Resources
Tools, terms and templates I actually use
A small, growing library for designers and founders: the tools behind my work, a plain-English UX glossary, and the prompts and templates I reuse on every project.
Tools
The tools behind my work
No affiliate links, no padding. Just what I open most days.
Accessibility
WebAIM Contrast Checker
Quick pass/fail on text and background colour contrast.
UX glossary
UX terms in plain English
The words designers use, explained without the jargon. More terms added over time.
A/B testing
Showing two versions of something to different groups and measuring which performs better. It needs enough traffic to give a trustworthy answer.
Affordance
A visual clue that shows how something can be used. A button that looks raised and pressable has a clear affordance; flat grey text that happens to be a link does not.
Card sorting
Asking people to group topics into categories that make sense to them. It's a quick way to shape menus and page structure.
Cognitive load
The mental effort needed to use something. Every extra field, choice or unfamiliar word adds to it, so good design removes what people don't need to think about.
Dark pattern
A deceptive design trick that pushes people into something they didn't intend, like a hidden unsubscribe link or a pre-ticked box. It wins short-term numbers and loses long-term trust.
Empty state
What a screen shows when there is no data yet, such as an empty inbox. A good one explains what belongs here and offers a clear next step.
Fitts’s law
The bigger and closer a target is, the faster people can reach it. In practice: make important buttons large, and keep them within easy reach, especially on phones.
Heuristic evaluation
An expert review of an interface against established usability principles, such as Nielsen's 10 heuristics. Fast and cheap, and no test participants needed.
Hick’s law
The more choices you offer, the longer people take to decide. Trim options, group them, and highlight the one you want most people to pick.
Information architecture
How content is organised, grouped and labelled so people can find what they need. Think menu structure, page hierarchy and naming, before any visual design.
Jakob’s law
People spend most of their time on other sites, so they expect yours to work the same way. Familiar patterns beat clever ones.
Jobs to be done
A way of understanding customers by the progress they want to make, not by who they are. People don't want a drill, they want a hole in the wall.
Mental model
What a person believes about how something works, based on past experience. When your product matches their mental model it feels intuitive; when it doesn't, it feels broken.
Microinteraction
A small moment of feedback, like a heart that fills when you like a post or a button that confirms a tap. Done well, they make a product feel polished and alive.
Miller’s law
People can hold only about seven items in short-term memory at once. Chunk long lists, phone numbers and forms into smaller groups.
Progressive disclosure
Show only what's needed right now and reveal the rest on demand. It keeps screens calm and helps beginners without blocking experts.
Usability testing
Watching real people try to complete tasks with your product while they think aloud. Even five sessions reveal most of the big problems.
User flow
The path a person takes to complete a task, step by step, from entry point to goal. Mapping it shows where people get stuck.
Visual hierarchy
Using size, colour, contrast and spacing so the most important thing on a screen is seen first, then the next, and so on.
Wireframe
A simple, low-detail sketch of a screen's layout and content. It lets you test structure and ideas before spending time on visual design.
Prompts
Prompts you can copy
Paste into Claude or any AI assistant and replace the [brackets]. They work best when you add real context.
UX copy review
Tighten interface text and get button label options.
Act as a senior UX writer. Review the copy below for clarity, tone and length. Rewrite anything vague, cut filler, and give me three alternatives for the main button label. Copy: [paste copy]
Heuristic review
A quick expert-style audit of any screen.
Review this screen against Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics. For each issue, give the heuristic, a severity (low, medium, high), what's wrong and a concrete fix. Screen: [describe or paste]
Interview synthesis
Turn messy notes into themes and priorities.
Here are notes from [number] user interviews. Group them into themes, pull direct quotes that support each theme, and list the three biggest problems users mention. Notes: [paste notes]
Website brief
Get a clear brief before any design starts.
Interview me one question at a time to write a website brief: business, audience, goals, pages, tone and examples I like. When you have enough, summarise it as a one-page brief.
Templates
Templates and checklists
Free to use. New ones land here as I finish them.
Checklist
Website launch checklist
51 checks to run before any website goes live, from content to speed to tracking.
Coming soon
Design brief template
A one-page brief to align on goals, audience and scope before design starts.
Coming soon
Usability test script
A simple script and note sheet for your first five user tests.
Looking for something else?
Tell me what would help and I'll add it, or book a call if you'd like a hand with your product or website.
