6 ways to keep fresh as a UX designer
Whether you work at a large company on a team that includes UX designers, UI designers, and UX researchers or a small start-up where you wear many hats, you want to stay fresh in your approach. Reading blogs and articles is important, but if you’re designing filters for the 3rd time in as many years or creating a dashboard for the 5th client this year, you may feel like you’ve been-there-done-that. Here are some ways to help you stay inspired and give you a fresh perspective to your work. Best of all: you can try them this week.
1. Be (dis)loyal to your preferred platform or OS
Are you a dedicated Chrome user? Or maybe you prefer Safari? Maybe you swear by your Android phone or always have the latest iPhone. Whatever it is, try switching platforms for a week. The easiest way to do this is probably to switch your default browser. Take a look at your site’s metrics and, if you aren’t using it already, switch to the browser with the highest usage. You might be surprised to find that your website works better, or worse, in this new world.
If you want to over-achieve, switch your phone for a week from Android to iOS or vice versa. Is your product an app? How does the experience of downloading it from the Play store vary from the App store? How do notifications and preferences work differently?
Other things you can try: are there any other patterns you’ve noticed amongst your users that you can emulate for a week? When we worked in e-commerce, during usability sessions we noticed several patterns that it was helpful to experience first-hand. For example, we installed the Rakuten extension to see if, and how, it changed the experience. And we tested how different browsers handled auto-filling forms in our checkout. We also saw that a high percentage of our traffic was from “in-app Safari” — meaning that users were clicking on ads in Facebook and Instagram and shopping from the browser within those apps. So we tried shopping the site from that context. For you, it might make more sense to try increasing the magnification of your browser or the font size setting on your phone. Or try using a VPN provider to change your IP address so you experience what a non-US user would.
2. Watch a usability testing session
It goes without saying that observing a usability study is one of the best ways a designer can improve a particular design. Here’s the thing though — it will also make you a better designer for future projects because you will hear first-hand how people think about, talk about, and approach your product.
Even if you work in an organization that has dedicated researchers that deliver amazing reports (we love you UX researchers!), we recommend observing at least one session per study from start to end. If you only have time to watch one session, you don’t want it to be an outlier, so ask the researcher to recommend a representative session.
Better yet, coordinate with the person conducting the study so that you can observe a live session and submit a follow-up question to the participant. Regardless of whether you observe a live session or watch a recording, we recommend taking notes by hand, rather than on your laptop. It will help you be present and stay focused on the practice of observation.
We get it, this is time-consuming. Carve out the time by blocking an hour on your calendar at a regular time each week (or every other week depending on the frequency of studies where you work.) Some people like to set it at the lunch hour and eat while they watch. I have my calendar blocked Friday at 3pm — when things are quiet and I’m often running out of steam for design work.
3. Try a new design tool
Sometimes we can let our tools dictate how/what we create. (If you have a pie dish in your kitchen and not a cupcake tin, you’re probably not going to make cupcakes for your birthday.) Trying a new design tool or program can force you to stretch what is possible and think in a new way. Plus, it’s fun. So, download a new-to-you prototyping tool, take 30min to search through plugins for your preferred app, or check out the big players (Apple, Google Material, etc) to see if there are resources you’ve missed.
The new tool or program may not be better than your go-to. The point of the exercise is to discover new features or capabilities that might be good for your design practice. For example, you might still do most of your work in Figma but leverage Principle for creating custom micro-animations. You don’t need to be a super user of every program out there, but this will help you stay in the know with each tool’s advantages and disadvantages. Next time you switch a role or company, it will be an asset that you are familiar with these tools.
In fact, with programs like Sketch and Figma releasing new features and improvements all the time, we recommend getting on their email lists so you receive their release announcements. Since I never have time to read these emails when they show up in the middle of my work day, I have these emails automatically organized into a folder. I put aside 45min once a month to read the release notes and to actually watch a tutorial or two for the features that sound useful to me. You don’t want to miss a new feature that would be super valuable to you.
Need specific ideas for design/prototyping tools?
Sketch, Figma, Invision, Adobe XD, Protopie, Principle, Marvel, Axure
4. Use a screen reader for a day
This is so, so important. Depending on what kind of projects you work on, more or less emphasis may be placed on accessibility. Hopefully, you’re in the habit of testing out your designs with a screen reader. We suggest taking that a step further and spending a day exclusively using a screen reader. Use it on both your phone and computer. (If you’re having a hard time remembering not to look at the screen, you can cover it with a piece of paper.)
This won’t make you an accessibility expert, but it’ll help you learn what works and doesn’t work. In our experience, it especially underscores the importance of layout, alt-tags, and good content structure.
Mac operating systems include a screen reader called VoiceOver. Windows 10 and 11 includes Narrator. If you want to try something different, The American Foundation for the Blind has a list of screen readers (not all are free.)
There are lots of great resources out there about accessibility. If you’re interested in learning more specifically about screen readers on touch devices, this article from Nielsen Norman Group is a great place to start.
5. Schedule a working session with a front-end developer
Maybe you do this already. Or maybe, because everyone is so busy, you’ve gotten into the habit of getting at least to the wireframe stage before you sit down with a front-end engineer to discuss the new feature. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s a reality that people are busy. But sitting down (or standing up at a whiteboard) with a developer at the very, very outset of a new feature can generate more design solutions. Plus, it might help you and the engineer anticipate where there is likely to be complexity. Don’t use this as a feasibility review session though — let it be a brainstorm, sketching session. Bonus, it will help build trust and a sense of collaboration.
Note: this is worth doing in person, if possible. If you don’t live in the same area, however, you’ll have to get a bit more creative. You can use a virtual whiteboard like Figjam or Miro, or you can each sketch and share photos of your sketches.
6. Try out a home device or wearable
Ring, Google Nest, Amazon Echo, Fitbit, Apple Watch, etc — these devices are proliferating and have become more and more accessible. According to Statista, by 2026, a quarter of homes will have smart home devices. The price points and ease of adoption have dropped dramatically, meaning more and more people are incorporating these devices into their lives. Try the one that is the most interesting to you or which uses an interaction mode that is distinct from your usual work (i.e. if you design a website, consider trying a Nest. If you design mostly mobile apps that are interacted with by hand, try an Echo.)
Pay particular attention to the onboarding experience; what works and what doesn’t? How do you adopt it? If you live with other people, pay attention to how they use it. Notice what’s intuitive and what takes getting used to. Consider how the hardware design informs the UX design. If you love the device, you can keep it. Otherwise, most of these devices can be returned fairly easily.
Another variation (that is completely free) is to engage with AR or VR. For AR, you can try placing furniture in your space with online retailers like Amazon’s View in Your Room or change the color of your home with Sherwin Williams ColorSnap Visualizer app. For VR, we suggest keeping an eye out for tech/design talks about VR — we often find that speakers will bring a couple headsets for the audience to try out after the talk.
Conclusion
These are a few things we have put into practice at Functionaire. Do whatever makes sense to get out of your usual routine and into the shoes of a user. We would love to hear what you do to stay fresh. Leave your suggestions in the comments.
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Article written by Barbara Gulten and Eliana Stein
