Community: Professional Development

Well-established UX design patterns, laws, and rules form the foundation of our profession. Foundational principles steer our design decisions and offer scaffolding for our design processes. These tools and techniques make up our toolkit. In contrast, domain expertise provides the blueprint, which gives us the context, depth, and understanding to use our design tools effectively. For example, the design of a healthcare app requires knowledge of healthcare protocols, while designing a finance tool demands financial expertise.

This article emphasizes the significance of domain expertise in UX design, positioning it as essential for informed decision-making, efficient communication, and enhanced user empathy. Any UX designer who lacks domain knowledge faces significant challenges during the discovery phase, highlighting the need for designers to adapt quickly to new industries. It also outlines a strategic learning plan for acquiring domain expertise, with a focus on identifying knowledge gaps, useful learning approaches, and the efficient creation of documentation. Read More

“We should try to leave the world a better place than when we entered it.”—Michio Kaku

Inclusiveness, diversity, and belonging in the workplace have become essential parts of a ubiquitous, ever-present ideology for organizations. Diversity and inclusion are quickly moving to the top of organizations’ lists of priorities because of the value they add. Not only do they contribute to creating a happier, more discretionary, and productive workforce, they also improve the organizations’ financial performance, as multiple studies have reported.

Still, one of the biggest challenges we face today is creating a diverse and inclusive environment for the workforce. Achieving true diversity and inclusion takes more than a training video or a session about being polite to coworkers. Many reputed organizations have been taking measures across multiple fronts—including hiring, promotions, opportunities, behavior, and more—to instill, improve, and constantly monitor these principles. Awareness of the business case for inclusion and diversity is on the rise. While social justice is typically the initial impetus behind these efforts, companies have increasingly begun to regard inclusion, diversity, and belonging as a source of competitive advantage—and more specifically, as a key enabler of growth. Read More

To get work as a professional designer, whether as an in-house designer or an independent consultant, the first thing you need to have is a good design portfolio. If you want to win design projects, your design portfolio must impress your prospective clients. Your portfolio showcases your design skills, creativity, and talent and helps clients to envision what they can expect if they hire you. Your portfolio can help you to make a great first impression, which is essential in today’s competitive design industry.

How can you create a brilliant, eye-catching design portfolio? First, you must decide what goals you want to achieve through your design portfolio and what information it should include. Your design portfolio should be a virtual gallery of your best designs. It should tell a well-crafted story about your work and give your future clients a sneak-peek into the design processes and methods you use in overcoming design challenges. Read More