20 things I learned by editing UX articles this year
Tags: ux, startup, innovation, design
Published: 2019-12-21 16:10:48

---
title: 20 things I learned by editing UX articles this year
published: true
date: 2019-12-15 13:19:54 UTC
tags: ux,startup,innovation,design
canonical_url: https://uxdesign.cc/20-things-i-learned-by-editing-ux-articles-this-year-b68f6b7071b7
---

![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*7wYlN6wr4A7Nx6ykOb8FjA.jpeg)<figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@alexacea?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Alexandru Acea</a></figcaption>

I feel lucky. Being one of the editors at the [UX Collective](https://newsletter.uxdesign.cc/) allows me to read tons of great stories every week, submitted by designers from all over the world. People who have different backgrounds than my own, work at different companies, face different challenges every day. People who simply dedicate their time to sharing their learnings with the broader community.

After reviewing and publishing more than a thousand articles this year, here are some of my personal favorites.

In 2019 I learned that…

- [**Sometimes**  **white space can hurt a product experience**](https://uxdesign.cc/how-white-space-killed-an-enterprise-app-and-why-data-density-matters-b3afad6a5f2a?source=friends_link&sk=069ddc6041f71d07d6f214e887925874), and data density matters depending on what that product’s goals are   
— thanks to [Patrick Deuley](https://medium.com/u/133275e7302c) and [Christie Lenneville](https://medium.com/u/12900b00be30)
- [**Respect is the one value**](https://uxdesign.cc/respect-is-the-one-value-73e9413c1b14?source=friends_link&sk=41c4aa1f69038aed1c0c5f959f3d62df) (if we were all forced to pick one) that designers should have: respect the user’s time, dignity, ability, and means.  
— thanks to [Cyd Harrell](https://medium.com/u/8268cafa037f)
- [**Too many chefs spoil the stew**](https://uxdesign.cc/ux-has-pretty-bad-ux-fd2702e5c22a?source=friends_link&sk=9c77206fdb20f596c11681191e836d8f): UX teams are becoming so inflated in larger companies that one’s workflow can easily become a game of telephone  
— thanks to [Michal Malewicz](https://medium.com/u/fde1eb3eb589)
- [**There are many different ways motion can add to the user experience**](https://uxdesign.cc/adding-value-to-your-design-by-understanding-motion-and-its-tools-c06418e43a1b?source=friends_link&sk=9faaec38647eb023f120f0ff7bb12fe6), and understanding what motion is trying to achieve can help designers be more assertive on the tools, techniques, and workflow they pick  
— thanks to [Yifan Ding](https://medium.com/u/4e2a1549626e)
- [**We can’t tell women to fix sexiest workplaces**](https://uxdesign.cc/stop-telling-women-to-fix-sexist-workplaces-bb042525e160?source=friends_link&sk=ce53f49c7e216844a928a7447f20303d), and articles like “How women should negotiate better” or “Tactics for women to be heard” end up hurting more than helping  
— thanks to [Kira Hodgson](https://medium.com/u/527d79cd0019)
- [**With the right framework, we can fix any problem**](https://uxdesign.cc/how-to-solve-problems-6bf14222e424?source=friends_link&sk=7d60d49dd3f7feb571b108e2ca515824)  
— thanks to [Lenny Rachitsky](https://medium.com/u/92ce92aa66a1)
- [**The future of branding relies on flexibility**](https://uxdesign.cc/the-flexible-future-of-branding-and-the-death-of-the-logo-as-we-know-it-4bcd385a1767?source=friends_link&sk=81304109532a8256bf00949cbfdad0cb), and the logo as we know it might die pretty soon  
— thanks to [Rory Macrae](https://medium.com/u/2be768755bb4)
- [**A lot of design tools are holding us back**](https://uxdesign.cc/design-tools-are-holding-us-back-1aca266b333e?source=friends_link&sk=759131de0cce0b6e40010acbe659a6e3), because they are still using methods, workflows, and features from graphic and visual design  
— thanks to [Tom Johnson](https://medium.com/u/ea1e32ef93d6)
- [**Instead of designing for random people**](https://uxdesign.cc/stop-designing-products-for-random-people-4734423cbfe6?source=friends_link&sk=82f8fffcd420b206176633232e7a3744), we could be focusing on the high-expectation customer — a pretty organic way to build and scale a product  
— thanks to [Prachi Nain](https://medium.com/u/aa7f8bcc6be)
- [**We are visual beings**](https://uxdesign.cc/the-power-of-visual-in-product-design-e1308542698b?source=friends_link&sk=859f609abcfbe9051e8482a452747d05) (nearly 90% of everything that comes to our mind is triggered by visual stimuli), and no matter how strategic of a designer you are, you should never underestimate the power of visuals  
— thanks to [Jonny Czar](https://medium.com/u/937c7a268a51)
- **Brands like** [**Uber**](https://uxdesign.cc/how-uber-uses-psychology-to-perfect-their-customer-experience-d6c440285029?source=friends_link&sk=47605cc239ba56b9911e2079741003ef) **and** [**Netflix**](https://uxdesign.cc/how-netflix-uses-psychology-to-perfect-their-customer-experience-c65ba414abe3?source=friends_link&sk=3210fb79f0ff731efbbfba5688d18e5a) **use psychology tricks to improve their UX ** — a well-known concept, brilliantly articulated with tangible examples  
— thanks to [Jen Clinehens](https://medium.com/u/5bae86a830d0)
- [**The truth is hard, and the truth is that we’re all part of the problem**](https://uxdesign.cc/the-league-of-evil-designers-338ec50e35b5?source=friends_link&sk=bfaa0eec50ff8e1ad4b36eac27c1e4f8): every single action we take as designers can have an impact, good or evil, on people’s lives  
— thanks to [Linnéa Strid](https://medium.com/u/f93541baa4c6)
- [**Pushing ideas forward in a corporate world isn’t easy**](https://uxdesign.cc/designer-vs-corporation-8087780cb1a6?source=friends_link&sk=f3c3540a6fa7978cd0b0a93ba43bfc05), but there are a couple things we can try to make that process smoother  
— thanks to [José Torre](https://medium.com/u/463659dc147f)
- [**You can always turn lemons into lemonade**](https://uxdesign.cc/i-turned-my-interview-task-for-google-into-a-startup-877943fb3b34?source=friends_link&sk=d7329e1d36a5ec90b41af4077cbdc32d), like when you’re denied a job at Google but still leverages your interview task to create a startup  
— thanks to [Andrew Burton](https://medium.com/u/57aa1671aed2)
- [**There’s hidden bias in product dev**](https://uxdesign.cc/the-hidden-bias-in-iterative-product-development-21e307a2c327?source=friends_link&sk=614224baf0b0c3665b41dae48cd68dd8) **:** as soon as our product is live, we fall into a weakness-based, additive strategy, where we are compelled to add new functionality in order to win back our lost value  
— thanks to [Jesse Weaver](https://medium.com/u/41e48b43404f)
- [**There’s more overlap between Dungeons & Dragons and Design Thinking that one might think**](https://uxdesign.cc/dungeons-dragons-design-thinking-688a0b7cca3f?source=friends_link&sk=0f6211c782292c96eb95d99ba3a7d6ef) ** ** ;)  
— thanks to [Ploy Buraparate](https://medium.com/u/df5292d70760)
- [**Leaving your ego at the door**](https://uxdesign.cc/designing-at-google-10-things-i-know-to-be-true-e033d97e5f13?source=friends_link&sk=ce0025cdcfcfed32fa71294b4b62621f) is one of the most important pieces of advice for product designers; we don’t always have all the answers and that’s okay  
— thanks to [Kenny Chen](https://medium.com/u/6f8e4a34ab8a)
- [**Finding the balance between user needs and business goals is challenging**](https://uxdesign.cc/user-experience-vs-business-goals-finding-the-balance-7507ac85b0a9?source=friends_link&sk=383c0d076e6be6c7a829cb47e2a30807); as product designers, we have to raise a flag if we think a red line is about to be crossed by our companies  
— thanks to [Ariel Verber](https://medium.com/u/45d3b1192683)
- [**There are some pretty basic reasons why some designs look messy**](https://uxdesign.cc/why-some-designs-look-messy-and-others-dont-1755b8ce22ff?source=friends_link&sk=e0b82bfd29628d0597a408535407852d), and others don’t; it’s just a matter of paying attention  
— thanks to [Reinoud Schuijers](https://medium.com/u/e0848b675f5)
- [**The McDonaldization of UX**](https://uxdesign.cc/the-mcdonaldization-of-ux-705438fea958?source=friends_link&sk=3e05684b3729e5b23ea8e6e76213cfae) is a phenomenon where designers in certain companies quickly become another station on an assembly line, pumping out screens and specs for developers and having little or no interaction with users  
— thanks to [Chris Kiess](https://medium.com/u/36bb350e8f70)

Thanks to all writers and readers of the UX Collective for another great year.

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