SpyreStudios

Web Design and Development Magazine

The Ultimate 20 Usability Tips for Your Website

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Usability is ridiculously important to your website. It doesn’t matter how cool your website looks or how amazing your content is if visitors can’t quickly, easily, and enjoyably access and use it. Many of them will eventually just give up and look elsewhere.

So how do you make your website as usable as possible? Well, you’re in luck, because this article features 20 usability tips for your website. Technology will always change, thus changing the usability tips. So make sure you share your own tips and tricks with the rest of us.

Top 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Create Trendy Designs

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Following trends is a part of many creators in all creative mediums: design, fashion, music, film, whatever. It’s only natural: you see what people want, then you give it to them. What’s the problem, you might ask?

Well, that system, while fine for short-term gains and immediate profits, is fundamentally broken. In fact, there are 5 reasons why you shouldn’t create ‘flavor-of-the-week’ designs.

By choosing to instead hone in on and dominate your own style – even while following trends – you’ll set yourself up for long-term benefits.

How to Juggle Multiple Projects and Clients Without Going Crazy

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Let’s face it: it’s hard working on multiple things at once. Focusing on just one thing is much easier than trying to juggle multiple projects and clients. Yet the reality for most designers and firms is you’re working on many projects and with many clients, often simultaneously. Luckily, there’s ways to juggle multiple projects and clients without going crazy.

While some are pulling their hair due to feeling overwhelmed, others are handling multiple projects and clients with aplomb.

Top 6 Mistakes to Avoid in Mobile Usability

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Mobile applications are important for providing users with an alternate means of accessing your web page, as well as keeping connected anywhere and at any time. The programs are an integral part of staying competitive within your market, so they should be created wisely.

A number of potential pitfalls await, and this article will acquaint you with the top mistakes to avoid that may impact your mobile usability.

10 Reasons Why You Need a Mobile Office

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Did you know that a small, purposeful workflow change can make your life significantly better? Yep, that change is having a mobile office, and there are 10 reasons why a mobile office can improve your design work and life. So what’s a mobile office? It’s what it sounds like – your design-work office on the go. All of your essential tools in a bag, ready to take with you.

Whether on a commute, a flight to somewhere far, sitting outside and overlooking gorgeous nature, or simply popping into your local library or cafe, a mobile office is a trimmed down, simplified version of only the most important tools to get your design, web, and any other creative work done.

Usability And You: The Design Process

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As someone who works at a web design company running a usability tool, I get many questions from interested parties on how we use usability in our design process. Many people seem to see usability as an impediment to a smooth design process, as something that breaks up the workflow rather than complementing it and smoothing it out.

They see implementing a usability testing process as a very time consuming, expensive, arduous task that adds little value to their business or for their clients. This is all very negative sounding, and something I hear repeated rather too frequently for my liking.

Simplify and Improve Your Designs with the Bonsai Tree Method

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Want to simplify and improve your designs? As is often the case, sometimes the best design inspiration comes from outside of the design field. In this case, you can look to an ancient Japanese art form: bonsai trees. You can simplify and improve your designs with the Bonsai Tree Method.

The thousand-year-old Japanese bonsai tree tradition is an art form of cultivating a miniature tree in a pot. Both the pruning and shaping of the tree as well as contemplation is meant to be an enjoyable activity for one’s self, rather than for the purpose of producing food, planting in a garden, or something.

10 quick tips for first time freelancers

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Beginning your freelance career can be a scary time in your life, no matter how excited you are at taking the plunge. On one hand, you’re excited to know that you are going to be leaving your job and doing something you’re passionate about & on the other hand, you’re scared out of your mind because you’ve never done this before and you’re not sure where the money is going to come from to keep your family secure.

Luckily, this article will outline 10 quick tips for first time freelancers, so you’ll be able to put a lot of your nervousness to rest. I hope you enjoy it and learn something from what I’ve written for you.