When we're young, the years ahead seem long. We think we have plenty of time to do things in the future.  ​​​But in middle age, people tend to realize that the clock is ticking. Something similar happens every year in the workplace​– a "mid-year crisis". Get ahead of the pattern by starting your planning early in the year.

In a recent bathroom update, my mom almost wasted time and money on an overkill solution that she didn’t actually need. Why? Because when teams get excited about a solution without fully understanding the problem, the solution is often much bigger than it needs to be.

Andy Budd, startup advisor and founder of UK design consultancy Clearleft, claims that while PMs are hungry for impact, designers are desperate to ‘do it right"‘. As a result, he says, it’s much harder to manage designers than Product Managers. Here’s our take.

Lots of information, tooling, and communication go into a successful UX project. Our methods have evolved over the years through trial and error, and many clients report that these are key strengths for Slide UX. Learn how we communicate, what project briefs we use, and how we use project portals for our UX projects.

We’re thrilled to share the news that Slide UX has ranked as the #1 UX Agency of 2022, topping over 18,111 firms offering UX services globally. We were also named #78 of the Clutch 1000, a list of top service providers across the world–a distinction that speaks to our best-in-class UX design skills and our strong history of client satisfaction.

Figma's Andrew Hogan raised some interesting questions in his LinkedIn article entitled Design Indicators. Inspired by a popular LinkedIn post by Cameron Moll, he asked :

• What makes it emotionally taxing to do design well?

• Is it getting harder?

• Are designers getting the time, space, and support they need?

In this response, Erin explores what’s going on–and what should change to solve it.

Buying exercise equipment is easy; putting in the reps is hard. Setting up an insights tool is easy; gaining insight is hard. Here’s how to increase your odds of success.

Once a development team has committed to a particular cost or timeline for a particular scope, user input can become a risk. Be thoughtful about when and how you scope development. A plan that allows you to learn from users and refine your path can help you save significantly in the long run.

For most product leaders, a dream role involves setting the product roadmap. But once you snag a role with that sort of autonomy, the overwhelm can set in. When asked about about their biggest challenge, product leaders often say the same thing understanding the users' needs.

It’s not useful for people to know the number of miles at which they need their next oil change UNLESS they also know their current mileage. Context is key to making information actionable.

In the software world, we think a lot about how to get users to change their behaviors. “My product is far superior! Why aren’t they knocking down my door to switch?”

Product teams are expected to influence and work well with partners across teams. Should partner teams be expected to do the same?

Many product managers feel they’re trying to make decisions about how to improve the product without data about what users really need. Here’s how you can close the gap without cloning yourself.

As the founder at Keyword Chef, Ben Adler still chooses to handle every single support request personally. Why? He sees each inbound support request as an opportunity to improve the customer experience.

When I saw the storage meter alerting next to my photos, I assumed the storage was being used by photos. There was no meter alerting me alongside the real culprit: my inbox. Context matters in UI design.

Users expect pages to load fast, react quickly when they interact, and not jump around as they are rendering.

A rigid process or condescending style of delivery can provide incentive for colleagues to work around UX. It’s not a good look. It hurts individual careers as well as our collective cause.

Mission impossible? People arrive at most products with a mission. They just want to get that task completed! Don't let a redesign get in their way.