Theologian (185–254) on recognizing the Antichrist If you’ve never heard of it before, the Scaled Agile Framework for Enterprise is a collection of principles and practices assembled with the goal...
Agile is great. Scrum is OK. Know the difference.
“The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of the father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of the son. ” Ezekiel 18:20. Image: “Separation of Light from Darkness” by Michaelangelo/Wikimedia Commons Agile software creation is pretty great. If you don’t think so, it might be because you’ve been introduced to the concept in a confusing way. Or at least that’s what I’ve come to believe based on my day to day discussions with others in the software world.
Wireframes are becoming less relevant - and that’s a good thing
Over time I’ve found wireframes to be less and less useful, and I don’t think I’m alone. Because the term is somewhat loosely defined, it’s probably important to be specific. While there are many types of prototypes that examine levels of fidelity across various dimensions, I’d like to focus on the specific variant that most immediately comes to mind when hearing the word wireframe.
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