Whether you are designing an app, creating a marketing campaign, or writing an article, it’s essential to understand your audience. Recently, I read a blog post about a writer, Kip Langello, who could not get a book published. He decided to create a fictional character to write for. He gave his character a name, job, family, and…

As a designer, often it is challenging to begin. A problem has been laid out in front of you, but how do you start to find the solution?  With Human-Centered design thinking, the best place to start is with empathy. Observe, interview, and immerse yourself in the user’s daily activities. Create an empathy map to…

On his daily commute, inventor and newspaperman Garrett Morgan would drive by multiple car accidents. When the traffic light switched from green to red, he noticed it did not give people the time they needed to react and stop. The intersections were never completely clear, which led to numerous collisions. Through empathy, Morgan observed the…

Feelings are a delicate thing to work with; after all, they can change from day to day. So why is it essential to design for something so fluid? After completing my latest UX challenge, I’ve come to understand the importance of people’s emotional motivators to use it in design.  The Exercise This week I was…

Do you prefer Starbucks or Dunkin’, iPhone or Samsung, Chrome or Safari? Each example is essentially the same product, but have you ever stopped to consider why you prefer one over the other? Your choice is based on your personal opinions, past experiences, and the feeling you have when interacting with the product. Understanding this…

Feelings are a delicate thing to work with; after all, they can change from day to day. So why is it essential to design for something so fluid? After completing my latest UX challenge, I’ve come to understand the importance of people’s emotional motivators to use it in design.  The Exercise This week I was…

When sitting down trying to solve a problem, where do you start? This is a dilemma many struggle with, including business leaders, inventors, and engineers. With the introduction of Design Thinking in the 1990s, the messy process of designing was given a structure with clearly defined steps and objectives. Instead of guessing as solutions, people…

With pencils, paper, crayons, tape, stickers, play-doh on hand, my partner and I are ready to take on our first Design Thinking crash course. We hit play on the “Stanford Design Thinking Virtual Crash Course” video. This ninety-minute video explains each principle of Design Thinking and prompts us to take on specific challenges. The experience…