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Articles

Rachel Krause

Rachel Krause is a User Experience Specialist with Nielsen Norman Group. Her areas of expertise include storytelling, UX in agile, design thinking, scaling design, and UX leadership. She has also planned and conducted research on careers, UX maturity, and intranets for clients and practitioners in numerous industries.

@rachelkrau

Articles and Videos

  • Management vs. Craft: UX Needs to Value Both

    Dual career ladders are important in user experience. Don't force talented UX professionals to become managers if their growth path would instead benefit from focusing on UX craft.

  • UX-Maturity Stage 4: Structured

    An organization recognizes the value of UX and has semisystematic UX-related methodology that is widespread, but with varying degrees of effectiveness and efficiency.

  • 3 Ways to Level Up Your Visual Design Skills

    Designers, researchers, and generalists alike can improve their visual design skills through creative exercises focused on identification, replication, or exploration.

  • Accounting for User Research in Agile

    Along with design and development work, research efforts need to be represented in an Agile backlog to enable teams to focus on continuously learning about users throughout the project.

  • Separate UX Backlogs in Agile

    Agile development teams that struggle to keep track of UX work in the product backlog can utilize a separate backlog for UX. This method can help siloed teams where UX and development aren't in direct communication. Separate UX backlogs do have pros and cons, which are discussed here.

  • Derailed Design Critiques: Tactics for Getting Back on Track

    Feedback during design critiques can be filled with hypothetical scenarios and unactionable suggestions. The right facilitation techniques help stakeholders and team members stay on track while still feeling heard.

  • Remote Design Work: Top Challenges

    Communication is the top challenge when designing remotely, according to 213 UX professionals. Receiving feedback, replicating informal conversations, and maintaining a clear direction on projects were the biggest communication concerns.

  • Maintain Consistency and Adhere to Standards (Usability Heuristic #4)

    Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform and industry conventions.

  • Skill Mapping: A Digital Template for Remote Teams

    A collaborative spreadsheet is an efficient tool for evaluating skills of UX team members and creating an overall team shape.

  • UX Portfolios: What Hiring Managers Look For

    We asked over 200 hiring managers who hire for UX jobs what they look for in candidates' portfolios. The expectations are different for people looking to be hired as designers vs. as researchers, and also different for junior vs. senior positions.