Posts, Podcasts & Talks

5 Tips for Your Next Design Review 
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From better understanding the business context to technical understanding from engineers, feedback strengthens design. That said, knowing how to properly set up and facilitate a design review is a skill within itself. Here are five tips to make your next design review helpful to delivering great design.

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The Design Portfolio: A Managers Perspective

A design portfolio is a rare opportunity to show potential employers the depths of thinking, crispness of approach and versatility of skills. Moreover, a well-crafted portfolio isn't just showing what you've done; it's showing the potential of what you can be. 

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How to Empower Designers

Whether you are a solo designer, on a small team, or in a scaled enterprise, here is the most constructive and actionable step your can take to build the culture where you empowered to deliver incredible design for your customers, company and yourself. 

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Recent Podcasts

The Future of Design Education

Makery Founder McLean Donnelly of joins the Schmidt List Podcast to to talk about design education, UX boot-camps, and why DesignOps is the role of the future.

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Design Managment

In this podcast, Makery Founding Partner McLean Donnelly joins the HR Design Podcast to go in depth on the opportunity HR has related to the gig economy, diversity and inclusion, and specific user experience tools and techniques that HR can use today to create value for your organization.

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The Makery 2019 Talks

At The Makery one of our core values is Design Matters. We believe that designers and our work can truly inspire and bring positive and lasting change - for ourselves, our customers and our organizations. To amplify this change, we take time to share our ideas through talks at conferences, meetups and at organizations.

For 2019, we're thrilled to be speaking in the following cities. If you are able to attend, please let us know and we can catch up! Also, if your company or conference would like us to speak, we should connect. ​
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Minnepolis DevFest, February 2, 2019
https://devfest.mn/

Phoenix, Feb 11-12, 2019 
https://phoenix.digitalsummit.com/

Seattle, Feb 26-27, 2019 
https://seattle.digitalsummit.com/

Atlanta, May 21-22, 2019 
https://atlanta.digitalsummit.com/

RGD Webinar, April 4
https://www.rgd.ca/events-and-programs/upcoming-events/events/1581.php

UXPA, April 11
http://www.uxpamn.org/event-3311821

Austin, June 4-5, 2019 
https://austin.digitalsummit.com/

Portland, June 11-12, 2019 
https://portland.digitalsummit.com/

Denver, June 25-26, 2019 ​
https://denver.digitalsummit.com/

Minneapolis, August 14-15, 2019
https://minneapolis.digitalsummit.com/

Chicago, August 28-29, 2019 
https://chicago.digitalsummit.com/ 

Washington D.C., September 4-5, 2019 
https://washington.digitalsummit.com/ 

Detroit, September 25-26, 2019 
https://detroit.digitalsummit.com/ 

Boston, October 21-22, 2019
https://boston.digitalsummit.com/ 

User Experience Design Definitions

Balsamiq Mockups
A wireframing and interactive prototyping tool, available for both Windows and Mac.

Beta launch
The limited launch of a software product with the goal of finding bugs before final launch.

Branding
The process of creating and marketing a consistent idea or image of a product, so that it is recognisable by the public.

Card sorting
A technique using either actual cards or software, whereby users generate an information hierarchy that can then form the basis of an information architecture or navigation menu.

Content Management System (CMS)
Software that allows publishing, editing and maintaining content from a central interface. 

Collaborative design
Inviting input from users, stakeholders and other project members.

Competitor analysis
Performing an audit or conducting user testing of competing websites and apps; writing a report that summarises the competitive landscape.

Comparative analysis
Performing an item by item comparison of two or more websites or apps to determine trends or patterns.

Content management
The suite of processes and technologies that support the collection, management, and publication of information in any medium.

Contextual enquiry
Interviewing users in the location that they use the website or app, in order to understand their tasks and challenges.

Content audit
Reviewing and cataloguing a client’s existing repository of content.

Customer Journey Map
Holistic, visual representation of your users’ interactions with your organisation when zoomed right out (usually captured on a large canvas).

Design stage
The stage in a user-centred design process where ideas for potential solutions are captured and refined visually, based on the analysis and research performed in earlier stages.

Diary Study
Asking users to record their experiences and thoughts about a product or task in a journal over a set period of time.

Experience Map
An experience map is an holistic, visual representation of your users’ interactions with your organisation when zoomed right out (usually captured on a large canvas.

Heuristic review
Evaluating a website or app and documenting usability flaws and other areas for improvement.

Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
HCI involves the study, planning, and design of the interaction between people (users) and computers.

High-fidelity prototype
A prototype which is quite close to the final product, with lots of detail and a good indication of the final proposed aesthetics and functionality.

Human factor
Also called ergonomics. The scientific discipline of studying interactions between humans and external systems, including human-computer interaction. When applied to design, the study of human factors seeks to optimise both human well-being and system performance.

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