Chris Nodder

🚨UX Job Search Tip: Finding It Hard To Get Noticed By Hiring Managers Buried In Résumés🚨 If your résumé isn’t screaming “I’ve done this before and I can do it for you,” you’re missing the mark. 📌 In this video, I break down how to use comparable experience to stand out from the stack of résumés. Don’t just apply, stand out! Here’s how. ⬇️

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Storytelling turns insights into action. In UX research, how you communicate is just as important as what you uncover. In this article, Bold Insight shares how to bring clarity, structure, and impact to your research reports so they inspire decision-makers to act. ✔️ Revisit the “why” ✔️ Build a clear structure ✔️ Refine for clarity and flow This article is part of Bold Insight’s excellent newsletter on LinkedIn - worth a follow! 🔗 Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/dKSQjY_Z #UXResearch #UXStorytelling #UXReporting #BoldInsight #UXalliance #DesignOps #StrategicCommunication #UserExperience

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Clarity isn’t optional. It’s the foundation of effective documentation. Use this guide to test and improve your documentation today: Usability testing is a powerful way to ensure your documentation works for users. It helps refine clarity, accessibility, and overall experience. Focusing on usability lets you: ✅ Make information easier to find. ✅ Improve user satisfaction with clear, actionable content. ✅ Build trust through accuracy and thoughtful design. Don’t leave usability to chance. Test for it. Here’s what to focus on: What to Test in Technical Documentation ➡️ Content Structure ➡️ Readability ➡️ Content Quality ➡️ Visual Appeal Key Tips for Better Usability 1. Organize for Easy Navigation ↳ Divide content into sections or chapters. ↳ Add a table of contents or interactive navigation tools. 2. Simplify the Writing ↳ Use active voice and concise sentences. ↳ Match vocabulary to your audience. 3. Ensure Content Quality ↳ Verify accuracy and update content regularly. ↳ Balance the level of detail to avoid overwhelming users. 4. Design for Visual Appeal ↳ Use clean layouts, readable fonts, and visuals. ↳ Test if the design helps users absorb information easily. Remember: Usable documentation doesn’t just inform, it empowers users to solve problems and achieve their goals. What’s one method you use to test documentation? Share your thoughts in the comments ⬇️ Want more career insights for technical writers: Follow Technical Writer HQ Like the post. Repost to your network.

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Terminology shapes how teams think about design problems. When we call something a "hamburger menu" vs. a "navigation drawer," we're not just labeling—we're referencing specific interaction patterns, user expectations, and design considerations. Shared vocabulary creates shared understanding. 📘 Our UI Element Glossary (https://bit.ly/4ihUHay) provides an A–Z reference for interface components, helping teams align on terminology and understand the patterns behind each element. 📗 For broader foundations, the UX Basics Study Guide (https://bit.ly/3K7vljY) covers essential concepts: usability heuristics, the UI/UX distinction, interaction principles, and more. These guides are part of our Top 10 UX Study Guides and Glossaries of 2025—free resources for building your knowledge base. Explore all the guides that made last year's top 10: (https://bit.ly/4pZTl8a) 🎓 Looking for deeper skill development? Our live online UX courses offer hands-on learning in research methods, interaction design, and more—designed for practitioners ready to level up: https://bit.ly/4bPXhB1 #UXDesign #UXTraining #DesignEducation #UIDesign #UXCertification #NNG #NNGroup #NielsenNormanGroup

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Designing for everyone means thinking beyond aesthetics. In this episode, we dive into a core pillar of great UX: Accessibility. From color contrast to keyboard navigation, our team ensures that every interface is built to be inclusive, intuitive, and aligned with accessibility best practices. Because good design isn’t just beautiful, it’s usable, for all. 📽️ Watch how we make accessibility a foundation, not an afterthought. 📩 Want more insights like this? Sign up for our newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eG6xfeGR #VILT #BreakingBoundaries #UX #Accessibility #UserExperience

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The #1 reason I see workshops fall short is a lack of preparation. In my upcoming newsletter, I help you understand WHEN to run WHAT type of workshop and WHY it's important for your design career. You're not going to want to miss this one. Be sure and subscribe https://lnkd.in/etUa2Zqv ↔️ I take you through 5 different problem types and help you understand what types of workshops and activities make sense to help move your team forward. ☝️ I've noted down every underrated tip any facilitator should know based on having run countless workshops in my career. 🚀 Being able to run effective workshops has been a game-changer in my career — it’s one of the key skills that helped me grow from a Senior designer into a Lead Designer and then into a Principal Designer 👋 Looking forward to sharing this one with you!

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Let's put accessibility in action Ever wondered how users with protanopia (red-green color blindness) experience your digital content? This image demonstrates two versions of link text: 1. Color alone: Hard to distinguish for users with color vision deficiency 2. Color + underline: Clear visual cue for everyone According to Colour Blind Awareness (https://lnkd.in/gcjEyJgf) "Colour (color) blindness (colour vision deficiency, or CVD) affects approximately 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women. In the UK there are approximately 3 million colour blind people (about 4.5% of the entire population), most of whom are male. Worldwide, there are estimated to be about 300 million people with colour blindness, almost the same number of people as the entire population of the USA!" Accessibility isn’t just a checklist, it’s about inclusion. By adding simple design elements like underlines or other visual cues to link text, we ensure no one is left behind when accessing information. This is one simulation of several color deficiency including Deuteranopia (no green), Tritanopia (no blue), Achromatopsia (no color). Let’s create experiences where everyone sees and understands equally.

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Have you ever felt stuck trying to solve the right problem with a stakeholder? In her review of Bill Shander's book, Stakeholder Whispering, Erica Gunn PhD, MFA explains why this book is so essential for designers. Gunn also sits down with Shander, where he shares insights on how to handle difficult stakeholders and transition from a listener to an expert. https://lnkd.in/ejyFHdw9 #DataViz #DataVis #BookReview #DataVisualization

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Design isn’t neutral. Systems mapping shows you why. We agree with Martin Tomitsch and Steve Baty that even small design decisions can lead to big, sometimes unintended outcomes. Designers need to think in systems, not in isolation, to take responsibility for those effects. Tools like system maps and ripple canvases can help uncover hidden impacts so we can make better, more thoughtful design choices from the start. Check out their article: https://lnkd.in/eeRn6Egt Systems maps, impact ripple canvases, and iceberg diagrams can help teams visualize hidden patterns and long-term effects. Using tools like these pushes designers and organizations to look beyond immediate user interactions or business goals and ask: What are we unintentionally causing? Who or what is affected beyond the interface? How can we see and plan for these ripple effects? 💬 We asked Martin why they wrote the article: "We wrote this article because we believe that it's critical for designers to master the art of unintended consequences. Ultimately, this requires adopting a systems mindset, i.e. shifting from focusing on the 'user' to a 'systems' perspective and understanding how design decisions create far-reaching impacts over time. That includes both positive and negative consequences, i.e. things we can intentionally amplify and things we need to prevent from happening �� like the impact of social media on the mental health of teens." Thanks for helping us think deeper Martin. We believe using UX metrics can help you spot unintended effects early by testing your ideas with users. By using metrics like effort, comprehension, and desirability, you can see how people respond and make smarter design decisions before problems grow. #uxresearch #productdiscovery #marketresearch #productdesign

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Want more influence as a UX designer? Start with relationships. And the best way to do that is to make allies! Why allies? They are the ones to help you: ✅ Get buy-in ✅ Advocate for your ideas ✅ Move work forward Here are the three most important types of allies: 👉 Power Allies The leaders who make final decisions (Managers, Execs. They approve budgets and set priorities.) 👉 Execution Allies The ones who bring your ideas to life (Engineers, PMs. If they’re not on board, your ideas might get shut down.) 👉 User Allies The people closest to real-world pain points (Customer support, marketing, sales. They have the insights you need to make informed decisions.) Start by identifying one person in each category. Then build the relationship… slowly, intentionally, with curiosity. And see what happens when you build a trusted team of supporters who have your back when it comes to decision-making time. So, let’s get started: Write down one person in each of those categories who fits that description, reach out, share your ideas/present your designs to them in 1:1 settings. Work with them and see what happens when it comes to review and decision-making time. From my experience, if you set up the right team of allies, your work has a significantly higher success rate of making it into the product. Interested in getting better at soft skills like making allies, setting boundaries and communication in ways that are heard, reach out right here in the DM. I work with designers who are ready to uplevel, get respected in their teams and have the courage to ask for what they want and actually get it. #UXDesign #LeadershipSkills #CrossFunctionalCollaboration #SoftSkills #CareerCoaching

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Earlier this month, the entire Ratkaj Designs team was in a two-day accessibility training with Chad Chelius and Chax Training and Consulting. Twelve pages of furiously-scribbled notes later, here’s my big takeaway: Even when you consider yourself “well-versed,” there’s still so much to learn. I learned that some of the things we were doing as a team were completely unnecessary, so we'll be adjusting our process to make things easier, both on ourselves and our clients. I also learned (and file this tidbit under "What in the actual heck?") that most of the gold-standard accessibility testing tools are only available on PCs. Which makes no sense, as I can't think of a designer in my orbit who doesn't use a Mac. What gives, software developers? If accessibility testing tools aren't built for the platforms designers use, we're creating yet another barrier. The training was also a full-circle moment for me. I invited one of my clients as a guest to the training—the same client (Stacy Reeder at Renaissance Learning) who set us off on this accessibility journey several years ago. To have her join us for the training when she was the person who was championing accessibility as part of her role at Renaissance was really, REALLY cool. It also helped strengthen my already-strong commitment to this work. Accessibility isn't a box that gets checked. It's a discipline that we recommit to, over and over again, with every project we take on.

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How do you design elearning interactivity that's easy for participants to use? We want learners to use their cognitive effort on whatever the interactivity is: a practice activity, decision-making scenario, or assessment. We don't want them to have to spend their limited mental effort figuring out what parts of the screen are clickable or how to submit their work. These questions are less about the visual design of colors and font choices (although those are part of it) and more about the user experience design. This site on the "Laws of UX" shares best practices for user interfaces. It's not geared to learning specifically, but you'll see familiar concepts like cognitive load and chunking. https://lawsofux.com/

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The new 2025 Digital Accessibility Index shows a worrying pattern: many companies still struggle with the basics — navigation, readability, usability. It’s a reminder that accessibility issues aren’t edge cases. They’re systemic. When design misses the fundamentals — clear structure, consistent controls, readable content — trust quietly erodes. I often see teams polishing what’s visible while the foundation cracks underneath. And when the foundation wobbles, everything above it does too. If you ran a quick scan of your site right now, how many hidden accessibility gaps would it reveal — before your audience does? I have no affiliation with either of these sites: Basic free scan: https://lnkd.in/gu_wQDqe Technical free scan: https://wave.webaim.org/

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