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.

Featured in

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.

Digging Deeper: A Practical Guide to Creative Empathy for Product Design

Master creative empathy techniques to help you understand what other people want and need, then apply these skills throughout the design process to create products that resonate with people.

10 minute readContinue Reading

Brian Pagán, EngD, MSc

Brian is a human-experience designer focused on healthcare, fintech, IoT, and sustainability. He has helped businesses such as Philips, ING Group, and Land Life Company develop innovation strategies and award-winning products and services. He is the author of The Creative Empathy Field Guide.

How Product Designers Can Use Gamification for Good

Gamification in product design is a powerful tool for engaging users, but it can also cause significant harm if left unchecked. With good intent and ethical strategies, designers can create gamified products that balance user health and client requirements.

10 minute readContinue Reading

Alexandre Brito

Alexandre is a user experience designer and strategist with more than 12 years of experience working for companies such as Deutsche Bank, Philips, Vodafone, KLM, Intel, Pernod Ricard, Asics, and Toyota. He designs better ways for customers to experience products and services that improve their lives as well as the business’s bottom line. Alexandre excels at simplifying complex concepts, understanding behavior, and creating innovative experiences.

World-class articles, delivered weekly.

By entering your email, you are agreeing to our privacy policy.

Helping AI See Clearly: A Dashboard Design Case Study

In this dashboard design case study, Toptal UI expert Fellype Silva describes how he built a user interface that improved the image recognition capabilities of automated AI systems.

10 minute readContinue Reading

Fellype Silva

Fellype is an experienced digital product designer who specializes in user interfaces. His user-focused designs support the business needs of multiple clients, including a market research firm, a pediatric mental health app developer, a real estate marketing startup, and a venture capital studio.

Delight Users With These Mobile App Design Best Practices

Applying best practices—such as streamlining onboarding, implementing UI elements consistently, and communicating errors—will ensure your mobile product delivers an optimal experience and exceeds user expectations.

10 minute readContinue Reading

Damola Taiwo

Damola is a senior UI/UX designer with experience creating digital products for such clients as fintech company e-Finance, equipment leasing firm Aquila Leasing, and music-streaming platform MyMusic. Previously, he led a creative agency, where he delivered projects for clients across multiple verticals for governments, airlines, financial institutions, entertainment companies, tech firms, and startups.

Navigation can be a UX minefield. Apply these guidelines to design intuitive multilevel menus that increase findability and offer a consistent experience across devices.

10 minute readContinue Reading

Andris Suipe

Andris is a Google and UXQB-certified design professional with a decade of experience in healthcare, fintech, data recovery, insurance, and other industries. He’s designed products for Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac platforms.

Leveraging Fitts’ Law: User Interface Design Principles for E-commerce

Apply this midcentury mathematical law to e-commerce UI design and convert visitors into customers.

7 minute readContinue Reading

Alexandre Brito

Alexandre is a UX/UI designer and strategist with more than a dozen years of experience designing standout e-commerce experiences. He has worked with such companies as Asics, Deutsche Bank, Intel, KLM, Pernod Ricard, Philips, Toyota, and Vodafone.

Retain Users With These Mobile App Onboarding Inspirations

Mobile app onboarding is fraught with frustration and friction, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Learn from these exquisit onboarding examples specifically designed to engage and retain users.

< 5 minute readContinue Reading

Michael Abehsera

Michael is an experienced UI/UX designer whose background in marketing and data analysis helps him make well-informed design decisions.

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.