112 kilometers through the wilderness and darkness — I always wanted to ride somewhere at night, especially during the August heatwave, but I was waiting for clear rainless weather. The time came on Friday. …

How to showcase your work in a way that helps hiring managers grasp your skills and experience — I’ve been on both sides — hiring designers as well as applying for jobs. And I noticed that many achievements from highly-qualified designers simply get lost in the process. In this article, I share ways to optimize your portfolio for clarity and engagement. 1. Clearly separate case studies Hiring managers don’t read portfolios; they scan…

Millennium-old masterpieces in the west of Germany — Several years ago, I heard about Romanesque architecture for the first time and was fascinated by its massive scale and elegant strictness. I dreamt about visiting Cologne one day and seeing its famous 12 Romanesque churches. …

It was the farthest I’ve ridden from Berlin — It was just a normal summer Thursday — warm, sunny, and dull. So, I decided to visit Wittenberg, an ancient town located outside the familiar Berlin-Brandenburg region. I had never ridden beyond Brandenburg on a bicycle before. Mmm, you can imagine my thrill! I quickly got out of Berlin on…

How to prepare for your first accessibility testing session — Yeah, plugins and services for checking accessibility are great, but have you ever observed a real person with a disability walk through your site or app? While compliance with accessibility checklists is essential, it doesn’t necessarily mean a pleasant experience. …

A glimpse into Ivan Trush’s and Max Liebermann’s homes — Have you ever seen a painter’s studio? Usually, we watch art in museums, isolated from where the artist created it. Today, I’ll tell you about two Impressionists who lived on the edge of the 19–20th centuries 900 km away from each other — in Lviv, Ukraine, and Berlin, Germany. …

How to set up collaboration rules in your design team — All teams are different, and something that has worked with one group may irritate or even offend another one. As a new design lead, you definitely want to establish a trustful relationship with people, but how to do it effectively? “A Handbook of Me” is a workshop where team members…

Bauhaus masterpieces, brick Gothic, and a tree with a penis — Saturday morning, 5 a.m. The alarm I had set, hoping I wouldn’t be too lazy, rang insanely. I woke up, ate a small snack with coffee, and left the house. The streets were deserted, and the anticipation of a relaxing sunny day hovered in the air. First, I took a…

Rediscovering good old delegation skills — Recently I came across prompt engineering techniques for ChatGPT by Microsoft. And you know what? They suspiciously resembled something I was very familiar with. It’s so exciting and ironic that people had to invent artificial intelligence only to master one of the most human skills I can think of. Basically…