Toptal Design Blog

The Toptal Design Blog is a hub for advanced design studies by professional designers in the Toptal network on all facets of digital design, ranging from detailed design tutorials to in-depth coverage of new design trends, techniques, and technologies.

authors are vetted experts in their fields and write on topics in which they have demonstrated experience. All of our content is peer reviewed and validated by Toptal experts in the same field.

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authors are vetted experts in their fields and write on topics in which they have demonstrated experience. All of our content is peer reviewed and validated by Toptal experts in the same field.

The Chat Crash: When a Chatbot Fails

There’s much confusion and hyperbole surrounding chatbots. The tech is promising, but the user experience is lacking. We examine five chatbot fails and share practical tips to improve their UX.

9 minute readContinue Reading

Micah Bowers

Micah helps businesses craft meaningful engagement through branding, illustration, and design.

Cross-cultural Design and the Role of UX

Bringing a digital product to a new market can feel like navigating uncharted territory. Cultural differences are hard to identify but essential to understanding when developing a localized user experience.

9 minute readContinue Reading

Jenny Shen

Jenny is a UX designer who helps innovate digital products by defining strategy and designing user-centric experiences.

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Influence with Design: A Guide to Color and Emotions

The right color palette encourages people to behave in ways designers want them to, while the wrong palette can turn visitors away before they take any action at all.

8 minute readContinue Reading

Cameron Chapman

Cameron comes from a design background and is the author of two web design books: Color for Web Design and The Smashing Idea Book.

Strength in Numbers – An Overview of Data-driven Design

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.

7 minute readContinue Reading

Cameron Chapman

Cameron comes from a design background and is the author of two web design books: Color for Web Design and The Smashing Idea Book.

Mobile UX Design Constraints, Best Practices, and Working With Developers

We can achieve better user experiences with mobile UX design by following best practices, understanding constraints and facilitating a solid working relationship with developers.

10 minute readContinue Reading

Shane Ketterman

Shane comes from an architecture and design background as well as UX, tech, startups, and content marketing.

Heuristic Principles for Mobile Interfaces

Nielsen’s heuristic principles have stood the test of time and have been revisited to be further integrated with human-centered design for mobile—including clear definitions and design examples.

8 minute readContinue Reading

Jordan DeVos

Jordan’s expertise spans across brand strategy, service design, and UX. She works with organizations to help strengthen teams and innovate.

A Day in the Freelance Life: Getting to Know Toptal Designers

Are remote working and freelancing viable options for designers? We interview Toptal designers to discover how they’re forging freelance careers with meaningful work for high-impact global companies.

8 minute readContinue Reading

Micah Bowers

Micah helps businesses craft meaningful engagement through branding, illustration, and design.

Toptal Design Expert

Paula Barcante

Paula is an award-winning UX/UI designer, advisor, and illustrator with more than six years of hands-on experience in making complex interfaces delightful and user friendly. She has made a significant impact in large corporations, such as Amazon, Zillow, Google, as well as startups. Her mission is to create efficient, beautiful, innovative, and high-quality experiences for the greater good of society.