How Service Design Works in Municipal Government
There is a counter on Industrial Avenue in Ottawa, Canada, where people applying for a business licence sometimes make six, seven, eight trips before they get one. And that is not the worst case scenario. We recently hosted a knowledge building session on service design for the City of Ottawa. The room was packed with […]
UI Design Trends for 2026: What’s Emerging and What’s Evolving
The pace of change in UI design has accelerated dramatically heading into 2026. What once felt like experimental concepts in 2024 and 2025 are now maturing into widely adopted patterns, driven largely by advances in AI, spatial computing, and increasingly sophisticated user expectations. In last year’s post, we identified several key trends shaping 2025. Many […]
Design Competitor Analysis: Your First Step to Better Products
When we talk about competitor analysis, most people think about business strategy—market share, pricing, or positioning. But in design, competitor analysis serves a completely different purpose. It’s not about who’s dominating the market, but rather about how others shape user expectations and what we can learn to design better experiences. As a product designer, competitor […]
From Handoff to Partnership: How to Build a Design Handoff Process That Leaves No Space for Guesswork
“We spent three weeks building this feature, only to find out the designer meant something completely different.” Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Poor design-to-development handoffs are costing teams thousands in rework, delayed launches, and frustrated users. When a simple miscommunication about button states can derail a sprint, or when “obvious” interactions turn out to be […]
Poka-Yoke in UX: Error Prevention Saves Time, Money, and User Trust
In product design, a single user mistake can lead to frustration, lost revenue, or even damaged trust. But what if your product could actively prevent these errors from happening in the first place? Understanding Poka-Yoke Poka-Yoke (ポカヨケ) a Japanese term meaning “mistake-proofing.” Originally rooted in manufacturing, Poka-Yoke is a design philosophy that ensures errors are […]
Gamification That Works: Lessons from Behavioral Psychology in UX
Have you ever added points, badges, or a progress bar to your product, only to find that users still don’t engage? It’s a common mistake. These features are often mistaken for “gamification,” when in reality, they’re just surface-level mechanics. Many digital product teams fall into the trap of thinking that visual elements alone can drive […]
How to Conduct a Meaningful Brand Audit for your Nonprofit Organization
In a world where causes are many and attention spans are short, your nonprofit’s brand is more than just your logo or tagline — it’s how your mission shows up in the world. It’s how your community recognizes you, how funders trust you, and how partners advocate for you. As someone who has spent years […]
Prototyping Digital Solutions: A Practical Guide for Product and Transformation Leads
Picture this: You’re leading a product team that’s poured months into a new feature. The stakeholders are excited. The design looks polished. The engineers are ready to build. But when it finally launches—crickets. Or worse, user frustration. This story plays out in startups and enterprises alike. It’s not a failure of talent or intent—it’s a […]
Creating Accessible, Inclusive Municipal Websites: A Design Centered Approach
In the digital age, a municipal website is far more than a digital brochure—it is the primary interface between local government and its citizens. It serves as a community hub, an information center, a service portal, and often the first point of contact for residents and visitors alike. Yet many municipal websites fall short of […]
Lost, Confused, and Frustrated: A Website Visitor’s Journey to Guide your Website Development
Lianne sighed as she sat down at her kitchen table, flipping open her laptop. She had been putting off paying her municipal tax bill, and now it was the last day before the deadline. She didn’t expect the process to be fun, but she certainly wasn’t prepared for how frustrating it would be. She searched […]