How to Rebound From a Bad Sales Month

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Nikki Gabriel

A bad sales month can be extremely discouraging for new businesses or any business for that matter. The reality is that sales will ebb and flow, and your business should be optimally prepared for drops in revenue and potentially have other lines of income to keep yourself fortified in a pinch.

Your slumps in sales are ultimately learning opportunities and chances for you and your team to take stock of what has worked and what hasn’t worked when it comes to pushing your sales beyond the goals you’ve set for yourself. Maybe there is a key way you can adjust your sales plan, or set your goals to be more realistic in your reach.

Running a successful business means not giving up when things are slow, and being realistic about what you can achieve and in what timeline would be appropriate for a business your size. There is no reason to aim towards goals that older, more established businesses are able to achieve. Businesses that stay in the game by being smart about their goals and sales plans will move up in their industries in no time, it’s all about being patient and realistic with yourself and your team.

Adjust Your Sales Plan

The first thing to do when you run into a bad sales month is to review your sales plan and adjust it accordingly to meet the more realistic expectations for your company. “Rebound from a bad sales month by adjusting your plan,” said Sabrina Pereira, Head of Growth Marketing at Easy Standard. “Go back to your sales plan and review it. Find what you missed from the previous month and recalculate your plan for the next month. This includes identifying the key drivers of your forecast delta and aligning testing plans to solve for that. Plus, you can distribute the shortage over a few months and bolster your sales plans for the next few months.” This is of the utmost importance and should be done as soon as possible after your sales report comes in.

Changing and adjusting your plan is also an opportunity to set more realistic goals for your company for the foreseeable future. If your goals are too high, you may find yourself feeling strained to meet unrealistic expectations. “Review your plan so you can set more realistic goals for the future. Part of being successful is setting yourself up with goals you know you can meet. Then, you can start to aim a little bit higher each month as sales flatten or increase,” said Dylan Fox, Founder and CEO of Assembly AI. Starting small is a key factor for any blossoming business. It sets you and your company up for success and will motivate your team to work towards setting higher and higher goals.

In addition to adjusting your sales plan, businesses should also take stock of what they can control and what they can’t. You can draw people in, but they make the final decision to buy in or not. “Be real and honest about the things that you can control rather than the things you can’t. For instance, you can control your brand’s outreach and marketing practices but you can’t ultimately control whether customers will choose your service. Simplify your website content and make it as easy as possible for customers to sign up for your service to increase your sales,” said Jae Pak, Founder of Jae Pak MD Medical.

Learn From Failure and Go For Smaller Deals

In the grand scope of things in business, setbacks and sales slumps should be seen more as opportunities rather than failures. “Try not to look at sales slumps as failures, they are in fact learning opportunities for the future. Many times, these slumps are due to conditions that may be vastly out of our control. Use this as an opportunity to learn more about your industry and market trends to help predict your sales in the future,” said James Ville, Chief Product Officer of GunSkins. If you can shift your perspective and see the value in scaling back your goals to meet your capability, you’ll set yourself up for a more positive approach to solving these problems.

You may find that the deals you were seeking might have been too ambitious for your company as it currently exists. Smaller deals help you build connections and expand your business network. “Sometimes a bad sales month can be an indication that you need to scale back your goals and look for smaller deals you can make to help fortify your business and set yourself up for success,” said Scott Sonneborn, Co-Founder of Tydo. “Aiming too high can result in a lower return. It’s true that the higher the risk the greater the reward is, but the opposite is also true. The fallbacks from big deals can be much larger as well.” The amount of risk you can take on depends on the age of your company and your history of success with smaller deals and goals.

Meet With Your Team

Consult your entire team as soon as possible following your low sales results. “Have team meetings immediately afterward to brainstorm ideas. Keep the meeting as upbeat as possible,” said Jean Gregoire Founder & CEO of Lovebox. “It’s best to not dwell on why your month was poor, but instead, focus on ways to improve the following month. By working as a team, you’ll have a better chance of coming up with fresh ideas that will propel you forward.” This will promote a solution-based attitude at your company rather than getting stuck in a slump after getting bad news. “You need to keep your team positive to make sure you keep your productivity up,” said CEO of Package Free Shop Lauren Singer. “Positive reinforcement is especially important during these moments when tensions may be high and emotions fragile. Focus on what went well rather than what didn’t. This will help you combat future issues.” Seeing the positive can be difficult, but it’s always going to lead your team to better results than focusing on the negatives. “It can be difficult to see the positives in a month that fell short, but being able to see what was working will help you and your team both recover and make a plan for the next month. Don’t just focus on why your sales were lower, focus on what made the sales happen that you did make,” said Kashish Gupta, Founder and CEO of Hightouch.

This also gives your team a chance to provide feedback and be honest about how they think things could improve. “Ask for feedback from your team, and encourage honesty,” said Ryan Rottman Co-Founder & CEO OSDB. “Your employees and sales team will likely have proactive and topical ideas about how to improve customer relationships and increase your rate of conversion. Don’t dwell and try to solve issues on your own, involve your team to help you come to the best solution.” This will show how valuable you find your employee’s opinions and create trust between management and the sales team that they can solve issues together.

Plan For Slow Months

Part of changing your business plan should be expecting that some months will be slow. At certain times of the year, the state of the economy and many other factors can go into sales spikes and slumps. “Any business is sure to experience highs and lows, try to see these challenges as positives, it means that you are in business and doing everything you can to stay afloat. Trust your instincts and learn from the challenges you face,” said Jared Hines, Head of Operations Acre Gold. Holiday sales spikes and post-holiday slumps are something that all businesses should be expecting as well. “Certain times of the year will yield higher sales results, such as the winter months,” said Katie Keirnan, Co-Founder of Nue Life. “People are buying more for holiday gifts and it makes sense to see a sales spike during this time.

Use these moments as opportunities to prepare for inevitable sales slumps at the start of the new year.” Your surges in sales should help to fortify you through the slower months of the year, something that businesses should be folding into their business plan. “Use your spikes and slumps as ways to predict the cash flow in your company,” said Joe Thomas of Loom. “This way, you can use additional funds from those surges to keep your business operating smoothly when things slow down.”

Rebounding from a bad sales month relies on a solution-minded team with management that can see the benefits in the ebb and flow of sales. This is ultimately an inevitability that every business faces, and how you deal with it will define how your company succeeds in the future. If you can’t be flexible and change up your plan, you will likely fall short of your competitors in the long run. Adjust your plan, meet with your team and plan for the future to ensure your success in your industry.

Why Strong Brands Are Important in a Digital World

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Fredrick Francisco Stougaard

A brand is everything that a customer sees and experiences when they interact with a business. A customer’s first impression includes how the staff welcomes them, what can be seen on social media websites, and what the story behind the business is. It’s basically how the customer perceives your business.

When a consistent message is conveyed, a brand is created. From the website to the logos and social media profiles, it tells the story behind the company. There should be a consistent branding strategy, regardless of how the customer is introduced to the business whether it be through the website after doing a search, or through a link shared by a friend. Using appropriate tools to generate a very unique business name does a great trick here.

You’ll find such a tool at www.biznamewiz.com. Here, you can read more about how the generator works, why it can be a great source of inspiration in the naming process, and you can learn more about the importance of a good name for your branding process. It is feasible to bring in more clients as well as develop repeat customers with good branding for a firm. However, the execution of great branding requires knowledge of what brands are important in a digital world. Stay tuned to learn more!

Brand Definition

A company’s branding must be defined before it can begin to create a consistent message across all media. They must evaluate the company’s mission, the advantages of its products or services, what customers think of them now, and what they want customers to think of the company in the future. All of this helps establish the business’s individual branding, including what colors to use on the website or in logos, how to design the website’s layout, which social networking networks to utilize, and more.

It is not easy to define a company’s branding, and it will take some time. There are so many reasons to use agencies when trying to define your brand.

Consistency

When a company’s brand is defined, it becomes consistent. The same visuals will be used on websites, packaging, social networking sites, and everywhere else. Even if two distinct items are being advertised to clients, the packaging, colors used in the products or packaging, the purchase form on the website, and other visual elements will all be aesthetically similar and send the same message to buyers.

It is possible to ensure that everything, from websites to social media to advertisements and more, is consistent and geared to attract targeted consumers through branding. There are now optimized methods to achieve this consistency across all devices.

You want to make your online presence user-friendly, eye-pleasing, functional, and to include some relevant images to interest people. You can also replace the photos on your website with short, interactive videos – they work wonderfully. Remember to remove images from Google search that do not match your brand vision, and do nothing but build bad brand reputation.

Peculiarity

Another important brand is standing out from the rest of the flock. When people are seeking a product or service, it’s far too simple to go under the radar in today’s digital environment. Businesses can compete even if they are located on opposite sides of the globe, so finding a strategy to stand out is critical.

Standing out is an important aspect of brands because it attracts customers and makes them see reasons to stick with your brand ahead of competitors.

How To Start a Business in a Digital Industry

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Fredrick Francisco Stougaard

A digital business is one that sells to clients and runs its day-to-day operations using technology, and unlike “normal” businesses, a digital business takes less time to start up, at least in some areas. Digital firms employ technology to not only automate their day-to-day operations, but also to provide new value to their business models, customer experiences, and internal capabilities.

Offering telemedicine services, providing customers with a virtual shopping experience at retail establishments, and establishing a remote workforce are all examples of this. Digital firms include Amazon, Netflix, and Uber, to name a few.

Thousands of businesses are popping up every day and more and more people are delving into the digital industry. Detailed information on the number and progression of startups has become one that almost everyone now picks interest in.

An article from the UK Times highlights a new record was set in 2020 when it comes to company registrations with close to 85,000 new registrations, many of them being digital companies.

Building a digital business has never been easier thanks to the abundance of free SaaS solutions. However, in order to have an agile digital core, you must carefully consider the nitty-gritty of developing your digital business model. Read on for tips on how to get started.

Prepare a Great Business Plan

To establish a business, you’ll need a detailed business plan. What your business is about, who will run it, what your goals and vision are, and how you plan to achieve them should all be outlined in your business plan. You can easily generate a unique business name after deciding on all the earlier mentioned details here: www.businessnamegenerator.com. Include information on your finance options, marketing tactics, target customers, and unique value offer. Also, specify whatever digital activities you want to employ in order to achieve your objectives.

Create a Digital Marketing Strategy for Your New Company.

A strategy is a written statement that describes “why” and “how” you intend to achieve your objectives. Developing buyer personas, designing customer journey maps, and creating a brand story are all steps in developing your digital strategy.

Your strategy document should also include information on how you intend to use technology to reach out to potential customers and run your business. If you need help, you can always look for an experienced marketing agency to guide you. Reliable agencies can offer valuable expertise and insights about how to approach digital marketing for your business. They can help you create an effective strategy that considers your specific needs and objectives.

Key components of your strategy should include Digital Presence, communication, and workflows. For instance, using the right tool to ensure uniformity and sync across all devices.

Diving into the digital industry requires more than just a great idea and determination; you also need a good foundation. Legally forming your company goes a long way in providing this foundation. Consult the best LLC service for accurate, timely, and trustworthy advice, giving your digital business the best chance for long-term success.

Using the Correct Tech Tools to Create a Solid Digital Core

Successful digital organizations invest in scalable, adaptable IT solutions that allow adaptation to the evolving IT landscape. This contributes to the development of a solid digital core, which comprises an IT infrastructure that positions your company for long-term success. As a result, to develop a successful internet business, invest in the appropriate technology and tools.

Tools you need include a business website, social media, an eCommerce website, and emerging technologies like Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence.

Digital Talent Should be Hired, Trained, and Retained

Hiring talent with essential digital capabilities like cloud computing, machine learning, analytics, and automation is difficult. Employers are competing fiercely for people with DevOps, cloud, automation, data management, cybersecurity, and customer experience capabilities, according to a report. One of your top priorities should be to hire people with the digital abilities you’ll need to establish and maintain your company.

Tips on Using Circles in Web Design

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Herbert Merrick

Circles in web design is an art and getting tips is invaluable. Web Design takes a great deal of discipline to go with the flow of trends and principles. There is one design that often pops up and has grown in popularity and that’s the circle. It’s time now to sit down with your web designing company and discuss the possibilities.

You might wonder why the simple circle would be considered a design trend, but in reality, circles are used quite effectively on any website for a number of reasons. So, the leading question might be, why the circle and for what purpose is it used in web design? Is there a way to integrate circles seamlessly with your website and current brand?

In case you still don’t have a website or want to update an existing one, it’s best for you to not try doing it by yourself unless your company provides web design services. The best way to solve this would be hiring a web design service that has all the needed specialists, tools, and other resources necessary for high-quality website creation.

Moreover, hiring a reliable and experienced web design agency will help you learn and understand a lot of new things regarding website design and use. It’s best to get your marketing department connected with the web design team for the entire period of the latter’s work on your website, so they can get a better idea of how they can use certain elements, techniques, and strategies, including circles.

Reasons to Use Circles in Web Design

If circles can offer you a world of benefits, how can you use them as a design feature? There are several ways.

While extremely popular among web designers and companies, many people want to know why the circle? One reason, they are highly effective and come with a range of advantages including:

Getting Your Attention

Let’s face it, our screens are rectangular and the grid pattern is standard for consumers to view. Circles, on the other hand, are round which makes them stand out. When you grab the viewer’s attention, you can direct them to different areas of your website or different features. Some important features would include where to click on your Call to Action, or the navigation bar.

Reading Your Text

You might wonder why text sitting inside a circle would draw your attention. It’s because the shape will draw your attention to the inside instead of the outside of the circle. Therefore, if you have a message you want people to see, using a circle might be your best bet.

Emphasis On Text

If you are not aware, there are many websites out there that have circular designs or a circular background for accentuating their text. This approach is very effective because it creates an area of distinction and interest for your visitors.

For Navigation

Circles have become the most popular way for visitors to navigate a website. The internet is constantly evolving and changing. Because it loves mobility, circles have become the chosen child for navigation. On top of that, due to touch screens devices, circles have become favored over buttons making it easier to connect with potential customers. Because the circle is shaped like a fingertip, it entices visitors to press on it.

Logos

Circular logos have become the next great thing. They are neat and essential for a new look for websites. Circles give websites a feel and look of sophistication and a touch of class. Most web designers have said they prefer circular logos making the design the top choice.

Image Framing

If your website supports image framing, you might want to look into circular frames for your smaller images for your web design. The frame should be an accent color to help it stand out. That along with the shape will create an impressive impact on the site’s design.

Image Previews

Round images have proven to be very appealing to visitors and users. These images are very popular for image previews and are commonly used in portfolios. Offering your previews in a cropped circle will direct users and also communicate directly to them. You will not have a cluttered look to the site, instead, the site will look creative and friendly.

Icons

Logos in circular design have become extremely popular in web design. The circular icons are image-based meaning CSS is not needed. There are many web developers that have grown tired of circular designs and feel it’s time to move on to something else. That said, for now, these designs are very pleasing and attractive so the style will probably be around for some time.

Calls-to-Action

Calls-To-Action are critical for all websites and blogs. Please note, if you use circular for both your CTA and for navigating you will have to distinguish between the two. There\’s no doubt that Calls-To-Action will take top priority and well should. Because most web designers are great at visual order, this is merely a continuation of that.

Conclusion

Now that you know why and how you should use circles on your website. It may turn out that you won’t need to use them at all because your site is going to have a different concept and an audience that won’t see any sense in circles. It’s best for you to trust the professional opinion and go with the flow

Mobile App UI: Six of the Top Best Practices

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Herbert Merrick

User Interface and User Experience are two key concepts when trying to catch and keep the attention of your users. In website and mobile applications, UI and UX give your user the impression of your brand and help them decide whether to acquire your services or buy your products.

This article will pay attention to the basics and discuss the six main things to consider when using professional UI design services to assist in making a great mobile app UI.

For those up to speed with mobile app UI best practices, we highly recommend you check out how to optimize your App Store listing using these ASO best practices.

Before delving into the six top practices, let’s go back to the general effective practices of UX and UI design:

Consistency is key. Your app should always follow a main idea, the theme of your brand. If you start adding different pieces in your app or across your platforms, you will generate confusion and discomfort for your user. Plus, it won’t make your platform as peasant and recognizable as if you were consistent.
Simplicity is necessary to achieve the desired goals (high conversion). If your site is simple and the instructions are straightforward, you increase your user’s chances of responding and following your call to action. If you have a more challenging task for your user, remember to break down the procedure into more manageable steps to make sure he can complete the job.
Less is more. When presenting information, only need the one you need the user to know. Otherwise, you risk saturating your site with too much unnecessary information that will make your users bored and confused and show an overcrowded page that is not welcoming for anyone.
Go straight to the point. Users don’t want to waste their precious time when they arrive in your app. So make sure to be as transparent as possible, providing the information the user needs in a way that will reduce misinterpretations.
Humans make mistakes, so be flexible and adaptable. Know that your users will make mistakes, so try to foretell them and allow them to transpose their actions if it needs to be. Always focus on giving your user an experience that is satisfying, not confusing or irritating.
Respect your users’ time. Use the data you collect from the actions they have performed on your app so that they don’t have to repeat tasks they have already done. If they need to enter the same data or tap the same buttons repetitively, they might feel like they are doing a chore, get annoyed, and probably leave the app.

Now that we’ve covered the most basic principles of UI and UX design, developed let’s focus on the primary six you need to keep in mind when designing mobile app UI:

Colors

In mobile design and UI, color is vital. Before noting your logo, the images, or buttons on your app, users will notice colors immediately. There is even a large amount of literature on the impact of color psychology on marketing. The good thing is all these principles are implemented in mobile design.

Read and learn these principles and use them on your app. A simple color change could change your message and brand dramatically. Imagine if McDonald’s used green instead of red. How would that have changed the hunger and appetite of its customers? Research the different color schemes and what they make users feel, and of course, understand your target audience preferences.

Typography

Typography is how your written content will be displayed. And just as the color you use, the typography you use could change the message you are trying to convey. Imagine a luxury real estate app that has Comic Sans as a font. Somehow it just wouldn’t go together, and it wouldn’t make it clear who your target audience is. Remember that not only words matter, but also how they are presented. The font is one of the most important design elements, so choose it carefully and consistently.

Icons

Icons are small images that have a considerable impact. Everything in UI design has a visual component, and getting your user’s attention to the critical areas and parts of your app is hugely important. The correct use of icons will help you achieve a friendly and intuitive design.

There are different icons like app icons, clarifying icons, interactive icons, and even decorative icons. They all need to be clear and straightforward in the action they represent or require from the user. As always, avoid the uncertainty or hesitancy of your users.

Illustrations

Every element of your app must be of the highest quality possible. And as we mentioned before, add only the necessary things that your app requires. These two things apply to illustrations. Try to use high-quality and original content to make it better for your user to recognize and understand the app. Additionally, like fonts and colors, the illustrations you use should follow a theme so that your user can develop an immediate response to your app.

Remember, mobile devices have different sizes, so your UI should be responsive to the changes in screen size. And make certain you have legal permission to use the content on your app.

Brand Design

Your app will represent your brand in the eye of its users. That is why you have to make every design element a part of your branding. Not just to convey what to do or how to use your app but also about who your brand is and what mission and values it has.

Use your brand elements, like your logo, consistently throughout the app. Make sure they relate your logo to high-quality services or products, to your visual elements, and your bigger goals as a brand. This will help your users build a relationship with your brand, and more importantly, to start trusting it and recognizing your logo as a sign of something worth it and trustworthy.

Navigation

Besides the visual aspects we have discussed so far, another critical aspect of IU design is navigability. You want to create a pleasant environment that can easily navigate without getting lost, frustrated, or annoyed. They need to know where they are in your app at all times and what is the next step for the required activity that they want to achieve.

Use the different elements and tactics to guide your use without unnecessary steps or confusion. Achieve the right balance between interactivity and simplicity to keep your user engaged but in movement.

Now move from the theory into practice to create the mobile app of your dreams. Keep these basic principles and tips in mind when designing your app, and your user interface will do what it needs to do. This will help you amaze your customers with new ideas but always keep things clear and functional: every element matters just as much as each user.

Top 9 UX Design Blogs for Inspiration

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Herbert Merrick

The UX design sphere is saturated with an embarrassment of riches in terms of resources and tools. While the variety of options is excellent, it can be challenging for designers looking for inspiration to know which options are best to look to for valuable insight.

This is especially true when it comes to UX design blogs. There are just so many out there that it would be a full-time job just getting through many of them to find which offer the most quality resources.

With that in mind, we decided to do the hard work and provide you with a nice consolidated list of the most quality UX design blogs to inspire designers worldwide.

UX Planet

They are looking for a top-down resource that includes a comprehensive collection of topics ranging from beginners’ guides to leadership articles and career advice? Then look no further than one of the standard-bearers in the UX design article blogs, UX Planet. Even non-designers can dive into the beginner section to start getting introduced to primary and intermediate design concepts.

The contributors to UX Planet include a vast array of designers, all with varying backgrounds and different routes that took them into the world of UX design. With such a diverse crew at work, there will be plenty of “real talk” from current experts who learned much in the same way, along with words of encouragement, advice, and how-to guides. It is a truly fantastic resource to leverage to kick off your UX career.

The Nielsen Norman Group

Don Norman (responsible for coining the term “user experience” back in the 90s) and Jakob Nielsen, two widely recognized and respected UX gurus, started The Nielsen Norman Group, a helpful website for those seeking introduction and education to many terms necessary for anyone getting into the UX sphere. The featured content’s quality, breadth, and depth more than make up for the lack of the blog’s flashiness. At the Nielsen Norman Group blog, you can read up on topics like web accessibility and usability, UX-based psychology, and many digestible yet comprehensive explanations about the most key UX principles, tools, and techniques. For anyone exploring the field or working with a design agency like Fivecube.com, this resource offers valuable foundational knowledge and practical insights.

XD Ideas

XD Ideas is a relative newcomer in the UX sphere. Backed and powered by Adobe XD, this blog may have been started with the intent to appeal to UX beginners, but it has undoubtedly outgrown that aim by becoming a resource stocked with a wide coverage area of all aspects of the UX realm. Intuitively navigable, XD Ideas include guides to assist in understanding the basic principles and concepts of UX design, as well as tips that are pivotal to anyone dipping their toes into the UX world. With a vast collection of multi-background contributors, XD Ideas benefit a wide range of opinions and viewpoints from the industry’s most experienced gurus.

UX Collective

Suppose you are familiar with the Medium content hub. In that case, you’d be interested in finding out that they host a blog publication explicitly devoted to no-nonsense UX content presented in an easily understandable and digestible manner. The UX Collective blog, founded, edited, and curated by designer Caio Braga and his award-winning design partner in the venture, Fabrico Texeira, focuses on its intuitive structure and provides readers with powerful insights from top industry designers and a focus on sharing the most valuable content.

This blog features everything from career advice, real-world UX design application, and portfolio advice to deep-dive reviews of well-known products and loads of tips that can help you improve your UX design learning experience. Those interested in the blog’s content who want to have some great content written into their email inbox can sign up for the weekly UX Collective newsletter.

Inside Design

If you have done any digging into UX design platforms, you have likely run across InVision. But did you know that InVision also hosts a superb blog, an industry leader in the field, named Inside Design? Anyone who has already started their UX education can find a ton of valuable content at Inside Design. It is an especially invaluable tool for those seeking to expand their understanding of product design and the process of UX development and those looking to optimize their UX teams and processes. If you want to stay on top of the latest UX news, this blog will always supply fresh, new material for you to learn about the latest events, tools, and trends.

The UX Blog

The Medium platform hosts another tremendous blog resource that covers UX topics spanning any realm of design, including (but not limited to) visual and design content, new views on industry standards and practices, and interviews with renowned industry experts. It even hosts its podcast, the episodes of which can be accessed right from the blog. If you are interested in keeping current with all UX aspects and value the viewpoints of leading industry experts, the UX Blog is one to keep in mind.

Awwwards

The Awwwards blog is mainly geared at UI interested readers, but it features a healthy dose of valuable, fresh UX information. The blog’s UI/UX section is stocked with unique content about everything from navigation to microcopy, enough to help pump your creative UX engines. The library of case studies alone is worth the visit for anyone looking for deep UX knowledge. One tremendous aspect of this blog is that its content is illustrated, assisting visual learners in their quest to discover and learn some invaluable UX concepts. The Awwwards blog is beneficial to those who enjoy access to an exciting mix of UX and UI concepts, principles, and news.

Muzli

Suppose you’re looking for examples of real-world applications of UX and love to read case studies, stopover at the Muzli blog. The case studies are thorough and varied, but all deeply enriched with viewpoints from various designs that illustrate how UX is levered effectively, spurring ideas and creativity for the blog’s readers. They even cover common problems encountered by UX designers, helping readers stay ahead of the UX learning curve, perfect for novices or intermediaries to the UX realm. Weekly content with great advice and tips can also help UX designers and aspiring newbies learn and be inspired by the latest UX trends and concepts.

Facebook Design

Few designer teams have nailed down the concept like Facebook has, which is why reading the Facebook Design blog is a fantastic way to learn and be inspired by the behind-the-scenes view of how Facebook designers operate in their day-to-day activities. While some of the content is specific to Facebook, that is far from the case for its overall coverage. Many important and valuable tips are provided by a talented staff of designer contributors that provide great UX concept explanations and help inform readers about undoubtedly key social responsibilities associated with UX design, an area not addressed often enough.

Final Thoughts

Regardless of your level of UX experience, interested readers from all walks of UX design dimensions can benefit from tons of valuable content available on the provided blogs above. Whether you are building your knowledge library as a novice or staying on top of current trends, this collection of blogs will provide you with tons of great content in the ever-developing and exciting UX industry.

How to Use Negative Space to Create Great Logo Designs

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Herbert Merrick

Many design trends come and go, but some have stood the test of time. Negative space is one such style, which has become all the more popular in recent years with the increased interest in minimalist design.

As any good logo design studio knows, the best logos are those that can adapt to changing markets, shifting audiences, and new product offerings while still retaining the same core idea. In this way, negative space can be helpful because it’s simplistic enough for printing purposes while also allowing interaction with the viewer.

If negative space is a new concept to you, you’ll need to understand the introductory psychology and ideas behind this trend to try it out. Read on to learn what negative space is and how to implement it effectively in your next time you use a logo maker.

Audiences will be taken in by the logo’s overall appearance and continue to be invested as they discover the hidden shapes and messages within the design, combining short-term engagement and long-term interest. If you’re looking to create such impactful logos, using a logo maker app can be a great starting point.

What is Negative Space?

Negative space is, essentially, blank sections, or the space between words and images. In a way, the margins on this page or between these paragraphs and letters are negative space. However, when negative space is used artistically or stylistically, it is transformed from separating other more essential elements into something that is, itself, an element. Because this is the opposite of the norm, it’s unexpected and, therefore, intriguing, even in its simplest form.

Negative space can be as straightforward as using lines to create an image within other elements. It could be made more complex by utilizing messages or pictures in both the filled and negative space. Some of the most well-known uses of negative space logo designs include FedEx, with its hidden arrow, and the USA TV network logo, which uses the U and A to create the S shape. The Girl Scouts logo and the ABC peacock are also great examples of hidden images.

Why Negative?

Humans’ fascination with the unknown is undeniable. There have been numerous books and movies inspired by the concept of hidden realities and worlds that can’t be seen on a surface level. We are captivated by reading between the lines and finding secret meanings and details.

But this idea isn’t just for fantasy and science fiction movies. These ideas can also be brought to artistic endeavors and graphic design to add a touch of mysticism. In this way, negative space allows consumers to have an “aha!” moment as they discover the hidden aspects of a design and find unexpected details.

The Clever Use of Negative Space

Finding ways to use negative space is simply about considering both the seen and the unseen. This is commonly done by adding layers, inverting images or colors, creating pleasing symmetry, or using other such tools. To start experimenting with negative space, you may want to consider the shapes or colors of the design and play around with the way they can be used. You can also manipulate size and orientation to find images or messages within other embodiments, an exercise similar to trying to decipher pictures out of abstract clouds.

Cookie-Cutter Rule

Simplifying designs can often be the way to go when creating negative artistic space. Not only does this create a more transparent and more pronounced image, but it can also be the key to finding hidden design opportunities. To do this, you can think of your design like a freshly rolled sheet of cookie dough. When you press the cookie cutter into the dough, it creates both a shape within the blade, which will become the cookie, and a negative form, which has been left behind in the dough from the cutter’s imprint. These are both the same shape but, if you begin to overlap cuts or manipulate those shapes, they can become something new entirely. You can even use smaller cookie cutters to carve out designs within your cookies to create more negative and positive space.

Lurking from the Shadows

You can also create negative space by looking at the shadows of an image and leaning into its dark aspects. This is similar to the cookie-cutter example, as a shadow creates both an image inside (the shadow) and an outline outside (the light). These interactions of shadows and sunlight can be used to create artistic interpretations and elicit a psychological response. People usually think of black or dark colors and shades as unfavorable, while white and light images are considered good. In designing, you can either lean into these biases or twist them to defy expectations.

Don’t Forget to Personalize

Negative space, when used well, can be incredibly intricate and engaging for audiences. Some examples are even works of art. But, most importantly, they must be functional and work with the brand’s overall identity and messaging to be successful.

6 Refreshing Mobile App Design Practices You Shouldn’t Miss Out on in 2021

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Herbert Merrick

Developing a successful mobile app can be difficult, and many considerations need to be made to ensure a mobile app is successful. One of the most critical factors in a mobile app’s success is its design; you should never disregard the importance of mobile app design.

This article will cover the mobile app design practices that you shouldn’t miss out on in 2021. If you want your mobile app to be successful, you should consider using one of these designs to help it attract new users.

You Need To Know Your Target Audience

If you already have a mobile app, then you must know who the target audience is. You need to ensure that the design of the mobile app is going to be received well by the target audience. They are the ones who will use the app, so you need to think about them when making decisions about the mobile app.

Before making any mobile app design decisions, you need to ensure that the decision will be received well by your users and will help give the users a better user experience.

Mobile App Design Practices In 2021 That You Need To Know About

Some mobile app design practices are trends, and they won’t last long. You need to know which ones will stay around, so you don’t use design practices that are no longer popular and liked. We will cover the popular mobile app design practices in 2021 and the ones you should think about using.

Minimalism

This is a design practice that has been popular for many years, and it will continue to be one for many years to come. Minimalism helps to give users a fast, easy, and pleasant user experience. This design practice involves removing clutter from the mobile app and ensuring that only necessary features are included. This helps streamline the user’s experience and guides them to the important parts of the mobile app.

Minimalism includes small color palettes, a simple layout, and effective use of negative space. This will give users a simple experience that only involves the features they want to use in the mobile app.

Dark Mode

This is a popular trend that seems to be getting more traction every day. People want the option to change the mobile app’s UI to dark mode. If you plan to add a new mobile app design practice to your mobile app, this is one you need to think about.

There are many benefits to using dark mode. Knowing these will clarify why adding this design practice to your mobile app is vital in today’s world.

It can reduce the strain on the user’s eyes
It can reduce blue light exposure
Mobile phone’s battery life can be increased with dark mode on

Swiping Gesture

This has been a part of mobile apps and mobile phones for a long time. Using a swiping gesture to change pages is a fast and easy way to navigate a mobile app. This mobile app design practice has been used for a long time, and in 2021, there are many ways to add swiping gestures to a mobile app to make it more engaging and fun to interact with.

Animations can be used with the swiping gestures too. This will make the user experience great, and the mobile app will become more fluid as users experience the seamless transitions between the different pages in the app. Mobile application design agencies like to use this to ensure that their apps look professional and give them a premium feel.

Practical Design

The design of your mobile app shouldn’t just look appealing; it needs to be practical. It would help if you made sure that the user experience is enjoyable and the usability of your mobile app is increased when thinking about mobile app design practices.

If you don’t know how to balance practicality and attractiveness, then you should hire an app design studio to help you decide on the best way to balance the two for your mobile app’s users. It would help if you considered who your users are and what they want for the app.

Minimal Data Input

If your mobile app requires users to input a great deal of data, you need to find a way to decrease the amount of information they need to input. Nobody wants to fill in lengthy forms, it gets annoying, and this will bother your users. It would help if you made their lives easier. This is a design practice that an app design studio will support; it’s vital in providing a more streamlined experience.

Add More Accessibility

This is one of the best mobile app design practices. It would help if you made sure that everyone can use your mobile app. Adding more accessibility features to your mobile app will make it easier to use for different users. This will improve the app’s usability, and this will increase the overall user experience.

Many accessibility features can be added to your mobile app. Common accessibility considerations include:

Button and element placement
Ensuring the mobile app is designed for a variety of screen sizes
Keeping gestures simple
Ensuring that user interaction has feedback
Using consistent design throughout the entire mobile app
Using correct color contrast

Conclusion

While some app design practices become old and no longer popular, some stay relevant for a long time. You need to use these practices in your mobile app to give your users the best experience. If you need help, you can hire app design firms to help you add these design practices to your mobile app.

How Technology is Making it Easier to Invest in Real Estate

Posted on November 21, 2021 by Alex Sanders

For a long time, real estate investing was the game of the rich. You needed to have a lot of capital to participate. The barriers to entry were simply too high for the average investor – but not anymore!

With the help of modern technologies like blockchain and online crowdfunding, anyone can invest in real estate with very little money. We are seeing disruptive technology change the real estate investing landscape like never before.

The History of Real Estate Investing

In the past, investing in real estate required a lot of capital, time, and effort. Publicly traded stocks, bonds, and mutual funds were the only viable investment option for the middle and lower classes. They could contribute to an IRA or a 401(K) with their employer and hope to have a nice retirement. But only accredited investors or those with a lot of capital could invest in the often more stable and lucrative private real estate market.

Then in 1960, real estate investment trusts (REITs) came on the scene. REITs pool together several real estate assets into a financial instrument that can be traded like a stock in a mutual fund. For these, you don’t have to be an accredited investor, and the barrier to entry is much lower because you can participate by buying just one share.

Crowdfunded Real Estate Investing

Today, technology is democratizing real estate even further. Starting in 2012, the JOBS Act allowed real estate syndications to adopt crowdfunding strategies. Crowdfunding is raising funds from a large number of people even if they can only make small contributions. This means real estate deals no longer need to be funded by one investor or a handful of accredited investors. Instead, many small investors can pool their resources together to fund a large real estate deal.

Crowdfunding changes the real estate investing landscape for both investors and syndicators. Now, you can organize a national or even international real estate syndication that both accredited and non-accredited investors can participate in. This means investors with different risk tolerances can benefit from greater diversification, dollar-cost averaging (CA), and better returns.

Ultimately, crowdfunding opens the real estate market doors to lay investors. Some real estate crowfunding platforms include Fundrise, DiversyFund, BuyProperly, Roofstock, and Bricksave. They allow you to start investing in properties and REITS online in no time, and some for as little as $1,000.

Tokenized Real Estate Investing

When most people think of blockchain, they think of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. But blockchain is just the mechanism behind cryptocurrency. It’s a digital record-keeping technology that uses distributed ledgers in a shared network. And in 2017, entrepreneurs started seeing blockchain’s potential to streamline real estate investing transactions.

As with crowdfunding, blockchain technology can leverage fractional real estate ownership by creating tokens that represent shares in a real estate investment. It does this by turning real estate investment securities into what are called smart contracts. Smart contracts are a form of digital contract that don’t require an intermediary to verify them. They are executed automatically as soon as predetermined conditions and rules are met. This way, you can eliminate slow and costly middlemen like brokers and make transactions faster and more transparent.

Blockchain solves traditional real estate information and access bottlenecks. On the one hand, it democratizes information like rent roll, audits, compliance data, appraisals, and insurance binders. Everyone can see the information on the public ledger. On the other hand, it gives more investment opportunities to the average investor by lowering investment minimums and globalizing investment options. Overall, this leads to increased diversification, liquidity, and efficiency and turns a traditionally illiquid asset into a liquid one.

Of course, blockchain real estate investing is not without its challenges. Governments are still trying to figure out how to regulate it. Getting around the red tape of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also not easy. But it’s easier with private and consortium blockchains because they are tailored to specific use cases.

Though it still has a ways to go, tokenized real estate investing is already being tried by companies like RealT, Vave, BlokHaus Real Estate, and Lofty.ai. These and other platforms have a lot of potential to disrupt real estate investing as we know it.

Final Thoughts

Real estate investing is easier than ever. Time will tell how it looks 10, 20, 30 years from now. If you don’t have a lot of capital but you want to take advantage of this hot market, now is the time to explore the crowdfunding and tokenization options out there.

In the long run, you’ll benefit from increased diversification and high returns. It’s a win-win for the small investor.

Why Should You Take Up Cycling?

Posted on November 21, 2021 by Alex Sanders

Maybe you’ve been thinking about taking up cycling and renting a bike to try it out. That’s great! Cycling is a fantastic sport that offers many benefits that we outline below.

We think once you try cycling and enjoy the advantages, you’ll want to buy your own bike soon.

Enhances Mental Health

Many clinical studies find that people who are physically active every day feel about 30% better than those who are sedentary. But, ever feel that ‘high’ after a 60-mile bike ride or 10-mile run?

Exercise improves your mood by releasing a stream of endorphins and hormones into the bloodstream, making you feel fantastic. And the benefits last for hours after your workout.

Improves Immune System

Intense physical exercise has substantial benefits for your upper respiratory system – of particular importance during the COVID-19 era. You’re also less likely to get the common cold.

Some scientists maintain that you can reduce your sick time by up to 40% by biking or running most days of the week.

Even mild daily exercise can boost your immune system by activating white blood cells and making the body produce vital proteins.

Builds Muscle

Cycling involves lower-body resistance, so it doesn’t merely burn fat – it also builds muscle! As a result, bikers tend to have well-developed glutes, calves, and quads.

People who have higher muscle mass usually burn more calories even when they are at rest.

Eat More

Most of us enjoy eating and overindulging from time to time. However, you can add a few snacks to your day when you cycle regularly.

For example, if you bike 30 minutes to and from work every day, you may burn up to 500 extra calories.

So you can feel good about having a second helping of breakfast at your desk!

Enhanced Lung Health

This might be surprising, but people who cycle may be exposed less to toxic fumes than those who go by car.

One study in the United Kingdom found that cyclists and pedestrians in central London were exposed to less pollution than drivers.

Works Out The Core

Biking also gives your abdominals and back a great workout. Keeping your body upright requires you to have a higher level of core strength as the miles pass.

Having stronger abdominals and back muscles gives support to your spine and enhances stability.

Better Heart Health

Cycling is excellent for the cardiovascular system. A recent study spent 60 months studying 1,500 physically active people. Those who engaged in exercise every day were 30% less likely to have high blood pressure.

Another study suggests that doing a strenuous daily workout can reduce hypertension as much as prescription drugs.

Lower Cancer Risk

Keeping a healthy weight, daily exercise, and a nutritious diet will reduce your chances of getting various cancers.

Not only is biking fun, but it can also help you to ward off cancer, which is a big deal.

Low Impact

Cycling is easier on your body than running, so it’s a good choice for people who want an intense activity without pounding the joints.

Biking also is perfect for those who have more stiffness and joint problems.

Boost Self-Esteem

Biking and exercise generally can raise your self-esteem. For example, when you finish a challenging 50-mile ride and beat your previous time by three minutes, it makes you feel good.

And when you feel good after a workout, you’re highly likely to do it again.

The many benefits of cycling are apparent, so you’ll be sure to want to keep doing this fantastic sport for years in the future.

Landlords: Don’t Let Technology Distract You from What’s Important

Posted on November 21, 2021 by Alex Sanders

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could automate your entire life and all of your landlord duties? That dream could become a reality in the not-so-distant future, but automating your life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

For example, you wouldn’t want an AI bot to write your rental listings. What if your properties have distinct features? A standard rental listing won’t do those properties justice.

Property managers from Los Angeles explain that writing a good rental listing description begins with a captivating title and includes brief, descriptive sentences. You won’t get captivating descriptions from AI.

You Can’t Automate Being a Great Landlord

Landlords can benefit from automation, but it’s critical to maintain a balance and not get distracted by technology. Much of being a good landlord relies on maintaining a personal touch in your tenant relationships.

When a tenant has an issue, like a leaky roof, they don’t want to leave a voicemail and have a robot schedule the repair. They want to talk to their landlord live, explain the problem in detail, and work out a convenient time for repairs.

Being a great landlord requires personal interactions with your tenants. If you automate all of your landlord duties, you’ll eliminate personal interaction. Without personal interaction, you can’t build strong rapport with your tenants. Without rapport, your tenants are less likely to treat your property with care and take their lease obligations seriously.

Why Landlords Favor Automation

Most property investors prioritize profits. Automation provides an opportunity to maximize profits by reducing time spent getting involved in minutia. For landlords focused on building wealth, automation is a blessing. However, it’s also a curse.

The more landlords rely on automation, the less personal interaction they have with their tenants.

Automation Is Good for Technical Landlord Tasks

Although automating your landlord duties is mostly a bad idea, you can automate your technical tasks. For example, it’s easy to use software to collect rent online and have tenants request repairs. This streamlines your duties. However, you still need to have some personal interaction to confirm appointments and discuss issues in-depth.

There’s nothing wrong with using automation to manage paperwork and other back-end tasks. For example, it makes sense to use automated invoicing software, apps to track your expenses, and apps to manage each property’s history of repairs.

Automation is a great way to manage the administrative aspect of being a landlord and can support your wealth-building real estate strategy. It’s just not a good way to create and maintain tenant relationships.

4 Landlord Tasks That Can’t Be Automated

There are several things that make a good landlord, including a mix of character traits and actions:

1. Listening to a Tenant’s Concerns

Tenants want to feel heard, and that’s not something technology can offer. They don’t want to talk to a voicemail or send a text message to a robot when they have an issue. Tenants want to communicate with their landlord personally.

2. Being Compassionate

When a tenant needs an extra week to pay the rent, you can show compassion by having a personal conversation. Without that personal interaction, an automated rent collection system will penalize the tenant as if their circumstances don’t matter.

While no landlord wants excuses for late rent, sometimes tenants legitimately need a break. Being compassionate will help your tenant feel less anxious and stressed about being late with the rent.

3. Revisiting and Customizing the Lease

Compromise and leniency can go a long way with a tenant. When you have a tenant who wants to adjust the lease, that requires a personal conversation. As a human being, you can extend compassion and understanding by changing the lease terms when appropriate.

Automating this task wouldn’t be possible, since robots would lack the human connection and compassion needed to compromise.

4. Reviewing Reasonable Modification Requests

The only way to automate reasonable modification request approvals is to create a form that a tenant fills out that has definite yes/no answers for each question. You can’t factor open-ended questions into the formula to create an automated decision.

Since many reasonable modification requests require an in-depth look plus a possible supporting letter from a physician, this can’t be automated.

Avoid Becoming an Automated Landlord – Keep Your Personal Touch

Technology will make your job easier as a landlord, but keep your personal touch with your tenant relationships.

Save the tech for back-end tasks. Life will be better for both you and your tenants when you make yourself personally available.

Steps On How To Troubleshoot Google Chrome Errors

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Holly Hicks

Introduction

Google Chrome is one of, if not the, most widely used search engines in the world. Many of us use it every day, on both our desktop and our handheld devices, to answer queries and help us navigate the real world. With all that use, you’re inevitably going to have a few errors occasionally. Fortunately, these are often minor and easy to rectify.

Today we’re taking a look at the steps you should take when Google Chrome errors occur and detailing how you can troubleshoot them. This can help you figure out what is wrong and then make changes to solve any problems. For example, if you’re wondering why a site refuses to display itself, you’d want to find out what does err_connection_reset mean and then take steps with your anti-virus, firewall, or network settings to solve it.

1. Identify The Problem

You use Google Chrome every day, or close to it, so you should know when something goes wrong. The most obvious issue is where Chrome itself crashes, where one of four things will happen:

You’ll get the ‘Aw, Snap!’ error message.
You’ll get the ‘page unresponsive’ pop-up response.
You’ll get Error 503 – Service Unavailable
You get a hanging tab, which is where the tab just never loads in.
Your entire Chrome device crashes or freezes.

The ‘Aw, Snap!’ messages can often be fixed by reloading but, if you’re here, you may need something more comprehensive like closing all webpages, re-establishing your Internet connection, and/or restarting your device. The ‘page unresponsive’ message is much more common. These are where web pages can’t be interacted with. It is advised that you right-click on the web pages and kill them, so you can then reload. Otherwise, restarting your device is advised.

2. Ask Troubleshooting Questions

The core of troubleshooting is all about asking questions. Here’s a selection of questions you should keep in mind when something goes wrong with your computer, along with some inferences that you can draw from the answers.

Is Your Chrome Updated?

First, you should ask yourself if Chrome is properly updated. This is because outdated Chrome windows are more prone to issues. Where your Chrome application is unsupported, there’s a much higher likelihood that extensions won’t work and you won’t be able to customize your browser that much.

Can You Reproduce The Problem?

Sometimes there are minor loading issues that go away when you tab out or reload the page. If you can open another browser and get the same issue, it’s probably not something wrong with Chrome and so you’ll need to divert your troubleshooting efforts elsewhere. It may also be an issue with a certain site, in which case you can contact them.

Can You Work Properly In Incognito Mode?

If you’re able to work in incognito mode, that suggests something is in your standard Chrome that is causing the problem. This is because incognito mode strips away all extensions and cookies, and empties the cache, and so maybe something in there is problematic.

In those cases, you should disable all extensions and test each one to see if it causes the same error. Likewise, clear Chrome’s cache and delete any cookies that are lingering on your PC.

3. Get Help

If you’ve asked the common troubleshooting questions but there aren’t any obvious answers, it may be time to get some help. Not every issue can be solved by opening and closing the window or restarting your device. Your issue may be a complex one that needs to be addressed by the folks at Google HQ. Fortunately, there are ways to get help.

Fortunately, there are troubleshooting logs you can gather and send off to the relevant people. If you’re having network issues, you need to get your network log files and export them in JSON format. To do that, just open chrome://net-export/ and then select your detail level. Log to disk, save the file, recreate the problem, then stop logging in to the net-export tab.

On Chrome browsers or devices, you’ll want to get the corresponding debug logs. For the browser, this is in the Properties section where you can alter the target: line to add in –enable-logging –v=1 and then launch the browser. You may also want to report a crash, which you may be prompted to do when that happens, but you can also manually go to chrome://crashes and find IDs related to your issues, which can then be used to file a bug report.