Easy-to-use design tool for non-designers — This write-up originally appeared in a HackerNews post that was featured on the front page last weekend. I added new images in this Medium post. I’m Andrew, a solo founder building a free, easy-to-use visual editing app called MockVisual.

No matter how user-centered a creator is, they interject some amount of bias when conducting and interpreting the research they use to inform what they build. Any flaws in understanding the needs and goals of the user will be reflected in the design of the product. The same people studied…

Learn how to conduct user observation and interview sessions — Why conduct research? UX research is a vital part of the design process. Without conducting and evaluating user research, your product or service is flying blind. Intuition can only get you so far. This article covers how to think about user research and how to get started with the most impactful forms of…

The implications of peaking working-age populations — If workers drive the world’s economic output, many of the largest economies *might* be nearing their peak—especially in high-income countries. This dynamic hasn’t ever occurred in modern times and the global financial system might be in peril. The primary working and consuming ages are from around 25–64, which I used…

There is no model to determine the value of design accurately. And no process can be employed to guarantee that design will create value. Because of this dynamic, designers and design teams have difficulty quantifying the value they create. The difficulty of determining the ROI of design can lead to…

Learn the main contributing factors of startup success — I’ve been on the founding teams of 2 wildly successful startups, one independent and another incubated within a large tech company. I’ve also worked on products that failed and provided guidance to countless others in the works. Behind every successful tech startup is a successful product. …

At times, I’ve felt like my ideas weren’t good enough or building them was too difficult. It’s also easy to fall for analysis paralysis and even easier to jump from one distraction to another. People invent things to do to distract from what’s important. The hardest thing to do is…

Learning the power of visual thinking — Good ideas come from many sources and become great ideas as they interact with each other. The best ideas come from the push and pull of many and often contradictory points of view. …

Learn how to design to change a mind — This article covers 3 conditioning techniques designers use to influence behavior. These methods are widespread and employed in almost every successful app. Use with caution. 1. Classical conditioning Classical conditioning is a subconscious association technique that pairs a neutral stimulus with a desirable stimulus to create an associated trigger. …