You cannot timebox education.
I love being educated about the possibilities of where tech can take us and what we could be able to create in the near future. It’s an amazing world and I am privileged to be a part of it. I believe that you cannot timebox education: technologies are changing faster than ever before. New platforms and devices mean that our medium is always shifting. In order to stay current, I believe as a UX/UI designer, I must commit to lifelong learning. This constant state of innovation means that I always have to be re-thinking what I know.
I must always ask myself why I’m doing things a certain way. I must always be up for challenging others to justify design decisions so that we don’t fall prey to being too comfortable and complacent.
Articles
*These are just a few of my favorite articles, but I can promise you there are a lot more where these came from. My Chrome bookmarks folder scrolls for so long I could probably do a Peloton workout and have a margarita before it would reach the end!
The Trillion Dollar UX Problem
—> Read Now
Combining Our UX Metrics with Compelling, Emotional Stories
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Design is More Than Problem Solving
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5 Academic Research Papers Every Designer Should Read
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Designing for B2B vs Enterprise SAAS
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Before Design Thinking, We Need Design Therapy
—> Read Now
Books
Start to Finished
I LOVE reading. Definitely not ALL books — I can be opinionated for sure, but there is such joy in getting sucked into a book! I do happen to enjoy reading on design so I have included some of my favorite industry-specific books below as well as some of my other personal favorites. I am an underliner so I added some of my favorite lines from each book. Don’t worry. No spoilers!
Design Book Favorites
“And by assembling rather than deconstructing, we’re crafting a system right out of the gate instead of cherry picking patterns after the fact.”
“We often think the Internet enables you to do new things … But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.”
“The world is changing at such a rapid rate that it’s turning us all into amateurs.”
“Simple as it sounds, that bit of information means the difference between feeling like you’re taking a ride, and feeling like you’ve been taken hostage.”
Non-Design Book Favorites
“There should be no room in your life for regret. If in the moment of doing you felt clarity, you felt certainty, then why feel regret later?”
“I'm not perfect; no, I step in shit all the time and recognize it when I do. I've just learned how to scrape it off my boots and carry on.”
“the mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character.”