Designing for complexity, onboarding surveys & more
Designing for complexity, onboarding surveys & more
Sketching for UX Newsletter Issue #23 - my favorite design resources I discovered last month (August, 2024)
Hey dear subscriber 👋,
I hope you had a nice & productive last month. Please feel free to send me your favorite design resources, I’m always on the lookout for new gems!
✏️ My work
Here are some things I’ve been working on (or have completed) lately:
I published an article about my favorite UX research books.
Check out my previous articles about my favorite design books: UI design books, UX workbooks
I gave a guest lecture about Sketching in the Design Process at the University of Waterloo Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business - thanks for inviting me
You can watch the recoding on Linkedin or on Youtube.I participated in Fons Mans's project, playlist.design: playlists made by designers, for designers. I hope you'll enjoy my playlist called "Gradient", it's a mix of synthwave & metal songs - perfect for deep design work 😊
I have become an affiliate partner of my favorite comprehensive UI design course, the course that helped me understand back in 2017 that UI design is not about being talented or using magical fairy dust. If you want to establish a great foundation, look no further, take Erik Kennedy’s Learn UI design course.
✏️ Designing for complexity
My new UX Knowledge Piece Sketch is about a useful analogy I apply for understanding complex concepts or systems. How would you explain what a train is to an alien? 🚂
Check out my sketch & detailed article here soon.
✏️ Favorite resources
Here are my favorite discoveries of August, 2024:
#1 Neurodesign: the science behind unforgettable experiences
This is the 4th part of the Neurodesign series by Jo Ash Sakula
”To be a brilliant designer is to learn how to craft products that resonate so deeply that they occupy a special space in the mind.”
#2 Shape Up - Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters by Ryan Singer
This book is not new, but it was a new discovery, you can read it here for free, (there is a PDF version, too.)
”We built Basecamp to execute the techniques in this book. It puts all our project communication, task management, and documentation in one place where designers and programmers work seamlessly together.”
#3 How to Craft Onboarding Surveys Users Love: 5 Do’s and Don’ts
A great case study by the growth.design team
#4 Simple recall testing for B2B UX by Olesia Vdovenko
I have never heard about this method before, recall sketching is something I’ll surely try out in my next project.
”B2B is less focused on user retention and attracting new users through a good user experience. Instead, the emphasis is on how much money the service can save. Therefore, the critical aspects are not the initial experience or impressions but rather learnability and efficiency.”
#5 Desigeist by
One of my favorite designers, Pablo Stanley has started a design inspiration newsletter & page, opening his emails has been like opening little presents.
#6 40 Thoughts At 40 by Brad Frost
Not necessarily design related, but Brad’s post truly made me think. I’ll make sure to write my own list of 40 thoughts when I “level up” :)
”Those ideas you have in your head are worth exploring. Look for opportunities to explore and realize your potential. You’ll be surprised at how attainable things are, and I don’t think you’ll regret exploring.”
#7 Practical Design - Why Good Design Matters in Everyday Items
In my How to train your designer eye course, I talk about getting inspired by the world around us. I show how the clever package design of Oatly makes drinking my morning coffee an even more memorable experience. This article by Niko Kitsakis explores a similar topic: how to place the expiration date of herbs in a user friendly way.
#8 Dev Encyclopedia
This resource should be included in all design bootcamps: in order to communicate with your developers effectively, you need to establish a shared understanding. I have a course on this topic: Be a better designer by understanding development aspects, and I also have a UX Knowledge Base Sketch about designer-developer collaboration.
#9 To be a designer is to be a facilitator by
Facilitation is one of my favorite parts of my job. Reaching a shared understanding and collaborative problem solving is one of the best human experiences. In this essay, Marielle answers the question “what does it mean to “be a facilitator”?” […] ”A facilitator is someone or something that supports others to accessibly understand, mediate, collaborate, and/or create.”
#10 Mapping the landscape of gen-AI product user experience
As Patrick Neeman wrote in his recent article, we should embrace AI:“While UX may be perceived to be dying, I believe the field is entering a golden age, especially in the age of AI. This is an opportunity.”
This map of the gen-AI landscape by Matt Webb will surely help you understand some basic concepts.
+1 Deck of Brilliance
Idea generation tools for creative professionals by Juggi Ramakrishnan and Todd McCracken
🔥 Deals & recommended products
My Udemy courses
Newest course: How to train your designer eye - €12.99
Sketching for UX Designers course - €12.99
Be a better designer by understanding development aspects course - €12.99
My (pay-what-you-want) books
Recommended design courses
Master Gorgeous UI Design Course by
& his team - Now the course is complete! 🎉
- (use the code SKETCHINGFORUX to get $100 off)
Into UX Design (UX research & concept validation) by Anfisa Bogomolova (use the code SKETCHINGFORUX to get 10% off)
The Ultimate UI Design Mastery Bundle is an epic starting point if you want to become a UI designer. I attended their Advanced Figma course, so I experienced their teaching style myself.
Other deals
Mobbin 2.0 is here with many new exciting features like flows, advanced search and an all-new library! Join with my link to support me with a couple of dollars, I’d really appreciate it!
Thanks for reading my newsletter, I hope you enjoyed it! 💙
Krisztina