Design

🌎 Designing Cross-Cultural And Multi-Lingual UX. Guidelines on how to stress test our designs, how to define a localization strategy and how to deal with currencies, dates, word order, pluralization, colors and gender pronouns. ⦿ Translation: “We adapt our message to resonate in other markets”. ⦿ Localization: “We adapt user experience to local expectations”. ⦿ Internationalization: “We adapt our codebase to work in other markets”. ✅ English-language users make up about 26% of users. ✅ Top written languages: Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese. ✅ Most users prefer content in their native language(s). ✅ French texts are on average 20% longer than English ones. ✅ Japanese texts are on average 30–60% shorter. 🚫 Flags aren’t languages: avoid them for language selection. 🚫 Language direction ≠ design direction (“F” vs. Zig-Zag pattern). 🚫 Not everybody has first/middle names: “Full name” is better. ✅ Always reserve at least 30% room for longer translations. ✅ Stress test your UI for translation with pseudolocalization. ✅ Plan for line wrap, truncation, very short and very long labels. ✅ Adjust numbers, dates, times, formats, units, addresses. ✅ Adjust currency, spelling, input masks, placeholders. ✅ Always conduct UX research with local users. When localizing an interface, we need to work beyond translation. We need to be respectful of cultural differences. E.g. in Arabic we would often need to increase the spacing between lines. For Chinese market, we need to increase the density of information. German sites require a vast amount of detail to communicate that a topic is well-thought-out. Stress test your design. Avoid assumptions. Work with local content designers. Spend time in the country to better understand the market. Have local help on the ground. And test repeatedly with local users as an ongoing part of the design process. You’ll be surprised by some findings, but you’ll also learn to adapt and scale to be effective — whatever market is going to come up next. Useful resources: UX Design Across Different Cultures, by Jenny Shen https://lnkd.in/eNiyVqiH UX Localization Handbook, by Phrase https://lnkd.in/eKN7usSA A Complete Guide To UX Localization, by Michal Kessel Shitrit 🎗️ https://lnkd.in/eaQJt-bU Designing Multi-Lingual UX, by yours truly https://lnkd.in/eR3GnwXQ Flags Are Not Languages, by James Offer https://lnkd.in/eaySNFGa IBM Globalization Checklists https://lnkd.in/ewNzysqv Books: ⦿ Cross-Cultural Design (https://lnkd.in/e8KswErf) by Senongo Akpem ⦿ The Culture Map (https://lnkd.in/edfyMqhN) by Erin Meyer ⦿ UX Writing & Microcopy (https://lnkd.in/e_ZFu374) by Kinneret Yifrah

Nature's Hacks for Success. Biomimicry might sound complex, but it's simply about learning from nature to enhance our designs. It's like learning from the best teacher, Mother Nature herself. Defined by the Biomimicry Institute, this approach guides us toward sustainable solutions by mimicking perfected patterns and strategies found in nature. Nature has already solved many of our challenges. So, why not apply its genius to our packaging designs? It offers patterns and relationships that inspire better, eco-friendly packaging designs. Whether in structure or materials, designers can draw from nature's beauty, texture, and flow. We discover materials that are waterproof, breathable, flexible, and more. It's as if nature has already completed the heavy lifting of innovation, evolution, and adaptation for us. Think of the honeycomb structure in beehives, not only sturdy but also space-efficient. A great example of biomimicry in packaging design is the SIS bottle by Backbone Branding. Their designers draw inspiration from a flower's pistil to shape a two-litre juice bottle. The design not only stands out with its natural juice colour but also resolves many stacking, storage, and merchandising challenges through its interlocking form. Rooted in geometry with equilateral triangles, these bottles fit snugly together, saving space. Every aspect of the bottle, from its size and proportions to its lines and curves, has been carefully considered. Even the label has been specially designed to adhere to the bottle's irregular surface, eliminating the need for glue. Consider adding nature's strategy into your design process. It will help you close the loop and build a solution that resonates with the ecosystem we breathe in. Biomimicry enables us to develop sustainable systems rather than short-lived, isolated solutions that may soon become outdated. One thing's for sure, we stand at a crucial juncture in human history. The challenges ahead demand designers and innovators capable of creating resilient, adaptable solutions. Our path forward must consider the well-being of future generations across the planet. We must continually draw inspiration from nature and reciprocate by nurturing and preserving it. In doing so, we'll not only enrich our designs but also contribute to the greater ecosystem. Let nature continue to inspire us, and in return, let's contribute to its well-being A cycle of respect and reciprocity where our designs and actions reflect a deep reverence for the natural world. Ready to take a cue from nature's playbook for your next packaging design? 📷Backbone Branding

AI will drive 2x growth in data centre power capacity in 5 years. This means data centres must evolve. This week, I visited Barcelona to see how Schneider Electric assembles its prefabricated and containerised data centres at its factory. Also had the chance to attend briefings by senior members of its data centre division. Here are my thoughts. 𝟭/ 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀 AI is here to stay. There are no pathways that don't include AI in some shape or form. But compute systems with lower power demands won't disappear either. This means our current way of designing data centres - often carving out a separate section for AI while non-AI workloads reside elsewhere, won't work. We need a new approach to cooling for maximum flexibility and sustainability for supporting both AI and non-AI workloads. - A new end-to-end design approach. - Partnerships for an AI-inclusive ecosystem. - New systems suited for this new paradigm. 𝟮/ 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 Unsurprisingly, the new AI-centric data centres of the future must support liquid cooling. < 𝟰𝟬/𝗸𝗪 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 - Liquid cooling offers better efficiency. ~ 𝟱𝟬/𝗸𝗪 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 - Air cooling still possible, but barely. > 𝟱𝟬/𝗸𝗪 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 - Liquid cooling is a must-have. I just wrote a post about why liquid cooling is the future of data centres yesterday. (Read: https://lnkd.in/g5jhCNcX) 𝟯/ 𝗡𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸 But liquid cooling isn't trivial. - Local sustainability standards differ. - Not all liquid cooling solutions scale well. - Efficiency might come at the expense of other areas. Throw in the need for continued need for air-cooling, and it just gets... complicated. 𝟰/ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 What will the data centres of the future look like? The industry must come for a new generation of more sustainable, flexible, data centres. We need: - New data centre design and modeling software. - New high-capacity power trains, systems for AI. - Easy way to determine data centre efficiency. - Greater innovation across the ecosystem. And yes, Schneider Electric says it has developed a reference design for an AI-centric data centre with Nvidia - I'll share more about it in another post. 👉 Would love to hear your thoughts about how data centres must evolve. 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼: Schneider Electric's Sant Boi factory in Barcelona. --- My name is Paul Mah and I write about tech that matters in #EverydayTechStories 📆 Get weekly updates: www.techstories.co/updates 👀 See my other posts: www.techstories.co 🙋 Follow me on LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gu5EMKQg #datacentre

100 families. 3D printed homes. $26 electricity bills in 100°F heat. Georgetown, Texas. Where 11 robots build what humans can't afford. Each Vulcan printer: 45 feet wide. Operates 24/7. Lays Lavacrete concrete like a massive 3D printer. Two homes completed every week. Families already moved in. First summer electricity bills arrived: $26. In Texas. In August. Think about that. The numbers that matter: ↳ Wall construction: $34/sq ft (was $150-200) ↳ Total savings: $25,000 per home ↳ Build time: 3 weeks (was 6 months) ↳ Zero weather delays Lennar, America's second-largest homebuilder, started with 2 robots. Now 11. They're doubling this neighborhood because families are lining up. Watch how it works: Lavacrete flows in precise layers. Creates curved walls impossible with wood. Thermal mass that laughs at Texas heat. Fire can't touch it. Mold can't grow. Hurricanes irrelevant. Traditional Building Reality: ↳ 65% of young adults priced out ↳ 30% materials wasted ↳ Endless weather delays ↳ Energy bills crushing families What 3D Printing Delivers: ↳ Homes under $400,000 ↳ Near-zero waste ↳ 300-year durability ↳ $26 monthly cooling But here's what stopped me cold: A young engineer moved his family here specifically for this innovation. His newborn daughter will grow up in walls built to outlast empires. Her monthly cooling bill throughout childhood: less than a single toy. Oolly Feekings, retired, opened her August bill expecting hundreds. Found $26. In her old colonial home, AC ran constantly. In printed concrete, the walls themselves keep her cool. The Multiplication Effect: 100 homes = working model 1,000 = builders switching 10,000 = prices dropping everywhere At scale = housing accessible again From 2 robots to 11 in two years. From experiment to expansion. From skepticism to sold out. Georgetown today. Your neighborhood tomorrow. We're not printing the future of housing. We're printing homes for people who need them now. Follow me, Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld for innovations solving real problems today. ♻️ Share if housing should be accessible, not impossible. #3DPrinting #AffordableHousing #Innovation

I have made Over 1 CR as a Freelancer. Years ago, I was struggling to find clients, sending out pitch after pitch with no success. After trial and error, I discovered the strategies that turned my freelancing journey into a 7-figure success story. Today, I'm sharing my top pitching techniques with you. ✅ Strategy 1: Comment Strategy How to Use: Engage with top creators on LinkedIn, DM them, share resources, nurture relationships, then pitch. Benefit: Builds strong relationships and trust. ✅ Strategy 2: Video Pitches How to Use: Create personalized video pitches. Benefit: Personalization increases engagement. ✅ Strategy 3: Value Ladder Offers How to Use: Start with a low-commitment offer like a free audit. Benefit: Eases clients into your services. ✅ Strategy 4: Exclusive Insights How to Use: Offer exclusive insights or industry reports. Benefit: Demonstrates expertise and adds value. ✅ Strategy 5: Success Stories Follow-Up How to Use: Follow up with a success story from a similar client. Benefit: Provides social proof. ✅ Strategy 6: Free Tools or Templates How to Use: Share free tools or templates, then pitch comprehensive services. Benefit: Demonstrates value and expertise. ✅ Strategy 7: Social Proof Landing Pages How to Use: Direct clients to a landing page with testimonials and case studies. Benefit: Builds credibility and trust. ✅ Strategy 8: Follow-Up with Added Value How to Use: Follow up with additional valuable content related to the client’s business. Benefit: Keeps you top-of-mind and adds value. ✅ Strategy 9: Personalized Case Studies How to Use: Create case studies tailored to your potential client’s industry. Benefit: Shows clients how you can solve their specific problems. ✅ Strategy 10: Niche-Specific Content How to Use: Develop content highly relevant to the niche of your potential client. Benefit: Positions you as an expert in their industry. ✅ Strategy 11: Client Education How to Use: Educate clients on industry trends and solutions before pitching. Benefit: Builds trust and positions you as a knowledgeable resource. I've excelled at pitching potential clients and succeeded in sealing 99% of deals to date. I've taught my 5000+ students all the secret strategies of getting high-paying clients, and today, I see them making 50K-1Lac a month easily. 📌 If you're interested in learning from me & my 6-figure team, DM 'Freelance' for details. Question: Do you find it helpful?

Most people think Disney invented depth in animation. They are wrong! Years before the Multiplane Camera, Fleischer Studios was already shooting cartoons against real 3D backgrounds. Not with optical tricks. Not with painted glass layers. But with physical, rotating miniature worlds. The technique was called... Stereoptical Setback. Hand-built 3D sets placed behind the animation cels. Mounted on massive turntables. At different distances and speeds. Lit with real studio light. It was physical parallax. With real volume and depth. Betty Boop and Popeye were filmed this way since 1934. It was brilliant. But also painfully manual and expensive. Fleischer Studios went bankrupt in 1942. Paramount took over and renamed it Famous Studios. Max and Dave Fleischer were fired. Stereoptical Setback wasn't used anymore. Disney's multiplane camera (1937) was cheaper and more versatile. Last week I talked about a Disney invention that was lost due to lack of scale... This time, Disney won because of scale. In innovation, being first is a headline. Being scalable is a legacy.

Inaccessibility is all around us - but sometimes we’re doing it without even realising. I’ve made every one of these mistakes in the past. It wasn’t until someone took the time to point them out that I learned how inaccessible I was being - despite having good intentions. Here are 5 ways you might be being inaccessible, without even knowing: 1. Long LinkedIn headlines or overuse of emojis. Screen reader users hear your full headline every single time you post or comment. Every. Single. Time. Even when it’s truncated visually. That can mean hearing your full job title, emojis, and taglines multiple times before even reaching your post content. Try to keep your headline under 100 characters or two lines max - it makes a huge difference. 2. Long email signatures, HTTP links, and unlabelled images. Screen readers will read out every line - including things like “H-T-T-P-colon-slash-slash…” for full URLs. Images without alt text are completely invisible to screen reader users. Keep it short and simple, and use alt text wherever you can. Put only essential info in your email signature and put two dashes at the top to signal your signature is starting. And remember, it’s not your marketing tool. When was the last time you actually bought something from an email signature?! 3. Not running documents through the accessibility checker. You run a spell check, so why not an acceeeibility check? It’s a quick step, but it can flag things like heading structures, contrast issues, and missing image descriptions. It takes seconds and makes a big impact. 4. Using colour alone to convey meaning. For example, “I’ve marked the important cells in green” doesn’t help if someone can’t perceive colour easily. Neither does “I’ve shaded the cells for our RAG status”. Always add a label, icon, or another indicator. 5. Using all lowercase hashtags. #thisisnotaccessible - screen readers can’t parse where one word ends and another begins. Use camel case instead - #ThisIsAccessible - so screen readers pronounce the words correctly. Small changes, big impact. If you’ve made some of these mistakes before - welcome to the club. We learn, we improve, we do better. #DisabilityInclusion #Disability #DisabilityEmployment #Adjustments #DiversityAndInclusion #Content #A11y

Why do we address Environment before Equipment in designing Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTRs) - and in all meeting and teaching spaces? The fundamental principle of the EASE methodology starts with Environment because room acoustics determine your audio system quality - and not the other way around. So let’s consider Audio - the most important element in hybrid spaces. DSP is great and now essential but it cannot sidestep the laws of physics. The physics are unforgiving: DSP improvements are limited by what the microphone captures initially. Although inconvenient for the aesthetics, a gooseneck microphone positioned 30cm from a speaker’s mouth will outperform ceiling-mounted beamforming arrays with their sophisticated processing, purely because of signal-to-noise ratio advantages. Why does this matter? AVIXA’s task group for our dynamic range standard notes that system noise floor must minimally increase ambient room noise, and maximum linear SPL must meet target levels. Poor room acoustics make both requirements exponentially harder to achieve regardless of processing power. RT60 measurements tell the story: rooms with reverberation times above 0.6 seconds require increasingly complex DSP solutions to achieve the same speech intelligibility that rooms with 0.4-0.5 second RT60 deliver naturally. EASE: Environment, Audio, Screens, Equity. The methodology that makes hybrid workspace design systematic instead of accidental. GJC's methodology for optimal meeting and teaching space design. The EASE methodology principle: Optimize the acoustic foundation first, then specify technology to enhance that foundation rather than fight it. To learn more, please message me or see the link to Greg Jeffreys Consulting Ltd in the Comments section below. This approach facilities: clearer audio with simpler systems; lower complexity and maintenance requirements; better user experiences at lower total cost; future-proof (or resistant!) designs that work with any platform. Room acoustics are your audio system's foundation. Get the foundation right, and everything else becomes easier. What environmental factors do you prioritise before technology specification? #microsoftteamsrooms #avtweeps #EASEmethodology #hybridmeetings #avusergroup #ltsmg #schoms  #avixa

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲: 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗖𝗩 🔥 Instead, build a personal website with Lovable. It’s more authentic, way more expressive and it actually shows who you are. Here’s how to do it in under 10 min. Prompt Guide: 𝟭) 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 Start by describing yourself. Who are you? What's your background? What have you worked on? Pro tip: Upload a screenshot of your CV. Lovable can extract text from images, so you don’t have to write everything from scratch. 𝟮) 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗲 Describe the feel of your site. Use expressive design language to shape the direction. Example: “Make it look like it was crafted by an award-winning designer. Ultra-modern, playful, highly usable. Smooth micro interactions, delightful UX touches.” 𝟯) 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲-𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 Reference brands you like. It gives Lovable a clear design language to pull from. Example: “Use Apple's design system. Lots of white space, soft shadows, frosted-glass elements, and a tight grid.” 𝟰) 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁 Ask Lovable for animations that bring the site to life. Example: “Add hover states to buttons, smooth scroll transitions, and soft fade-ins on cards.” 𝟱) 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 No work to show (yet)? Use a 3D visual instead. Go to Spline, remix something you like, grab the embed code, and drop it into Lovable. Example: “Add this rotating 3D sphere" 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 🚀 𝟲) 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 People hire people. Record a quick video intro to build connection. Prompt tip: “Embed a circular video of me at the top, saying hi and sharing my story. Keep it friendly and natural.” 𝟳) 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 / 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 Let people see what you’re great at. Prompt tip: “Add a clean grid showing the tools I use—Figma, Notion, Webflow, etc. Include logos.” 𝟴) 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 Social proof builds trust. Screenshot nice messages from Slack, LinkedIn, or email. Prompt tip: “Include 2–3 short quotes from colleagues or managers about working with me.” 𝟵) 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 Most people will see your site on mobile first. Make sure it feels great. Prompt tip: “Optimize layout, font sizes, and buttons for mobile. Prioritize speed and readability.” 𝟭𝟬/ 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝗧𝗔 Don't just show, invite for action. Prompt tip: “Add a bold CTA at the end: ‘Let’s work together’ with a button linking to my email or LinkedIn.” This is how you stand out. Personal website > CV.

I studied 118 nonprofit donation forms. Here's what I found. 1. Add a big, obvious, donation button to your home page right now. It takes 5 seconds on your website builder. A quarter of the nonprofits I looked at hide their donate button behind a dropdown, or have no clear CTA (call to action) on their homepage. Those nonprofits were 51% more likely to have a budget deficit. 2. Ugly websites beat beautiful ones. The average donor is: - old (~avg. US donor age is 64) AND - distracted (89% of donation page visitors leave before donating) Relentlessly prioritize ease of use over aesthetics with: - high contrast colors and large, simple fonts - redundancy (Smile Train has 3 donation buttons on their home page) - visibility (Obama Foundation's website even shows you a donation form before the main website) 3. Use the grandma test. Grab your grandma (or mom...if she's a grandma). Have her try and donate to your nonprofit. Stand beside her and watch. If she asks for help before she finds the donate button, you have work to do. 4. Add an impact unit to donation amounts One study showed that the gap between bad donation pages (8-11% conversion) and well-optimized ones (22%) is closed mostly by two things: form simplicity and tangible-impact framing (e.g. $50 = 10 meals) 5. Cut your donation form down to 4 fields. Most nonprofit donation forms ask for 8-12 fields. One study found that reducing form fields from 11 to 4 led to a 120% increase in conversions. The only fields donors actually need: name, email, amount, payment. Everything else is friction. Open your form, count the fields, and delete every one that isn't essential. Address, phone number, "how did you hear about us" -- cut all of it. You can ask in a follow-up email. 6) Default to monthly recurring, not one-time. Ethically pre-selecting monthly giving on your donation page can increase conversions of monthly donations by up to 35%. For some reason, almost nobody talks about donation page mechanics in nonprofit world. I haven't posted in a while... is this research/content helpful to keep posting?