BY: MOTIVATE DESIGN
As more and more companies make UX design a key component of their business strategies, designers are facing a new range of challenges and developing innovative solutions. Like any other creative undertaking, it’s easy for design work to become hyper-focused on the task at hand and not have the time to consider new developments in other areas of the profession.
That’s where UX blogs can come in handy. Whether designers are looking for solutions to problems they’re facing, inspiration to help break through stale habits, or news and updates about the latest trends in UX design, blogs are a fantastic resource, offering a depth of convenient (and steadily growing) content.
With so many blogs to choose from, though, it can be difficult to hone in on a few worth coming back to on a regular basis. While a lot of UX blogs focus strictly on web design, here’s a list of blogs that focus on UX design across a wide range of applications in addition to website development.
Top 10 UX Blogs We Follow for Inspiration and You Should Too
1: The Octopus
The main blog for the design company IDEO, The Octopus offers a wide variety of content. While several posts feature tips and strategies for UX design professionals, some of the most interesting and insightful are shorter, observational pieces that talk about how design inspiration can be found in every aspect of daily life (Seriously, did you ever think of using a drinking glass for a smartphone holder?).
2: UX Collective
A curated blog featuring content drawn from across the UX industry, this website is full of helpful advice and examples of good (and bad) design. The focus is a bit more big picture, exploring some of the fundamental ideas and issues driving today’s design work rather than getting too deep into the weeds of subjects like web design. And there’s also the occasional fun rant about things that drive designers up the wall to help lighten up the mood.
3: UX Myths
Simple and straightforward, this blog pretty much does what its name says. Each post is dedicated to a myth about UX design and provides not only a good overview of why the myth doesn’t hold true, but also gives numerous links to additional resources to help designers avoid falling into traps laid by their own assumptions. With over thirty myths to choose from, there’s plenty of content here to take in.
4: UX Magazine
Equal parts blog and industry trade magazine, this site features a wide range of content, provides job listings, and highlights upcoming industry events. Many of the blog posts contain excerpts from books and articles written by leading designers working in the field today. There are so many resources available here that it’s easy to get lost digging through the content, making this site a great way to spend a bit of free time boning up on the latest trends and challenges in UX design today.
5: Usability Geek
Another good resource site, Usability Geek provides a lot of content in an easy to browse format that clearly groups posts into broad categories. With articles on usability, conversion, user experience, and even terminology, this site is a great resource for getting up to speed quickly on topics that might lie slightly outside a designer’s everyday experience.
6: Creative Bloq
A bit more graphic and art design-oriented than other sites on this list, Creative Bloq is still worth checking out for UX designers looking for inspiration or outside the box ideas. The web design and essential tips sections in particular offer tons of insight and advice. Even for posts that aren’t directly related to UX, there’s usually something to be gained from learning a bit about various approaches to the creative design process that could easily be applied in a UX context.
7: Awwwards
Maybe the best resource here for web designers, Awwwards showcases a different website every day as an example of good design. It’s a great way to get a sense of what trends are worth following and which ones seem to be falling to the wayside. Rather than spending time scanning the internet for inspiration, this site provides a convenient archive for examples of good design.
8: UX Planet
Another good general resource blog, UX Planet features a diverse selection of articles from contributors across the industry. From tips on implementing certain design strategies to providing career advice for aspiring designers, there’s a lot of helpful content here. It’s a great one-stop resource for designers of all experience levels, and hosted through Medium, it’s an easy account to follow.
9: Boxes and Arrows
Sometimes there’s something to be said for simplicity (especially in the design space). Boxes and Arrows is about as bare bones as a website can get, but it provides a lot of value. Easily navigable through its category selector, the site provides extensive and highly specific articles that cover topics readers may have a hard time unearthing elsewhere without a lot of legwork. While it might not be the best site for casual browsing, it’s a great resource for designers who want to dig deep into UX topics.
10: A List Apart
Another relatively austere site, A List Apart might seem a bit light on content until you explore the topics page, which reveals hundreds of articles that are broken down into more specific categories. It’s another site that may not be well-suited for casual users, but for designers involved in coding or the business side of design, they’re sure to find plenty of helpful articles in the site’s archives.
While there are plenty more UX blogs out there worth checking out, especially for those more interested in the purely web design side of things, this list should provide a good starting point. Many post new content every week, so it’s worth bookmarking or subscribing to a few of them to keep up to speed on some of the latest developments in the UX industry.
