founders, VC's, mentors and startup experts.
User experience is increasingly important, but there's not enough design talent to go around. Here's how to thrive anyway. ...
It's time again for all those year-end blog posts about design trends. They're fun to read, but they contain a hidden implication you might miss: design and fashion are easily confused. ...
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Via: Studio Fellow Blog
Designer & coder. Author of http://BootstrappingDesign.com. |
Who doesn't love a good story? I know I do. Storytelling has been gaining in popularity in the business world. Following the trend, I've also been using stories to help clients understand user / customer experience better. A lot of times, I find that non-UX stakeholders find it more difficult to make sense of how a particular usability issue affects their bottom line. I've found that using storie ...
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User experience designer, software developer, Room to Read v |
We all wish we could spend $50,000 to hire an awesome design agency for every new idea we have. But for early stage startups - especially bootstrappers - that isn't always a sound investment. True, a high quality, custom-built brand and website is going to make all the difference someday - and it's great that you're into design, man (should be read in hippy voice) - but today you want to focus on ...
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Via: COPY HACKERS
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By now we all know that successful startups focus on learning about their users -- figuring out what features, branding, and messaging resonate and perform best. Smart teams invest valuable time designing, building, testing, and iterating their own designs and prototypes based on learning from analytics and user studies.But don't forget to test your competitors' products too! ...
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Via: Design Staff
User Experience Designer, Prototyper, Storyteller. Partner a |
Deciding to build a second product is a very difficult decision. Especially when you're a small bootstrap company. While we do well with our main product, HelpSpot, we don't have a lot of cash to just throw around. So in planning Snappy, I knew we had to maximize our dollars. I'd much rather spend money on the top notch developers we've hired than other consultants or services. ...
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Via: Ian Landsman
Founder of UserScape. Creators of http://www.helpspot.com an |
The Single Ease Question (SEQ) is a 7-point rating scale to assess how difficult users find a task. It's administered immediately after a user attempts a task in a usability test. ...
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Via: Measuring Usability
Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used. |
I tend to get one particular question over and over. It is some variant on "How is the UX for my product/site?" In order to get in touch with some of your users, I'd recommend that you do the following: Figure out exactly what you are concerned about with your site or product. ...
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Via: Users Know
Principal at Users Know. Director of Product & UX at One J |
Case studies they are by nature more realistic than tutorials, and they often raise the hard questions that normal articles can easily sweep under the rug. Plus, there's the big advantage that you can usually experience the finished product for yourself. Case studies are also a big part of how I happened to learn design myself. I remember Jesse Bennet-Chamberlain's posts in particular being a big ...
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Via: SachaGreif.com
Designer from Paris, now living in Osaka. Creator of @YoFoly |
In 1906 Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, observed that wealth was unequally distributed in Italy. He noted that 80% of the land and wealth was owned by 20% of the people. A similar relationship can be observed in the wealth and income across most countries. It turns out what Pareto observed isn't limited to wealth and income. ...
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Via: Measuring Usability
Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used. |
Users might not be ready to make the shift from mobile-specific sites to fully responsive sites. Here's how we can help them. ...
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User experience design & strategy at @flow_sa. Contributor t |
We can break down how users interact with a product into two stages. At the first stage, a user has yet to use the product. Getting people to start using a product has greater business impact, but designers often expend too little effort at this stage. At the second stage, the user is actually using the product, and that is when usability plays a critical role. Let's look at a few examples to illu ...
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Via: UXmatters
A respected user experience strategist and architect, Frank |
In my previous columns, I've framed my discussions around the practice of information architecture. To recap, the DSIA Research Initiative--of which I am the curator--defines the practice of information architecture as "the effort of organizing and relating information in a way that simplifies how people navigate and use content on the Web." ...
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Via: UXmatters
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One of the ah-ha moments that many of the companies I work with go through is accepting that digital risk management (and for that matter many other aspects of risk management) are directly tied to the customer experience. It makes sense - if a user has a good experience that is supported by a great digital experience, that reduces risk. Customers don't complain as much. ...
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Via: Ronin Research
Principal Analyst @AltimeterGroup and a right proper rogue! |
Even if your product has broad appeal to many customers or solves a universal problem, the goal is to focus in on a well defined customer segment that represents your prototypical first customer (early adopter). This is because: "You can't effectively build, design, and position a product for everyone." ...
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Via: Spark59
Lean Practitioner & Designer at Spark59. Coloring book creat |
This post makes use of my personal experience and wisdom that I have collected over time working in large enterprises, and I will try to present a detailed analysis of key points which will be decisive towards the making of a User Experience team, that delivers. ...
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Via: 1stWebDesigner
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The term "Lean", in the context of process-improvement, was coined in the 1990s first for Lean Manufacturing; it was then applied to Lean Six Sigma, and even Lean IT. The Lean philosophy was developed primarily by the Toyota Production System (TPS) as a concept to preserve value with less work. As a discipline matures, new methods are developed to improve the quality and reduce the costs of produc ...
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Via: Measuring Usability
Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used. |
First, go out and study people using today's solutions, whether it be your current design or just how people solve the inherent problems with whatever they have. As you're observing them, note the order of the steps they take and whether each step is frustrating or delightful. ...
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Via: UIE Brain Sparks
Just a dude who thinks a lot about creating great user exper |
I've been talking with a lot of designers lately and it's clear to me that many of them(us) are struggling with development processes that aren't always design-friendly. I think a lot of designers working at startups and other places where sprint-based work is being done are feeling this pressure...they are forced to work within schedules that aren't always conducive to the way they want to work. ...
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Via: Bokardo
Director of UX at HubSpot, Co-founder @performable, Founder |
"We need to demonstrate that we bring measurable value to the products for which we design user interfaces." Even experienced UX professionals often feel that they are not being heard by their clients, managers, and developers. Why? To overcome this problem, we need to demonstrate that we bring measurable value to the products for which we design user interfaces. ...
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Via: UXmatters
UX designer from Russia. Head of UX @ Mail.Ru. |
"Neurodesign is an approach that lets you look at the brain triggers behind good customer experience and use them to help you make better informed design decisions based on customer behavior, human trends, and overall customer or company interactions." ...
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Via: UXmatters
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There is no such thing as an “inactive user” in a Free Trial. You can’t be a “user” if you aren’t “using,” right? Makes sense. I think we get confused because in software the “user” connotation comes from the fact that a user is literally someone for whom an access account has been created. For [...]Free Trial Users are a Vanity Metric is ...
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Via: SaaS Marketing
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Alert: Are you sure you want to proceed? In his seminal book, The Humane Interface, the late Jef Raskin, one of the original Apple Designers, described inefficient interfaces as those that required user input but provided nothing in return. He provided as an example a Mac dialogue box from over 12 years ago (shown below) which had an efficiency rating of 0 (effort in and nothing out). ...
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Via: Measuring Usability
Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used. |
What statistical procedure do I use? It's hard enough to grasp many of the concepts in statistics. Most people in UX aren't math majors and never intended to use statistics as part of their job. For this reason we have a decision tree to help you know when to use which statistical procedure. ...
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Via: Measuring Usability
Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used. |
Anyone who works in UX has had experience of watching clients fight over "What The Users Want". Talking to your customers is one of the most important things you can do as an app developer/owner, so shouldn't it be easy? ...
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Via: The Intercom Blog
COO at @Intercom. I speak & write about UX, Customer Acquisi |
In the field of user experience, people often confuse terms like information architecture, interaction design, visual design, usability engineering, and UX design. In some cases, people use these terms almost interchangeably. This article provides a lexicon of these terms and more clearly defines the role of the user experience designer. ...
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Via: UXmatters
Director of Ax-Stream - Approved Axure support partner in Eu |
Alexander Osterwalder's Business Model Canvas is the tool of choice for a quick, one page dashboard of your business hypotheses. It very much appeals to the business guy in me, but it irks the User Experience (UX) part of my brain. But hey...the canvas is a tool. Use the right tool for the right job. ...
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Via: Grasshopper Herder
#leanstartup, #custdev, #RoR, banjo, questions, tao, #bmgen, |
While product managers are often the greatest allies UX professionals can have, in spite of the many positive aspects of our relationships with them, there is some inherent tension between us. ...
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Via: UXmatters
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Given that entrepreneurs are often taught to solve problems that they have, its not surprising to hear creation myths that include some roadblock that the entrepreneur experienced and which inspired him to start a company to build a product to solve a problem. ...
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Via: Micah Baldwin
Live a life of extreme honesty. First company when I was 14; |
Creating a shared understanding among stakeholders is crucial and that UX is really the best-positioned team to facilitate this. I have a specific idea of what a shared understanding means. Shared understanding means that everyone knows what will be built and why it will be built that way. ...
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Via: Johnny Holland
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False Simplicity is particularly worth paying attention to in the design and conceptualization phase because it often pass for being "simpler" at first glance, when in reality it actually makes the interface more complicated to use. Let's take a look at 3 types of "False Simplicity" where you should stay alert. ...
So you have a website designed for standard desktop computers, but you obviously want to keep up with times and make your site mobile-friendly too. However, it isn't just a matter of scaling down your design - it's a new platform with a new set of interaction patterns and limitations. ...
There are three pillars to a successful digital startup: engineering, design and business. Those roles can be split amongst people or shared amongst multi-disciplinary individuals, but above all build a culture where each feels valued, where trust and collaboration can thrive, and where everyone feels motivated to excel. ...
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Via: Giff Constable
MD at Neo in New York; maker, designer, entrepreneur, and ag |
From a professional perspective, you won't necessarily advance your career by learning visual design. Programmers have done fine without knowing about design. So why should you give a shit? I think that visual design is worth knowing because it enriches your life. You see the world in a different way, and you learn to communicate more expressively. ...
Errors happen and unintended actions are inevitable. They are a common occurrence in usability tests and are the result of problems in an interface and imperfect human actions.It is valuable to have some idea about what these are, how frequently they occur, and how severe their impact is. ...
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Via: Measuring Usability
Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used. |
the user experience profession has foundational skills that are essential in producing quality work, and user experience problems can't be solved following a simple recipe. All the pretty wireframes in the world doesn't do any good if you haven't nailed down essentials like active listening, storytelling and problem-solving. ...
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Via: Johnny Holland
putting together the pieces of the UX puzzle. also: voraciou |
One of the top questions I get when helping entrepreneurs, especially those who have not achieved product/market fit, is "How much should I invest into the design of my... landing page, MVP, smoke-test, pitch deck,... etc." The commonly cited answer is that "it depends." But it depends on WHAT? ...
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Via: Spark59
Lean Practitioner & Designer at Spark59. Coloring book creat |
There has been a lot of discussion in the design world recently about "change aversion." Most of the articles about it seem to be targeting the new Google redesign, but I've certainly seen this same discussion happen at many companies when big changes aren't universally embraced by users. ...
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Via: Users Know
Principal at Users Know. Director of Product & UX at One J |
When I evaluate web products I often feel uncertain about what will happen after the quick signup. Sure it takes seconds to create an account, but then what? ...
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UI design, code, and product management at 37signals. |
Your job as a designer is to solve problems, not to make things look pretty. To do your job, you need to understand the who, why, when, what, where, and how. People will try to hand you a spec or a list of requirements and say, "I've already thought about this a lot, just design it." Don't accept that. ...
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Via: Cindy Alvarez
Making people more awesome through building better software. |
One of the great things about working at Greylock is meeting with entrepreneurs and discussing product strategies for virality and self-distribution. Recently, I've been struck with how many of these conversations have reflected back on another topic I'm extremely passionate about, the new user experience. ...
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Via: Psychohistory
Inevitably optimistic |
In his It's a Great Time to Be Designer presentation at UX Immersion, Jared Spool talked about the reasons why designers are in high demand today and what skills that and their organizations need to deliver great experience design. ...
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Via: LukeW Ideation
Digital product design & strategy guy in Silicon Valley, CA. |
I believe that there are many lessons that we can learn from sports in order to enhance our UX skillset. It's no secret that working in teams and having an outlook for success are attributes of a successful athlete. Today I want to talk about our first lesson from the field: success is all about strategy. ...
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Via: Johnny Holland
UX & Strategy Consultant making her way around NYC and beyon |
We needed a design for a t-shirt, and we needed it fast. It's early 1995 at Trilogy, a 90-person enterprise software company. I'm in product marketing for Conquer (a new initiative which got renamed the slightly less hubristic "pcOrder.com"). We had just made a snap decision to buy a booth at a conference that was literally about to happen. We needed swag. ...
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Via: Giff Constable
MD at Neo in New York; maker, designer, entrepreneur, and ag |
Do seniors use the web differently? Are we losing a potential web audience by not catering to their needs on sites that would interest them? Test participants I worked with recently when testing an arts booking website were mostly over 65, and all were engaged frequently with the online world. ...
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We help make sure your online customer experiences are fanta |
let's assume a startup's messaging, value propositions and benefits are well-articulated and clear. Congratulations, but if you want someone to sign up for your service, there’s another big hurdle to overcome: the registration process. Don’t Ask for Too Much Info ...
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Via: Mark Evans Tech
Startup marketer, conference organizer, hockey player, dad, |
Jake Knapp states that "build first, market later" is still a common approach today. He shares a simple, but very interesting, excercise on getting the right focus in your design process. ...
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Via: Johnny Holland
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User Experience this! User Experience that! Stop it, will you? There's plenty enough research done about User Experience . Now, can we please start designing? The problem with the Internet is that literally anything can go viral in no time. Same has happened with the keyword User Experience (UX as the nerds call it). ...
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Via: 1stWebDesigner
An expert technology analyst, design guru and seasoned WordP |
Don’t get me wrong. I like Lean UX. It's pioneered by people whose work and writings I've found to be very influential in my own career. It's about time we focus less on the beauty of our deliverables and more on how we create value for our organizations. The problem, for me, is this: The process continues to position UX as a tactical discipline with little strategic value. ...
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Via: Johnny Holland
Digital product strategist, UX designer, co-founder of Indus |
I was recently thinking about what would a minimal, initial team for a software startup comprise of. Imagine you have a brilliant idea for a startup and you have some funds to hire an initial team. But like most smart entrepreneurs, you want to hire a minimal team first and only expand late Possibly related posts (automagically generated):Beautiful Design by JayAppointment Reminde ...
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Via: Paras Chopra
Startups and Online Marketing enthusiast |
Everything you design—from slide decks to email newsletters, from marketing sites to company t-shirts—has a goal, and that goal is to get someone to decide to do something that benefits you or your company. To achieve this with a design, you need to understand two variables: who are they, and how do they make their decisions. ...
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Via: The Intercom Blog
COO at @Intercom. I speak & write about UX, Customer Acquisi |
I've been playing around with elements of design thinking in my entrepreneurship courses to help students create better ideas and identify bolder opportunities. Even at the executive level I've starting using design thinking because it creates an incredible "mindshift" among executives. Design is no longer a support function; it's strategic. ...
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Via: Bostinnovation
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Forrester recently released a report on the rise of the Chief Customer Officer. The emergence of a C-level role with authority over customers' interactions has caused much hand-wringing within the UX community. It's like the job (we think) we're made for has been stolen from us. ...
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Via: Johnny Holland
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Design like Jagger or why you shouldn't design your own website (unless you're a designer).The thing is that web design is like most skills – it takes a long, long time and a ton of practice before you're any good. Even if you're gifted, it will take you many tens of sites, if not hundreds, before you can show off your stuff. ...
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Via: ConversionXL
I make websites sell. Conversion optimization pro. Founder o |
Definition / roles within UX: information architecture, interaction design, user research, visual design, copy, also now web dev. Companies often leave out user research info architecture. Often focus is on interaction visual. This order is typically the work flow. Don't think of them as roles, but as steps. But make sure not to skip a step! ...
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Co-founder of @Ridejoy, a community marketplace for rideshar |
Everywhere you turn, people are talking about design. It's been hailed as the core ingredient to the success of everything from ad campaigns, to products, to entire companies. In this post we'll look at how to design for the success of your website or Web app. ...
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Via: Quick Sprout
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I've talked in the past about lots of ways to do user research faster. Now, let's talk about a way to make your design process faster. This is not a new idea, but it's worth reiterating for those of you who are trying to make decisions like this on a day to day basis. Today's chapter will cover the fastest and most useful sort of visual design for your lean startup. ...
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Via: Users Know
Principal at Users Know. Director of Product & UX at One J |
In a recent post (Why you should bury the sign up button) I told the story of a redesign I did in which people just didn’t want to click the “sign up” button on the home page, no matter how beautiful or sexy [...] ...
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Via: Bokardo
Director of UX at HubSpot, Co-founder @performable, Founder |
Over the past few weeks, there has been an interesting debate raging about design versus utility for startups looking to capture the spotlight. The key issues are whether the look and feel of a service is more important than how it actually works. If a service looks crappy, does it impact its appeal, or can [...] ...
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Via: Mark Evans Tech
Startup marketer, conference organizer, hockey player, dad, |
Recently I critiqued a number of websites (links at the bottom of the post) and made suggestions for improving their conversion rates. I noticed that the key problems were pretty much the same for most of them. It’s highly likely... read more ...
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Via: ConversionXL
I make websites sell. Conversion optimization pro. Founder o |
Code Year is a great initiative by the folks behind Codecademy. The concept is simple: sign up to Code Year,... ...
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Via: SachaGreif.com
Designer from Paris, now living in Osaka. Creator of @YoFoly |
The experience of opening the box is just as much a part of marketing as the graphics on the box. Apple knows this, as we appreciate whenever we open a new iPhone or Mac. Opening the box is our first introduction to the product and Apple thinks through every detail of that process. I recently bought an HP printer that [...] ...
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Via: Tom FishBurne
Marketoonist and Founder of Marketoon Studios (http://market |
Completion rates are the gateway metric. If users can't complete tasks on a website, not much else matters. The only thing worse than users failing a task is users failing a task and thinking they've completed it successfully. This is a disaster. The term was coined by Gerry McGovern and it's anathema on websites and software.Have you ever bought the wrong product or found out later you got ...
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Via: Measuring Usability
Please follow @MeasuringU this account is no longer used. |
Jeannie Nguyen (@omfgjeannie) is a designer for Lexity (@lxty). What up. Jeannie here, designer at Lexity. So, you know our current site? Yeah. Definitely not what we first designed. We took a couple of months to design and build our … Continue reading → ...
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Via: 500 Startups
I love graphic design, plain potato chips, and sarcasm. |
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