You can probably relate to the challenges of building a portfolio from postponement to countless iterations on design, content, structure, or decisions. After iterating on my own portfolio quite a lot and also reviewing many candidates’ portfolios I like to share with you some thoughts about how to make the portfolio more effective.
Procrastination
A word that most of us can relate to when it comes to creating our personal portfolio. It may appear in numerous contexts: I don’t have inspiration today, I’ll start it tomorrow, actually, I don’t know where to start, the ideas just keep coming I will never…
You may have had unpleasant interview experiences from the position of the interviewer… whether you were unprepared, nervous because of the lack of experience on this side of the boat, or you may have found that the job description is not relevant to what you really look for from a candidate. Yes, this happens too :).
Next, I will share with you 6 tips that you can use in startups, consultancy, large organizations, or in the service industry on how to hire the right designer.
There is a video at the end of this article if you are not much…
How can you succeed as a designer in a digital world that has picked up dizzying speed?
One thing that happens is that every business wants fast results, which makes sense because this is the dynamic of our days. The thing is that this is how businesses (and governments to some extend) actually taught their users to be, imposing a consumption behavior through misleading advertising and collecting enormous amounts of data in order to… innovate? The power&profit downstream to which a lot of big companies contribute is the result of exploiting people’s weaknesses. You can call this the dark side of User Experience. And yes, it is in our power to say no, but do we?
Fail fast, deliver faster
In…
The interview
Q — Oana Blaga (Awesome Moderator)
C — Codrin Iftimie (Tech Lead)
M — Mihai Balea (UX Lead)
Q: Could you explain in maximum 5 phrases how does the UX-FE collaboration works?
M: There are some essential things to follow in making this collaboration solid. One is that both disciplines should be aligned with the business objectives right from the start in order to have a common direction. Another is to have constant syncs during the process and also include FE in brainstorming workshops/meetings when conceptualizing solutions.
C: As important as understanding the business part of the product is to…
UX for Startups — Lean & Clean — Part 1
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3. Start by aligning the team
Using this methodology is not just the designer’s responsibility. It involves the entire team, starting from the top with the decision-making person down to every team member. The whole team must develop a common understanding of business goals, technology, and workflows.
Besides transparency from the CEO (or PM), which is essential in terms of trust and engagement, starting with an ideation or alignment workshop can be a good idea to get everyone’s insight and perspectives on the product. It can provide an overview of what is to be built…
The UX process has undergone a lot of transformation over time in terms of shape, definition, and ramification. Its importance in building a solid and lasting product is indisputable and we see that in all the big companies out there that have hundreds of UX designers.
But still, today we live in a kind of paradox. Even though the importance of UX is obvious and well known across all businesses with a lot of success stories, there are still a lot of companies that don’t really invest that much in it and focus more on how to build their product rather than why they build it. The phrase: “Just add some UX on it” it’s still topical, unfortunately.
In startups, this issue can be more visible simply because a lot of them fail and disappear, as opposed to bigger companies that simply bury their failures. Of…
In order to build a construction that lasts, you must start with the foundation — think it through, and make it solid, resistant. On top of that, you add the brickwork, and then you polish it up. What you end up with is a useful, attractive structure that will stand the test of time.
The same principles can be applied to building a team. The foundation is an environment that encourages innovation and creativity — just like Bytex. It makes it easier to identify strong team values that give a clear direction to a unit — the brickwork. Then talent, hard work and inspiration just come to complete a great experience towards customers and their product’s users.
We all have a set of ethical and overarching principles that guide our actions, whether we acknowledge them or not. …
“Who am I?” This is a good question to ask ourselves more often. Personal research into our memories on why we make decisions the way we do, how we react in certain situations and how open-minded we are is essential for planning our future better. This is a short story about how I got into The Design Process.
My dad has an amazing passion: sculpture. All my childhood I was fascinated by watching him work, even if he usually locked himself in the small bathroom that he transformed into a sculpture workshop. If you are wondering, Yes! …
Design is everywhere. Starting with how the enormous and amazing Universe has formed and expanded in organized chaos, how the life appeared on earth, how nature lives in an exceptional balance and how these controversial beings called humans have appeared and how quickly they evolved.
Who’s to blame?
It all seems to be perfectly designed, isn’t it? By who? God knows?!. But who gives a crap about all this when you have no phone battery to immortalize in a selfie an amazing place somewhere in the mountains with high white peaks and virgin forests? or you drop your phone in a river placed…
Maybe many of you have an idea of a side project, besides your full-time job. Whether is a design studio, a startup idea, a coffee shop or a bistro bar. The biggest fear or constraint is that you won’t have time for that, right? Here is a big surprise. You probably don’t, especially if you have a family that you’re responsible for. But there are some tricks that you can try to manage your time and try to “expand” it.
I won’t go into routine stuff, because there are very hard things to reach for some. I know it from…
