#How many days does it take to learn UI UX?

[uiuxblog]

How many days does it take to learn UI UX?

The amount of time it takes to learn UI and UX design course in Chandigarh varies depending on the depth of knowledge you want to acquire and the time you dedicate to learning each day. Learning UI/UX design is an ongoing process, and proficiency is developed through practice and experience. Here's a rough breakdown of the timeline you might expect at different stages of learning:

With the rise of mobile apps, websites, and digital platforms, the need for intuitive and visually appealing design has never been higher. That’s where UI/UX designers come in. But if you're new to this field, one of the first questions you might ask is:

“How many days does it take to learn UI/UX design?”

The answer depends on your background, goals, and commitment. Generally, you can learn the basics of UI/UX in about 30 to 90 days, but becoming proficient enough for a job can take 6 to 9 months of consistent learning and practice.

This article explores:

The difference between UI and UX design

A breakdown of the skills you need

How long it takes to learn each area

A realistic timeline for beginners

Tips to speed up your learning

What Is UI/UX Design?

UI (User Interface) Design

UI design focuses on the look and feel of a digital product. It includes:

Layouts

Buttons

Typography

Colors

Icons

Interaction elements

UI designers ensure that a product looks visually appealing and aligns with brand identity.

UX (User Experience) Design

UX design is about the user's journey. It involves:

User research

Wireframing

Prototyping

Usability testing

Information architecture

UX designers ensure a product is easy to use, efficient, and enjoyable.

Together, UI and UX form the bridge between the product and the user.

Core Skills Needed for UI/UX Design

UI Design Skills:

Typography & Color Theory

Layout & Grid Systems

Figma/Adobe XD (Design Tools)

Responsive Design

Visual Hierarchy

UX Design Skills:

User Research

Wireframing & Prototyping

Journey Mapping

Testing & Feedback

Interaction Design

Most UI/UX design jobs today expect you to know both disciplines at a basic level—even if you specialize in one.

Learning Timeline Breakdown

Let’s break it down based on days and learning intensity.

First 30 Days: UI/UX Basics

Learn design principles

Understand difference between UI & UX

Get hands-on with Figma or Adobe XD

Start analyzing real apps/websites

Create basic wireframes and mockups

Time commitment: 1–2 hours/day or 10–12 hours/week

Outcome: You’ll understand how digital design works and create your first mockups.

Day 31–60: Tool Mastery & Mini Projects

Master Figma features

Build 2–3 small UI screens (login page, dashboard, mobile app layout)

Study UX patterns and personas

Create a sample user journey or sitemap

Test your designs with friends or users

Outcome: You’ll begin combining visual and user-centered design into working interfaces.

Day 61–90: Real-World Design Practice

Work on 1–2 complete design projects

Start creating a portfolio

Get feedback via communities (Reddit, Dribbble, Behance)

Join design challenges (DailyUI, 100 Days of Design)

Learn how to present your work

Outcome: You’ll have real case studies and a basic portfolio.

Do You Need a Degree?

No. In 2025, most UI/UX designers are self-taught or come from bootcamps or online courses. Employers care more about your portfolio and practical skills than a degree.

Popular online learning platforms:

Google UX Design Certificate (Coursera) – ~6 months

Interaction Design Foundation – Self-paced

CareerFoundry / Springboard – 6–9 months career tracks

YouTube – Free, beginner-friendly tutorials

Can You Learn UI/UX Faster?

Yes, if you already have:

A background in graphic or web design

Knowledge of tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, or Figma

Basic HTML/CSS understanding

Experience working on digital products

In that case, you can accelerate your learning and create a portfolio within 60–90 days.

When Can You Start Freelancing or Apply for Jobs?

After 3–6 months of focused practice (especially if you're building real projects and a solid portfolio), you can start:

Freelancing on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr

Applying for internships or junior roles

Collaborating with developers or startups

By month 6–9, many learners are ready for full-time entry-level UI/UX design roles.

Tips to Learn UI/UX Design Quickly

Learn by Doing: Watch tutorials, but always apply what you learn in real projects.

Use Design Challenges: Commit to 30 or 100 days of design prompts.

Follow Experts: Join communities and learn from practicing designers on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Dribbble.

Ask for Feedback: Post your work early and often to improve rapidly.

Work on Real Problems: Redesign an existing app, help a nonprofit, or create a case study from scratch.

Job Roles You Can Apply For

Once you’ve grasped the fundamentals and built a portfolio, you can apply for roles like:

Junior UI/UX Designer

Product Designer (Junior Level)

Web Designer

UX Research Assistant

UI Design Intern

Final Thoughts: How Many Days to Learn UI/UX?

While you can grasp the basics of UI/UX design in 30–90 days, becoming truly job-ready takes 6–9 months of consistent effort.

The timeline is flexible—what matters is how much time you commit, how well you practice, and how strong your portfolio becomes.

If you dedicate even 1–2 hours a day for 3–6 months, you can launch a promising career in UI/UX design—without a degree or expensive training.

[top10seostrategiestorankyo]

From Zero to Job-Ready: How Cyberinfomines Transforms Freshers into Pros

Cyberinfomines transforms beginners into professionals with practical training, real-world projects, and placement support for a confident career start.

In today’s rapidly evolving job market, one reality stands out — academic degrees are no longer enough. Employers are seeking skilled professionals who can deliver from day one. But where does that leave freshers?

This is the gap Cyberinfomines Technologies bridges.

Cyberinfomines Technologies has emerged as a trusted name in the digital transformation of careers. Through focused, practical, and industry-relevant training, it turns absolute beginners into confident professionals ready to thrive in real-world environments. This blog takes you through the complete journey of how Cyberinfomines helps freshers go from “Where do I begin?” to “You’re hired.”

1. Understanding the Challenge: Why Freshers Struggle to Get Hired For many college graduates, the post-degree world is a maze. They step out with a certificate but no real-world skills. The reasons are plenty:

Outdated curriculums in colleges

Minimal exposure to live projects

Little understanding of industry tools or workflows

Lack of soft skills and job-readiness

The result? Resumes that look fine on paper but fall short in interviews. Employers want job-ready talent — not someone they need to train from scratch.

This is the precise challenge Cyberinfomines is solving.

2. Cyberinfomines: Building Skills That Matter Cyberinfomines was founded on a simple mission — Our Mission is to Build Your Business. Whether it’s software development, marketing, or design, the institute builds confidence, competence, and career clarity.

Here’s how Cyberinfomines stands out:

Real-Time Curriculum

Courses are not just academic. They are designed by industry experts who understand what today’s employers want — whether it’s Java, Full Stack Developer, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), UI/UX, or Mobile Application Designing.

Hands-On Learning with Live Projects

From the first week, learners work on Project Based Training, case studies, simulations, and assignments that mimic real job scenarios.

Flexible Learning Modes

Options like On Demand Training, Summer Training, and Winter Training, both online and offline, are available.

Certified and Recognized Programs

Certifications from Cyberinfomines carry industry value. They signify that you’ve not only learned but done the work.

3. The Training Experience: From Confusion to Confidence A typical fresher begins at Cyberinfomines with just curiosity. Here’s how that journey unfolds:

Week 1–2: Discovery and Foundation

Students explore their interests — Web, Marketing, Training, or app development.

Week 3–6: Skill Building

This phase includes deep learning in HTML/CSS, JavaScript, SEO, Figma, and analytics platforms.

Week 7–10: Real-World Projects

Learners work on actual projects — developing Website Designing, running digital marketing campaigns, and building Web Application Designing.

Week 11–12: Career Readiness

Mock interviews, resume writing, and exposure to Corporate Training Solutions help shape a job-ready mindset.

4. Career Paths Cyberinfomines Unlocks Here are some paths students pursue post-training:

Full Stack Developer

Master frontend and backend development.

Digital Marketing Specialist

Learn Content Marketing, PPC, and Social Media Marketing.

UI/UX Designer

Design intuitive user experiences through Web Application Designing.

Web Application Developer

Create robust platforms for desktop and mobile via Existing Website & Mobile Applications.

Mobile App Developer

Develop sleek, efficient mobile applications.

Please visit our website to know more:-https://cyberinfomines.com/blog-details/from-zero-to-job-ready-how-cyberinfomines-transforms-freshers-into-pros

[saifawaisi3211]

Discover the Best Web Designer in Bangalore – Unlock Your Digital Future with Hello Errors

In today’s digital-first world, your website is often the first impression customers have of your brand. It's not just a tool for online visibility — it's your business card, storefront, and marketing engine, all rolled into one. And if you’re based in India’s tech capital, you know that standing out in a highly competitive Bangalore market is no easy feat.

That’s where choosing the Best Web Designer in Bangalore becomes more than a preference — it becomes a strategic necessity. Among the many agencies vying for attention, Hello Errors rises above the noise by delivering cutting-edge, performance-driven, and visually stunning digital experiences that actually convert.

Whether you’re a startup, SME, or an enterprise looking to dominate the digital space, Hello Errors is the design partner that brings your vision to life.

The Web Design Landscape in Bangalore

Bangalore is home to startups, IT giants, eCommerce brands, fintech innovators, and everything in between. With this level of competition, good design is not enough — your digital presence must be exceptional, intuitive, and scalable.

The demand for high-quality websites is skyrocketing, but not all web design companies are created equal. A flashy homepage means nothing if your site doesn’t load quickly, isn't optimized for SEO, or fails to convert visitors.

The Best Web Designer in Bangalore must balance beauty with brains — and Hello Errors does just that.

Why Hello Errors is the Best Web Designer in Bangalore

Hello Errors is not your average web design company. Based in Bangalore, they offer a holistic digital approach that goes beyond surface-level aesthetics.

Here’s what makes Hello Errors the go-to partner for your website design and development needs:

1. User-First, Goal-Oriented Design

At Hello Errors, every design starts with a simple question: “What does the user need to accomplish here?”

Their approach is rooted in UX strategy, ensuring that your website not only looks great but also guides users smoothly through every action — from learning about your product to completing a purchase.

Their layouts are intuitive, navigation is clean, and call-to-actions (CTAs) are strategically placed for maximum engagement.

2. Mobile-Optimized and Future-Ready

With over 70% of users accessing websites from mobile devices, responsive design isn’t a feature — it’s a necessity.

Hello Errors develops fully mobile-first websites, ensuring consistent experiences across all devices and platforms. Their sites are also future-ready — optimized for newer screen sizes, devices, and browsers.

3. Speed and SEO-Optimized

Your site may look fantastic, but if it takes 5+ seconds to load, users will bounce.

Hello Errors builds lightweight, speed-optimized websites that score high on Google PageSpeed and Core Web Vitals. Their clean code, CDN usage, caching strategies, and image optimization give you an SEO advantage from day one.

As the Best Web Designer in Bangalore, Hello Errors understands that design and search rankings are deeply connected.

Beyond Design – Hello Errors’ Full-Service Capabilities

When you work with Hello Errors, you're not just hiring a design team. You're tapping into a full-stack digital solutions provider that understands how all the pieces fit together.

Here’s what else they offer:

🔹 Custom Web Development

They build robust, scalable websites using modern stacks like React.js, Next.js, Laravel, and WordPress — tailored to your business logic.

🔹 App Development

From MVPs to full-fledged apps, Hello Errors develops sleek, high-performance mobile and web applications with intuitive UI and backend scalability.

🔹 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Hello Errors goes beyond visual appeal, offering on-page SEO, technical SEO, and content strategies to help your website rank and convert.

🔹 Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Want to personalize user journeys or implement intelligent features? Their team builds AI/ML solutions that enhance performance and automate complex tasks.

🔹 UI/UX Design

Hello Errors provides user-centric UX designs backed by data, heatmaps, and behavioral analysis. Every design is tested for usability before deployment.

Design That Reflects Your Brand Identity

What truly makes Hello Errors the Best Web Designer in Bangalore is their commitment to reflecting your brand’s voice, tone, and identity in every pixel.

Whether you’re a luxury brand, a fast-paced tech startup, or an NGO with a cause, they mold the web experience to align with your brand story.

Typography, color psychology, animations, content spacing — every detail is intentionally crafted to evoke trust, engagement, and action.

Who Should Work with Hello Errors?

Hello Errors has worked with clients across domains — but here’s who will especially benefit:

Startups looking to build investor-ready websites

eCommerce brands needing performance-optimized stores

Professional services aiming for credibility and lead generation

Educational platforms seeking LMS integration and engagement

Healthtech or fintech companies requiring security + design precision

Whether you need a landing page, a content-rich corporate site, or a complex web application, Hello Errors is ready to exceed expectations.

Tips for Hiring the Best Web Designer in Bangalore

Choosing a web design partner isn’t about price — it’s about value, trust, and alignment. Here’s what to look for:

Portfolio Diversity – Look for varied industries and design styles.

Performance Focus – Ask about load times, SEO, and user engagement.

Post-Launch Support – Ongoing maintenance is a must.

Tech Stack Versatility – They should adapt to your project’s needs.

Strategic Understanding – A great designer understands your goals and business model.

Hello Errors checks all these boxes — which is why clients consistently rank them as the Best Web Designer in Bangalore.

Final Thoughts – Partner with Hello Errors Today

Your website isn’t just a project. It’s a long-term asset that can either open doors or block opportunities. Investing in the right design partner is an investment in your brand’s future.

Hello Errors brings the perfect balance of creativity, functionality, and strategy. Their team listens, ideates, and executes with a level of precision that sets them apart in Bangalore’s saturated web design scene.

If you're serious about standing out online, Hello Errors is the Best Web Designer in Bangalore to help you get there.

Contact Hello Errors

📍 Location: Bangalore, India 🌐 Website: https://helloerrors.in 📧 Email: hello@helloerrors.in 📞 Call: Available on request via contact form 📣 Let’s create digital magic together!

[daviddubey432-blog]

What Is Web Design and Development

Back in the early days of the internet, the line between a web designer and a web developer was pretty clear. Designers made things look good. Developers made them work. Simple, right?

These days, the lines are a bit more blurred. Many web designers know how to write basic code like HTML and CSS. And plenty of front-end developers can sketch out designs or create wireframes. But even with that overlap, their main goals are still different.

Web Designers: The Look and Feel

Web designers focus on what users see and how they interact with a website. They choose fonts, colors, and layouts and make sure the site looks good on phones, tablets, and desktops. They're thinking about things like:

How easy is it to navigate?

Does the color scheme match the brand?

Is the site user-friendly?

Their job is to make sure the design makes sense and looks great.

Web Developers: The Brains Behind the Scenes

Web developers build the structure behind the design. They take what the designer creates and turn it into a working website or app. Developers use coding languages like JavaScript, Python, or PHP to add features and make sure everything runs smoothly.

There are different types of developers, too:

Front-end developers work on the parts users interact with.

Back-end developers handle things like databases and servers.

Full-stack developers do a bit of both.

Working Together

Today’s web projects often need both skills. New tools and trends—like voice-based features, mobile-first designs, and apps that run directly in your browser—require teamwork. Designers and developers often work side by side to build websites that are both attractive and fast.

In the end, whether you're making a brand-new site or updating an old one, designers and developers bring different strengths to the table. Both roles are important in creating websites that people enjoy using.

What Is Web Design?

Web design is all about how a website looks and feels when someone visits it. It covers the layout, colors, fonts, images, and how easy it is for people to use the site. A good design not only looks nice—it helps visitors find what they need without getting confused or frustrated.

Let’s break down what web designers do and the tools they use.

What Do Web Designers Focus On?

Layout & Structure – Where things go on a page: menus, images, buttons, text. Everything needs to be placed in a way that feels natural.

Colors & Fonts – The right color scheme and font choices help create the right mood and match the brand.

Navigation – Can users get around the site easily? That’s key to a good experience.

Mobile Friendliness – The site needs to look good and work well on phones, tablets, and desktops.

Key Skills and Tools

Adobe Creative Cloud – Tools like Photoshop and Illustrator help designers create graphics, icons, and logos.

Figma – A popular online tool that lets designers work together, build mock-ups, and plan out pages.

Wireframes & Mock-ups – Think of these as blueprints. Designers use them to plan how pages will look before building them.

UI/UX Design – This means designing interfaces that are simple to use and pleasant to interact with.

Graphic Design – It’s all about visuals—shapes, colors, spacing, and layout—to make the site attractive and easy to understand.

A Bit of Code, Too

Many designers also know some basic coding. Things like:

HTML & CSS – These control the structure and style of a web page.

JavaScript – Used to add interactive features like sliders or pop-ups.

WordPress – A platform that helps designers build sites using ready-made themes and plug-ins.

What’s Trending in Web Design?

Web design is always changing. Some recent trends include:

Responsive Design – Using tools like CSS Grid to make sure websites adjust smoothly to any screen size.

Dark Mode – More sites are offering dark themes that are easier on the eyes.

Voice Interfaces – As smart speakers grow in popularity, designers are starting to think about how websites should work with voice commands.

Web Designer vs. Web Developer: What's the Difference?

When building a website, two key roles come into play—web designers and web developers. Both are essential, but they focus on different parts of the process.

What’s the Main Difference?

Web designers handle how the website looks and feels. They focus on layout, colors, fonts, images, and how easy the site is to use.

Web developers focus on how the website works. They write code to make sure the site loads correctly, runs smoothly, and works on different browsers and devices.

Roles and Skills

Web Designers:

Usually don’t write code (though some may know the basics).

Use tools like Photoshop, Adobe XD, and Figma to design layouts and create mock-ups.

May also use platforms like WordPress or Wix to build websites without coding.

Work on creating a smooth user journey through visuals and layout choices.

Web Developers:

Turn design mock-ups into working websites using code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and more).

Don’t usually design graphics or layouts.

Focus on building interactive features, fixing bugs, and making sure everything works behind the scenes.

Cost and Value

Web developers generally charge more than web designers. According to ZipRecruiter:

Web developers: Around $45 per hour

Web designers: Around $35 per hour

Why the difference? Developers are in high demand for their technical coding skills, which often require more advanced training and experience.

How Designers and Developers Work Together

Though their tasks are different, designers and developers often work closely as a team.

Different Tools, Same Goals

Designers use Figma to map out user flows.

Developers use tools like Chrome Dev Tools to check and fix the code.

Both aim to make the site easy to use and perform well.

Problem-Solving from Two Angles

Designers focus on visual improvements to boost user interest.

Developers solve technical problems to improve performance and safety.

Together, they keep the site running well and looking great.

Shared Soft Skills

Despite having different jobs, both roles benefit from the same personal strengths:

Communication: Sharing ideas clearly helps keep projects on track and ensures design and development align.

Problem-solving: Whether it's a confusing layout or a bug in the code, both roles require creative thinking.

Teamwork: Designers and developers need to work well together—and with others on the team.

Adaptability: Tools and trends change fast. Staying open to new ways of working is important.

Time management: Web projects often run on tight deadlines. Staying organized keeps things moving.

Attention to detail: Small mistakes in design or code can create big problems. Precision matters.

Combining Both Roles

People who can design and develop are in high demand. This hybrid skill set is especially useful for small businesses, startups, and e-commerce sites looking for someone who can handle the full website process.

Job growth in this area is strong—projected to increase by 16% by 2032, much faster than the average for most careers.

Need help with your next web project? Whether you're looking to hire or searching for jobs in web design or development, Mahalasa Infotech can help you connect with the right people and the right opportunities. Start building your future on the web today.

Conclusion

Web designers and developers bring different skills to the table, but together, they create websites that look great and work well. As online needs grow, so does the demand for both roles. Whether you're hiring or learning, knowing the difference helps you build better websites and stronger digital experiences.

[hundredyardclown]

some of the reasons why you should switch to linux: (yes i know i am referring to many different distros by just linux for simplicity)

free yourself from the shackles of microsoft/apple big corporations suck (hot take i know) and the more you can do to not support them the better. these two in particular that control the vast majority of desktop OS user share are notorious for monopolistic and anti-consumer behavior. right to repair is important.

hardware restrictions are bullshit if your computer is old, chances are windows 11 or the latest version of macOS runs like ass. in fact, it might not even be able to run them (tpm 2.0 chip anyone?). if it has a BIOS, you can put linux on it and usually make things run significantly faster. also yes, you can install linux on apple silicon (its called asahi linux)

don't like it? change it. the company that sells you something shouldn't dictate how you use their product. there are a million different linux distros that are infinitely customizable. a computer is a tool that you can shape to function exactly how you want it, and linux does this better than anything else.

open source software rules kinda ties back into freeing yourself from corporate shackles... open source means that anybody can contribute their ideas or time to the project - usually for free. oss doesn't get shuttered in favor of a fancy new version or get plagued by bloating or advertisments. pretty sweet.

learn to computer real good! a large proportion of jobs these days require a level of general computer profiency, and daily driving linux is a great way to learn these skills. the age of over simplified touchscreen centric UI/UX is here and it is awful. terminal isn't scary guys it just takes time to learn...

these are just a few of the big reasons, and i will not stop preaching the wonders of linux.

plus the mascot is a funny lil penguin!

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm Gonna Play: Dragon Age: Inquisition

I've always heard good things about the Dragon Age games. It's not my first time trying out Dragon Age: Inquisition (DAI) although I was never in the mood to fully go through it. But considering that The Veilguard is coming soon, I thought to give it a shot. I did try Origins and although I don't mind playing old games for the most part, I find it harder to play games with old UI/UX systems (graphics don't really bother me). But I was also intrigued in how I could handle the story blind in my first completed Dragon Age game.

Having been in the fantasy mood lately thanks to Baldur's Gate 3, this was the next game to jump into. I did subconsciously compare the two at first, but I will try to refrain from doing that here, since both games had different visions in different times.

DAI seems to have held up nicely in some regards. Visually, it still looks quite decent to an extent with the other games that have released at that time. It does have a sort of porcelain look to some of the character models in some scenes, but does look better if there's some strong lighting around the area. Environments, especially from afar have aged better than the characters.

The combat is simplified which is quite standard for action RPGs. It has an easy learning curve so that anyone can jump in. Although I've noticed at points that enemies can get very spongy. This can be attributed to poor gear, in which the opposite happens if you have adequate gear. I couldn't find a balance to it and mostly felt like I was spamming my attacks as a warrior, without much tactics involved, which gets a bit dull at some point. Other classes on the other hand, seemed to require you to position yourselves well which adds to some variety in their cases.

However, I do like the variety in the skill trees. I've heard that previous games have a more broader selection and are therefore better. I can see how that applies as I noticed a lot of the skill selections can overlap between multiple party members, and you can only unlock unique paths well after you're halfway through the game. It's also frustrating that you cannot reverse skill point selections so that you can revise your builds more carefully with each member. The gameplay structure in paper is somewhat fun. It's akin to hub based design games like Monster Hunter where you can visit a variety of places in an open world fashion and do quests, loot materials which you can craft,upgrade,sell or use for completion purposes. Although there is a lot happening which can get tedious, so I ended up skipping many side quests at some point. It doesn't help that although some side quests tend to have some interesting lore behind it, you're essentially given MMO-like tasks like fetch quests, killing a number of enemies or collecting items. I'd love to see side quests be given more meaning than just be a checklist in future installments. Baldur's Gate 3 is a great example of how to make sidequests fun and not tedious yet integral to the story.

Although I mentioned that I didn't feel like playing through Origins due to outdated looking UI, DAI has made me realize that a more modern game does not equal to better UI/UX. I don't know if it applies for keyboard and mouse, but there's a huge reliance on radial menus that felt clunky to navigate, but even worse is the actual menus in terms of inventory and skill trees (the former is worse). There is no way to immediately see what's being equipped, or any sense of filters or proper categories apart from weapons. This made rudimentary features like equipping and selling, or even switching characters massively frustrating to deal with. Apart from menus, the minimap is also a poor example of its own feature due to its extremely minimalistic design. This makes navigating terrain a very difficult task when you can't tell which route to take to get to a marker (and there are instances where the marker for a quest isn't placed properly, forcing you to search around) as the game doesn't allow you to jump your way through to climb them like other games would. But I still appreciate the experimentation so that designers could learn from this example when working on future projects, or projects in general.

That isn't to say that the game isn't lacking in plot. I've heard that DAI was rushed during development, but I do appreciate the amount of story you get in a short campaign like this. Along with the potential of having decisions carried over from previous games (if you've played them) makes each playthrough a little unique. The lore hasn't sent me down a rabbit hole like Baldur's Gate 3 has, but has me intrigued enough to be curious about the next installment.

One thing I appreciate about the story is how three dimensional the characters are. For a story about saving the world, you're met with very imperfect people who are trying to make the best of their own situation and the bigger picture that's happening. It's quite refreshing to see that and figure out what kind of path would they be led to. I also found it interesting how the game tackled sexual preferences in the romance aspect. It's not a new concept for older games, but it made me realize the up and down sides of it. It adds personality and realism to the characters, but can also potentially mislead players if they wish to romance someone in particular. I played as a female human inquisitor and found characters like Cassandra and Morrigan interesting, but realized that they're locked for male Inquisitors instead, which forced me to look towards other choices. Perhaps a way to mitigate this is to subtly hint their preferences in dialogue/banter or collectibles early on so that the player can decide early on who they would like to pursue. A feature that I really enjoy that I haven't seen in a game so far is that you can respond to certain banters in the field, it makes it more immersive as you're actually engaging rather than being a passive listener. Although I also have a gripe about the options as I've often had mismatched expectations selecting something which caused an unintended outcome. This is unfortunately a common flaw I've seen in choice based games which really hampers the enjoyability of this aspect. I've often been in situations where my player character says something in a negative tone when I meant positive, and vice versa. Choices should be clear on what the player character intends to communicate so that the player gets the intended outcome that they want. The icons that represent an emotion or direction are an improvement to what I've seen from the Mass Effect series (which I intend to visit in the future).

Overall, this was an interesting title to play from a series that's been on my backlog for a while. I'm not sure if I'll give Origins another shot as that's the most popular (although I hope I do), but I do look forward to seeing if The Veilguard could be an improvement.

[bionicaitech]

How to Choose the Right Business Process Automation Tools for Your Organization - Bionic

This Blog was Originally Published at:

How to Choose the Right Business Process Automation Tools for Your Organization — Bionic

Sarah the CEO of a young and fast-growing e-commerce firm faced numerous challenges arising from manual and time-consuming business processes. When her company began to grow, she realized that her team was overwhelmed with a flood of mundane activities, from order fulfilment to inventory management and customer support. This led to low productivity and reduced morale levels among the employees due to the increased pressure.

“Honestly, there are not enough hours in the day. We are taking a lot of time dealing with these routine, procedural tasks that we have very little time left for the activities that will have a direct impact on the company’s success.” Sarah complained to her co-founder. It was a pitiful situation of struggling with the repetitive work.

In this detailed guide, we will explain the most important factors you need to consider when choosing BPA tools and the current state and prospects of BPA. By the end, you’ll have a clarity on where and how to look for the perfect BPA tool that will change your organisation’s fortunes.

Understanding Your Business Needs

The first step in selecting the right BPA tool for your organisation is to identify the requirements and automated business ideas of the project. What is the kind of work your team does over and over and wastes a lot of time in the process? Which areas of performance would you like to see enhanced, for example, efficiency, productivity, or customer satisfaction?

The first step you can take is to talk to your employees so that you can learn firsthand some of the challenges they are facing in doing their work. This is important in helping you understand which parts of your business need to use automation to reduce the time they take. For instance, at Sarah’s firm, the order fulfilment process entailed a series of paperwork and handoffs between the e-commerce group, the warehouse, and the shipping division, but the firm automated this process.

When you understand where automation will be most helpful, you can begin to compile a list of the features and capabilities that will be required by a BPA tool. Do you need more detailed workflow management features? Robust reporting and analytics? Do you want the integration to be as smooth as possible and be friendly with your existing systems? Ensure that your preferred solution can meet all your specified needs to be an optimum solution.

“Automation is the new electricity. It’s transformative, and it’s going to change everything.” – Ken Goldberg.

Key Features to Look For

Once you know what a particular automation setup demands for your automated business, you’re ready to move to the research and evaluation stage. There is a plethora of available BPA tools characterised by certain functional capabilities, costs, and requirements for integration and application. Here are some of the key factors to consider:

1. Ease of Use

A typical drawback of BPA tools is about its usage and acceptance by the communities that it is intended to serve. If people in your team cannot effectively work with it and find their way through it, any potential time-savings will soon be overshadowed. It is crucial to test the tool with a focus on the UI/UX and seek the advice of other QA professionals to understand the problems they face.

2. Integration Capabilities

Many companies depend upon a complex range of software and systems. Ensure that the Business process automation tools of choice are compatible with the current software portfolio that includes but is not limited to CRM, ERP, project management, etc. Inadequate integration of business systems and processes can cause communication breakdowns and lose the purpose of automation.

3. Scalability

As you start a business and progress, you will realise that the requirements of a business process automation tools will also change. Select a solution that has the capability of growing along with your business and evolving to incorporate new features and functions. Of all the architectures, modular and cloud-based approaches are usually the most future-proof and adaptable.

4. Security

Due to the amount and kind of data as well as the processes realised within the system, security should be a paramount concern. Check the security features of the BPA tool as well as its compliance with the regulations of your business sector.

5. Reporting and Analytics

Effective reporting and analysis tools can be useful to give insights for enhancing aspects of the BPA and support improvement sustainably. When selecting tools, ensure that they provide detailed and adjustable panels, as well as specific reports and possibilities to monitor KPIs.

6. Customisation Options

While there may be some viable BPA solutions that are already available in the market, if none of these solutions provide the specifics that you require, then do not rule out business automation software customisation. Hiring an experienced automation provider ensures that you develop a program that will fit your business needs and process appropriately.

7. AI Integration

Implementation and Adoption

Once you’ve selected your choice of business process automation tools that best fit your organization’s needs, it’s time to start the implementation process. This is where the real work begins, but you can ensure a smooth and successful rollout with the right approach.

1. User Adoption

One of the most important things to understand is the concept of user adoption. If your team is not able to conveniently and effectively maneuver and perform several operations of the software, all the time efficiency gains will be lost. To ensure that the tool has a solid UI/UX, dedicate some time to testing on your own and seek advice from other QA specialists.

2. AI and Automation

This is also the right time to harness the next level of technological adoption in the business, which is AI and automation for further improvement. When selecting business process automation tools, it is essential to consider features such as natural language processing, machine learning, and OCR that will help minimise your workload.

3. Security and Compliance

It is also important to consider issues related to security and compliance. Make sure that the selected solution has appropriate security features implemented and is compliant with the industry standards. Ensure that there is a well-formulated security policy, implementation of the ISO certifications, and capability to operate under the conditions of a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

4. Continuous Improvement

Conclusion

In the modern high-tech business environment, the possibility to develop and implement effective solutions for the automation of monotonous and the time-taking processes is no longer a luxury but rather a necessity that helps to remain competitive and generate constant growth.

Being an experienced AI automation specialist, I understand the potential of accurate business process automation instruments for various organizations. The advantages of Business process automation tools range from enhancing productivity and efficiency to optimizing customer experience, data analysis, and revenue generation.

With proper analysis of your automation requirement, selection of the best BPA solution provider, and informed implementation strategies, it is possible to get a higher return on investment in terms of efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness to achieve sustainable growth for your enterprise.

So, what are you waiting for? To unleash the benefits of business process automation get started and begin enhancing your organization’s performance today. The future of your business depends on it.

Tired of wasting hours on tedious, repetitive tasks that drain your energy and distract you from your important work? Bionic is an easy-to-use business automation software that takes care of your time-consuming, repetitive work. Request a demo now!

[oneistoxnetwork]

5 Reasons You Need to Upskill to be a Better Designer (Be Future Ready)

With the multidisciplinary field that design is, no amount of skills are too many. It is now an established practice to gain knowledge by taking up online design courses or doing individual research. To define this phenomenon, the term ‘Upskilling’ has been frequently used in recent times, but what exactly is it?

 To put it simply, Upskilling is getting better at what you do. It is upgrading your knowledge (both theoretical and practical) of the subjects that may be directly or indirectly related to the field you’re working in.

 Let’s look back at the past!

The design field is diversifying and merging indistinguishably with other fields, demanding more multi-talented professionals. Looking back at history, the greatest of designers were popular in their times and even now for being skilled in numerous fields and contributing to society at large. Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the most multi-talented people to walk on earth, was a skilful artist, mathematician, sculptor, architect, scientist, and astronomer. His works turned to be an inspiration for the later generation of polymaths, rivalled only by Michelangelo, his contemporary. These figures gave rise to the term ‘Renaissance Men’, with the ideal that said “a man can do all things if he will.” 

Even apart from design, there have been several such personnel with an eagerness to be everything at once. Aristotle, the famous Greek Philosopher, was a brilliant writer. His works covered subjects like poetry, music, theatre, rhetoric, politics, ethics and even biology. He was also the teacher of Alexander the Great, who, as we all know, was one of the biggest conquerors of all times.

 Issac Newton is not a foreign name to anyone in the field of science. Celebrated for his contributions to physics (theory of gravity and laws of motions), this English scientist was also an astronomer, alchemist, philosopher and theologian. His works laid the foundation for the progress of later generations of scientists, particularly Sir Stephen Hawking.

What’s happening now?

 Increasing technology and resources have brought about specialisations in various fields of study. With specialists coming up in every sector, the number of all-rounders have been gradually decreasing.

 But we know that history has always admired and valued multi-skilled people. Despite the revolutions taking place, traces of this admiration can still be seen, especially in the field of Film-making and Design. Actors are no longer expected to just act and film-makers are no longer expected to just direct. The best of the rest are those who are not only great at their primary skills but also good at other 21st century skills required in the field. A good example from the modern-day is FarhanAkhtar, an Indian actor, film-maker, producer, playback singer, screenwriter and television host. He is celebrated by the Indian audience for having proved his versatility time and again.

Similarly, design practices that do not adhere to just one type of product are more popular than the rest as they have a wider clientele and user base and strive for continuous experimentation and upgrade. With a complex network of professionals worldwide, multipotentiality is appreciated.

 Thus, the need for all-rounders and design upskilling is emerging again.

 [Read: The Assets of Success: 13 Golden Skills in Design to Master]

 Multipotentiality

 Now, what exactly does it mean to have multipotentiality?

It is the trait of a person

having interests in two or more fields of study

and curiosity to learn and excel at them. Such people are called ‘multipotentialites’ which is the opposite of

‘specialists’ and is used interchangeably with ‘polymaths’. They are required in almost every field; science, art, technology, medicine, business, commerce, etc.

 Multipotentialites are valued for their fast learning skills and adaptability. Organisations are always keen to acquire individuals who can bring dynamism, novelty, enthusiasm and variety to work-places. Such professionals are also favoured to undertake leadership roles as they are better at empathising and understanding a broader set of situations, people and their perspectives.

 It is great to be a specialist, but even better to be good at many other skills along with one. It is time to be the Jack of all trades AND master of one! 

The changing times demand multi-faceted individuals to bring in innovative design solutions. Gradually, the need for regular upskilling comes up, whether through online design courses or through experiential learning.

 Here are 5 reasons designers needs to upskill themselves:

 1.      To Fill the Skill Gap

As fellow designers, most of us can collectively agree that there is still a huge gap between our design education system and the practice. The system lacks the capacity to make students industry-ready, leaving them with little to no practical knowledge.

In the current scenario, students opting fordesign upskilling are constantly at an advantage compared to the rest, be it academically or professionally.

  A lot of independent platforms have emerged that have recognised this gap and aim to fill it by offering learning to interested individuals, especially in the field of architecture with

1.      To Have a Better Career and Job Prospects

 It is no mystery that design establishments tend to hire aspirants with a broader range of skills. It is good to master one skill, but is it good enough?

  With the increasing competition in the design field, there is more demand for

professionals who are adept at handling a variety of tasks

. For example, someone who is great at 3D modelling should also be able to manage an entire project if needed. The design industry has become experimental and welcomes multi-talented people with open arms. InitiativesWith the increasing competition in the design field, there is more demand for professionals who are adept at handling a variety of tasks. For example, someone who is great at 3D modelling should also be able to manage an entire project if needed. The design industry has become experimental and welcomes multi-talented people with open arms. Initiatives are being taken across the globe to recruit individuals who can perform multiple tasks instead of hiring someone just to perform one task. Naturally, such versatile individuals bring more to the organisation while making more for themselves. 1.      To Progress in the Field A broader skill-set gets you better job opportunities, but what happens once you are into the field? Design Upskilling doesn’t stop once you’ve earned a job. You need to keep honing your skills and adding to the existing ones for your professional development. In the design industry, multi-skilled professionals are more likely to be given positions of responsibility and develop trust. Moreover, individuals with a zeal to constantly enhance their skills, adding more value to the team, progress faster than others in their career trajectory. Hence, adding more to your design skill plate will give you an upper hand at any point in your career. If you are a working professional, now is the time to upskill, rise and shine!

(Source: www.giphy.com)https://giphy.com/gifs/l1Kua6X2X3t9bSlNK/html5[Alt Text: GIF of a cartoon show, spongebobsquarepants, with the words “I’m ready”] 2.      To Stay Relevant to the Changing Times Modern problems require modern solutions. It is obvious that one cannot run a design practice efficiently with obsolete techniques. Things that were considered awesome in the yesteryears may be completely outdated now. To align with the demands of the current world it is necessary to update,upskill and improve.  Globalisation and digitisation have paved the way for several new domains in the field of design. From UI-UX design to Urban Planning, the good designers always have a fair idea of the advances happening in the field. Even clients are now getting more familiar with design as a profession and its importance, with a wide range of resources to facilitate awareness. Being on par with the rapidly altering world and understanding the contemporary necessities will give designers the kind of expertise needed to meet the requirements of today’s user base. Change is the only constant! 

(Source: www.quotemaster.org)https://www.quotemaster.org/architecture+students[Alt Text: Image of a sketch with a drafting board and two people standing in front of it, one of them saying “I haven’t much experience of such an early version of autocad”] 3.      To Start Out On Your Own It takes a great deal of skill to start practising as an independent designer or going for an entrepreneurial venture. The most difficult part, which is the beginning, can become easier if you have what it takes.  The field of design is connected to and borrows from many others. Starting a design practice not only requires field-related knowledge but also inter-disciplinary skills like business management, automation, digital communication, etc. If you aim to eventually start on your own, acquiring know-how and soft skills is essential. Multi-skilled individuals can then collaborate with many different kinds of people to deliver fantastic results. A skilful leader makes a skilful team! 

(Source: www.codycameron.com)https://codycameron.com/are-you-my-leader/[GIF showing popular animated character buzz lightyear surrounded by alien midgets] From filling the skill-gaps to practising design independently, we have reached full circle. The current pandemic situation has been harsh on us all. On the bright side, a lot of education platforms have come to light, inspiring individuals to make use of their time at home by taking up online design courses. Thanks to digitisation, it is now easier than ever to connect with individuals across the world! Thus, there has been a boom in the past year in the way people learn new skills. The growing give-and-take of knowledge around the world is turning designers into all-rounders with the skills necessary to tackle modern problems. So, if you are keen on trying something new, expanding your skillset and being future-ready, then check out these avenues for design upskilling and online architecture courses by Oneistox! 

[womanindia]

IT(Information Technology)- The Best Business Opportunity

The arena of technology is expanding with each passing day and giving its impact on every aspect of our lives. Be it travel, food, makeup, or even education; there is no such field in the 21st century, which is not dependent upon technology. In case you are passionate about technology and wish to spread its advantages in other people’s lives, then the latest technology business ideas are certainly going to attract you. Besides big names like Amazon, Facebook, or Google, many medium-sized and new small technology businesses are also making steady steps towards success. With the rapid growth of tech startup ideas 2019, you can be certain of the fact that the IT industry will never go through a recession in the upcoming years. Having the right skills and dedication can make you your own boss. So, all you need to do is to choose the right track based on your interests and you will not come across any shortage of business opportunities in the IT industry. Do you want to explore the best business opportunities in the IT industry? Then let’s take a look at the 9 most profitable future technology business ideas that you can apply to start your business empire.

 1.    Social Media Consultation

The influence of social media platforms in our lives is on the rise. From buying decisions to our political opinion, social media can control it all. Therefore, big and small businesses are putting extra effort to reach their target audience through social media campaigns. If you are skilled enough and aware of the latest social media trends, then opening a social media consultation service can help you earn sufficient bucks. Using your consultation services, you can guide people to use social media for growing their businesses. This is one of those future technology business ideas that does not require a lot of investment but only the appropriate knowledge and awareness will do the job.

2.    Computer Training

A computer is one of the most technological tools that people want to be skilled in. Learning the computer has become almost necessary these days. Nowadays, people of different ages want to take computer lessons. If you are an entrepreneur and know how to use a computer properly, then you can definitely open your computer training center to help other people become experts in this field. This information technology business opportunity comes with a high chance of profit if you can manage the training center with efficiency.

3.    Technical Support Provider

As every industry is digitized nowadays, technical issues are common. And those issues need highly expert technicians to resolve. If you’re well aware of the latest technology and its relevant challenges, you can channelize your skills by building a team of experts to work as an established technical support provider. Ranging from the L1 support to L3, your team should be capable of providing every solution to every critical technical issue that small and large industries are facing. This is one of those business ideas for information technology professionals that can make your business trustworthy and wealthy with time.

4.    Selling and Servicing IT equipment

As an entrepreneur, you can invest in the merchandise of information technology tools. The business of selling and servicing IT equipment and machines is thriving across the world with the rapidly increasing demand. You can sell IT gadgets like fax machines, internet routers, computers, servers, and all other machines related to the IT industry. If you start offering maintenance services, then the start-up of yours will succeed automatically. IT company startup ideas are always profitable if you have the necessary information technology training required to run this business.

5.    Telecommunication Company

With enough IT support, telecommunication companies have become the key to gaining success in the informational technology industry. More and more people are opting for Telecommunication due to its flexibility and advancement. A good amount of capital is required for starting this business. This investment will return to the entrepreneur with a huge margin of profit soon after the investment. If you can arrange a huge amount of money for investment, then you should not have second thoughts about opening a telecommunication company. The bulk of your invested money goes into the operating license gaining process. If you are willing to take the big step in your career as an entrepreneur, then starting a telecommunication company is the right thing for you.

6.    Manufacturer of Computer and Mobile Phone Accessories

As an entrepreneur, if you are thinking about starting a business, then another great idea for you would be manufacturing accessories for various parts of mobile and computers. Almost everyone uses mobile phones and the use of computers and laptops in the IT sectors is increasing with the advancement in the business organizations related to the IT industry. With the help of the latest technology business like this, you can grow beyond your expectations. You can design and start selling batteries, chargers, earphones, Bluetooth devices for mobile phones and screens, mouse, keyboards, laptop batteries, webcams for laptops and computers.

7.    Web Designing Services- UI Designing

Web designing services are highly profitable but to run this business successfully, you need to have an excellent knowledge of information technology. UI designing is a part of web designing that works with images, typography, colors, animations, etc. to make the web pages more attractive and presentable to online users. It’s all about visuals. There are numerous websites on the internet and the number of people surfing on the internet is not satisfied with the number of sources available. On the other hand, many business organizations are also going online to increase their business. Therefore, for new website-designing, the need for a website designer who knows technical SEO is increasing. If you have the required knowledge and can design websites to understanding the clients’ approach, then this is your arena to win the game.

8.    UX Designing

While UI Designing is more visuals, UX Designing is all about the experience that users need for the usage of physical or digital products and services. Among the technical startup ideas in India, UX designing is making its own place to lead the technical experiences ahead. It is so because industries want to make their products and systems more interactive for the end-users. This connects the users with the products, services, and the company itself. And besides, your UX designs will make the UI designs practical for both the companies and users which will develop and grow their businesses. Thus, you can really make a lot of money by making UX designing the niche of your business.

9.    Web and Software Development

One of the best tech startup ideas for 2019 is web and software development. User-friendly software and applications for computers and mobiles are a necessity to run any business related to commodities and services. You and your business can make a huge impact by delivering more interactive and competent software. And along with that, web development comes to flourish your business by building IoTs and AI that can make any business more competitive and approachable. People expect more smartness and intelligence from their electronic gadgets and you can fulfill their expectations by developing more practical, flawless, and agile web products and systems.

Conclusion

Believe it or not, technology is changing the face of the world. All the above-mentioned technology-related business ideas can prove to be extremely successful. Some of the business ideas require a little amount of capital and for the others, you need to invest a huge amount of money. No matter which business idea you choose, you can achieve success with the right combination of hard work and skills.

[kreidrosenow]

3 Things an SEO Expert Can Do to Improve User Experience During COVID-19

As an SEO Expert, one should adjust to real-life situations that people face especially now with the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone had been affected by the virus in one way or another.

Designers and developers are always thinking about user experience. We take time to ask ourselves: Is this going to work? Are my instructions clear? What is the user thinking?

The pandemic we are now facing has changed the game once more since most people are almost entirely online.

User experience will play a pivotal role in determining which industries will come out on top in the days ahead. 

There are three categories of user experience that we can improve during this coronavirus pandemic. You can apply them yourself or ask an SEO Expert to help you out.

Ecommerce Design

The physical world has stopped functioning while the only world continues to flourish. There has never been a time when eCommerce has been popular even for traditional brick and mortar shops.

For those who are just starting to explore the digital arena, expect stiff competition with newbies like you and old-timers in the digital marketing space.

With this in mind, a simple eCommerce storefront may not be enough to set you apart. Customers have more options now than ever before. A slight misstep in the user experience can lead prospects to bounce from your website and never return.

Take the time to fine-tune your eCommerce experience by optimizing your checkout processes, product arrangements, and email notification systems.

Search Presence

Search engines have become a part of everyone’s life, especially during this pandemic. As people are forced to stay at home, they shop for essentials using Google.

How can people find you or know about your business if they can’t find you online? Global search traffic has increased substantially during COVID-19 so now is the best time to invest in an SEO Expert who can help you boost your rankings on SERPs.

Updating and optimizing your Google My Business account can go a long way.  

Web Design

A website is an essential part of the user experience customers have with your brand even if you don’t sell products online. For example, you own a pizza shop and your place is open for phone-in and take out orders.

Customers will be visiting your website to look for your menu, how to order, and how to pay.

If potential clients can’t find the necessary information on your website or have a hard time navigating your site they will look for other pizza shops.

Now is the best time to build a custom website that helps your audience find what they are looking for. You might want to shift to online order taking and deliveries to grow your customer base.

Adapting to the times can help you grow your brand and serve more people. 

Stress is at an all-time high during this pandemic and we can notice a trend in the way websites look today. User interface design is becoming safer and more conservative. There are many soft and rounded shapes with 3D illustrations and designs are light and cute. Popular colors include soft pink and blue making UIs look sweet and friendly.

What urban and interior designers started decades ago to reduce the level of stress is now translating into the digital world. 

Interior designers have gone minimalist while adding plenty of free space, mood lighting, soft lines, and natural materials to give people calm, quiet, and soothing spaces to dwell in.

Web design has followed suit as we can now see simple layouts, pastel colors, rounded corners, 3D illustrations, and soft drop shadows.  

EdSEO Specialist: An SEO Expert That Can Improve Rankings During COVID-19

Do you want to put up an eCommerce store during this pandemic? Does your website need redesigning to improve user experience? 

EDSEO Specialist is the best SEO Expert in the industry right now and we can help you adapt to this new normal and post-pandemic environment.

User experience should always be a priority in your digital marketing strategy. Our team of SEO experts integrates UX when planning websites and SEO strategies for clients.

Why Hire Us as Your SEO Consultant?

Our company is founded by two Christian businessmen who work with integrity and transparency and aims to glorify God through EdSEO Specialist.

We are continuously learning on how to improve our SEO services to serve customers during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Our team members work together toward a common goal: helping clients achieve top rankings on SERPs.

We give the best possible SEO services at affordable rates.

We frown upon black hat SEO tactics and know that Google will penalize those who use such strategies. Our team uses white hat SEO marketing techniques that help clients increase conversions and organic traffic to their site.

We have the most complete SEO package in the industry today which is proven to help rank websites on SERPs.

We are a 5 star rated company on Google My Business

We help provide jobs for marginalized people in society. The majority of our team are experienced SEO experts who come from the following background: out of school youth, a person with a disability, single moms/solo parents, former sex workers, recovering drug addicts, former prisoners, former soldiers/rebels.

We aim to build long term relationships with our clients and help them generate more profit

At EdSEO Specialist, we aim to become one of the best SEO Experts in the world while providing white hat SEO services at affordable rates.

Let’s start strategizing and develop a user experience for your brand that can help you dominate the market right now.

Give us a call or send us a message on our website today. Our company is currently giving a 25% discount on our industry-leading SEO packages.

This post was originally published on 3 Things an SEO Expert Can Do to Improve User Experience During COVID-19 and is courtesy of EDSEO Specialist.

[oallenchavez]

3 Things an SEO Expert Can Do to Improve User Experience During COVID-19

As an SEO Expert, one should adjust to real-life situations that people face especially now with the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone had been affected by the virus in one way or another.

Designers and developers are always thinking about user experience. We take time to ask ourselves: Is this going to work? Are my instructions clear? What is the user thinking?

The pandemic we are now facing has changed the game once more since most people are almost entirely online.

User experience will play a pivotal role in determining which industries will come out on top in the days ahead. 

There are three categories of user experience that we can improve during this coronavirus pandemic. You can apply them yourself or ask an SEO Expert to help you out.

Ecommerce Design

The physical world has stopped functioning while the only world continues to flourish. There has never been a time when eCommerce has been popular even for traditional brick and mortar shops.

For those who are just starting to explore the digital arena, expect stiff competition with newbies like you and old-timers in the digital marketing space.

With this in mind, a simple eCommerce storefront may not be enough to set you apart. Customers have more options now than ever before. A slight misstep in the user experience can lead prospects to bounce from your website and never return.

Take the time to fine-tune your eCommerce experience by optimizing your checkout processes, product arrangements, and email notification systems.

Search Presence

Search engines have become a part of everyone’s life, especially during this pandemic. As people are forced to stay at home, they shop for essentials using Google.

How can people find you or know about your business if they can’t find you online? Global search traffic has increased substantially during COVID-19 so now is the best time to invest in an SEO Expert who can help you boost your rankings on SERPs.

Updating and optimizing your Google My Business account can go a long way.  

Web Design

A website is an essential part of the user experience customers have with your brand even if you don’t sell products online. For example, you own a pizza shop and your place is open for phone-in and take out orders.

Customers will be visiting your website to look for your menu, how to order, and how to pay.

If potential clients can’t find the necessary information on your website or have a hard time navigating your site they will look for other pizza shops.

Now is the best time to build a custom website that helps your audience find what they are looking for. You might want to shift to online order taking and deliveries to grow your customer base.

Adapting to the times can help you grow your brand and serve more people. 

Stress is at an all-time high during this pandemic and we can notice a trend in the way websites look today. User interface design is becoming safer and more conservative. There are many soft and rounded shapes with 3D illustrations and designs are light and cute. Popular colors include soft pink and blue making UIs look sweet and friendly.

What urban and interior designers started decades ago to reduce the level of stress is now translating into the digital world. 

Interior designers have gone minimalist while adding plenty of free space, mood lighting, soft lines, and natural materials to give people calm, quiet, and soothing spaces to dwell in.

Web design has followed suit as we can now see simple layouts, pastel colors, rounded corners, 3D illustrations, and soft drop shadows.  

EdSEO Specialist: An SEO Expert That Can Improve Rankings During COVID-19

Do you want to put up an eCommerce store during this pandemic? Does your website need redesigning to improve user experience? 

EDSEO Specialist is the best SEO Expert in the industry right now and we can help you adapt to this new normal and post-pandemic environment.

User experience should always be a priority in your digital marketing strategy. Our team of SEO experts integrates UX when planning websites and SEO strategies for clients.

Why Hire Us as Your SEO Consultant?

Our company is founded by two Christian businessmen who work with integrity and transparency and aims to glorify God through EdSEO Specialist.

We are continuously learning on how to improve our SEO services to serve customers during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Our team members work together toward a common goal: helping clients achieve top rankings on SERPs.

We give the best possible SEO services at affordable rates.

We frown upon black hat SEO tactics and know that Google will penalize those who use such strategies. Our team uses white hat SEO marketing techniques that help clients increase conversions and organic traffic to their site.

We have the most complete SEO package in the industry today which is proven to help rank websites on SERPs.

We are a 5 star rated company on Google My Business

We help provide jobs for marginalized people in society. The majority of our team are experienced SEO experts who come from the following background: out of school youth, a person with a disability, single moms/solo parents, former sex workers, recovering drug addicts, former prisoners, former soldiers/rebels.

We aim to build long term relationships with our clients and help them generate more profit

At EdSEO Specialist, we aim to become one of the best SEO Experts in the world while providing white hat SEO services at affordable rates.

Let’s start strategizing and develop a user experience for your brand that can help you dominate the market right now.

Give us a call or send us a message on our website today. Our company is currently giving a 25% discount on our industry-leading SEO packages.

This post was originally published on 3 Things an SEO Expert Can Do to Improve User Experience During COVID-19 and is courtesy of EDSEO Specialist.

[ardas-group]

Importance of Working Out UI/UX SaaS Design

Today, there are a huge number of artists who are ready to take up the development of your site or applications. The enormous difference in the cost of the same project among different performers is striking because the price of a site starts at $ 100 and ends with space figures. In this article, we will tell you about the importance of UI/UX for SaaS, its components, about typical misconceptions and myths based on our personal experience working with clients, and help you determine the cost of SaaS product design so that you get exactly what you expect from the designer.

What is the Main Misconception Creating SaaS App UI design

Many clients think that development does not require preliminary interface design because the developer, in principle, can do everything himself. This becomes the main misconception at the initial stage that when using some standard components and approaches from the library, everything will turn out beautifully and conveniently at once. This misconception is most often encountered when creating startups because they are more limited in budget and try to save on everything. Often, the founders of startups do not really understand the values ​​of different stages of development and begin to save on what cannot be saved. In particular, they save on the work of the designer.

It’s even worse when they begin to save on the analyst’s work because it’s the analyst who needs to figure out all the requirements and conceptually draw the architecture of the project, the screen and users, what functions will be, describe iOS cases and so on. That is, he prepares the first materials that are already delivered to the designer, and he, in turn, makes this a beautiful and convenient product. Since many customers like to save money on analytics, as a result, they skip this stage of design. The worst case is when they immediately begin to develop functionality, believing that the developer is professional, which means that he can do everything right as the client wants. This is a huge misconception.

Let's see if it is worth saving on UI UX design and what could be the consequences. What can be lost and what mistakes can be made if this is not done.

3 Myths about Design Practices of SaaS Application1. We are a small project - we don't need UI/UX design

The first myth is that the client believes that SaaS application UI design is something that is needed only for beauty and only for image and only for very large successful companies. In a small project, this is not necessary and you can just do it somehow and they will forgive you because you have no money. If this is a small company and no one knows you, and therefore everything may not be important if only it can work somehow. This is a misconception because users do not forgive the low quality.

2. Developers can design a product - we don't need a designer

The second myth is to think that a developer can do everything himself without an analyst and without Web Design Companies. This is absolutely not the case for two reasons. Firstly, the developer is a technical specialist who sees everything quite differently as ordinary consumers have completely different habits of using software products and a completely different level of readiness to deal with something difficult to achieve a goal that an ordinary person will not do. Secondly, the developer is a person who knows how to create a software product, but he does not know anything about a specific industry niche, about future users, about what market trends are formed, about that stack of products and solutions. Therefore, he cannot, by definition, do this. In the best case, he can make the application convenient and understandable for himself and for people like him.

3. It is too expensive - we are a small startup, we have no money

The third myth is to think that work on UI UX design is very expensive and you can really save on it. This is absolutely not the case. This work requires very little time, much less than it takes time to develop it. It is absolutely impossible to save anything on this.

Consequences of Believing in Similar Myths

The system will either be inconvenient and users will simply leave quickly. Or they won’t understand the rules of use at all, because the training that will be necessary is so long and long that it will demotivate people and they will go to competitors who are much easier. That is, if the product is not adapted to the behavioral characteristics of people, to their habits, to how they would like to use all this, then the probability of failure is 100%. Look at this image below - your customer is that little kid watching those cute fluffy asses rotating in a random direction :)

What is often ignored before starting UI/UX design

Too many companies that do not have real product experience in creating a product and launching it on the market and bringing it to a successful state, design an interface for reasons of component usage standards as recommended, plus their own vision of convenience.

This is wrong because the SaaS UI design of the interface should not be focused on your own tastes and not on your own concepts of convenience, but on the audience who should use this product later. Most designers and analysts are aware of the existence of standard components and some kind of classic interface solutions. They create a beautiful, but ineffective and inapplicable interface in this business because they ignore the following:

Your interface should be at least as good as the interface of your main and best competitors. But preferably even better, not much, but at least a little better. Sometimes this is enough for users to prefer your product. An example here is Airbnb and Booking, and one of the universally recognized advantages of Airbnb is its simple and convenient interface compared to old school Booking. Therefore, before we begin to design interfaces, we are sure to study in detail at least two or three of the best competitors of our client's product.

You can never do the style of appearance based on your idea of ​​modern and good SaaS app UI design. All this must be taken at least from those competitors (or even not competitors), but from those products that have already worked in this niche for some time. Each niche has already developed its own stereotypes and its own trends and standards that must be taken into account. Your product should be a logical evolutionary continuation of the whole story, and not go into any new direction, but be at least one step better than existing products.

A good interface is always created only with a product manager or marketer who knows the audience of future users well, understands their daily needs, and understands how to build their work so that it is convenient for everyone. Complex things should be solved easily and beautifully. By the way, that’s why you can never trust developers to make an interface on their own. But even a designer by himself without a marketer will most likely not create a SaaS UX design that will be really user-friendly.

Often, to save money, the customer makes a static SaaS interface design, that is, a set of screens, instead of making at least a clickable prototype. This is an opportunity to try this interface precisely in dynamics and to realize all the routes through which the user will have to go through to do something. Such a prototype is a very cheap and effective method to test the convenience of an interface on a focus group. It is correctly planned routes that are 80% of the success of the interface because most of the time the user spends to understand what sequence of actions you need to do to get the desired result. And this is by no means just an intuitive arrangement of components on the screen. Although this is also of course important.

Important Conclusion

A high-quality interface is the fruit of the work of 3 people: a marketer (or product specialist) + analyst + UI/UX designer. Yes, these 3 heros save the planet and our brains from annoying and unusable interfaces.

Cost of UI/UX Design for SaaS App

In the SaaS development of the first version of the product, investors usually invest in hundreds of thousands of dollars if development takes place in the United States or Europe. In our company, the same thing will amount to tens of thousands of dollars. At the stage of launching the first version, startups have no room for error - there are no extra tens of thousands of dollars to redo the frontend. If a product does not enter its consumer because of the very complex learning process and development due to the complex interface, then the startup will simply have no money left to redo it. As a result, the project will have to close. Even if there is money, then at an early stage it is very inefficient to spend it on fixing mistakes. It would be much better to use them for remarketing in sales or simply in any other development of the project.

Our experience in SaaS Interface Design

We recently had a very significant case. We were approached by a client who developed his product for two years by a rather considerable team. There were about 4 developers. This is a lot for a startup. Four people developed a huge amount of functionality over 2 years, working monthly and without any single design at the level of products that would take into account marketing or usability. Therefore, they threw one functional on the second and added it wherever possible.

Thus, a huge number of absolutely uncomfortable pop-ups appeared some completely illogical interface solutions for simple tasks. To the developers, this seemed like a convenient solution and structured beautifully, but for a normal person who goes to work every day and needs to use this product, it was very very difficult and confusing. This client contacted us so that we could make a complete redesign of the entire system. Initially, there were about 40 screens and forms. After the redesign, we simplified it to about 27-30 screens and forms, while retaining all the functionality, we made all the chains much more logical, more compact without duplicate information. Everything became available in one or two clicks. For all this work, we spent about 3 weeks of work of one designer and one week of work of an analyst in analytics, that is, a total of 160 hours. At our rate, it is $ 5600. That is, it is less than the salary of one developer per month that this client paid for 2 years.

Therefore, it is obvious that it is impossible to save on design. After the redesign, 4 developers reworked the entire product externally for approximately 2 months. That is, for two months, four people worked to convert a bad design into a good one, and this amounted to about $40,000 - $60,000. As a result, it turned out that analytics plus competent design took about 10% of the time that you need to spend to remake the entire interface of the entire product. It would be simpler and more profitable not to save on design, do it right away and not spend the extra $40,000 - $60,000 to change the appearance. Please, take a look at this example of UI/UX design in more detail.

Final Thoughts

The main thing that any business needs to remember when developing a new project: the right UX / UI design thinks about the simple needs, motives, and goals of a person. A nice shell and convenient functions should work for a real person, simplify his experience of interconnection with the interface. Due to the constantly growing demand in the market, more and more specialists in this field are required, who are able to analyze the behavior of the target audience, to offer quality solutions to enhance usability. Our team will help you avoid many problems that you may encounter too late, and most importantly, it will significantly save your costs. If you need help with UI/UX design for any kind of your software, fill in the contact form below.

Originally taken from https://ardas-it.com/importance-of-ui-ux-design

[flurrymobile]

Re-Architecting the Flurry Mobile App for Android - Part 1

January 9, 2020 | Ali Mehrpour, Principal Android Engineer

Flurry’s engineers work with multiple, large scale custom systems. In an effort to further give back to the engineering and app development communities, we will periodically publish posts that cover more technical issues. Ali Mehrpour, one of our lead Android SDK developers, wanted to share some of his findings in rebuilding Flurry’s mobile app using the latest developments in Android technology.

Flurry Analytics has been at the forefront of the mobile app industry since launching the world’s first analytics platform for iOS and Android apps in 2008. Since then, we’ve supported app developers worldwide in growing their businesses by improving acquisition efforts and boosting engagement and retention strategies.

Flurry’s Mobile App

Flurry’s mobile app (Android and iOS) streamlines analytics on the go, wherever you are. The app lets you monitor your app’s key events, real-time metrics, and activity as well as get a push notification if your app's metrics spike or dip beyond a custom threshold or detects an issue (exception, crash, error).

The first version of the app was published in 2015 and received positive attention, but slowly the number of users began to decline as they started complaining about the app’s performance. In addition, the Product Managers became unhappy too since they couldn’t change how the app behaves on the fly without releasing a new version. For example, adding or removing a metric, dashboard, or dimension, changing the default dashboard, or selecting an app or app group, all required releasing a new version. Besides, as it happens to all software in the world, the Flurry app was getting older. Catching up with the latest Android features was becoming increasingly more difficult. So the team decided to redesign the app from scratch around a year ago. 

How did we realize the old app was not performing well? Well, Flurry! Yes, we’ve used Flurry SDKs to understand the users’ behavior, track crashes and exceptions, and more, all in Flurry’s mobile app.

In this article, I’m going to talk about the architecture and design issues in the old app. In Part 2, I’ll cover the lessons we learned and applied to design a better app with new technologies in Android.

These are the issues in the old app which convinced us to redesign the app from scratch:

Usability/Navigation

Crashes/Bugs

Poor Performance

Limited Functionality

Old App Design Issues

MVP/MVC Architecture

The old app was written in Java with the original intent to follow the Model-View-Presenter (MVP) design pattern. For more information on the MVP pattern, we found several helpful resources online, including Android MVP for Beginners, tips to organize the presentation layer, architectural guidelines to follow, and this simple demo project. There are, however, several implementation pitfalls that can easily violate the design pattern rules to be aware of. Let’s discuss.

After looking at the old app implementation in-depth, it’s obvious it doesn’t follow MVP.  Actually, it’s a mix of Model-View-Controller (MVC) and MVP. Why?

In the MVP pattern, Presenter and View layers should talk via an interface (contract), but in this implementation, the Presenter directly accesses the view e.g. loading a fragment or showing a dialog

In the MVP pattern, the business logic should be in the Model layer but in this implementation, all business logic is put into the Presenter layer

In a couple of cases, the Presenter bypasses the Model layer and makes the network call directly

Bloated and brittle Presenter classes

Testability. Since the implementation is a mix of MVP and MVC, the presenter is tightly coupled with the Android APIs that is difficult to unit test

Besides all of the above issues in implementing MVP pattern, MVP and MVC have some downsides which make it hard to use in a big project:

Maintenance. Presenters, like Controllers, are prone to collect additional business logic, sprinkled in, over time. At some point, developers find themselves with large unwieldy presenters that are difficult to break apart

Usually, MVP requires a huge amount of interface interaction

“Cold Start” Time

A cold start occurs when a user launches the app and doesn’t have a previous session running in the background. It significantly affects user experience.

The old app has these issues which affect cold start time significantly:

Many SDKs initialize during Application creation while it’s not necessary

Many singleton classes initialize during Application creation

Almost every class has declared a public static constant TAG that gets the class name by calling class.getSimpleName(). These constants add overhead to the app’s initialization

When you open the old app, it shows the main screen in an empty state with a progress bar. The screen is not usable until the user data is fetched, which is absolutely a bad user experience

EventBus

EventBus is a central shared object and you can use it to post events on it and use Publisher/Subscriber pattern for loose coupling. Every class can listen for a specific type of event that is posted on this event bus.

Using EventBus for a small app might be a good choice but as the app becomes bigger, it’s not going to work. Why?

A hell of a lot of events. The old app had about 30 events such as DatePickerCanceledEvent, ShowOverviewGraphEvent, etc.

Freedom to write bad code. It allows you to write shitty code. Why should you pass data through bundles when you can post an event? Why do you need callbacks and interfaces and things like “setTargetFragment()” when the event does this with several lines of code?

Can’t write Unit Test. There’s now Unit Test for event bus and actually, it’s very hard to mock the event bus. You could do the integration test but it takes time to write them and also, it’s hard to detect if a problem occurs, and in which code layer exactly it happened

Difficult to Onboard new dev. Imagine you join a project which has 50 events (UI events, API events) and you’ve been asked to fix a bug. You need to find where these events are posted and where they are received and it can take days to figure it out

User Experience / User Interface

The old app had some UX/UI which we tried our best to address in the new design. Some of the issues were:

Hard to navigate/use:

Switching between companies and apps was not easy since it required 3 clicks

Dashboard wasn’t supported at all and you only can see a bunch of metrics

Only one metric can be seen at any time, so there’s no option for comparing metrics

Different navigation pattern with Flurry web app. A couple of years ago, we redesigned the Flurry web app, but did not simultaneously redesign the mobile app, meaning users of both platforms were encountering inconsistent experiences. 

Hard to extend the functionality. The old app mainly was designed to support Analytics and couldn’t support dashboards for other Flurry products such as Marketing, Crash, and Remote Config.

Lack of functionalities

No chart detail screen

No chart type option

No filter support

No dark mode support

Sample UI from Old Version of Flurry’s Mobile App

Now that we’ve illustrated some of the issues we encountered, in Part 2, we’ll discuss moving to the new architecture and some of the things we learned along the way. Look for Part 2 tomorrow.

[stewartparkhurst-blog]

Weekly Journal: UI vs UX

I used the terms UI and UX interchangeably since I learned them. I knew UI from GUI, or graphic user interface, which was a term I felt I should know since I was a big computer nerd. And UX to me sounded like a new fangled silicon valley way of saying user interface with the X there to show it was futuristic.

    While I am far from the only person to confuse the two, there is a pretty distinct difference between UI and UX. UI, or user interface, is how a person interacts with something. Buttons, links, the little hamburger drop down menu, and more are examples of how a person can interact with something like a website. UX, or user experience, covers the broader experience that user is having. Do the buttons work intuitively? Do the links lead where the user expects them to? Does the hamburger drop down menu have enough information to warrant a drop down menu. It makes sense how someone could confuse the two but there is a distinct difference between the two.

    Since we're talking UI and UX, lets get into something this user experiences at an unhealthy level: YouTube.

What is the experience and who is the audience?

YouTube is a website full of fantastic videos, loud entertainers and an unfortunate amount of neo-nazis. From an interface perspective, the website delivers what it shows you. If you see a video that sounds interesting, you can click on it and it’ll play almost immediately.

     Videos themselves feature several options to change quality, playback speed and can even add closed captioning on some videos. Everything a user interacts with works well and quickly. As far as user experience goes, YouTube can send people down a rabbit hole pretty quickly. Something as innocent as putting something on in the background while you work can devolve into learning 101 different ways to cook a pizza. That is a Sunday I will never get back.

    As far as an experience goes, YouTube does an incredible job of grabbing a user and never letting go. Related videos are tailored for the user and make it easy to watch more and more content. YouTube’s goal is to keep you there as long as possible and it makes that experience very easy to do. Even looking at the homepage, each thumbnail is created by a user to grab your attention. I can open up YouTube and see several videos that appeal to me and will keep me on that site for an unreasonable amount of time.     YouTube features a wide range of content and several content creators who have garnered niche but dedicated audiences. According to Business of apps, 73% of US adults use YouTube and it has 2 billion monthly users. In the United States, users are generally younger people though there is still a sizable older audience. YouTube’s algorithm will do its best to find whatever a person may be interested in and it only gets better the longer a person spends with the website.

What about this example is provocative/interesting?

It is impossible for a person to watch all of the videos on YouTube in their lifetime. So much content is constantly being added, no one can keep up. Terrifying implications of computer learning aside, the algorithm for finding content for a user does a really great job a lot of the time. It makes it insanely easy to spend hours on the site. Additionally, a vast majority of the content is created by people rather than big budget productions. There is a sense of connection and authenticity that is much harder to come by with television. As movies and TV play it safe and take less risks, YouTubeis able to give people a chance to create new and interesting things and the algorithm will do a pretty good job of bringing that content to you. Algorithms on social media and Facebook also do a good job of bringing you content you want to see but the content YouTube brings can consume 10-20 minutes of your life easily and that’s assuming it hasn’t found something else that you want to watch.

In what ways is this example successful?

As I’ve mentioned and shown, YouTube can eat entire days away from my life. And I am far from the only person who faces this technological addiction. The UI and UX work together extremely well. Rarely am I ever frustrated as a viewer of videos. Everything works well and in a way that keeps me watching more and more videos.

How might you make it even better?

YouTube’s sidebar does leave a lot to be desired. The hamburger bar brings down a long list that needs to be scrolled down to see everything. Inside this drop down menu is the option to expand it even further. It’s a nice attempt to keep the bar a bit more manageable but it seems like things could be a bit more condensed. It shows subscriptions twice on the bar. Additionally, many of these buttons I never use. 99% of the time I open this drop down menu it is to use the history button so I can finish a video I didn’t quite finish. The drop down menu is a lot of information thrown at the user all at once. A more condensed version could feel a lot more functional. I often feel overwhelmed when I look at the bar and I want to interact with it as little as possible.

Conclusion

YouTube is a wonderful and dystopian use of UI and UX. It works extremely well and its algorithm does a masterful job of making sure you continue to use it. I’ve had it going the entire time I have been writing this post and I will likely watch it as I fall asleep tonight.

[freecourses-blog]

Photoshop CC for Beginners : Adobe Photoshop Course

This Adobe Photoshop CC course will teach you the basics of Photoshop for web design, graphic design, photography & more. Photoshop CC for Beginners : Adobe Photoshop Course What you’ll learn: You will have expert level knowledge of Adobe Photoshop CC in this course, whether you are a beginner, intermediate or have no previous knowledge of Photoshop. You will create a real world project to give you a general understanding of Photoshop and the different functions that you can do with it.You will be given a major overview of all of Photoshop's tools, filters, features, and workspace so that you can quickly begin working on your next project.You will achieve the experience and knowledge to take your Photoshop skills into your career, job, or freelance lifestyle at your own pace.Graphic designers, web designers, photographers, marketers, and whatever other industry you are in will be able to find useful information in this course.You will learn Photoshop's workspace and how you can edit it to your own workflow.You will learn how to work with images in Photoshop and edit them appropriately to your project.You will learn all of Photoshop's selection tools and how they can assist you as you edit.You will learn about layers and how they have revolutionized the way you can work in Photoshop.You will learn every type of tool available in Photoshop and how to use the most common tools.You will learn about type, fonts, and typography inside of Photoshop and how they function.You will learn the importance of color and even be given a brief lesson on color design theory.You will learn how to use alignment, guides, and grids inside of Photoshop.You will learn about all of Photoshop's many filters and features available to you.When you are finished, you will have a solid understanding of the Adobe Photoshop CC software. Requirements: This course is for beginners or anyone who does not have experience with Adobe Photoshop CC and wants to learn how to use the program. This course is not intended for advanced users of Photoshop, though the course can be used as a reference guide to find the exact information on any feature that you'd like.You will need to have an active Adobe CC subscription and the newest version of Photoshop installed on your computer. This course does not go over the installation of Adobe Photoshop CC. (Photoshop CC 2018 is used in the teaching of this course.)You will need to have a Mac or PC with at least the minimum requirements for Adobe Photoshop CC. Information can be found on the Adobe website.You will need to have a working keyboard, mouse, and/or tablet to use Photoshop. Touch screens and other pressure sensitive devices will work, but are not covered in this course.Project files are available for download for each lecture. Make sure you download the appropriate files if you would like to follow alongside the course. Photoshop CC for Beginners : Adobe Photoshop Course Description: Learn Adobe Photoshop CC in this New Course! Many people try to learn Photoshop but struggle because the program is so vast. Most quit before they even get started. :( That's because they've never been taught the program in a step-by-step, easy to learn manner. But that isn't you now, is it? You have found the perfect course for learning Photoshop. It doesn't matter if you have no experience at all, this course was designed to teach you Photoshop in the most effective means necessary. With over 15 hours of video and over 100 project files, this Photoshop course is JAM PACKED with information to help you learn this awesome program! The videos build on one another so that as you work through this course, you will understand more and more! Pretty sweet, huh? :) Not only that, but this course is also designed so that if you already know some Photoshop and just need help with a specific tool or feature, you can skip directly to that topic! So who can benefit from using Photoshop? Adobe Photoshop CC is useful for a lot of careers, industries, and hobbies. It doesn't matter if it's photography, graphic design, web design, social media, user interface design, advertising, painting, printing, or video/animation. This course will cover tools that can be used in any niche! Each section goes into specific detail of the feature or tool being shown so that you will feel comfortable using them on your own. This course will cover: The Basics Photoshop's Workspace Images Editing Selecting Layers Masks Tools Type Color Alignment Filters and much, much more! Don't forget all of those juicey project files! This course has over 100 project files for each individual lecture for you to use and follow along with. From the basic to the advanced, these files will at least help get you started so that as you watch each video, you can work alongside the instructor. What are OTHERS saying about this instructor's courses? "This course is amazing. Learning photoshop with this guy is easy ;-) Thank you so much. " 5/5 Stars - Robert Fersti "Great course that outlines several fundamentals of Graphic Design. Coming from a web designing background, I found a lot of the basics applied here as well. But, the course builds on that and gives you so many pointers on how to capture, guide and hold your audience's attention. I think, in addition to promotional graphics, the ideas explained can be readily applied to designing hero image layouts for landing pages of your websites as well." 5/5 Stars - Ravi KT (on Canva : Graphic Design Theory course) "This course is really informative, up to date, and engaging. Phil and Jeremy keep up to take with the posting of their students and provide reliable feedback. They have inspired me to keep pushing myself forward with my art, and graphic design. I would tell anyone (from beginner to advance) who uses photoshop / or would like to know more about it, to take this course. Its worth it!" 5/5 Stars - Betheny Powell (on Photoshop for Entrepreneurs course) People from around the world are learning valuable skills and applying them to their everyday lives. Don't be the one left out. You can absolutely learn this program and by taking this course the instructor will be with you every step of the way. Other great stuff you might want to know.. Not only will you get over 15 hours of video content and lessons, 100 project files, and a new life skill, you will also have direct communication with the instructor to help you along. This includes direct messages, discussions, and specialized projects in the course that will allow you to interact with the instructor and others. Feeling lost? Don't worry, we are here for you! As they say, "Come for the course, stay for the community." Well, that's not the exact phrase, but you get what I mean. :) What else is there to know? What else? What else?! Well there is that little 30 day money back guarantee thing. That basically means that if you don't enjoy this course for any reason at all, you can get a full refund up to thirty days since the time you purchase it. It's a win-win situation! and I applaud winners. So what are you waiting for?! The time is now to stop procrastinating and begin learning Photoshop so that you can take full advantage of everything that it has to offer! Enroll now in this course and get started! Who this course is for: This course is specifically designed for beginners or anyone else who doesn't know how to use Adobe Photoshop CC but would like to learn. This course can be viewed one video after another, or you can skip around to the sections that you need. Advanced features, special projects, and design theory WILL NOT be taught in this course. Graphic Designers Web Designers Game Designers Photographers Marketers Social Media Experts UI / UX Designers Product Designers Architects 3D Artists Beauty Artists Paint Artists Entrepreneurs and anyone else who wants to learn Photoshop. THAT'S YOU! :) Who is the target audience? This course is specifically designed for beginners or anyone else who doesn't know how to use Adobe Photoshop CC but would like to learn. This course can be viewed one video after another, or you can skip around to the sections that you need. Advanced features, special projects, and design theory WILL NOT be taught in this course.Graphic DesignersWeb DesignersGame DesignersPhotographersMarketersSocial Media ExpertsUI / UX DesignersProduct DesignersArchitects3D ArtistsBeauty ArtistsPaint ArtistsEntrepreneursand anyone else who wants to learn Photoshop. THAT'S YOU! :) Course content of Photoshop CC for Beginners : Adobe Photoshop Course: Total Lecture:140 Introduction How to Create a Polaroid Effect in Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 Upload Your Polaroid Photograph! Welcome to This Section on the Basics of Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 Getting Started with Photoshop Overview of the Photoshop Interface Changing the Photoshop Workspace Navigating the Document Window Using the Tools Panel in Photoshop Undo, Redo and the History Panel Understanding How Layers Work in Photoshop Saving Your Files in Photoshop Resizing an Image in Photoshop Making Selections with Photoshop Using Brushes inside Photoshop Creating Shapes and the Pen Tool Transforming Selections, Shapes and Images Text and Typography in Photoshop Working with Color inside Photoshop Other Cool Features of Adobe Photoshop Resources for You to Use in Your Projects Welcome to This Section on Understanding the Photoshop Workspace Resetting Photoshop to the Factory Default Setting Preferences with Photoshop Creating a Custom Workspace Starting with a New Document Using a Photoshop Template Opening Files in Photoshop Closing and Saving Files Common File Types Exporting Files from Photoshop Welcome to This Section on Working with Images in Photoshop Image Modes and Channels Changing the Image Size Adjusting the Canvas Size Cropping an Image in Photoshop How to Trim an Image with Photoshop Rotating an Image in Photoshop Straighten an Image with the Ruler Adjusting Brightness and Contrast Using Levels with Your Images How Curves Work in Photoshop Changing the Image Exposure Adding and Removing Vibrance Hue and Saturation Adjustments Having Proper Color Balance Black and White Imagery Applying Photo Filters in Photoshop Invert, Desaturate and Equalize Adjusting the Threshold of Your Image Overlaying Gradient Maps Selecting Specific Colors Working with Shadows and Highlights Replacing Colors in Photoshop Welcome to This Section on Making Edits in Photoshop Projects and Documents Fixing Mistakes in Photoshop Cut, Copy, Paste and Clear Fill and Stroke Selections Transform and Free Transform Content-Aware Scale Puppet Warp Perspective Warp Welcome to This Section on Selection Options in Adobe Photoshop CC Select All, Deselect, and Reselect Selecting the Inverse of an Image Using a Color Range for Selection Selecting by a Focus Area Subject Selecting Quick Mask Mode and Mask Selecting Modifying a Selection Saving and Loading Selections Welcome to This Section on Photoshop Layers Understanding How Layers Work in Photoshop Creating and Deleting Layers How to Select Layers in Photoshop Layer Groups and Why They Are Important Merging and Flattening Layers Adding Layer Styles in Photoshop Using Masks with Layers Clipping Masks Working with Layer Adjustments Blending Modes with Photoshop Additional Layer Options Exporting Layers in Photoshops Converting Layers to Smart Objects Artboards and Layers Welcome to This Section on the Many Adobe Photoshop Tools Working with Tools in Photoshop The Move Tool The Artboard Tool The Marquee Tools The Lasso Tools Quick Selection and the Magic Wand The Crop Tools The Slice Tools Eyedropper and Color Sampler Tools Ruler, Note, and Count Tools The Healing Brush Tools The Patch Tool The Content Aware Move Tool The Red Eye Tool The Brush Tool The Pencil Tool Color Replacement and Mixer Brush Tools The Stamp Tools The History Brush Tools The Eraser Tools The Gradient Tool The Paint Bucket Tool Blur, Sharpen, and Smudge Tools Dodge, Burn, and Sponge Tools The Pen Tool and Selection Tools The Type Tools The Shape Tools The Hand, Rotate, and Zoom Tools Welcome to This Section on Creating Typography and Using Fonts in Photoshop Using Type and Fonts in Photoshop Adding Type inside of Photoshop Working with Text Layers Characters and Fonts in Photoshop Creating Paragraphs and Content Character and Paragraph Styles Glyphs and How You Can Use Them Extruding Type to 3D Text and Work Paths Convert Text to a Shape Warping Text in Photoshop Match Fonts from Photographs Other Type Options in Photoshop Welcome to This Section on Understanding the Importance of Color Working with Color in Photoshop Color and Swatches Using Gradients inside Photoshop Adobe Color Themes A Little Bit About Color Theory 3 more sections Photoshop CC for Beginners : Adobe Photoshop Course course Read the full article

[trayvonfleary-blog]

General Assembly Software Engineering Immersive

Hello All, instead of posting my normal content relating to cars and/or trucks, I will be taking a deeper dive into my daily life, particularly regarding the software engineering immersive program that I am currently undergoing, which is a technology bootcamp. For a couple of months, I am going to sway away from discussing different sectors within the automotive industry while I focus strictly on technology, but automotive is not going anywhere so stay tuned for big announcements following;)

What Is It?

Currently I’m completing General Assembly’s Software Development Immersive, which is a “12 week award-winning program that has expert instructors and career coaches, and connect graduates with 19k+ hiring partners to get them jobs at A-list companies.” It is slated as your best course for career transformation. The company boats 9,000+ hires, as it states that they are the leader in placing their grads into high-growth, and high-pay tech jobs. Yes, this is all accomplished within 12 weeks. I’m sure you’re asking, “Are these jobs guaranteed?” Of course not, but the company is quite confident. Continue reading as to “why?” after this quick infographic below illustrating what you can expect from this program.

Im currently entering into my 5th week of this program. On our first day, a General Assembly employee bursts in our classroom, after getting another graduate hired, and asked, “Did you guys here about our last cohort?”, which had ended a couple of months prior. We had no clue what she was referring to but then she claims that their last cohort had a 93%+ hire rate. Impressive right. Thats a way to bring some motivation if you had any doubts before. Who knows if this was the truth, but they were all very excited and I have personally heard from some earlier attendees about the jobs that they received after the course and some even during the last week or 2 of the course ending. Before this starts sounding like a fantasy world where you can spend the 3 months and someone else can spend 4-5 years getting a computer science degree and you both end up with the same job (very possible), I’m going to break things down a bit.

Tuition Options?

First, starting with cost, I feel that the tuition share agreement is the best payment option and allows many people who can’t afford it to have a chance at something that can be life changing. It is not yet available in all states, but it’s a great option if you are not trying to pay $14k(approximate tuition cost) out of pocket and upfront(or in a few payments).  Focusing on the $0 upfront income share agreement, it is structured very fair in my opinion. You are only required to pay an upfront $250 deposit until you land a software engineering job (ex: web development, full stack, etc) and depending on your location, entry level is probably hovering around $60k and above.

So if you don’t land a job, you are not at the hands of a huge loan that you cannot afford and most importantly, you’re not out of $14k+ that many pay to take the program. If you have additional experience in UX/UI design, and/or other skills for that matter, your pay can be a lot higher.

Income Share Agreement?

As far as General Assembly not offering the income share agreement not being offered in all states, specifically New York at the moment, I believe that it has to do with the amount of jobs being offered and the amount that are vacant. Here in the Greater Atlanta Area, the tech scene is taking on massive growth along with an abundant amount tech jobs that have yet to be filled. Whether it’s startups, fintech companies, or larger corporations, there is a massive demand for tech jobs in many industries here. I’m not sure of the availability in other cities and states in respective to the amount of tech workers seeking employment.

Adding to the tuition share agreement option, applicants are also subject to a more strict batch of pre course work, along with an evaluation to see if you are prepared and can be successful at this program. My pre course work (estimated to take 40 hours if you have prior knowledge) took me at least 60+ hours, and thats literally. Going through the pre course work, I decided to take notes and continue to reference them even when the program started so that I could truly retain the information, just as I would with another language until I could demonstrate it effortlessly.

Negatives?

The only negative to this income share agreement is that the total amount paid for the course increases to approximately $20,000, instead of the $14,000 that you could sign up for up front after getting accepted. Although this $20,000 will be paid for over a multiple of years (small monthly payments ranging from $300-$800 per month), depending on how much income you are making per year with the lower end being around the $50k end and the upper being $100k+ end.

That is where the trade off comes in, as you decide whether you would want to pay $14k up front or $20k over a multiple of 3-5 years. Simply put, both options come with what some will see as a hefty price but when compared to the average college tuition for 3-5 years, it is significantly less. So is it worth it?  My simple answer: Yes, but its not for everyone and also depends on how much time you willing to dedicate!

What does it take?

Personally, as I’m approaching week 5 in the 12 week program, I would say that it is well worth it. This may not be the same for everyone else. There are so many factors that go into this decision and realizing if it is worth it for you or not. First off, the program is 12 weeks long and runs on a very strict schedule, from Monday – Friday (9am-5pm). All of my cohort(class) had to quit their jobs, and/or whatever else they were doing including school, etc. This IS NOT just a 9-5 job for three months. Ample time is required outside of class for this program to be worth it. You get what you give. Currently, it is very normal for me and my “codemates” to spend another 20-40+hours outside of class per week, on top of our current 9-5 days.

Being Prepared?

Handling this amount of work in such a short period of time is life changing mentally, physically, socially, and financially of course. Savings is required as it’s almost impossible to take on a full time job during this time. Knowing how to handle stress and pressure is also very important, as there will be a lot of ups and downs during the course. Another importance is your family and support. Your time will be very limited during this time, so just be prepared to be a bit disconnected during this time.

For me, personally, I had no real coding experience before starting the pre work for this program, but doing a lot of studying in the year prior to signing up for the program certainly helped with knowing different technologies and frameworks, and what they were used for. Regardless, free time gets pretty scarce during this time of development. It is extremely tough to stay consistent with a certain level of focus each and every day in this program, as it’s basically like learning a new language. So, being prepared is very critical.

The Daily Grind?

Each and every day has a structured schedule that we are given at the beginning of the cohort. The days normally start with lecture, or a quick meeting if it’s project week. Throughout the day, we go through enormous amounts of material, but it’s never just a lecture. Practice, practice, and more practice! Daily learning on how to structure, develop, and implement responsive webpages and applications from the ground up. This is where General Assembly separates itself from just trying to read and learn to code online, or even while pursuing a 4 year computer science degree while spending meaningless time on classes and material that you don’t need or ever use again.

As the saying goes, if you want to learn Chinese, the fastest way is to get dropped directly into the middle of China! This is the exact same. You’re being thrown right into the programming fire everyday, but in a good way. All of the new information learned is always directly followed by practice, as you jump right into the CLI(command line interface) and your IDE(integrated development environment). HTML, and CSS fly by within the first couple of days and then you will be jumping directly into Javascript. After that, you are off and running, and thats when the real challenge starts and the bulk of the course begins.

Is It Really Worth It?

All in all, I think it is definitely worth it if you have a passion to work in tech, whether to create your dream company or to work for another. This is the case, but this immersive program is not something that you spend a little time on and make it into a small side gig. If that’s what you’re looking for, then programming may not be ideal for you. It takes intense focus and dedication to be successful in the field. One mistake can crash an entire program, or maybe even delete an entire database and cause the company to crash. What if someone deleted the entire database of Uber drivers because they told the computer an incorrect command? Of course this would not happen, as their infrastructure has too much sophistication for that to happen, but the company would literally be out of operations for who knows how long and this would cause the end of one of the biggest companies that the world has ever seen.

If you’re not passionate about it, and that goes for anything in life, then you shouldn’t waste your time and/or money. It is also only worth it if you have time. This point needs to be emphasized. For example: If you have a family and can’t afford to quit your full time job, this is not a good idea. I’ve found that many who go through these programs don’t have many responsibilities at the moment, or they have wonderful supporters around them who help them throughout the duration. The immersive is very time consuming, and some may find it easier than others, but the amount of time that has to be put in is undeniable.

In a quick rundown, within 5 weeks, I have learned HTML, CSS, Javascript/jQuery, started creating our own servers, learning node, express, mongoDB, certain data structures and science, and so much more underlying information. This is not everything, and has taken massive work outside of class along with in class work and lecture. Just 5 weeks ago, I wouldn’t even know where to start.

Why Would You Put Yourself Through Such a Daunting Task?

For me, taking this leap was about being creative and bringing my ideas to life, as I push to provide immense value to this world for decades to come. My friends have always told me that I have all of the ideas, but to me they meant nothing if I could never bring them to life. I avoided obtaining these skills for the simple reason of believing that they were too time consuming, or that it was too old to start now, or simply because of me believing that I didn’t belong in that time of environment (the common imposture syndrome). Whether you’re a cook, waitress, sales associate, truck driver, garbage truck operator or whatever it may be, you can be successful not only in this program, but in this career field as a whole.

All of these technologies are fairly new, relative to our society, and if you spend 10+ hours a day on something while someone else maybe spends a hour every few days, you will be amazed at how far you can go. If you are thinking of a career change, or simply love the tech field and need this sort of structure to learn, I will highly advise taking General Assembly’s Software Engineering Immersive if time and your situation persists. You will also hear the phrases “Web Developer”, “Full Stack Developer”, etc associated with software engineering as a lot of the knowledge intertwines.

Youtube Series Update?

Last but NOT LEAST, stay tuned as this will be just an intro to these blog and content posts regarding my Software Development journey. I aim to produce this content for the remaining 7-8 weeks in the course, while also producing content beyond the program as I work on different projects and aim to connect with like minded people in the industry. In the upcoming posts, I will link a youtube video that goes into depth about my particular General Assembly Immersive location, in the Greater Atlanta Area. Stay tuned, and be blessed!