An ongoing list of resources to help makers, builders, thinkers, and doers design inclusive experiences for persons with disabilities. Please contact me if you have a suggestion, addition, or correction.

Accessibility Standards

• HTML: The Living Standard
• WCAG
• WCAG Quick Reference
• Understanding WCAG 2.1
• Techniques for WCAG 2.1
• ARIA
• ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG)
• ARIA in HTML
• Using ARIA
• HTML Accessibiliy API Mappings (AAM)
• Accessible Name and Description Computation

Useful resources and references

• HTML5 Accessibility — “This site tests which major browsers accessibly support newish HTML5 features.”
• a11ysupport.io / cania11y.com — ARIA attributes support across screen readers
• This is WCAG 2.1
• WCAG 2.1 Map

Guides & Cheatsheets

Official screen reader user guides

• NVDA User guide. Most read-only webpages are browsed in NVDA using Browse mode.
• JAWS documentation
• Shortcut: JAWS Hotkeys
• Complete guide to Narrator
• Shortcut: Narrator keyboard commands and touch gestures
• VoiceOver Guide
• Use VoiceOver to browse webpages on Mac
• Apple VoiceOver Command charts
• Talkback user guides
• Turn on and practice VoiceOver on iPhone

Screen reader keyboard shortcut cheatsheets

• VoiceOver Keyboard Shortcuts on a Mac
• VoiceOver Gestures on iOS
• NVDA Keyboard Shortcuts
• Talkback Gestures on Android
• JAWS Keyboard Shortcuts
• Narrator Keyboard Shortcuts
• Desktop Screen Readers Forms Guide
• Desktop Screen Readers Survival Guide - Basic Keyboard Shortcuts

Checklists

• Custom Control Accessible Development Checklist
• Deque’s Web Accessibility Checklist — includes checklists for components, forms, images, links, multimedia, etc. VERY useful.
• “The Must-Have WCAG 2.1 Checklist”
• The A11y project’s WCAG Checklist
• WebAIM’s WCAG 2 Checklist
• Accessibility Not-Checklist

Auditing and Testing tools

• A comprehensive list of Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools
• A list of JavaScript Bookmarklets for Accessibility Testing

Virtual Machines

• Microsoft Edge Virtual Machines
• Windows 11 Virtual Machines

Accessibility auditing

• WCAG Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM)
• WCAG-EM Report Tool (Generates a standards-first report)
• Eleventy WCAG Reporter (Creates an issues-first report)

HTML validation

• Nu HTML Checker
• The W3C Markup validator

Browser extensions & bookmarklets

• ARC Toolkit Extension  (Chrome-only )
• WAVE browser extension
• Web Developer Extension
• h123 HTML5 Outliner bookmarklet, cross-browser
• Accessibility Insights for Web

Other

• Build a Better Mobile Input
• Estimate how many people using your website might be disabled
• ISO 639-1 Language Codes
• Simple Web Accessibility Guidelines
• Accessibility Statement Generator
• The W3C Accessibility statement generator

The bandwagon effect refers to people’s tendencies to support a cause, movement, product, person, or behavior because it has become popular on a large scale.

Let's talk about bias:

The bandwagon effect, which was coined during the 1848 presidential election, describes the tendency to start supporting a cause, movement, product, person, or behavior because of its popularity. Research has shown that this tendency can override an individual’s opinion.

Where This Bias Occurs:

The bandwagon effect occurs in multiple arenas, from politics to economics to activism. The bandwagon effect shows up markedly in politics. Candidates aim for definitive wins in the early primaries in hopes of creating a bandwagon effect. Often, this strategy works, with the candidate who won the early primary securing their party’s nomination. Research has suggested that as a candidate’s popularity and media coverage grows, people “jump on the bandwagon” for them until there is one clear frontrunner, determined by popularity.

The bandwagon effect is also prevalent in the economy. When a product quickly gains popularity, the demand for it skyrockets, sometimes to the point where it becomes scarce, increasing its value. Think the “Tickle Me Elmo” craze of the mid-90s.

Social media has intensified the bandwagon effect on product popularity. One prominent example is “The TikTok Leggings,” which went viral in November 2020. The leggings gained popularity via the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt after one user reviewed them in a TikTok viral video.

The bandwagon effect on social media isn’t limited to products, though. Trends in online activism are also driven by this phenomenon. However, this is not always positive. A salient example of this effect is the public's participation in the Black Lives Matter movement. Dr. Shane A. McCoy of The Feminist Pedagogue examined this phenomenon after the Charleston shootings, during the primary season for the 2016 election, arguing that jumping on the bandwagon of racial justice a reactionary response driven by people’s desire to look good in the eyes of others. Mariah L. Wellman also explored how bandwagon effects in activism tend to create performative activism instead of real change in the wake of #BlackOutTuesday in June 2020.

How It Affects You:

When designing a new product or upgrading an existing product, brands have an opportunity to assess how they can create their own bandwagon effect for their product or capitalize on an existing bandwagon effect to market and sell their product.

Research suggests that the primary motivations driving the bandwagon effect in product marketing are: the desire to be part of the dominant group, the desire to display status by owning a product perceived as a status symbol, the desire to emulate aspirational figures – like celebrities and social media influencers – through the purchase of products they’ve used or endorsed, fear of missing out (FOMO), and anxiety about being judged for not owning the product. To create their own bandwagon effect, brands must understand how to leverage these motivations during the product development process.

The second approach is to identify current products that have elicited a bandwagon effect and innovate on those products or create a product that adds value to that product. The risk of being seen as copying instead of innovating is a major risk of capitalizing on an existing bandwagon, but it can be mitigated during the product development process by focusing on differentiation.

However, brands should be careful about how they leverage the bandwagon effect. If attempts to create a bandwagon effect around a new product are perceived by the customer as manipulative or too closely aligned with a popular existing product, they could reject the product and lose trust in the brand.

The bandwagon effect also impacts how a brand presents itself to the public. When social or political issues make headlines, brands often choose to make a public statement in support of the issue to communicate that the brand is socially conscious. However, this can easily backfire. When brands started stating their support for Black Lives Matter in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, mMany younger consumers – particularly Gen Zers – perceived this support as performative and “jumping on the bandwagon” to cultivate a favorable image. It negatively impacted their views of the brands. So, it’s important for brands to consider whether jumping on the bandwagon of a social or political issue is the right move.

How It Affects Customer Behavior:

Decades of research has shown that the bandwagon effect has a marked effect on consumer behavior. When a product is perceived as in demand, trendy, or a symbol of status, more people want to buy that product. As the product gains even more attention, more people “jump on the bandwagon” by taking an action.

Returning to the TikTok Leggings example; the leggings initially gained popularity through a TikTok product review and the effective use of a viral hashtag. This got a significant amount of attention on the product, leading to the social pressure to buy the leggings. The popularity of the leggings intensified when singer and social media phenom Lizzo got them, a few months after they went viral on TikTok. Research has found that because influencers are often highly trusted by their followers and represent an aspirational goal, so their product endorsements are highly effective.

The TikTok leggings provide a particularly apt example of the bandwagon effect on consumers. Lizzo didn’t start the TikTok leggings trend. She jumped on the bandwagon after it had already gone viral. But the extra attention the product gained when Lizzo wore the leggings, created a new bandwagon effect due to her popularity on social media.

The TikTok Leggings trend demonstrates how social media can create a bandwagon effect on its own, persuading consumers to purchase a product they’d never heard of before simply because of its popularity on social media. The trend also demonstrates the power of celebrities and influencers to create or intensify the bandwagon effect due to their credibility with their fans/followers.

However, the bandwagon effect can also have a negative effect on consumer behavior. Returning to the Black Lives Matter example. As Black Lives Matter made headlines in 2015, politicians began meeting with the organization, celebrities began speaking out in favor of the organization, and public support grew. This support migrated to social media and millions jumped on the bandwagon. However, as previously stated, when brands expressed their support for Black Live Matter, customers did not reward them with more loyalty or purchases.

Systemic Effects:

The bandwagon effect has a powerful influence on social behavior and decision-making that can impact individuals, small groups, large groups, and even society as a whole. When a product gains popularity, especially on social media, this can greatly influence people’s decision to purchase the product. This happens because people use product purchases to associate themselves with groups, signal to others that they are part of a group, and display their financial and social status.

This can be a good thing for both the consumer and the brand responsible for the product. The consumer gets the popular product and the brand gets a massive increase in sales.

However, the bandwagon effect’s power to drive decision-making and purchasing can also lead to people ignoring or changing their own opinions to justify purchasing a popular product, which can cause problems after purchase. Research has shown that the bandwagon effect can lead to impulsive purchasing, which can lead to consumer regret. This can result in product returns or a negative personal association with the brand.

If customers ignore their instincts or change their opinion on a product because of the bandwagon effect, they may react strongly if the product doesn’t meet expectations, even if those expectations were unrealistic. This can lead to a damaged relationship with the brand and potentially damage the brand’s reputation if the product starts to receive bad reviews online. The Pink Sauce fiasco is a perfect example of this potential consequence of the bandwagon effect.

Why It Happens:

The literature on the bandwagon effect suggests that the primary motivations driving this phenomenon are: the desire to be part of the dominant group, the desire to display status by owning a product perceived as a status symbol, the desire to emulate aspirational figures – like celebrities and social media influencers – through the purchase of products they’ve used or endorsed, fear of missing out (FOMO), and anxiety about being judged for not owning the product.

The core of each of these motivations is relational. The products they purchase create a connection to others in the group and communicate that someone is part of the group. Acquiring a product perceived to be a status symbol signals that a person is of a certain status – financially or socially – compared to others. Buying a product that a person’s favorite social media influencer uses makes them feel like part of that community and signals to others that they’re part of the group.

The bandwagon effect also plays on people’s fears of being excluded from the group. They may decide to purchase a product because they fear that they won’t be seen as part of the group or that they will be perceived as inferior to their peers if they don’t have the product.

Why Is It Important?:

The bandwagon effect impacts brands in multiple ways, both positive and negative.

Brands that understand how to leverage the bandwagon effect can use this information during the product design and marketing process to create successful product launches and sales. Apple’s development, marketing, and launch process for the original iPhone is a stellar example of this strategy. The iPhone was developed and marketed with popularity in mind. It was cutting edge technology combining functionality and entertainment, and it was marketed specifically to the tech-savvy younger generation instead of business people or Boomers. Additionally, Apple had already established their products as status symbols with the iPod. So, when the iPhone officially launched, it was already perceived as a popular status symbol. Millennials literally camped at Apple stores to acquire the most innovative status symbol on the market. The attention this garnered created even more hype for the iPhone, intensifying the bandwagon effect created by the launch.

Understanding why and how current products on the market have created a bandwagon effect can also help direct brands’ product development. Studying products that have created a bandwagon effect can expose opportunities for innovations on those products that could replace those products. An example of this is Meta’s creation of Reels in 2020, which was a direct response to the popularity of TikTok. Instagram attempted to “jump on the bandwagon” of short form video content that TikTok created, though their success with this tactic has varied.

Another approach to leveraging an existing bandwagon effect is to create a product that intersects with a popular product. An example of this is the Top Nine app. The app was created to curate a post of people’s top Instagram posts at the end of each year. Top Nine created its own bandwagon effect by identifying the opportunity to intersect with Instagram, a product with its own powerful bandwagon effect. For a few years, millions of Instagram users used the app to create end of the year reflection posts.

There are multiple reasons why a brand may want to leverage the bandwagon effect when developing and marketing new products. Research has found that the bandwagon effect creates a perception of quality. When a product gains widespread popularity, people assume that it must be a good product. This is particularly true when social media influencers or celebrities are among the people buying, using, or endorsing the product. This perception of quality can drive people’s decision to purchase the product themselves. It can also lead to a Fear of Missing Out effect, where people purchase the product because they think they’re missing out on something great because “everyone else” is purchasing or talking about the product.

However, brands should be aware that most bandwagon effects are relatively short lived. After an initial burst of extreme popularity, most products that generated a bandwagon effect will fade in popularity. Either the public forgets about the product in favor of the next viral product, or the product gets replaced by a more innovative product, or the product becomes obsolete, as so many do in today’s fast moving market. Top Nine is also a perfect example of this. Instagram blocked the code that Top Nine used to generate their signature posts, making the app almost completely obsolete.

As previously mentioned, the bandwagon effect also influences how brands present themselves to the public, specifically in the form of brand activism. When brands choose to make a public statement or launch a campaign in support of a social or political cause, they often feel the need to do so because of the bandwagon effect. The cause is being covered in the news, people are talking about it on social media, actions are being organized around the cause, and brands decide to hop on the bandwagon for the cause. Though the intentions behind this decision may be genuine, these public shows of support by brands are often seen as hypocritical by the public, according to the BBC. Hopping on the bandwagon by showing support for a specific cause can be perceived as especially hypocritical if the brand is doing little to actually support the cause in its business operations. Often, these gestures are perceived as brands leveraging a cause to “raise their profiles.” Or worse, these brands are seen as pandering to break into a new market. Because the bandwagon effect of brand activism can so easily backfire, brands should analyze the costs and benefits before they speak out on social or political issues.

How To Offset It:

Hopping on the bandwagon isn’t always a bad thing for brands. When done consciously, ethically, and authentically, leveraging the bandwagon effect can lead to a successful product launch. However, it’s important to understand how to offset the negative impacts of the bandwagon effect.

1. Create A Marketing Strategy That Doesn’t Rely On Popularity. Since bandwagon effects are often short-lived and rely on the whims of consumers, it’s essential to have a marketing strategy that doesn’t rely on the product becoming popular and staying popular. Creating a bandwagon effect for the launch of the new product should be a temporary strategy, followed up by a robust marketing strategy based on the product’s features, functionality, and reliability. The launch strategy shouldn’t rely entirely on creating a bandwagon effect either. Predicting which products will go viral is notoriously difficult, so brands should not rely on this as their primary marketing strategy.
2. Be A Trustworthy Brand

One of the biggest problems with the bandwagon effect happens when customers feel like they were duped into buying a product that didn’t deliver on their expectations. This can happen when they feel that brands have used manipulative marketing tactics like embellishing the features or functionality of their product. This can also happen when customers’ expectations of the product are unrealistically high because of the claims made in the brand’s advertising or by third parties on behalf of the brand. If an influencer says that those TikTok leggings are going to make the customer’s butt look amazing, and the leggings don’t deliver the way the customers thought they would, this makes the brand seem untrustworthy, even though they weren’t the ones making the claims. Brands can build trust by being honest and transparent about their products, choosing trustworthy people to partner with, and providing excellent customer service to dissatisfied customers.

1. Develop A Strategy For Addressing Social And Political Causes

Social and political causes present a great opportunity for brands to express their values and show consumers that they’re socially conscious. However, it’s important to have an overall strategy aimed at doing this in a way that builds trust between the brand and the consumers. The brand’s leadership team should decide in advance, not in the moment, which causes they will make statements on and what those statements will be. The leadership team should also strategize ways to implement the values of those causes within their companies so their support of the cause isn’t seen as performative or hypocritical. If possible, publicize the brand’s support for each cause and the actions the brand is taking to support those causes before the cause makes headlines. Try to avoid reactionary statements at the moment the cause is trending.

How It All Started:

The phrases “the bandwagon effect” and “jumping on the bandwagon” were first used during the 1848 presidential election. Presidential candidate Zachary Taylor was on the campaign trail when he was invited to literally jump on the circus bandwagon of a very famous circus performer. He gained an incredible amount of recognition with local voters because of his association with the performer, and other politicians wanted to literally “jump on the bandwagon” because of Taylor’s success. The response of Taylor’s presidential rivals is the original example of the bandwagon effect, the tendency to support or do something simply because it is popular.

Though the term “the bandwagon effect” has been used for over a century, the first studies into the phenomenon weren’t conducted until the 1950s.

The seminal paper on the bandwagon effect that popularized the use of the term in economics was written by H. Leibenstein and published in “The Quarterly Journal of Economics.” In this paper, Leibenstein sought to explain the phenomenon of conspicuous consumption, which he defined as purchasing that had little to no functional purpose, but had significant social purpose. Leibenstein theorized that this conspicuous consumption was primarily driven by a person’s desire to “join the crowd” or “be one of the boys.” He named this phenomenon the bandwagon effect. Leibenstein also theorized that the desire to display status through purchasing luxury items contributed to the bandwagon effect. He dubbed this particular aspect of the bandwagon effect, “the snob effect.”

All of the literature about the bandwagon effect still draws on the theories that Leibenstein laid out in that paper. Of course, new understandings of the motivations behind the bandwagon effect and the way it actually plays out in purchasing decisions have evolved since then. But the core concept has remained the same.

Examples Of How It Affects The Product Process:

When designing new products, brands that understand the bandwagon effect can make choices driven to creating that phenomenon for their products. These choices could include things like partnerships with trusted social media influencers who agree to test the product and post about their experiences; product design aimed at younger generations that are more likely to talk about the product on social media; focusing on the intersection of functionality and entertainment, as Apple did with the iPhone; focusing on quality so the product earns good reviews on social media, in print, and from early adopters; using social media marketing over more traditional forms of marketing; creating an air of scarcity around the product, maybe by only producing a limited first run; and marketing the product as a luxury product or tying it to a product already established as a status symbol, maybe a brand’s previous products.

When leveraging an existing bandwagon effect in the creation of a new product, it’s important for brands to consider how their new product could be perceived by the public and competitors. As Variety pointed out when Reels launched, Meta’s new project was widely perceived as a “copycat,” and some pointed out that Meta’s previous attempts to make “copycat” products had failed. Brands should understand the risks of leveraging an existing bandwagon effect, but understand that it can pay off with the correct attention to product design.

When creating a product that intersects with an already popular product, it’s important to understand how that interdependency impacts the new product. If the existing product loses popularity or changes its design or functionality so the new product no longer adds value, then the benefits of leveraging the existing product’s bandwagon effect disappear. This makes designing products that leverage existing bandwagon effects risky. However, sometimes they pay off.

Key Takeaways:

What Is The Bandwagon Effect?

• The bandwagon effect refers to the tendency all humans have to do something, support something, or purchase something because other people are doing so.
• The bandwagon effect shows up in multiple arenas including politics, economics, and activist movements.
• The impact of the bandwagon effect has been intensified by social media.

Why It Happens

• The motivations behind the bandwagon effect are all relational and based in the human desire to be part of a group as well as the human fear of being excluded from the group.
• The bandwagon effect in consumer behavior is driven by the desire to signal social status through the purchase of a product and the desire to align oneself with the dominant group through purchase of a product.
• The fear of being excluded from the group by not jumping on the bandwagon or missing out on something that the rest of the group is doing is a powerful driver of the bandwagon effect.

Why Is It Important

• Brands that understand the bandwagon effect can effectively leverage this cognitive bias to drive product sales and brand loyalty.
• However, the bandwagon effect can easily backfire because it can be perceived as manipulative marketing, the whims of the consumers change, or the product popularity fades.
• Understanding the bandwagon effect and how it motivates brands to portray themselves to the public is an essential part of building trust with consumers.

What Are Its Effects?

• The primary effect of the bandwagon effect is getting people to engage in the same behavior as the dominant group. For brands, this translates to purchasing a product because other people are purchasing the product.
• When it backfires, the bandwagon effect can lead to buyer’s remorse because people feel like they went against their own desires to purchase a product.
• The bandwagon effect can lead to unrealistic expectations of a product, which can erode trust in the brand.

How To Offset It

• Create a marketing strategy that doesn’t rely on a product becoming popular and plans for drops in consumer interest when the trend fades.
• Create trust with customers by creating a quality product, setting expectations, and providing excellent customer service.
• Create a strategy for speaking out on social and political causes and take actions that align with support for those causes.

We’re in the midst of a Digital Renaissance. With the rise of startups and transformative tech companies like Apple and Google, the user’s experience has never been more important. That means that the humble designer is suddenly essential to the experiences of billions of people.

And we designers have risen to the challenge. As a young designer, I delighted in exploring new tools, developing my processes, and working with cohesive design teams. I spent hours crafting my skills — from wireframing to sketching, and even attempting to master Photoshop’s innumerable keyboard shortcuts. I figured the more skills I had, the more techniques I knew, the better designer I’d become, right?

Wrong.

As I got older and gained experience, I realized that none of these things were the main contributing factors to great UX design. Despite the rapid rise of fancy new tools during a Digital Renaissance, it became more and more clear to me that the secret to creating great user experiences lies in something more fundamental: The ability to listen. After all, the foundation of great design doesn’t start on an art board — it starts with a problem.

But listening is easy, right?

Conversing a daily part of the human experience — it’s how we communicate. Because we do it so often, it’s easy to think that listening is a skill we’ve mastered.

But here’s the thing: Listening isn’t the same as hearing. You can hear the sounds of what someone says, but real listening requires focus on both verbal and non-verbal cues. It means paying attention not only to the words someone says, but how they speak, and the way they use their language, voice, and body.

According to numerous studies on the way we communicate, we spend 60 percent of our time “listening,” but only retain 25 percent of the information that comes in. That’s means we’re doing a lot of hearing — but not a whole lot of listening.

To make matters worse, we live in an age where our attention is constantly being distracted. In our perpetually “connected” culture, there are nearly 11 million things fighting for our attention every second. The result? We impatiently crave instant soundbites, replacing the art of conversation with personal broadcasting.

In this environment, it’s easy to miss the insights we need to solve problems in a meaningful way.

So what’s the solution?

As you’ve probably already figured out, there are many types of listening and not all listening is created equal. The subtle art of listening includes everything from critical listening (where you evaluate and analyze) to empathetic listening (where you listen to understand a person’s emotions).

In design, the most helpful type of listening is conscious listening — otherwise known as “active listening.”

So how can we learn to consciously listen?

In his TED talk “5 Ways to Listen Better,” sound expert Julian Treasure shares an effective       framework called the RASA (Receive, Appreciate, Summarize, Ask) method. I’ve heard designers from Nike to Nickelodeon swear by its ability to help them get the insights they need during the design process. And using this in my own career, I’ve found that whether I’m doing client research or getting user feedback, the result is the same: My clients feel understood, I get the insights I need and — best of all — I connect deeply with the problem I’m tasked with solving.

Here are the four steps of RASA:

Receive: Treasure describes “receive” simply as “pay attention to the person.” But the word itself is evocative. When you’re receiving from someone, you’re not simply sitting near them while they talk. Instead, think of this step as a the state your mind should be in as you listen: Open, curious, and analytical. Receptive.

Every UX project begins with a discovery phase, which is the perfect opportunity to get a deep understanding of the problem that needs solving. If you’re open to receiving during the discovery process, even the sometimes frustrating process — like when your client rambles off in a vague direction — can be extremely fruitful. As the designer, it’s your responsibility to find the insights within your client’s words, even asking the same question in multiple ways if that’s what’s needed.

Appreciate: When listening, it’s obviously not enough to sit in front of the other person like a stone cold statue. Great listening means showing appreciation through encouraging sounds or gestures to show that you’re engaged and present. For Treasure, “appreciate” comes in the form of small noises like “okay” or “mm hmm.”

Feedback is the lifeblood of our industry, and the more engaged and appreciative you are with your user, the more honest and meaningful information they’ll give back to you. Think about subtle gestures like facing your client when listening, nodding in agreement, or verbally thanking them as they share with you.

Summarize: Think about a time that you shared something personally meaningful with another person, and they reflected back what they heard to you. Feels pretty great, right? When you take the time to summarize and reflect key ideas back to the other person, it shows them that you’ve fully understood what they’re saying. Treasure suggests starting with the word “so” to indicate when you’re summarizing someone’s thoughts back to them.

Ask: At the end of the discovery phase — or even throughout, if it’s appropriate — be mindful and ask thoughtful, open-ended questions that drive the conversation deeper. This is where the importance of active listening is really emphasized, because it’s impossible to ask meaningful, relevant questions unless you’re fully present and listening to the other person. By asking the right questions, you can glean insights from your users that will help you truly solve their problems.

Putting it all into practice

Having a simple framework like the RASA method has personally helped me stay committed to developing my most important skill as a designer: My ability to listen well. It’s helped me discover that when my client feels truly heard, they are willing to go deeper and share more than I ever imagined, helping me develop the solutions that meet their most core needs.

And the great thing about conscious listening is that it doesn’t just apply to listening to others; it applies to listening to ourselves as well. Don’t be surprised if, as you start creating the space to really hear what’s going on for someone else, you simultaneously develop self-awareness and the ability to critique your own work with an unbiased eye. And your design work? It’s only going to get better.

Oh, creativity — that lifeblood, that elixir, that divine potion that keeps us on our toes, keeps us inspired, has us sitting up in the middle of the night scribbling in our notebooks.

Until, or course, it doesn’t.

Sometimes, creativity goes on coffee breaks too, leaving us all alone, feeling uninspired, empty and, let’s face it, scared.

Scared that the well has dried up.

Creative block is brutal, striking at the worst moments, perhaps when we’re under deadline, or when we just really need a good idea to renew our faith in ourselves, and our craft.

Whether you count yourself as a “creative” or not, we’ve all had times in our work where we’ve felt paralyzed, unable to access the muse.

It happens to everyone.

But the key is recognizing that the well hasn’t gone dry, it’s just jammed.

When the pressure is on, when you’re tired, when you’re stressed, fear creeps in.

All these negative thoughts start pouring in and suddenly we’re trapped in our own minds.

If you can actively identify the fears — and just plain bad habits — holding your creative flow hostage, you then have the power to take actionable steps and address them head on.

Here’s a list I’ve compiled of 7 bad habits that paralyze creativity, and more importantly, how to squelch them and get back to work.

Mix it up

Problem: Getting too comfortable

Our surroundings play a huge role in sustaining our creative flow.

This is because inspiration comes from our connection with the outside world, the sum total of all of our experiences — the good (falling in love, making a new friend who really gets us, traveling somewhere we’ve never been), the bad (a break-up or falling out, losing someone we love, failing to secure a project we put in a bid for) and even the downright ugly (our own inner critic tearing us down, keeping us stagnant).

Basically, anything that makes us _feel something _has the power to spark a revelation, an outpouring of interconnected thoughts and aha moments.

We draw ideas from our environment, so when our routine feels stale, we find ourselves drawing blanks.

Solution: Don’t get too comfortable. Push yourself to go out and do new things, even when some of those new things scare you. Go to meet-ups and meet new people. Take up a new hobby. Join a new club. Change up your work space. Go outside. Check out a new cafe or co-working environment.

Basically, never lose your sense of curiosity about the world, as advertising mogul Leo Burnett opines:

Curiosity about life in all its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.

Continually mix it up by introducing novel experience into your life and the novel ideas will come.

Get over self-doubt

Problem: Limiting yourself

I’m not there yet. I have more work to do before I can take on that kind of project. I will let them down. I’m a fraud.

We all have that little voice in our head, feeding us lines about how we are just not good enough.

That we’re mediocre, at best, and better just leave the big stuff to the big people.

That self-fulfilling prophecy is one of the biggest deterrents to success we will ever face.

So, stop the prophecy in its tracks, before it even has the option to come true.

Brand strategist Alexander Isley urges us, “Get in over your head as often and joyfully as possible.”

Solution: Ignore the voice and just go for it. Easier said than done, I know, but attempting something you don’t feel ready for will actually force you to employ your creativity to find innovative solutions. Bam!

It’s going to be scary, but don’t shy away from the challenge, delight in it. As an added bonus, you’re bound to pick up new skills along the way, furthering you on your path and helping you in future situations. Score!

Stop with the excuses

Problem: Justifying inaction

We are absolute masters at coming up with reasons not to do something, especially when it comes to taking those little baby steps that can really push us to the next level.

I have too much on my plate right now. I don’t have the skills to take on that big of a project. Do I even want to make this kind of commitment right now?

The status quo is like a warm bubble bath — nice and cozy and real hard to leave.

But the longer you sit, the more you prune and your ideas evaporate in the steam.

Solution: Seek out web tutorials to boost your knowledge and skill set. Find the time, even if it is just an hour on a Sunday morning. Ask your friends for advice when you feel stuck, or lost, or just need some tips. Start thinking about reasons you can. Inaction cuts inspiration off at the source.

Seek out collaboration

Problem: Being over-protective of your ideas

I know it’s tempting to keep all your genius thoughts to yourself, or to try to prove that you can carry the creative burden all on your own.

Or, maybe you just prefer working alone, you got it.

It can be hard to open yourself up to working with others, especially if it doesn’t come naturally, but sharing is not only caring, it’s also incredibly necessary to creative development.

Solution: Throw ideas around with your friends in the industry, or your colleagues, let them bounce around, forwards and backwards and shoot back to you like a boomerang. They’ll come back to you revitalized with new energy.

Getting other perspectives opens up new avenues of thinking in your own process.

Check your ego

Problem: You’re too cocky

Confidence is great.

Without it, you might shy away from challenge, and that’s bad.

You know what’s also bad?

Lack of humility — being the know-it-all who assumes there’s nothing more to learn.

If that’s your assumption, than you’re right, you’re not going to learn, you will plateau.

When you stop pushing yourself to pick up new skills, to build on what you know, there’s no upward movement, **no momentum. **

Notice a theme yet?

Solution: It’s pretty simple. Stay humble and remember you’re never going to be as good as you could be, because you can always be better. Thank God for that, otherwise, what’s the point?

So, be engaged, be a seeker, and check out these 15 quotes that remind us of the importance of humility in business, and in life.

Stay on track

Problem: Lack of goal-setting

Many creatives struggle with structure.

It’s easy to get lost in the happy chaos of free-flowing ideas, the outpouring of revelations and healthy surges of inspiration.

Go ahead, soak it all in, mold and manipulate it, by all means play in the waves.

Then, reel it in, and set some deadlines, benchmarks and guidelines to keep the project grounded, and yes, structured.

Solution: Keep your eye on the original motivation for the work, and make sure everything you’re coming up with ties in to your completion of the final product.

Though splitting up your work into bite-sized chunks, and setting personal deadlines to follow along the way might feel constricting if you’re a big-picture thinker, the pressure can actually be the catalyst you need to be your most innovative, and to finish on time.

This applies in a grander context as well. Setting goals for learning new skills, or

trying out new techniques — and sticking to them — works wonders. Try out the Bullet Journal strategy.

Nix negativity

Problem: Letting others bring you down

Coming back to my first point, you need to create an environment for yourself in which you can thrive and grow.

Sure, that’s pretty obvious, but it also means taking some time to really evaluate who’s in your life and who you choose to let in your inner circle.

Solution: We’ve talked about how collaboration is important, and finding people to lean on for support, and people you can draw inspiration from, is just as vital.

Surround yourself with people who are just as excited as you about your ideas, shining beams of positivity who push you to grow, give you positive feedback and encourage you to stay open, and stay active.

We all have friends who tend to be a little on the negative side, always finding reasons to be cynical, or to avoid growth. Maybe they are having a rough go of it, or maybe it’s just part of their personality. I’m not saying cut these people out of your life completely, just be more mindful of how where they’re coming from affects you, and your creative process. Support them when you can, but don’t let them drag you down.

Spend your energy on those with like-minded spirit.

Get going

I’m assuming you came to this article because you’re experiencing a bit of a block, or maybe you’re anticipating the next one.

So, keeping these creativity drains in mind, it’s on you now.

Get out your notebook and write down three tangible ways you can stoke the flames of inspiration — either by chasing knowledge, seeking community or changing up your routine.

From there, it’s easy.

Just go out and do them — repeatedly.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.— Aristotle

Choose the good ones.

“Fail fast, fail often” is an established mantra in the startup world. When creating a new business, every failed idea — every rejection, every roadblock — puts you one step closer to developing a successful product. In the business world, failure is something you learn from.

Launching a startup means knocking on 100 doors, and having 99 slammed in your face. It means throwing your ideas to the wolves for scrutiny, and watching them get picked apart and twisted. It means facing rejection time and time again, and entering the next VC meeting with the same high-spirited level of enthusiasm.

You continue to fail until, eventually, you succeed. Your ideas are validated, you get the investor, and you finally find that sweet spot of product market fit.

The problem is, no one teaches us how to fail.

Psychologically, failure hurts, and unable to express their emotions in the environments were confidence is currency and emotional vulnerability is costly, many entrepreneurs experience depression.  According to a recent study by Dr. Michael Freeman, a clinical professor at University of California San Francisco, as many as 30% of entrepreneurs (compared to only 7% of the general population) suffer from depression.

How you deal with failure is the biggest determination of whether or not you will succeed as an entrepreneur — and plays a pivotal role in promoting your personal well-being. Here is a step-by-step guide to handling rejection, designed to help you get the insights you need for your startup to succeed.

Step 1: Embrace failure in all areas of your life

First, it’s essential that you separate the act of failing, from the idea of being a failure. Seek out — or be mindful  of —  small instances of failure in your daily life, relationships, or work. This repeated exposure will desensitize you to failure. It’s called systematic desensitization, and it’s a behavior therapy used to help overcome anxiety and phobia disorders.

“By confronting your fear, and by repeatedly doing the thing you fear, the fear eventually disappears,” says author and motivational speaker Brian Tracy in his book, Negotiation.

Small failures in life are inevitable — being late for work, forgetting a friend’s birthday, saying something hurtful to a loved one. But doing “bad things” doesn’t make us “bad people” and there’s no better way to realize that than by seeking out and noting these small failures. According to the theory of systematic desensitization, getting used to small failures will make you less likely to crumble under the big ones.

As vulnerability researcher Brene Brown says in her TED Talk, The Power of Vulnerability, “If you have no tolerance for failure, you will not create anything new.”

Step 2: Cultivate a growth mindset

Modern psychology identifies a dichotomy between two common mindset patterns — a “fixed” vs. “growth” mindset. Those with a fixed mindset tend to avoid failure at all costs, assuming that intelligence and creative ability are static givens. They measure success against a given standard and may use it as a way to maintain a sense of superiority over others.

People with a growth mindset see failure not as evidence of inferiority, but as a means for growth. They treat failure as a reason to stretch existing abilities until they reach success.

Obviously a growth mindset is preferable for entrepreneurs who are existing in the “fail fast” world we live in today. However, switching from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset can be tough. Dr. Carol S. Dweck, one of the the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation and a professor at Stanford University, suggests starting by recognizing how to hear your “fixed mindset voice.” Then, make a choice to interpret them with either a fixed mindset or growth mindset perspective and answer your internal fixed mindset voice with a growth mindset voice. Finally, take the growth mindset action.

Consciously practice this approach until it becomes habit and the constant failures of the startup world will feel like progress instead of roadblocks.

Step 3: Share the burden

We’re all know the myth of the hero entrepreneur — the Elon Musk type who goes it alone and builds a tech empire. It’s a great story, right? Except, in reality, he didn’t do it alone. No man or woman can build an empire completely on their own. It takes a strong team, a lot of know-how, and way more work than any one person can undertake on their own.

Leo Lapore, founder of the TWiT network, says that his biggest mistake was trying to do everything himself.

“As a founder I felt like I knew everything I needed to know about media, content, even the technology involved to reach my audience. And I did. I just didn’t know anything at all about making a viable business: finance, marketing, advertising, and human resources,” Lapore says on the Buffer blog. “Hiring a business partner then giving her full scope to do her job felt a little like giving up my company but it was a vital step toward success.”

Though we might be trained to idolize the singular champion, there’s not a single startup that was built by one person alone. It’s always a team effort, which means that both successes and failures are never yours alone. Put aside that hero mentality, and share the burden of failure with your team. You’ll find that it not only makes your burden lighter, but also builds a sense of camaraderie that will carry you through the toughest times.

Step 4: Separate the emotion from the lesson

When you’re still deep in the disappointment of a failed venture, it’s hard to focus on the next step: What you can change in order to do better next time? Take the sting out of rejection by viewing it as a learning experience and by trying your best to remove emotion from the equation. While it can be tempting to wallow, when you wallow in self-doubt for too long, you default to inaction.

“You must make a decision that you are going to move on,” Joel Osteen says in his book Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential. “It won’t happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, ‘I don’t care how hard this is, I don’t care how disappointed I am, I’m not going to let this get the best of me. I’m moving on with my life.’”

Feeling upset at the initial blow is natural, and it’s okay to own that. However, it’s important to switch over from a dialogue of internal criticism to one of external action if you want to catch your momentum again. Momentum breeds momentum, and you can’t start on the upswing until you take the first step towards renewed action. The best way to do that is to accept that things didn’t go your way this time, refocus on the goal, take some time to bat around improvement strategies, and put them into action, one small step at a time.

Time to fail better

According to Freud’s pleasure principle, everything we do comes down to an instinctual desire for pleasure and an avoidance of pain. Under this premise, the ideas of motivation, fear and failure get a little tangled: The idea of successfully launching a startup brings pleasure, whereas fear of failing brings pain.

As entrepreneurs, we start out hugely motivated, swept up in a wave of possibilities. But when the going gets tough and we find ourselves coming up against obstacles again and again, a sinking feeling of failure ad infinitum slowly takes over, paralyzing us.

Therefore, finding actionable ways to turn the inevitable failures that come with the territory into opportunities for development is your best bet for ensuring success for your business.

Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

So continue. Fail fast. Fail often. And you’ll find that you fail better.

Do you ever feel like creativity is a little creature that sits on your shoulder alternating roles between cherubic angel and horny little devil?

I know I do.

My creativity is a short, wispy, mischievous trickster who has a penchant for disappearing when I need him, and reappearing whenever I’m fast asleep in bed.

When I sit down to design, he gets up and goes for a coffee.

When I try to brainstorm, he wants to stare out the window.

In short, he’s an unruly jerk.

He thrives on my fears, loves distraction and is generally a little sh*t.

But, I love him anyway.

Whether you count yourself as a “creative” or not, we’ve all had times when our creativity ditches us, leaving us all alone, paralyzed, uninspired, and let’s face it, scared.

Over the years, I've learned the only way I can get creativity to play nicely is to manage my fears and bad habits.

If you can actively identify the self-defeating habits causing your friend creativity to go AWOL, you then have the power to curb his bad behavior and turn him into your greatest ally.

Here’s a list of eight bad habits to watch out for, and what you can do to get back on track.

Habit #1: Getting too comfortable

As designers, we all get too comfortable sometimes.

What’s wrong with that? Comfort sounds nice.

Sure, but it can also be a big problem, because according to Psychology Today, comfort can kill our creativity.

Our surroundings play a huge role in sustaining the cooperation of our little friend.

Inspiration comes from curiosity, collaboration and connection — basically our relationship with the outside world, the sum total of all of our experiences — the good (falling in love, making a new friend who really gets us, traveling somewhere we’ve never been), the bad (a break-up or falling out, losing someone we love, failing to secure a project we put in a bid for) and even the downright ugly (our own inner critic tearing us down, keeping us stagnant).

Basically, anything that makes us feel something has the power to spark a revelation, an outpouring of interconnected thoughts and aha moments.

When my routine feels stale, I find myself drawing blanks.

Solution: Mix it up — leave your box and seek out a little discomfort. Do new things even if those new things scare you. Go to meet-ups and meet new people. Take up a new hobby. Join a new club. Change up your work space. Go outside.

Basically, I try never to lose my sense of curiosity about the world, as advertising mogul Leo Burnett opines:

“Curiosity about life in all its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.”

I’ve found that by continually mixing it up by introducing novel experience into life, the novel ideas will come.

Habit #2: Limiting yourself

I’m not there yet. I have more work to do before I can take on that kind of project. I will let them down. I’m a fraud.

We all have that little voice in our head, feeding us lines about how we are just not good enough.

As most creatives know, any form of anxiety or pessimism can impede the formation of new ideas.

That self-fulfilling prophecy is one of the biggest deterrents to success we will ever face.

So, I’ve learned to stop the prophecy in its tracks, before it even has the option to come true.

“If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” ― Vincent van Gogh

Solution: Get over self-doubt. Ignore the voice and just go for it. By attempting something we don’t feel ready for, we actually force ourselves to employ our creativity to find innovative solutions. Bam!

It’s scary, but I try not to shy away from the challenge, I try instead to delight in it.

As brand strategist Alexander Isley urges us, “Get in over your head as often and joyfully as possible.”

In my experience, as an added bonus, when you’re treading on new ground, you’re bound to pick up new skills along the way, furthering you on your path and helping you in future projects. Score!

Habit #3: Making excuses

We can be absolute masters at coming up with reasons not to do something, especially when it comes to taking those little baby steps that can really push us to the next level.

I have too much on my plate right now. I don’t have the skills to take on that big of a project. Do I even want to make this kind of commitment right now?

The status quo is like a warm bubble bath — nice and cozy and real hard to leave.

But the longer you sit, the more you prune and your ideas evaporate in the steam.

Solution: Stop making excuses. Be on constant look out for new tricks. Seek out web tutorials to boost your knowledge and skill set. Find the time, even if it is just an hour on a Sunday morning. Ask friends for advice when you feel stuck, or lost, or just need some tips. Start thinking about reasons why you can.

Inaction cuts inspiration off at the source, and drives my creativity away to his hiding place.

Getting a move on always coaxes him back.

Habit #4: Stretching yourself too thin\

When our friend creativity is buzzing with ideas and can’t shut up, it’s tempting to take on too much.

In theory, working on multiple projects and keeping him busy should be a good thing, keeping him motivated, and tolling away right where we need him.

But, we all know creative burnout is real, and it sucks.

Everyone reaches a tipping point where unbridled passion turns into lack of interest — because they haven’t taken adequate time to recharge their creative batteries.

I have a tendency to say yes to everything, stretch myself too thin, and then inevitably hit a brick wall.

Solution: Give yourself permission to say no. Conserve your energy for the projects that really speak to you — and be choosy. Before you take on anything, ask yourself these questions: What are the long term impacts of this project on my career? If I accept this project, what will I learn from it? Do I have to do this on my own — can I ask for help? And, most importantly, is this work something I’m passionate about?

Give these nine ways to crush creative burnout a read for ideas on how to get back in the game when you’re struggling.

Habit #5: Going at it alone

Another problem some of us face is being just plain too overprotective of our ideas.

I know it’s tempting to keep all your genius thoughts to yourself, or to try to prove that you can carry the creative burden all on your own.

Or, maybe you just prefer working alone.

I know I’ve fallen into that trap.

It can be hard to open yourself up to working with others, especially if it doesn’t come naturally, but sharing is not only caring, it’s also incredibly necessary to creative development.

My solution: Throw ideas around with friends in the industry, or colleagues. Let them bounce around, forwards and backwards and shoot back to me like a boomerang. When they return revitalized with new energy, feed them to my feisty friend and get my creative groove back.

See this article from UPPERCASE magazine about the importance of creative collaboration.

Habit #6: Getting too cocky

Confidence is a great look, being overly cocky, not so much.

Without a healthy sense of self-worth, you might shy away from challenge, and that’s bad.

But take it from me, lack of humility, is equally as detrimental.

When you assume you have nothing more to learn, than you’re right, you’re not going to learn, you will plateau.

When you stop pushing yourself to pick up new skills, to build on what you know, there’s no upward movement, no momentum.

Solution: It’s pretty simple. Check your ego. Stay humble and remember you’re never going to be as good as you could be, because you can always be better.

Take a look at these 15 quotes that remind us of the importance of humility in business, and in life.

Habit #7: Lack of structure

Many creatives struggle with structure.

It’s easy to let our buddy creativity get lost in the happy chaos of free-flowing ideas, the outpouring of revelations and the healthy surges of inspiration.

By all means, let him have some fun.

But, then you need to reel him in. Set some deadlines, benchmarks and guidelines to keep the project grounded, and keep him on track.

Solution: Goal-setting. Keep your eye on the original motivation for the work, and make sure everything you’re coming up with ties in to your vision of the final product.

In order to keep my creativity in line, and stop him from frolicking through the fields unchecked, I need to divide all my projects into bite-sized chunks, and set personal deadlines as I go.

That might feel constricting if you’re a big-picture thinker, but the pressure can actually be the catalyst you need to squeeze out your most innovative thinking.

Set goals for learning new skills and trying out new techniques.

Try out the Bullet Journal strategy.

Habit #8: Bad company

I’ve realized it’s very important for me to create an environment for myself in which I can thrive and grow.

Sure, that’s pretty obvious, but it’s also meant taking some time to really evaluate who’s in my life and who I want to spend my energy on.

Solution: Surround yourself with people who are just as excited about your ideas as you are, those shining beams of positivity who push you to grow, give you positive feedback, and encourage you to stay open, and stay active.

Just like creative collaboration is important to your craft, finding people in your personal life to lean on for support, and draw inspiration from, is just as vital.

We all have those friends who bring a cloud of negativity with them wherever they go, who err on the side of *sshole.

Maybe they’re having a rough go of it, or maybe it’s just part of their personality. I’m not saying cut these people out of your life completely, just be more mindful of how their sh*t affects you, and your creative process.

Spend your energy on those with like-minded spirit, and try integrating some of these life hacks into your routine to nix the negative and invite in positive vibes.

So, there you have it, my battles and victories in pursuit of max creativity laid out in listicle form.

Keeping these creativity drains in mind, I’m passing you the torch —  it’s on you now.

Get out your notebook and write down three tangible ways you can appease your own shifty creative character — wielding your power by chasing knowledge, seeking community and changing up your routine.

From there, it’s easy.

Just go out and do it — repeatedly.

Several months ago I realized that, as designers, our work is unconsciously limited by bias. I had a dream project; one which afforded me the opportunity to improve one of my weaker skills — creating a color palette. After putting together a few different versions of the client’s site, in typical UX fashion I went out in search of feedback. I showed my designs to the guy next to me, and he flatly stated, “I don’t like it. It’s boring.”

Deflated that this guy rejected my daring palette, I asked why he thought it was “boring.” His answer shocked me.

“It all looks the same.”

After a few more minutes of questions and answers back and forth, it came out that he was colorblind. Literally colorblind. My variations were too subtle for his eyes to detect. In that moment, I realized I had a massive blind spot. Obviously I knew that everyone sees different things within a design, but what surprised me was the realization that there things that people couldn't see. Things that were so obvious to me could literally be invisible to another person.

How many other times had I done this — and to how many other clients — without ever realizing it? And I started to think: What other unconscious decisions have been affecting my work without me knowing? And what other limiting beliefs were manifesting in my work, holding me back from creating the kind of work that solved problems in a meaningful way?

In this article, I’ll explain why our brains are built to be biased, different types of bias, how bias can negatively impact UX design, and how UX designers can overcome their own unconscious biases in order to create meaningful experiences for their users.

The unconscious bias blind spot

Ever feel like you’re overwhelmed with information? That’s totally normal: In any given moment, we’re constantly being bombarded with incredible amounts of information at once.

According to psychology professor Timothy Wilson, our brains take in around 11 million pieces of information at any given moment — but can only process 40 of them at a time. As a result, we’ve developed filtration mechanisms to handle all of this incoming data. Using a series of mental shortcuts and handy “rules,” we’re able to make decisions and move through the world without getting overwhelmed.

Combined with learned habits and beliefs, this filtration system helps us navigate and make sense of the world around us. Through these processes, we develop a limited perspective of the world that fits in with the mental paradigms we’ve created — a perspective that we call bias.

Personal biases color the way we make decisions, form beliefs, and engage with those around us. While it can be easy to label bias as a “bad” thing, all it really means is that we have a partial perspective of the world. Our biases only become problems when we’re unconscious and unaware of them — and when we base our beliefs entirely on the assumptions and perspectives we think are true.

Biologically, biases help us process the world as efficiently as possible. With that massive barrage of stimuli entering our five senses on a moment-to-moment basis, we’d be entirely overwhelmed if we didn’t filter our experience of the world. However, because this happens unconsciously, we often forget that we’re operating within a bias — and this is where we start to develop a blind spot.

The bias blind spot in design

When it comes to UX design, identifying and confronting our unconscious bias is critical to producing better work. A designer could spend hours honing their craft, constantly learning new methodologies and software, and iterating until they get as close to pixel perfection as possible — but if they can’t see outside of their blind spot, their work could frustrate users and alienate audiences. Ultimately, their limited perspective could result in the designer creating products that only appeal to the narrowest of market segments.

So what is the thing preventing the average UX designer from doing their best work? What exists within us all, affecting everything we do, even though we’re totally unaware of it? What is that subtle block that, despite our commitment to practice and improvement, prevents us from becoming the kind of designers we aspire to be?

It’s the unconscious decisions we make, based on our limited view of our craft, the world, and ourselves. When we shed light on our unconscious bias — which we can’t see without external feedback — we free ourselves to rise to the next level of success in UX design.

Blind spots hide within bias

Sometimes our blind spots are so huge that they have massive ramifications — and other times they’re tiny for companies, but make a big difference for certain subsets of our users.

A famous example of the former is Snapchat’s release of not one but two racially insensitive filters last year. The first one, in April, was a “Bob Marley” filter that some people likened to blackface. The second, a mere four months later in August, was supposed to be “anime-inspired” but ended up looking like a caricature of an east Asian face. With those filters, the social network managed to alienate two huge subsets of their client base and writers have posited that if Snapchat had a more diverse team, these fiascos could have been avoided altogether.

An example of the latter is a recent reddit thread asking Spotify to change their shuffle button, which goes from green to grey to indicate whether or not it’s activated. The person posting says they are colorblind and that “adding a circle around the shuffle symbol when [it’s] on would make it easier for all of us.” I know — from personal experience — that it’s a tiny detail that a designer who isn’t colorblind wouldn’t ever consider, yet the simple update made a big difference to many designers.

Overcoming bias in UX design

To rise to the next level of UX design - often called universal design - we must identify and overcome our unconscious biases. Only then can we free ourselves from limited perspectives and become open to far more possibilities and ideas than we could have imagined.

Here are some steps to overcoming unconscious bias:

Identify it. If we aspire to greater levels of awareness and new perspectives, we have to identify that we have a bias in the first place. Acknowledging that we’re operating under an unconscious bias gives designers the freedom and awareness to actually do something about it.

Acknowledging your own bias can really hard, but luckily there are numerous tools available to help us.

Emi Kolawole of the Stanford D School worked with Ideo to create the Designing for Worldview framework. This framework raises unconscious bias awareness through a series of practical design-thinking exercises. It’s great for teams who are working together to expand their worldview and reach a broader audience.

Another great tool for teams comes from the AIGA, which teamed up with designer and sociologist Leyla Acaroglu of Disrupt Design to create the Gender Equity Toolkit. It’s a set of resources that includes videos and downloadable worksheets that you can use to uncover and challenge implicit gender-related bias.

For the solo designer, Harvard University’s Project Implicit gives an easy way to self-test your unconscious levels of prejudice about age, gender, and race. It can be done completely on one’s own, which is perfect for people who are trying to push past their biases but aren’t necessarily ready or able to do so in a group setting.

But identifying bias isn’t enough — we also have to take action.

Seek to broaden perspectives. We all have the innate ability to live and operate with a far vaster perspective and open mindset than we currently do. All it takes is the desire and commitment to staying open and transcending our limiting, biased mindsets.

When working on a UX design project, consciously see the work from a variety of perspectives other than your own. How will different types of users perceive this experience? I’ve created a tool that helps people do exactly that. It’s called Perspective Cards and it’s a web app that gives designers a way to figure out who we are forgetting during the design process. With every click, designers are challenged to imagine their work through the eyes of another person. The idea is that the more perspectives we embrace as we build, the more inclusive our work will become.

When working with clients, designers need to own past notions or personal agendas, and fully listen and empathize with what the person across from them is saying. For great design to happen, designers must constantly be open to learning something new, gleaning a new insight, or shifting perspectives away from what they’ve always known.

Create diverse design teams. To create globally relevant experiences for a wide spread of users, we need diverse design teams that can help counter the unconscious bias present in homogenous groups. Design teams that contain a diverse group of designers contribute to a well-rounded experience for users.

While hiring managers have the most power when it comes to the creation of teams, there are things that individual designers can do as well. One way is by suggesting qualified friends and former colleagues of color or women, for example, as candidates when your company is hiring. Another is to bring up the issue with managers: Make it clear that diversity is important to you and, ultimately, important to the success of the team. Finally, share what you’ve learned as you’ve challenged your own bias. One of the best ways we can make change is by sharing our personal stories with our peers.

Moving forward

For both individuals and design teams, broadening perspectives to bring awareness to unconscious bias is a major tool for creating more impactful user experiences. While it isn’t easy to overcome the natural, learned bias we all carry, the conscious practice of overriding it can bring an entirely new level of fulfillment to your UX design and your life.

As I watched the app go live in across the various app stores I felt exhausted.

The steps leading up to the launch had been intense, involving multiple stakeholders, scores of different user personas, and innumerable iteration cycles spread across a multitude of design teams. We shipped the project on time and shared high-fives all around, but after the dust had settled I realized how truly tired each step of this project had made me.

After the launch, I was all UX’ed out. Even the sight of a Post-It note felt exhausting. Attributing the fatigue to creative block, I planned to take a few days off to recharge. But because my version of “recharge” also means “process everything,” I also decided to write an article for creatives about how to deal with this kind of block.

But when I sat down to write, something surprising happened. Despite my fatigue, the words flew off the page and my energy levels soared. I could hardly get my flood of ideas down fast enough!

And that’s when I realized: This wasn’t a creative block at all. I had UX burnout.

What is UX burnout?

If you haven’t heard of UX burnout, don’t feel bad — it’s a term I coined for the kind of burnout that arises during key points of the UX process, as opposed to a generalized creative block that occurs when you’ve simply run out of energy and ideas.

The creation of an effective user experience is a complicated, multifaceted process. It demands a wide variety of skill sets and a constant stream of creative ideas, all with a complete focus on the user.

UX design also involves a innumerable iteration cycles — a process that theoretically never “ends.” Noted designer Neville Brody once said “Digital design is like painting, except the ink never dries,” — and that’s totally true. While an artist only has to aim for a single user to love their work, UX designers must create experiences that resonate at scale, with massive and constantly-changing audiences.

The burnout I experienced after such a high intensity design sprint was exhausting at the time, but it was ultimately a blessing. Through the roller coaster ride of UX design, I’ve identified six types of UX burnout you’ll probably also encounter, along with research-backed methods to get through them.

1. You’re tired of listening

To create a great user experience requires a lot of empathy and listening on the part of the designer. It’s only by truly understanding a problem that we can design a relevant and meaningful solution. The catch here is that full, active listening and empathy require a great deal of energy, and a desire to truly engage with your subject rather than just get the insights you need.

Active listening isn’t just sitting by and passively hearing what your client has to say — it’s an intense, full-body listening where you seek their wants, needs, desires, and meaning in each word and gesture. Just a few rounds of this active empathetic listening can leave you feeling emotionally drained and, before you know it, you attention has begun to wander. What’s worse, the moment you stop listening your audience stops sharing. As designer Frank Chimero once said, “People ignore design(ers) that ignore people.”

Action Step: Use a technique called timeboxing to preserve your energy and ensure you’re fully present and engaged. Studies show that we can only concentrate fully for 40 minutes at a time, so although you may be tempted to stack interview after interview, think again. Stepping away to rejuvenate will give you a clear head and fresh perspective, and improve your focus and productivity. The timeboxing technique is based on the premise that working within constraints increases productivity. By putting strict constraints around your work, you’ll be able to focus and be present for that limited time, then take a break to rejuvenate.

Another way to maintain your energy during the user interview process is to make sure that you stay interested! One of the great joys of user research is that you get to discover interesting things about people, stimulating one of the most powerful tools we possess: Genuine curiosity. The interview process is far more than just a gateway to the insights you need as a designer; it’s an opportunity to connect with a fascinating person and their unique story.

If you broaden your interview by adding a few random questions that go beyond the scope of your research, you’ll expand the information you collect for the project while keeping yourself engaged and interested. And when listening to a client, remember to listen to yourself as well and to know when your focus has dipped and you need to take a break to come back engaged.

2. You have problem paralysis

The great thing about user research is the wealth of problems it reveals. And the bad thing about user research? The wealth of problems it reveals. While interviews can reveal a mass of valuable data, it’s easy to fall into indecision paralysis when you’re trying to pick the most important problems to solve and ideating various solutions. So how can you use the information you gather to know which usability issues are mission critical, and which are simply an inconvenience?

Action Step:Whenever I find myself overwhelmed by the number of usability issues I’m facing, I use the “Three Questions” prioritization framework. As David Travis points out, you can classify the severity of any usability problem into low, medium, serious, or critical by asking just three questions with YES/NO answers:

1. Does the problem stop the user achieving their primary goal?
2. Is the problem difficult for users to overcome?
3. Is the problem persistent?

The highest priority problems are those that prevent users from achieving their primary goal. Only once these are solved do the remaining issues become of importance.

3. You’re all ideated out

Ideating solutions is one of the most enjoyable parts of the design process. That moment of breaking open the pens to fill up dry erase boards with ideas and collaborate with our fellow creatives brings an energy and spark to the work that we do.

But with some projects, ideas aren't so easy to ignite. And whether it’s a looming deadline, team dynamics, or simply a lack of insights, sometimes that dry erase board looms over you instead of welcomes you. The whole thing can make you feel overwhelmed and unable to effectively ideate.

Action Step: Steal. Learn to steal like an artist. Whenever Austin Kleon, designer and author of Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, feels himself grinding to a creative halt, he makes a point of reminding himself that everything is a remix. As Kleon says, “Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.”

In his TED talk Embrace the Remix, Kirby Ferguson says, “Our creativity comes from without, not from within. We are not self-made. We are dependent on one another, and admitting this to ourselves isn't an embrace of mediocrity and derivativeness. It's a liberation from our misconceptions, and it's an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves..”

Now, I’m not suggesting that you copy other ideas verbatim. Stealing like an artist means engaging with the world in a way that seeks inspiration in the most likely and unlikely of places, getting clear on what you love, and learning to create through inspiration from others.

4. You’re overwhelmed by data

Whether you’re a left brainer or right, we all have to fall in love with research. After all, a thorough understanding of the problem we’re solving and the user we’re solving it for is the foundation of all effective design. Because of this, we delight in receiving insights about the problem at hand.

But that doesn’t mean that the whole process of gathering, interpreting, and constantly reaffirming information doesn’t get exhausting. What’s more, research is far from a “one and done” process. We constantly need to be seeking feedback on our work in order to ensure our decisions are validated and not backed by lazy assumptions or a simple desire to create pretty pixels. When we try to figure everything out ourselves, we are limited by our own worldview, cognitive biases, and blind spots that can make it feel like it’s impossible to separate signal from the noise.

Action Step: The solution to getting unstuck from the overload of information acquired during research? Use the power of collaboration to gain outside perspectives and new insights. One of the earliest findings in social psychology was the “social facilitation” effect – the way the mere presence of other people engaged in the same task as us can boost our motivation.  In 1920, social psychologist Floyd Allport showed that a group of people working individually at the same table performed better on a whole range of tasks even though they weren’t cooperating or competing. Collaboration is a fantastic tool for refreshing ideas and seeing a new side of a problem, along with potential new solutions.

There’s only so much you can do on your own, so get your team together and talk out the problem, create a brainstorming or mind-mapping session, and gain clarity about the core of what you’re creating. By actively engaging with others about the problem at hand, you’ll regain a fresh perspective and see new insights and solutions that weren’t apparent on your own.

5. Constant iteration makes you feel like a hamster on a wheel

Once the design process moves into the prototyping and testing phrases, things really start to get interesting — and you might even feel like you’re moving closer to the finish line. But design is a marathon, even if you work in sprints, and constant iteration cycles over the long-term can make you feel like you’re spinning your wheels and going nowhere.

This state of burnout and exhaustion isn’t exactly the place to tap into your most inspired state. It’s your responsibility as a designer to conserve your energy and take the breaks needed to reconnect you to your motivation and creativity.

Action Step:When you feel like you’re constantly rushing forward with wheels spinning, it’s time to stop, breathe, and go for a walk. From Steve Jobs to Albert Einstein to Mark Zuckerberg, some of the world’s most creative minds have engaged in daily walks to boost creativity and keep their ideas flowing.

A recent study from researchers at Stanford found that a person’s creative output and creative divergent thinking abilities increase significantly during and after a walk. The effect was similar regardless of whether participants took a stroll inside or stayed inside, walked on a treadmill or stared at a wall — it was the act of walking itself, rather than the sights encountered on the saunter, that improved creativity.

So when you’re feeling stuck on a project, get up, get out, and get moving. It doesn’t do you or your client any good to just keeping staring at the screen.

6. Pixel Perfection

If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get caught up in the search for the perfect amount of white space, or split-testing font types, playing with accent colors, or any of the thousand tiny design details that (in all likelihood) your average user will never notice. The old adage is true “perfect is the enemy of done.”, and the key to determining which details are actually important lies in understanding which of your design choices will actually make a difference to the user — and which are a result of you stroking your ego, procrastinating, or delaying shipping out of fear.

Design is an iterative process, and the only way you can move to the next cycle is to put your work in front of others to get the feedback needed to move forward.

Action Step: Embrace transparency in your process. Get used to the uncomfortable feeling of shipping final projects that you don’t necessarily feel 100 percent perfect about. Remember, as Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, famously said, “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

A great user experience is impossible to create in a vacuum, and everything has to do feedback. Reid’s words reflect a growing movement within the entrepreneurial community: The “Iterate Fast and Release Often” philosophy of entrepreneurship. Make a point of showing your work to everyone - from team members to clients -  as often as possible. Aside from getting the feedback that you need, a dedication to this habit keeps perfectionism from standing in the way of your productivity.

When you love your work the way I — and so many designers — do, it’s easy to push and push and push until you hit the burnout stage. In order to avoid UX burnout, it’s important to remember to take time away from the computer and the sketch books. Read a book. Go for a swim. Take a weekend off. Your creative brain will thank you.

As a creative, no matter how expert you are at your craft, there will be times when you’re not producing as much as you could — and you know it. Our lives are filled with millions of distractions these days and it’s easy to get into the habit of following inefficient processes that make it hard to be productive.

And, ironically enough, our best tool is the same thing that creates the biggest obstacle to our creative flow: the computer.

As designers, we have to spend hours in front of screens, but studies show it’s not great for our health and overall wellbeing. After a number of sleepless nights, a bout of carpal tunnel, and frequent migraines, I decided to see if there was a way to fulfill my desire to create — but with more time spent away from the screen.

So here’s what I found. These research-backed steps will help you create the structure you need to produce far more creative work in less time — and feel amazing doing it.

Make the choice

The first step in fixing any problem is awareness that it’s actually a problem. And the second step? Making the choice to correct it. Deciding to spend less time in front of a screen and actually get more done might mean seriously revamping the entire structure of your day — not an easy challenge to face.

You might be addicted to the feeling of busyness that you get from sitting in front of a screen all day. If you’re really committed to more creative output, it’s time to make a change.

Have a process

As creatives, we tend to work based on our our shifting flows of energy and inspiration. But while this might be a nice, romanticized notion of the creative process, professionals know it’s not the best way to get sh*t done.

Let’s be clear: the difference between a professional and an amateur is process.

Everyone essentially has two brains fighting for control: One that thrives on process, and the other that thrives on distraction. Tim Urban calls them the “rational decision maker” and the “instant gratification monkey” in his TED Talk, “Inside the Mind of Master Procrastinator.”

The instant gratification monkey in your brain will convince you that getting distracted for eight hours on Dribble counts as productivity. Don’t be fooled. Use process to corral that monkey energy into your creative genius. TK

Mise en place

I learned the practice of mise en place while working as a chef, and implementing it into my creative process has dramatically increased my output. Before any chef starts to cook, they gather all of the ingredients and tools they will need to prepare the meal around them. By bringing them close, the tools work almost like an extension of their own arm as they cook.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been immersed in a design, only to have my laptop run out of power — or have a great brainstorm session come to a halt because I ran out of Post-Its.

So prepare like a chef. Take five minutes to set up your workspace before you sit down for your next design session. Think about things like charging your laptop, opening all of the programs you need, sharpening pencils, and placing paper, Post-Its, and other supplies nearby.

Pencils before pixels

When it comes to efficiency in design, I believe the pencil is mightier than the pixel. While many designers swear by software to flesh out their ideas, I ideate and prototype using pencil and paper for as long as possible. That’s because no matter how many Photoshop shortcuts you know, you’ll never be able to ideate faster than you can with a simple pencil and paper.

The simpler the tool, the quicker you work — and the more rapidly you can get your ideas down. What’s more, starting work on pencil and paper means you can start showing your ideas to customers as quickly as possible. Because feedback is such an essential part of design, the sooner (and more frequently) you get it, the better your work will become. Validating your ideas before transitioning to the screen is the best way to ensure your product fits your market — and you keep screen time to a minimum.

Turn off distractions

A study done at UC Irvine showed that the average worker is distracted every 11 minutes, and that it takes 25 minutes to return full focus to the original task after an interruption. From social media notifications flooding our every device, to emails pouring in and the latest and most interesting information just a click away on your favorite (distracting) websites, we are constantly encountering distractions throughout our “productive” workdays. If you are truly committed to living up to your most productive potential, it’s time to turn off the distractions — or at least start asking some very important questions about them.

Start with this process of questioning the various online tools you use on a daily basis: What is it? Why is it useful? How much time do I need to spend on it?

Once you’ve determined exactly what these sites are giving to you — and what they’re taking away — it’s time to make decisions about which ones you can truly shut off during your work day. If you need a little bit of help cutting out the noise, try RescueTime to see where you’re spending your time, Social Fixer to filter your Facebook newsfeed, or the Kill Newsfeed extension to get rid of it all together.

Timebox

The Pomodoro technique is a research-backed time-boxing tool that has helped thousands of people ensure they’re using their time in the most productive way. Studies have shown that our attention span dwindles around the 40 minute mark —  yet so many people push and struggle through this natural ebb in focus.

The Pomodoro technique encourages you take a short (emphasis on the short) break every 25 or 50 minutes. The idea is that the break lets you naturally re-energize your brain and body to keep producing great work over a sustained period.

Embrace “smartcuts”

While taking shortcuts in design can get you into trouble, smartcuts include any tool, method, or resource that helps you design more quickly. Every designer has their own preferred set of smartcuts, which might include app-specific keyboard shortcuts, design patterns and color palettes, icon collections, sketch plugins, and more.

The idea behind a smartcut is that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel when you sit down to design. From utilising existing design patterns to icon libraries, embracing the design sprint methodology to learning keyboard shortcuts,  there are so many processes that have been specifically designed to save you time and make your job as a designer easier! So every time you find yourself doing a repeatable process, stop and see how you can either systemize it yourself to save time, or find an app that already systemizes that for you.

Putting it all into action

Many creatives resist the idea of systems and structure, claiming that these “left-brained” tools will impinge on their intuitive flow and freedom. But the truth is, we need these structures to allow the freedom and flow to happen within them. All of these tools set the stage for our most creative energies to pour forth in their fullest expression.

Keep in mind that you can always take what works and leave what doesn’t — one method isn’t meant to work for everyone, and creatives in particular need to find their best fit. But whichever strategies you decide to try, they’ll help you reclaim your creative energy and harness it into producing your best work.

I’ve read a lot of design books over the years but, surprisingly, the books that have nothing to do with design are the ones that have helped me grow the most as a designer. While design-specific texts provide direct information and insight on familiar topics, reading books outside of the field has given me the surprising insights that have helped me excel as a UX professional.

So if you’re seeking powerful outside inspiration and insight to push you up a level, these seven books are a fantastic place to start.

The Power of Why by Simon Sinek

When we sit down to deeply understand a UX design problem, the most crucial place to start is with why a problem exists, who is experiencing it, and where it occurs. But how often do we apply the same principle of starting with why to our own lives?

Early in my career, the majority of my work was creating brochure sites. Day in and day out, I did tedious work that technically made me a “designer” — which is what I wanted — but I didn’t understand why I felt so unhappy. What I failed to realize at the time was that, although all design work is useful, not all design work is fulfilling. When you are out of alignment with why you do what you do, it’s nearly impossible to feel joy in your work.

Sinek’s book pushes us to identify your why — the ultimate driving force behind what you do. Deeper than just a passion, your why runs through every aspect of your life, from your work to your relationships, to your beliefs, and practices.

As a UX designer, discovering that my why is my desire to empower people to achieve whatever goals they set their minds to. This realisation created significant shifts in both my life and career. Through the insights into my why, my client interviews deepened to a new level; my questions became more nuanced and elicited more impactful insights from users. When I connected my why to prototyping, I was able to ship products faster, learn more quickly, make better iterations, and collaborate with other designers in ways I never could have imagined.

Rising Strong, by Brené Brown

What makes a design truly great? Ask a thousand designers, and they’ll give you a thousand different answers. Some will say the key is in the technical skill of the designer. Others will swear it’s a pixel-perfect layout or well-honed interface. And for still others, it’s the flawless use of white space, eye-catching animations, or the designer’s carefully crafted methodology.

And, technically, they’d all be right. Great design is brought to life by millions of tiny choices and the expert use of various tools — absolutely. But it wasn't until I read Rising Strong by vulnerability researcher Brené Brown that I understood how big a role vulnerability plays in creating truly meaningful design.

If there’s one habit that separates the best UX designers from the mediocre, it’s their ability to empathize. Empathy is at the core of everything we do —  it gives us the foundation to connect with our users, collaborate with peers, and create work that solves problems in a meaningful way.

To truly empathize, we need to be willing to do something that society teaches us to fear — be vulnerable. We must put ourselves and our best work out there to be criticized, setting aside our ego with the greater intention of creating a solution that actually matters. This takes an incredible amount of authentic connection, empathy, and selfless, active listening.  In a book that is packed with insights, Brené shows us how by embracing vulnerability, we become capable of connecting with our users on a deeper level than ever before.

The One Thing, by Gary W. Keller

Let’s be honest: Building a product is chaotic. As designers, we’re constantly darting between ideating product iterations, redesigning user flows, and polishing final layouts. Multitasking is an inherent part of the gig, and we get used to jumping around to the different parts of a project and engaging our minds in multiple things at once.

The problem with this? Studies have shown that the more tasks you switch between, the lower your productivity. So as a designers who basically has no choice but to multitask, how do we know what to do first?

In The One Thing, Gary W. Keller provides a simple framework to always ensure you do the right thing at the right time, no matter the scenario. His book points out the shockingly simple principles behind productivity, eliminating the excuses that come up when we’re constantly scattered between multiple tasks.

Keller’s work has helped me find focus and single-pointed productivity within the creative chaos that surrounds most UX projects. I’ve learned to embrace the complex, dynamic design process, while directing my attention to “the one thing” at a time that will move my project forward in that moment in the most impactful way.

To Sell Is Human by Daniel Pink

“How should I charge?” is a question nearly every designer struggles with. And, to be honest, in my 12 years as a designer, the only answer I’ve been able to come up with is, “As much as you can.”

That was until I read To Sell Is Human.  According to Daniel Pink, we creatives often have such a hard time placing monetary value on our work because of how we perceive the idea and act of sales.

Traditionally, sales has had a bad rep. It conjures up images of seedy used car salesman going door to door, hawking wares that nobody wants or needs. But Daniel Pink presents his research-backed argument that whether we think we’re a salesperson or not, we spend nearly 40 percent of every day trying to persuade, charm, and influence others to achieve our goals. Think about that — we spend nearly half of our days selling!

Through To Sell Is Human, Pink gives us a new set of skills — from attunement (understanding the intentions of others so that you can help them achieve their goals) to clarity (helping others see their problems clearly so you can present yourself as the solution) — so that we can communicate our value as designers, be more persuasive in our design decisions, and ultimately create work that inspires others to action.

Grit by Angela Duckworth

It doesn’t matter how many successful projects we’ve worked on or awards we’ve won — there will always be times when we feel like an imposter. Self-doubt finds a way to creep in at the most inopportune moments, casting a shadow over even the most important opportunities and projects of our career.

Maybe you suddenly find yourself doubting your prototyping skills, or are frustrated that you haven’t fully mastered typography. Maybe you’re constantly trying to hide your self-perceived weakness in animation, or silently belittling your lack of information hierarchy skills.

Imposter syndrome is a real and observed phenomena that affects creatives at every level of their career. But in Grit, Angela Duckworth says that “effort is twice as valuable as talent,” suggesting that it’s not genius but passion and perseverance that make up the ingredients for long-term success.

Grit is an insightful and actionable book that teaches you how to see the “natural talent” bias as a pure illusion and reach new creative heights through sheer grit and perseverance. It’s taught me that there’s no weak spot in my skill set that I can’t overcome, as long as I’m committed to the effort of structured practice.

The First 20 Hours by Josh Kaufman

I have a confession to make: I used to suck at typography. No matter how many books I read or hours I practiced, I just couldn't seem to grasp the concepts. I used to stare at well-designed sites and wonder how these designers seemed to effortlessly pair type that elicited real emotions in me.

No matter how good a UX designer you believe yourself to be, no one is perfect. Whether you exhibit bias in your user research or haven’t quite fully grasped color theory, there will always be weaker areas in your skill set that could use improvement.

After reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, I had resigned myself to the fact that it was going to take me at least 10,000 hours to master each of my weaknesses. But after The First 20 Hours by Josh Kaufman, I learned that the 10,000 hour rule really only applies to achieving expertise. To reach an above-average level, all one needs to do is apply a structured approach to learning, and engage in deliberate practice for 20 hours.

Twenty hours! I (and you) can commit to that — no problem. Thanks to the insights from this fascinating book, I can get up to speed quickly enough to execute on any UX skill that I feel I am lacking in within 20 hours or less.

The Bible by 40 authors, over a 1500 year period

Now before you groan or roll your eyes, give me a moment to explain. I am not religious, nor have I even read the Bible in its entirety. The reason the Bible is on this list is because to me it represents the essence of iteration.

As Neville Brody famously said, “Digital design is like a painting, but the paint never dries.” Great design requires constant refinement and reworking — and that’s exactly what the Bible has done.

From the Bible’s first editions, which were written out by hand, to current apps like NeuBible bringing the words to our fingertips, the sheer number and variety of editions of this ancient text is truly astonishing. Each edition has unique typography and its own cover and has been translated into over 554 languages. Although the content itself rarely changes, it’s a book that’s been iterated on hundreds of thousands of times. And the goal each time? To place a new spin on a book whose contents must remain the same.

The Bible has taught me more about iteration than any product sprint ever could. While constant iteration can be a tedious process, it requires an incredible depth of creativity to continuously improve on and adapt something without changing the core of what it is.

The Bible is a great example of embracing strong constraints, while finding new ways to bring a fresh experience that’s both familiar and different at the same time.

Words and pixels

I’ll never stop reading books about design — they’re an excellent resource for all of us, self-taught or otherwise. But this list is a good reminder that sometimes it’s just as important to put away the pixels, look up from the listicles, and see what else the world has to offer. Once you start looking, you’ll find design lessons everywhere.

We all want to be at the top of our game. But where to begin? Society misleads us into believing we have to shell out for an expensive education or “do the time” in an unpaid internship to become better or “credentialed” as designers. We’re taught as kids that practice makes perfect, and research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill to the point of mastery.

Either way, the prevailing thought is that the only way to become better at design is to spend countless hours practicing design. But in this nonstop world, who has that kind of time? The truth of the matter is that, although practice is essential, there are unusual techniques you can use to accelerate your learning and become a top UXer faster than you ever thought possible — and they’re not what you might expect.

Here are five unconventional — yet totally effective — ways to take your UX career to the next level.

Steal

There’s a myth that creativity flows from divine inspiration and that the most brilliant creatives come up with completely original ideas out of thin air. While this is a very romanticized view of creativity, it’s not so comforting when you’re staring at a blank art board that is, unfortunately, reflecting your current state of mind.

Albert Einstein once said, “The secret of creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”  In other words, using inspiration from others as a starting point is the key to great creative work.

If the idea of “stealing” creative ideas makes you feel guilty, it’s time to get over it. “Pure” inspiration is a lie. The fact is, all artists “steal,” meaning that they derive ideas and inspiration from the work of others.

In his book Steal Like An Artist, Austin Kleon explains how creativity is really just a remix, and that the obsession over trying to be original is the quickest way to creative block.

“Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self,” Kleon writes. “Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.”

Now let me be clear: I’m not suggesting you steal other people’s work and pass it off as your own. But finding work by others you love and imitating it, remixing, and making it your own is a surefire strategy for igniting your creative fire. And as you consciously “steal” inspiration, keep asking yourself why the designers made the choices they did. By doing that, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the methods and processes that lead to the creation of some of the most memorable user experiences.

Sketch

Spending hours in front the screen is an inherent part of being a UX designer. Whether you’re a Photoshop wizard or a Sketch savant, it’s all too easy to get lost spending too much time in pixels — which can leave you stuck in the ideation process. So when you’re fresh out of new ideas, it’s time to shut off the technology and break out the sketchbook and pencil. Stepping away from fancy design tools and high-tech processes frees up your innate creative energy to flow through your hand onto paper.

Allowing yourself to sketch freely across the paper will unleash ideas you may not have been consciously aware of. I know when I’m feeling stuck, it’s immediately energizing to lay out a fresh sheet of paper and ideate manually, without attachment to the results. Studies have shown that sketching frees up short and long-term memory, increases attention span, and helps produce new creative insights, so close that laptop and use the most powerful “old-fashioned” tools you have to get your inspiration flowing freely again.

Write

You wouldn’t immediately make a connection between writing and visual UX design, right? But expressing your ideas regularly through writing can help you gain clarity about your ideas and how to express them, ultimately leading you to become a better designer.

Design coach and consultant Tom Kenny writes on his website about how writing has made him a better designer by keeping his “creative muscles” active.

“Creativity isn’t something you’re born with,” Kenny writes. “It comes easier to some people than others, but no matter who you are, it has to be exercised like a muscle. Those who practice creativity more, find it much easier to be more creative because they’re used to it.”

But it’s not always simple to jump the bridge between visual interface design and crafting words on a page. It’s easy to stay stuck in the identity of a “designer,” thus limiting your potential to expand and deepen your knowledge through writing.

Designer Paul Jarvis experienced this struggle before realizing he was the only thing standing in his own way. “To be honest, I made every excuse in the book to not write for years,” Jarvis says in inVision. “I kept telling myself I wasn’t a writer, so I had no business writing. Then I realized that was a total BS excuse. All it takes to be a writer is to start writing.”

You know more about your specific methods and processes than you realize. Expressing that in words will not only help others understand more about your design style and philosophy, but will also give you a new perspective on your craft.

And since the web is mostly made up of words, it’s vital that you understand how to integrate them with the experience you’re creating as a whole. Thomas Byttebier, founder of 37signals, points out that “[c]opywriting is interface design... If you think every pixel, every icon, every typeface matters, then you also need to believe every letter matters.”

Eat

Whenever you’ve been on a design sprint, completely oblivious to the biological needs of your body, you’re doing yourself and your career a disservice. Keeping your physical body balanced with a healthy diet and regular meals will keep your mind and emotions stable, building the foundation needed for excellent work.

While it can feel exciting to be so caught up in a project that you forget to eat, you’re ultimately taking your body on a roller coaster ride that can take hours to recover from. And that moment when you’re straight up hangry makes even the most interesting design sprint a chore. Even worse, it can lead to burnout, team conflicts, and all-around misery.

So the solution to all of this? Eat regularly, eat healthily, and incorporate foods that support creative energy. One 2015 study from researchers at Leiden University in the Netherlands found that the amino acid tyrosine — which can be found in protein-rich foods like chicken, turkey, and dairy products — promotes “deep” thinking. Additionally, walnuts have been shown to boost memory and overall brain function, dark chocolate helps with short-term cognitive function, and carbs can give your brain a quick shot of glucose when you’re feeling slow.

Long story short: Eat a balanced diet of whole foods and stay away from processed snacks for ideal energy levels.

Swear

As designers, our ability to express ourselves fully and authentically is the key to who we are. So it makes sense that the more ways we can express ourselves the better, right? Well, outside of pixels, it turns out that swearing is a great way to boost creativity and actually feel stronger. A study from psychologists at Keele University in England found that cursing is a “harmless emotional release,” which can lead to people feeling more enlivened and resilient.

So if you’re feeling something — whether it’s joy, frustration, or anger — let it out! Research says it’s good for you.

Putting it all into practice

These are just a few creative ways that you can take your UX design game up a notch, without investing in expensive programs or selling yourself out for low-paying work. You’re lucky enough to be in a field where you truly can go as far as you want, fueled totally by your own motivation and desire to succeed.

I recommend putting one or two of these practices into play at a time in order to figure out what works for you — and what doesn’t. Remember: As UX designers, we’re used to constant iteration. So consciously apply those same skills to your own skill set, and you’ll level up your UX skills in no time.

Confidence is a funny thing. Too much of it and you’re an arrogant arse. Too little and no one even notices you exist.

I spent a lot of my early career looking to prove myself through sheer projection of confidence, through working with big name clients, on ‘worthy’ projects, through the sheer quantity of work I was producing.

I poured my heart and soul into the most frivolous of products because I was consumed with output, bigger, better, bolder! I was chasing ego-gratification and approval.

You could do that.

Or, you can ask yourself a simple question, with a hella simple answer.

Q: How can I be the best designer I can be?

A: Becoming a better designer starts with solving epic problems. Period.

You want to prove yourself. I get it. I’ve done it. But treading the same ground as numerous others is no way to get ‘seen’ in today’s saturated design market. And beyond that, redesigning apps that already have scores of talented designers working on them will almost certainly not help you feel fulfilled. Nor will does it actually contribute anything new or useful to the world. Nor does it show anything about your unique design ability.  

Now, I’m not trying to put down anyone’s side hustle. The projects you do for fun are meant to be fun. But I hear so often from people that are frustrated creatively and trapped in a cycle of pushing pixels for projects that don’t inspire. So if you want to ‘level up’, you’re going to have to have a good look at the motivations and attitudes that drive your work.

“We spend a lot time designing the bridge, but not enough time thinking about the people who are crossing it.”– Dr. Prabhjot Singh, Director of Systems Design at the Earth Institute.

If the most fundamental definition of design is to solve problems, then it stands to reason that in order to become a better designer you need to solve better problems. But when I look at the creative work around me I see people devoting a lot of energy to solving the same simple ‘problems’ time and time again.Sure, these may be fun solutions to create, but do they really help you to become the kind of designer you want to be?  

Pizza delivery at the touch of a button (you know walking to get that pizza ain’t a bad idea). Changing color schemes on an app that sends the word “Yo”.

An app that tells you your fly is down. (Don’t you want amusement in your life?)

Is solving any of these ‘problems’ really helping you stand out from the crowd? And what portion of society are you solving problems for?

“The people who need design ingenuity the most, the poorest 90% of the global population, have historically been deprived of it.”– Alice Rawsthorn, Design critic.

You don’t need to go work for Facebook to create something that is meaningful, you don’t have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars ‘upskilling’, you don’t even have to abandon your day job to find your mission. You just have remember that design is, in itself, about ‘optimising and calculating the optimum’ solution.

So how do we find an epic problem?

First of all we need to define epic. Epic doesn’t need to mean solving the issues of world hunger, poverty or hatred. (But by all means, if you want to give those problems a crack)

To me, if you’re creating and contributing more than just pretty pixels, and actually providing solutions to problems people face on a daily basis, THAT is epic.

1. Be honest with yourself. What kind of designer are you aspiring to be? Are the problems you’re solving even slightly connected to the things you’re passionate about? Ask yourself what really matters to you or the people you care about and you might find the answer.
2. Talk to people. All sorts of people. People not like you. If you just talk to the crew at the local coffee shop, you’re not going to be inspired. You’re going to be talking to people just like you. Go wide. Expose yourself to different ways of thinking and you’ll find different problems. Ask people the big, gnarly, complex problems that people get emotional about. Problems that, when solved, change lives.
3. Ask (the right) questions. Listen. You know what people love talking about? Themselves. When you ask open ended questions and listen non-judgmentally for the answers, you’ll be amazed at the insights you might find. Really listen. Being a designer means being connected to your world, you can’t create in a vacuum.                                            
   

“User-centered design means understanding what your users need, how they think, and how they behave – and incorporating that understanding into every aspect of your process.” – Jesse James Garrett, User experience designer

Now you’ve found your epic, how do you go about solving it?

There are no hard and fast rules, becoming a great creative is an individual journey. However I prefer to use a human-centric design process.

1. Empathise. If you don’t empathise with people you’ll never connect with their lives, their problems, or how you might help. This is where you find your epic.
2. Be uncomfortable. Discomfort forces growth and practice makes..better. Read on for the deets.
3. Prototype.
4. Test.
5. Iterate.
6. Repeat.

And don’t forget to share!

Wax on, Wax off...

1. Searching for epic solutions to epic problems is not easy. In fact it’s downright uncomfortable. But this is where the magic starts. To ease this discomfort you’re forced to look outside of yourself, to increase your knowledge and skills. You adapt to the new landscape. You read, you learn, you listen more attentively (like a mouse on an open field, primed for danger. Sort of). You do everything you can to get ‘comfortable’. This is what it means to ‘level up’.
2. Forced into a corner, the plucky field mouse signals to his comrade for support! (Yea I’m totally keeping this up). One of the ways you can upskill is to reach out. Being outside your comfort zone forces you to connect with others. None of us has all the answers all the time. No man is an island. Etc. Etc. But this stage isn’t about asking someone else for the answers. There is absolute magic in the process of creative collaboration, one that produces unimaginable results. Epic solutions are born of this magic. Here are some epic solutions to collaborative problems.
3. This entire process brings about an awareness. You’re more aware of how your work is making you feel. When you spend your days designing brochure sites (just an example, no judgements), you can end up disillusioned. But in the process of solving an epic problem, your motivations come back to life. And hopefully you remember why you chose to be a designer.
   

Epic is as Epic does...

If you have an impact, a real impact on people’s lives, you’re doing epic sh*#. The problem doesn’t need to be massive, it just needs to be real. From using design to balance gender representation in social media, to connecting the visually impaired to the sighted, or even offering a new product that genuinely fills a gap in the market.

If the struggle IS real. Solve it.

As designers, we have the power to design the change we want to see in the world. Unfortunately, we squander that power all too often. When we let our unconscious bias creep in, we’re prevented from creating our best work. This piece outlines how overcoming unconscious bias leads to better creative work — and a better creative community for all of us.

Several months ago I realized that, as designers, our work is unconsciously limited by bias. I had a dream project; one which afforded me the opportunity to improve one of my weaker skills — creating a colour palette. After putting together a few different versions of the client’s site, in typical UX fashion I went out in search of feedback. I showed my designs to the guy next to me, and he flatly stated, “I don’t like it. It’s boring.”

Deflated that this guy rejected my daring palette, I asked why he thought it was “boring.” His answer shocked me:

It all looks the same

After a few more minutes of questions and answers back and forth, it came out that he was colourblind. Literally colorblind. My variations were too subtle for his eyes to detect. At that moment, I realized I had a massive blind spot. Obviously, I knew that everyone sees different things within a design, but what surprised me was the realization that there are things that people couldn't see. Things that were so obvious to me could literally be invisible to another person.

How many other times had I done this — and to how many other clients — without ever realizing it? And I started to think: What other unconscious decisions have been affecting my work without me knowing? And what other limiting beliefs were manifesting in my work, holding me back from creating the kind of work that solved problems in a meaningful way?

In this article, I’ll explain why our brains are built to be biased, different types of bias, how bias can negatively impact UX design, and how UX designers can overcome their own unconscious biases in order to create meaningful experiences for their users.

The unconscious bias blind spot

Ever feel like you’re overwhelmed with information? That’s totally normal: In any given moment, we’re constantly being bombarded with incredible amounts of information at once.

According to psychology professor Timothy Wilson, our brains take in around 11 million pieces of information at any given moment — but can only process 40 of them at a time. As a result, we’ve developed filtration mechanisms to handle all of this incoming data. Using a series of mental shortcuts and handy “rules,” we’re able to make decisions and move through the world without getting overwhelmed.

/

Combined with learned habits and beliefs, this filtration system helps us navigate and make sense of the world around us. Through these processes, we develop a limited perspective of the world that fits in with the mental paradigms we’ve created — a perspective that we call bias.

Personal biases colour the way we make decisions, form beliefs, and engage with those around us. While it can be easy to label bias as a “bad” thing, all it really means is that we have a partial perspective of the world. Our biases only become problems when we’re unconscious and unaware of them — and when we base our beliefs entirely on the assumptions and perspectives we think are true.

Biologically, biases help us process the world as efficiently as possible. With that massive barrage of stimuli entering our five senses on a moment-to-moment basis, we’d be entirely overwhelmed if we didn’t filter our experience of the world. However, because this happens unconsciously, we often forget that we’re operating within a bias — and this is where we start to develop a blind spot.

The bias blind spot in design

When it comes to UX design, identifying and confronting our unconscious bias is critical to producing better work. A designer could spend hours honing their craft, constantly learning new methodologies and software, and iterating until they get as close to pixel perfection as possible — but if they can’t see outside of their blind spot, their work could frustrate users and alienate audiences. Ultimately, their limited perspective could result in the designer creating products that only appeal to the narrowest of market segments.

So what is the thing preventing the average UX designer from doing their best work? What exists within us all, affecting everything we do, even though we’re totally unaware of it? What is that subtle block that, despite our commitment to practice and improvement, prevents us from becoming the kind of designers we aspire to be?

It’s the unconscious decisions we make, based on our limited view of our craft, the world, and ourselves. When we shed light on our unconscious bias — which we can’t see without external feedback — we free ourselves to rise to the next level of success in UX design.

Blind spots hide within bias

Sometimes our blind spots are so huge that they have massive ramifications — and other times they’re tiny for companies, but make a big difference for certain subsets of our users.

A famous example of the former is Snapchat’s release of not one but two racially insensitive filters last year. The first one, in April, was a “Bob Marley” filter that some people likened to blackface. The second, a mere four months later in August, was supposed to be “anime-inspired” but ended up looking like a caricature of an east Asian face. With those filters, the social network managed to alienate two huge subsets of its client base and writers have posited that if Snapchat had a more diverse team, these fiascos could have been avoided altogether.

An example of the latter is a recent Reddit thread asking Spotify to change their shuffle button, which goes from green to grey to indicate whether or not it’s activated. The person posting says they are colourblind and that “adding a circle around the shuffle symbol when [it’s] on would make it easier for all of us.” I know — from personal experience — that it’s a tiny detail that a designer who isn’t colourblind wouldn’t ever consider, yet the simple update made a big difference to many designers.

Overcoming the unconscious bias in UX design

To rise to the next level of UX design - often called universal design - we must identify and overcome our unconscious biases. Only then can we free ourselves from limited perspectives and become open to far more possibilities and ideas than we could have imagined.

Here are some steps to overcoming unconscious bias:

Identify it. If we aspire to greater levels of awareness and new perspectives, we have to identify that we have a bias in the first place. Acknowledging that we’re operating under an unconscious bias gives designers the freedom and awareness to actually do something about it.

Acknowledging your own bias can really hard, but luckily there are numerous tools available to help us.

Emi Kolawole of the Stanford D School worked with Ideo to create the Designing for Worldview framework. This framework raises unconscious bias awareness through a series of practical design-thinking exercises. It’s great for teams who are working together to expand their worldview and reach a broader audience.

Another great tool for teams comes from the AIGA, which teamed up with designer and sociologist Leyla Acaroglu of Disrupt Design to create the Gender Equity Toolkit. It’s a set of resources that includes videos and downloadable worksheets that you can use to uncover and challenge implicit gender-related bias.

For the solo designer, Harvard University’s Project Implicit gives an easy way to self-test your unconscious levels of prejudice about age, gender, and race. It can be done completely on one’s own, which is perfect for people who are trying to push past their biases but aren’t necessarily ready or able to do so in a group setting.

But identifying bias isn’t enough — we also have to take action.

Seek to broaden perspectives. We all have the innate ability to live and operate with a far vaster perspective and open mindset than we currently do. All it takes is the desire and commitment to staying open and transcending our limiting, biased mindsets.

When working on a UX design project, consciously see the work from a variety of perspectives other than your own. How will different types of users perceive this experience? I’ve created a tool that helps people do exactly that. It’s called Perspective Cards and it’s a web app that gives designers a way to figure out who we are forgetting during the design process. With every click, designers are challenged to imagine their work through the eyes of another person. The idea is that the more perspectives we embrace as we build, the more inclusive our work will become.

When working with clients, designers need to own past notions or personal agendas, and fully listen and empathize with what the person across from them is saying. For great design to happen, designers must constantly be open to learning something new, gleaning a new insight, or shifting perspectives away from what they’ve always known.

Create diverse design teams. To create globally relevant experiences for a wide spread of users, we need diverse design teams that can help counter the unconscious bias present in homogenous groups. Design teams that contain a diverse group of designers contribute to a well-rounded experience for users.

While hiring managers have the most power when it comes to the creation of teams, there are things that individual designers can do as well. One way is by suggesting qualified friends and former colleagues of colour or women, for example, as candidates when your company is hiring. Another is to bring up the issue with managers: Make it clear that diversity is important to you and, ultimately, important to the success of the team. Finally, share what you’ve learned as you’ve challenged your own bias. One of the best ways we can make change is by sharing our personal stories with our peers.

Moving forward

For both individuals and design teams, broadening perspectives to bring awareness to unconscious bias is a major tool for creating more impactful user experiences. While it isn’t easy to overcome the natural, learned bias we all carry, the conscious practice of overriding it can bring an entirely new level of fulfilment to your UX design and your life.