My camera is Lumix GX80.
It was released in 2016 and in 2019 when I bought it, it was a bargain. I bought it because I wanted to improve the image quality of globalkitespots.com, but also because an interest in photography in general had started to grow in me.
I’m the kind of person who does hours and hours of research before I buy something. The world of digital cameras is probably one of the most opinionated and documented gadget driven hobbies there is, so there was definitely no shortage of material to immerse myself in.
I wanted a system…
The sole purpose of a business is to sustainably deliver value.
The sustainability part is important here because this is how the business stays afloat. It’s the enabler of the value delivery. It’s done by receiving something in return for the value delivered.
In practise, it’s being profitable. Making money.
I used to think that the purpose of a business was to make money, period. But of course, all great companies have a vision and that vision is never about making money — that’s just a result of being successful while working towards the vision.
The vision is about value…
Working as a contractor in digital product design is amazing. You’ll get to be in control of your work arrangements while charging rates usually a fair bit higher than permanent employment offers. These high rates compensate for unpaid annual leave and lack of pension schemes, and cover running costs such as insurance and accounting.
But if the steady routine of a regular 9–5 job year after year doesn’t suit your lifestyle, and you’ve got a bit of financial acumen, my experience tells me that being a contractor offers you both freedom and good finances. …
I'm happy to see that more and more people are talking about this. I've come to learn the same thing the hard way (and written about it as well).
UX is a thing, but UX design should die. Currently I'm using Product designer and Product architect (or equally good UI designer and UI architect) to distinguish between requirements and production.
Late last year I received an invitation to try out and review Mockitt, a UI prototyping tool. I had never heard of it before, and judging from the eminent and annual UXTools survey, it wasn’t picked up by the masses either.
I have to admit I’m having a hard time keeping up with the latest tools. I stick with tried and tested industry standards, just enough up to date to fit in with most design teams I join as a contractor.
My personal experience aligns well with the UXTools survey when it comes to tools used for UI design and…
Various stimuli made me think about the topic of staying relevant lately.
The key contributor, I think, is the constant reminder of how highly valued a glossy surface is. A slick and modern UI will get the votes in 2020 (instead of the insights and process that should proceed it).
The problem is that anyone can design a slick and modern UI in 2021.
But first, some history.
Being a UI designer in 2001
The craft of UI design was hard in 2001. Most of the time it was a matter of applying usability and creativity (ever so stifled) to a medium that had limited styling options. It was a constant struggle of making the most of small…
What is the best way to enter the date of birth in mobile forms? Here are four options to consider.
In one of my recent projects, I’ve been designing the registration form for an iOS app. Form design is a classic UI challenge — One can spend a day designing a registration form, spend the rest of the week honing it, and the rest of the year optimising it once it’s live. Form design is notoriously known for being filled with pitfalls, and in mobile forms, it gets even trickier.
A simple text input field isn’t much of a cumber, but the birth date input forced me to think carefully before settling on something. …
Questions to ask yourself to pin down where you are and what to do next.
‘Where are we?’ is not only one of my favourite tunes — It’s also a good question to ask ourselves when we join a new product development project.
You know that illustration of the design process as it really is; the one that turns a straight line into a tangled piece of yarn? It’s kinda like that when you step into a new project, trying to work out what the brief is really about and how you can best support the project goals.
It can be quite stressful knowing that it’s up to you to define the design plan but…
If you ask a UX professional what UX strategy is, you’d get answers as widely spread as hippo poo, of which the majority would be vague.
Why? Because strategy is a confusing catch-all phrase, but still we want to include it in our skillset. Because it’s expected of us:
Jerome Kalumbu
I’m guilty of this; calling myself a design strategist but secretly hoping no one would call me out on it. If someone did, I would probably say something about defining the right approach for the target audience. …
We all know that the design process can get messy. And that’s fine.
Every project is different and needs its unique approach for full efficiency. On top of that, every designer has their own preferred way of getting to the finish line. That’s obviously fine too.
There are only really two things that matter when you join a new project as a designer; the beginning and the end. Or in other words — the project definition/brief and the design documentation.
Everything in between; how you explore, iterate and test design is up to personal preference. But the brief and the…
Martin Sandström
Designing digital interfaces. Kitesurfer. Travels a lot. https://martinsandstrom.com
