January 10, 2014 — This is the second in a series of four articles covering four ways to develop mobile applications. Today, Peter Traeg will look at how to build the same sort of application using native Android tools. This simple tip calculator contains two screens: a main view and a settings view. The settings view persists the default tip percentage to local storage using Android’s SDK support. Read more…

January 9, 2014 — Jeremy Girard took a part-time position teaching website design and front-end development at the University of Rhode Island. In this article, he will look at some of the challenges to prepare for if you are considering taking on a teaching position. He will also present some of my personal experiences and insights, to help you consider such a move for your own career. Read more…

January 8, 2014 — Here at Smashing Magazine, our aim is to highlight topics that inspire, challenge, and motivate us to do more and do it better. The design-related content that is published in the Design category of the magazine is dedicated to our cherished community of designers (developers and other are welcome too, of course!) who want to help each other as well as learn from each other. Read more…

January 8, 2014 — Anthony Viviano has been working at incorporating lean UX at the enterprise level. In studying it, he fond that there’s a temptation to lay down rules, and if the rules aren’t followed, you can’t call it lean UX. At the end of the day, though, some lean UX is better than none. Read more…

January 6, 2014 — In this second part, Pete Smart will share what travelling 2517 miles taught him. Every day, he had 24 hours to observe a problem, attempt to solve it and then communicate the solution. For more of an introduction to the adventure, “50 Problems in 50 Days, Part 1: Real Empathy for Innovation” gives an overview of the project. Read more…

January 2, 2014 — Working walls are known by countless names. Underlying them all is a single idea: that physically pinning our sources of inspiration and work in progress can help us to rearrange concepts and unlock breakthrough insights. According to Vyas and his colleagues at the University of Twente, designers integrate these surfaces “artfully” and organize information in such a way that it empowers them to visualize and extend their work in progress. Read more…

December 31, 2013 — As designers, we usually turn to desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. This creativity mission has been going on for over five years now, and we are very thankful to all designers who have contributed and are still diligently contributing each month. This article features free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for January 2014. Read more…

December 27, 2013 — Adobe is feature-freezing Fireworks, and it is not offering a replacement tool for Fireworks users. What does this mean for you if you use Fireworks to design user interfaces and screens? In this article Michel Bozgounov will take a close look at Adobe Fireworks, explaining why it is a unique and powerful design tool, how we can continue to use it effectively, and what our alternatives are for the future. Read more…

December 22, 2013 — Read more…

December 19, 2013 — Adobe is feature-freezing Fireworks. And it is not offering a replacement tool for Fireworks users. What does this mean for you if you use Fireworks to design user interfaces and screens? In this article, Michel Bozgounov will take a close look at Adobe Fireworks, explaining why it is a unique and powerful design tool, how we can continue to use it effectively, and what our alternatives are for the future. Read more…