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.

4 Steps to Mastering the MVP Development Process

In the world of startup products, design resources are scarce. This four-step MVP process helps designers build and launch user-friendly products on time without blowing their budgets.

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Calin Balea

Calin is a product designer, lean UX practitioner, and branding specialist with experience at both startups and large companies. He’s worked on end-to-end product design from concept and strategy to usability testing to visual design. Calin works well with small teams and startup founders to iterate quickly, test early, and deliver on time.

Don’t Always Champion the User: How to Balance Business Priorities and UX

Designers who advocate for the user without showing an awareness of business objectives are at risk of being ignored. These strategies will help you communicate the value of UX to stakeholders.

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Damir Kotorić

Damir is a digital designer who has created payments systems at Booking.com, open-data portals for Australian state governments, and the search experience at Envato Market. He has also facilitated design sprint workshops at Harvard University, been a lead UX instructor at General Assembly, and led AR/VR design at Archimedes Digital.

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Medical Billing Reimagined: A UI/UX Case Study

Toptal designer Beatriz Garcia de Prado explains how she built a digital product to replace the outdated paper forms doctors were sending to insurance companies.

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Beatriz Garcia de Prado

Beatriz Garcia de Prado is a UI/UX designer and branding expert who has worked for clients such as ABN AMRO, Ahold Delhaize, Dutch transport company Broshuis, and aperitif maker Haus. She is the former creative director of EMN & OLLA The Agency, and former managing director and art director of EMN in Bahrain. She is also the co-founder and art director of the luxury table linen brand Prado y Barrio.

How to Conduct User Research as a Team of One

User research is essential to product design, but it can be challenging to do alone. Explore how a solo designer can optimize time and resources to uncover important user insights.

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Anna Vasyukova

Anna is a data-driven product designer who specializes in user research, analytics, and usability testing. She holds an MBA, a Certificate in User Experience Design from the Nielsen Norman Group, and a Professional Diploma in UX Design from UX Design Institute.

Less Trust, More Truth: Web3 Design Best Practices and Patterns

Developers want Web3, a decentralized model of the internet, to become mainstream. To achieve that, designers need to make Web3 apps more consistent and intuitive.

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Mayank Sharma

Mayank is a product designer who specializes in fintech and building Web3 apps and platforms. He has extensive knowledge of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and financial exchanges.

The Future of User Interface Design: Next-generation UI Tools

The next wave of UI design tools will fully integrate design and code to provide a seamless experience for designers and developers.

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Damir Kotorić

Vital Design: The Importance of Healthcare App Accessibility

COVID-19 made telemedicine popular—and in some cases, necessary. But many platforms and apps are inaccessible to those who need them most. Designers can change that.

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Amy Oughton

Amy is a digital design expert who specializes in analyzing big data and designing high-converting interfaces for applications, SaaS products, and websites. She focuses on the healthcare, finance, nonprofit, and government sectors.

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.