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Clients often ask about the right time to hire full-time UI design help. Is it possible to do it too early?

While many hope to hire a "one-stop shop" for all their current and future creative and technical needs, that's nearly impossible in the changing landscape of business. Here’s what to do instead.

A fresh look and feel. A redesign. A sleek modern UI. Something that will WOW them. Call it what you will, but for many teams, a visual refresh is a key reason for a design project. Is that a wise strategy?

What do Erin’s 1990s fashion choices have to do with user experience? Some people will not dig your punk pop princess vibe, and that’s OK.

Diagrams can be simple and effective ways to reveal and communicate important information. Clarify what’s there, or showcase what’s to come. Make a plan. Highlight the details. See all the reasons.

UX is hot, and it’s tempting for both firms and individuals to say that hey “can do UX”. But a bad experience with UX can harm your organization for the long term. Here are some questions to ask to be sure you’re getting an expert.

We often hear from teams who want to hire a new design partner because they’re dissatisfied with the design work they’re getting and they feel like they’re wasting time and money. Learn about the common reasons this happens, and actions you can take to improve the situation before hiring someone new.

Executives behind the wheel of every big UX investment have a particular destination in mind—a destination that’s worthy of significant investment. But, just like in the car, if you start with a wrong turn and you don’t realize it, you won’t make it where you’re headed.

One of the big predictors of success on a UX project is how it begins. Teams often hesitate to make time for one of the most important steps: planning and alignment. As you plan for your UX initiatives, improve the project’s odds of success with these foundational steps.

Despite the chaos of another unprecedented year, there were some major rays of sunshine here at Slide UX. As the year ends, here are some of the things Sliders are celebrating.

When you’re hearing a lot of use of the word “I”–phrases like “I wouldn’t do that” or “I prefer this option”– it’s a tell that the organization is not yet steeped in user insight. What do the USERS or BUYERS think?

If a site or app is hard to use, people won't want to use it. Get answers to some top usability questions that leaders often ask.

• Why should we do usability testing?

• What are the benefits of usability research?

• What are the risks in NOT doing usability testing?

• When is usability testing recommended?

• How can we get the best outcomes from usability testing?

How much time does your team spend perfecting things for stakeholder review? How does it feel to work really hard towards Person A’s idea of perfection, and then learn that Person B has a different idea? That's why at Slide UX, we don't believe in a big, formal “ta-da”. Get everyone involved, and share early.

When user feedback tells us that we missed some user expectations in our designs, have we failed? Not at all. The goal of user research isn’t to get everything right. The goal is to learn how to improve.

We’ve all heard that we should measure twice and cut once. User research is how we do that.

A client recently asked how often a website needs to be refreshed—every three years? Every five years? We’ll share our answer—including the four signs that the time is right for your site.

If you’re like most of the product leaders we work with, you’ve often found yourself needing to convey UI concepts to your team.

Animation is an important part of the user interface and can be very effective in helping to convey UI concepts, but animation design isn’t typically a part of Product Management 101.

Did you know that presentation products like Keynote and even PowerPoint can be powerful animation tools?

There’s a make or break moment in your journey to an improved experience. Which path will you take?