UX grows up, soft skill significance, and more…

📰 3 DESIGN ARTICLES 

10 REASONS WHY UX MATURITY MATTERS

• As we become an ever more tech-based society, good UX is integral to not only product creation, but continued growth and development. In this article, UX educator Nate Schloesser breaks down the importance of building mature UX design practices, and why organizations should already have them in place. 
• The way a consumer interacts with UX directly affects how they feel about a brand both in that moment, and over time. Schloesser notes that mature UX allows for better solutions driven by data, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to anticipate future user needs. Brand building through UX = brand loyalty through UX. 
• “Even the best interface is useless if it’s too slow. Similarly, the journey of UX maturity is ongoing — pausing or delaying can mean missed opportunities and dissatisfied users.”

THE TENSION BETWEEN DESIGN TOOLS AND SOFT SKILLS 

• Designers spend a significant amount of time learning how new tool features fit into their workflow. But are soft skills getting swept under the rug at the expense of endless updates? Product Designer Shumroze Bhat considers this question, and what it means to be a multifaceted designer, in a constantly evolving landscape that touches hard and soft design processes. 
• Bhat isn’t saying that you should let your designer toolbox get rusty. Instead, he focuses on the added value of collaboration, communication, and mentorship. He argues that to a business, these things can be even more integral to success than what’s new in Figma. 
• “Should you invest time in learning new design tool features, or should you focus on honing your soft skills?” 

INCLUSIVITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE: THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCESSIBILITY ADVOCACY

• What exactly is an Accessibility Advocate? Author Durga Ramakrishna highlights how this role takes on specific importance within an organization. Accessibility Advocates need to understand a company, product, and user holistically, so they can account for considerations across compliance, accommodations, and optimization. 
• In addition to the possibility of costly lawsuits, websites and apps that don't comply with ADA standards also miss the opportunity to engage with an entire population of prospective customers.
• “Digital accessibility standards must evolve as technology and software changes. This requires accessibility advocates to push harder on organizations and institutions to devise new standards and enforce them.”

💜 PORTFOLIO INSPIRATION 

Anya Nelson, a UX Academy graduate, leverages strong graphic and visual design skills throughout her portfolio and individual design projects.

Got a portfolio you love that you’d like to share with our audience? Email your suggestions to hello@designlab.com.

INTERESTING STUFF ...

• Are rebrands starting to look the same?
• Dezeen Awards shortlist: 47 outstanding designs 
• Meta’s “Threads” unraveling
• Vocabulary inflation? 
• 10 Usable and creative icon libraries 

A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it's not that good. - Martin LeBlanc, CEO and founder of IconFinder 

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