#UIDesign Posts

Data-driven UI design is both art and science. Understanding how to collect and analyze data and implement designs based on it is an important skill for beginner and expert designers alike.

Good design is possible without understanding the principles of design. But it may take a lot of trial and error to create something that both looks good and creates an optimal user experience.

Bad B2B UX is everywhere—but the situation is not hopeless. By understanding the pitfalls, and having a strategic user-centered design plan, designers can pave the way to saving enterprise software.

Design critiques are a key part of the product design process that encourage collaboration and improve ideas. This guide will help designers conduct productive, efficient critiques for actionable feedback.

When looking for inspiration, designers should consider what they can add to the work of others. Where can they make it better? More useful? More elegant? More efficient?

A consistent UI leads to a better UX. But with so many moving parts in modern user interfaces, how can UI designers be sure they’re staying true to a digital product’s look and feel?

Sketch is a valuable, time-saving resource for any designer’s toolbox. Though not every designer chooses to do so, creating style guides in Sketch can make it even more of a time-saver.

UI and UX are two design terms that often get used in the wrong context. Designers who call themselves “UI designers,” or design for trends rather than users, could be harming their reputation.

Flinto is a simple and easy to use tool for creating interactive prototypes. This tutorial teaches you how to quickly create mobile dashboard microinteractions in order to improve your prototype.

While there can be considerable overlap between user interface (UI) design and user experience (UX) design, they are distinct fields with different skills required for each role.

Design frameworks help designers work more efficiently by utilizing reusable UI components. Using Sketch symbols, this article sheds light on how to create and use one (includes a free Sketch UI framework).

White space is a frequently overlooked and underutilized element in many TV interface designs that are often crowded and busy.

Thoughtful use of white space in TV UI design improves comprehension and focus, and it enhances the user’s experience.

Why do we still use buttons in our user interfaces? Technology has come so far and offers so many possibilities, there is no longer any reason to force our users to click the tiny rectangles we call “buttons.”

In recent years, as designers, we have a growing selection of tools to work with. One of them is Figma – the answer for collaborative work which, nowadays, we do more and more often.

It is now possible to more accurately shape experiences that dynamically personalize content by coupling behavioral design with data science and analytics.

Designing past mobile or desktop interaction boundaries and into the physical world opens up possibilities to create immersive environmental experiences.

A competitive analysis can dramatically improve customer satisfaction and conversion rates as well as give assurance that you stand apart from your competitors.

A wireframe map is handy as a tool for estimating work at the start of a project and as a checklist to keep you on track throughout the design process.

Interaction design principles form the bedrock of awesome UX. Truly great interaction design relies on a set of conventions, standards, best practices and rules-of-thumb.

The relationship between art and design is often misunderstood, and although a design outcome can be artful, the process behind it is altogether very different.

The top five reasons why creating a styleguide early is especially important for startups in spite of the inherent challenges.

In many product design scenarios wireframes may not be necessary and skipping them altogether may cut down on confusion and save a lot of time.

UX and usability testing analysis is a critical skill. How do you go about collecting data and analyze results? Here’s a way to stay sane during the process.

Two eCommerce sites were losing customers due to poor UX. A small set of UX improvements were made that greatly enhanced the sites’ usability and boosted sales.

Toptal designer Bronwen Rees explains how in persuasive design, social and psychological triggers can be utilized to influence user behavior.

The next wave of IoT will connect millions of devices. The skills needed in this new paradigm will shift from component thinking to whole systems thinking.

In this article, Toptal designer Sergio Ortiz writes about the Internet of Things, its design implications, how it will change the way businesses operate, and how we see the world—and how to help make homes, cities, and factories smarter and more efficient.

What can be done easily and inexpensively to substantially improve your product designs? User testing. User testing digital product designs is imperative if you are to design “useful” products.

This six-part process by Toptal designer John Roose describes how the insights you gain from observing how actual users use your product are well worth it.

In apps, the next big thing is almost always initially dismissed as a toy. Things like Snapchat and VR, initially targeting the gaming industry and teen markets, ended up blossoming into disruptive technologies.

You probably wouldn’t stare at a white screen on a site or app for more than a few seconds without a page load status or time indicator. A well-crafted loading animation helps you stay engaged while you wait. Toptal Design Editor Tidjane Tall will show you how Slack, Trello, and Flickr loading animations can be done with ease. You’ll be able to apply what you learn to create your own branded loading animation from scratch.

We can harness the power of constraints by consciously choosing to place strict limits on design options, and we needn’t look beyond our own smartphones to find compelling examples of how this works.

Designers too often work for their ego and choose to redesign the next billion-user start-up to boost their career, rather than doing something that will really help them grow. We receive no substantial criticism when publishing portfolio work online, but when we design for reality we put ourselves in a position to learn.

In this article, Toptal Lead Blog Design Editor Michael Abehsera shows us how to kill our egos, design for the small and local, and to always be students.