Earlier last week, New York City had a slight seasonal shift on Tuesday when the temperatures dropped down to 19 degrees Celcius (remember, I’m pretentious and still use the International System of Units). I rested the entire day because I experienced flu-like symptoms and any bodily movements hurt. It even hurt to think. Since I could remember, slight seasonal shifts would always affect me. When I lived in Ho Chi Minh City, I dreaded the seasonal shift from the rainy season to the dry season because I was disgustingly sick for weeks. Does that happen to any of you? Anyway, I’m better now and am back with a few articles from the week.
1. The UX of Hiring for UX Positions
By Sarah Doody and Dan Maccarone from InVision Blog
If people are expected to design user experiences, the user experience of anything involving that process should be on-point right? (I had a bit of a UX inception moment.) I would assume that with so many UX designers out there looking for a job, finding one would be easy. However, that’s not the case. They discuss the importance of hiring people rather than skills and focusing on thought process. Finding that fit is really hard. This is a piece that requires several reads but it’s filled with relevant information. It also helps me see what the other side looks for so I can cater to that.
2. Six essential branding tactics and how to use them in your business
By Phil Rodriques from Virgin Entrepreneur
I like how this piece addresses all aspects of branding that need to be considered. He encompasses everything from creating the best UX for customers to increase social media followings through user generated content. For each section, he gives solid examples that reflect a positive result from the particular branding tactic that was used. The way that people connect to a company and their products are changing. It’s becoming absolutely necessary to stay up to date on the best branding tactics to leverage themselves as an extraordinary company.
3. 10 New Design Books You Need To Read Before Summer Ends
By Meg Miller from Co.Design
With my crazy schedule nowadays, reading a book feels foreign. The reading that I get done is mostly through my feeds (Feedly, LinkedIn, Twitter). However, this article inspired me to pick up a book before the summer ends and get some quality reading done. I like the selection of books that the author provides because none of them seem like “conventional” design books. I seem to learn more from books that are told like stories from the past and these seem to fit the bill. I’m looking forward to seeing which ones I read and what I learn from them.
4. Behind The Scenes: What It Takes To Publish A Smashing Article
By Vitaly Friedman from Smashing Magazine
I follow this blog for high-quality UX articles. However, I appreciate this article in particular as a writer because I’m able to gain insight into the process. From reading this, I could tell that it take a lot of work into publishing an article through them but at the same time, I could also tell that it’s an incredibly rewarding process. The emphasis on editing is phenomenal. Since they are, as they say themselves, obsessed with quality, it’s important for them to make mistakes, edit their work, incorporate revisions and seek feedback. This was definitely a worthwhile read.
This week, I didn’t find much around the internet that really captivated me, which is why I only have four. I usually like for my weekly reads to be a list of six to eight articles. Why don’t I feel inspired this week? Perhaps I’m experiencing content overload where I’m bombarded with so much and my ability to gain inspiration has temporarily diminished. Or maybe my mind just took a break from reading about UX and focused on educational TED talks and other material. It happens. On a brighter note, I’m racing my first 5K in my 9 + 1 series this Thursday and am looking forward to that!
Cheers,
Riri
