CategoryWorkflow

August 23, 2018 — Looking to establish a robust design process for a distributed team? It’s not as difficult as you may think. If you’re a team manager who is looking to establish a robust design process for a distributed team, then this article for you. Here Nick Babich brings you seven of the most common challenges distributed product teams should overcome and how a team-management tool called “monday” can help. Read more…

July 23, 2018 — We asked the Smashing Community for their favorite tips and tricks when editing text and code. With so many great suggestions, Rachel Andrew decided to collect them all into one article so you can add it to your useful bookmarks. Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply and share their best-appreciated tools and techniques — we sincerely appreciate it! Read more…

July 10, 2018 — Involving other people early on — especially people from other disciplines — can feel scary. By taking inspiration from code reviews, we can improve collaboration both within our own fields as well as across disciplines, be it design, UX, content or development. No one is really promoting waterfall processes anymore. So how can you involve people early on so that you’re avoiding the waterfall, but also making sure that you’re not setting yourself up for design by committee? Ida Aalen found her answer when learning about code reviews. Read more…

July 9, 2018 — CSS can be hard to manage across a project, especially when you need to include media queries for various breakpoints and fallbacks for older browsers. In this article, we will take a look at using Fractal to manage components which use CSS Grid. Rachel Andrew is going to describe a method of working that she’s adopted over the past two years that helps her to manage CSS across her projects. Read more…

June 22, 2018 — Getting your dream job is not too complicated but it will take effort. This article may be the last obstacle that stands between you and your next dream job. Today Andree Huk will outline uncommon tactics and crucial aspects that can help any designer. In order to get your dream job, he’ll discuss in detail on how to plan and execute your outreach to recruiters or hiring managers. Writing a stellar CV by analyzing job descriptions or calculating how many applications you have to send are just some of the aces in your pocket. Read more…

June 6, 2018 — The defining characteristic of UX design is its focus on user research and on an iterative, user-centered, approach to creating solutions. But what if we applied the user-centered design process to ourselves, our lives, and our careers? In this article, JD Jordan is going to introduce you to four tools and techniques you can use to get started: Your Life In Weeks, Eisenhower Charts, Affinity Mapping and Prototyping Life. Read more…

May 21, 2018 — Design’s role in companies is becoming less about visual appeal and more about hitting business goals and creating value for users. Therefore, the need to build teams with diverse perspectives is becoming imperative. This article is for people who are part of a design team (or any team) that makes crucial business decisions with stakeholders and how they might go about building a diverse team through the use of the Competing Values Framework evaluation. Read more…

April 24, 2018 — Creating a team who can work well together across different disciplines can be hard. Given the wide range of skills held by the line-up at the upcoming SmashingConf Toronto, Rachel Andrew solicits some suggestions from the speakers. She’s wrapped those up with her own experience of 20 years working alongside designers and other developers. Read more…

April 11, 2018 — What does it take to be a great UX leader? Well, not only do you need to provide clear guidance, but also empower different individuals in your team. A UX leader needs to encompass a wide range of skills. In his final article in this series on user experience design, Christopher Murphy will explore the different characteristics of an effective UX leader, and provide some practical advice about growing into a leadership role. Read more…

March 28, 2018 — As the spotlight has focused on the potential of design to transform businesses, we’ve seen a growing need for designers across a wider range of specializations. The number and types of roles have increased and, as UX continues to become a sought-after business differentiator, these roles will continue to diversify. What do you look out for when hiring team members? In this article, Christopher Murphy outlines how to go about building a UX team, which attributes to look out for when hiring, and he will suggest some avenues you can explore to find team members. Read more…