Presto is a distributed query engine that allows querying different data sources such as Kafka, MySQL, MongoDB, Oracle, Cassandra, Hive, etc. using SQL. It has the ability to analyze big data and query multiple data sources together.
In this article, we will discuss how Presto can be used to query Kafka topics. Below is the step-by-step process to set up Presto and Kafka, and connect them together. Here, I have considered MacOS, but similar setups can be done on any other system.
There are long-standing patterns in design that help us understand what the user wants and which solution will work best. These are referred to as design patterns. This article will explain how patterns help us appropriately construct an interface. We’ll dissect features like buttons, navigation, accordions, and date selection with examples.
This article will be helpful to both new and experienced designers who want to learn more about how to use interactive features and when to use them. If you’ve been in the industry for more than a year, you’ll know that nothing is black and white and that multiple ways can address the same problem depending on the situation.
First, consider the following question: which of the buttons depicted in the graphic is better?
The first button will appear to be the obvious choice for many people. Indeed, it is a well-known pattern that most people will recognize; it is the perfect solution for many projects. However, if customers understand the context, they are less concerned with the shape; therefore, there is no need for the designer to think in stereotypical terms. The context or states of a button can demonstrate that it is a button. When we place the cursor at an interactive feature on one website, it turns into a circle. “View” will be written inside the circle. The interface will be less cluttered as a result, and you will be able to clearly show the user that they are dealing with an interactive interface.
Next, which of these two Skip and Sign Up buttons, each with a distinct design accent, is better?
Many people would most likely vote for the first couple. That was something I used to do as well. However, put yourself in the shoes of a user and observe what this interface expects of you. They also want us to collect data at registration, which they emphasize. You can, however, skip this step. Is it up to par? Yes, because many users are hesitant to register on the site and provide personal information. We decide for the user which action is a priority when we show this hierarchy of buttons. But why not let them make their own decision? This is becoming a more prevalent strategy nowadays. For example, we see two identically filled buttons at Nike: Register and Learn more.
Apple uses the Learn More and Buy buttons the same way. The latter isn’t a large red button that screams, “Buy now! Buy now!” The user also can decide what is more important right now.
And here’s another question: if you had to choose between Cancel and Save, which would you put first?
It’s difficult to say whether Cancel should be displayed first or Save. Assume I issue a command. Which is more important: having a button in the interface for the desired action or seeing all of the answer alternatives and then deciding? Designers frequently choose the second choice, but it is unimportant.
According to Nielsen Norman Group research, both the first and second patterns are understandable for customers. Android and iOS are two examples of this, as they use both methods. They all have their own set of benefits.
I enjoy how Apple handles this in macOS. The emphasis is on canceling the action if you are assigned an irreversible task (such as deleting data from the recycle bin). The user must fully comprehend that they cannot retrievd anything they delete.
So, when working with buttons, do the following:
I’ll also begin the navigation section with an example question. Consider a site’s navigational block and a logo (a circle on the slide). Is it better to put the logo in the middle of the navigation or on the left side?
Both options appear to be equivalent. However, according to various research, the upper left corner is still preferable. There are numerous explanations for this. Because we read from left to right, the logo is the first thing we see. It’s also a marker that tells the user where they came from.
The NNG research center conducted an interesting experiment on this topic. Users were tasked with purchasing a specific item from an online store. At the same time, the list did not include any well-known stores, only local businesses. Some sites’ logos were on the left side of the navigation, while others were in the middle. Commodities were purchased, but the users had no idea what was being tested in the trial. After a while, they were asked for the company’s name from which they purchased the merchandise on the internet. People remembered both the brand and the company name better when the logo was on the left. As a result, having the logo on the left is likely to be significantly better—especially for well-known organizations. Of course, this doesn’t stop a lot of websites from putting their logo in the middle of the navigation box.
Consider a site that displays page links in a burger-style menu. Is it better to hide all navigation in the burger or remove part of the elements and display them to the user?
According to research, it is preferable to highlight a part of the navigation. If you know what sections users visit first, you might be able to show them those sections immediately. However, the user must click on the icon and search through a comprehensive database for specific information. Therefore, it makes sense to expedite this process and immediately provide them with what they require.
This is true not only for mobile interfaces but also for desktop interfaces. In the example below, a directory must be opened independently to be viewed. When the focus of a user’s attention shifts, it irritates them. If a drop-down list displays when you open a menu, users are not always comfortable. After that, it must proceed from left to right, and so on. Therefore, it’s preferable to display the complete menu if possible.
When it comes to navigation, the issue of the menu’s number of items cannot be overlooked. The fewer options a user has, the easier it is for them to decide. It is suggested that 7-9 things are ideal on the internet. However, when there are a lot of sections, subcategories, and sub-subcategories (as in a marketplace), fitting everything into a minimal number of items isn’t always feasible.
There are various options in this instance. There are multiple tiers of menus that can be created. The website of the New York Times is an example. There is horizontal navigation and another burger on the upper left of the home page. A wide menu appears when you click it, with more sections at the bottom and more sections at the top. The fact that the New York Times is a vast resource justifies this. That is why the website’s designers placed the essential items on the horizontal while also indicating that there are other components. The menu is accessed using a button in the upper left corner. If the user is dissatisfied with the primary navigation, this placement enhances the likelihood that they will see the menu and click.
According to the three-click rule, the user must reach the needed information in three clicks. There is, however, no data to back this up. Users today are willing to spend significantly more time looking for information. For example, if we’re looking for a product at an online store, we browse to the appropriate department and then dig further into many subcategories until we find it. Then there’s more filtering, sorting, adding to comparisons, adding to cart, checkout, shipping, etc. This does not appear to fit within three clicks. As a result, don’t limit yourself to this guideline. It’s preferable to keep the navigation simple and obvious so that the user may rapidly reach his objectives.
Perhaps you could divide the interface so that the user chooses from 7-9 categories first, then another 7-9, then another 7-9, and so on till they reach the end. Although you shouldn’t make it too complicated by creating a hierarchy with ten to twenty levels—this is scarcely practical. Five catalog segments, in my opinion, are quite acceptable.
But what if there are a lot of subcategories, and you can’t sensibly divide them into 7-9 items? Here are two basic strategies to assist you: The first is a list of names in alphabetical order. The second point to consider is terminology. This may be seen with Amazon. Take a look at their home decor area, which is organized alphabetically by subcategories. This makes finding things much easier for the user. The essential requirement is that the name be correct and recognizable to the user. You should not use jargon, slang, or professional vocabulary.
In some places, I genuinely admire Amazon’s approach. The creators placed a couple of the most popular subcategories at the top of the list, then let the rest of them go in alphabetical order. This is an excellent solution to the problem because it allows you to display the most popular things first.
Avic follows suit. Apple products account for the majority of the company’s revenue. As a result, breaking up or hiding such products makes no sense; instead, they are removed from the catalog and relocated to the top, increasing the number of categories on the main page. Again, it appears that the user will have difficulty making a decision. However, if Apple is the primary source of revenue, it seems logical to feature this section right away.
The examples considered are based on simple navigation. However, not every task is like this in practice. You might want to do something entirely out of the ordinary in some circumstances. For example, you may have seen a developer’s website in France where you have to use the arrow keys on the keyboard to drive a car that rides between menu items to traverse between sections. This is a rare occurrence, and even though it appears to me to tackle a slightly different problem, it succeeds—and in the process, it generates an environment around the project.
Here’s another example of an impressive menu from the Warsaw Puppet Theater’s website. All navigation is done using symbolic images that appear to be on strings and move as you point at them, much like puppets. As a result, the user becomes more engaged in the navigation game. In the tradition of puppet theater, this approach produces a delightful ambiance.
Go over the following items before beginning to work with navigation:
Let’s get to the accordion now. First, let’s look at two different versions of this interface element: one with the chevron pointing down and one with the plus symbol. Which version of the icon do you think is better? Then there’s the question of whether the icon should be placed to the right or left of the text, independent of its type.
According to studies, users recognize accordions and are more likely to click on the text. They click on the icon 25% of the time when it’s on the right and 75% of the time the text it’s on the left. Does this mean there’s no need for the icon to be on the right? No, it’s pretty acceptable to put it there. In truth, it doesn’t matter where we put it; the important thing is that we put it somewhere and make it big enough to click on.
The only difference is that the procedure takes a little longer when you click on the icon. This is because individuals aim and try to click on the icon accurately. As a result, it is vital to create such an element large enough to work with comfortably. I would even propose enlarging the clickable area rather than the icon itself. The project “Dia,” in which the icons are as large as the accordion itself, appeals to me. This site is, I believe, simple and convenient for all users. Each cell is clickable and takes up the entire screen width in this example.
When it comes to the arrow’s direction, you shouldn’t always aim it right. Many users have learned that pointing the arrow to the right indicates heading to another page. Only the tiny area, text, and icon in the example below are clickable, and there is a button at the bottom with an arrow that points in the same direction as the accordion’s equivalent. However, the acts are distinct. When you click the accordion, it will open block down, and when you click the button, you will be redirected to another page. People may be perplexed by this.
Giving the user an accordion with no identifying signs is likewise not good. A person must know which aspect of the interface they are interacting with. You must either use an icon or demonstrate that the element is clickable. The only thing that indicates clickability in the example above is the changing appearance of the cursor when hovering over the text. However, it is not visible; it must be larger, or a term such as “Read” should be used. Without that, the user won’t be able to tell the accordion apart from the bold text selection.
As I previously stated, you must think out all interactive features in terms of states. If there was a positive, for example, it should change—or at least become a minus. As a result, the user will realize that the drop-down box can be hidden.
It’s inconvenient when the icon vanishes after you click on it. The user anticipates being able to close the block at the exact location where they first opened it. After all, they may not like the response that appears and may want to delete it right away. He’ll have to re-aim now that the button has been repositioned. Here’s an unusual example of an accordion plus that isn’t clickable. This is only true for mobile navigation. If the user has previously dealt with the desktop version, they may not recognize what’s wrong and believe it’s a bug when switching to the mobile version.
Imagine you’re charged with deciding whether to keep the open items or conceal them when the user opens others. On the one hand, if the items don’t shut, the symbol will not move because no items are transferring. On the other hand, if there is too much text, the user may have trouble navigating to the following question. As a result, it may be preferable to close superfluous blocks automatically. However, consider the number of responses in a specific accordion.
The accordion is a multipurpose element. Not only may it be utilized for the FAQ area, but also the checkout page. According to Baymard, more than 30% of online retailers worldwide accept payments through accordion-style checkouts, with the percentage in the United States being considerably higher at 56%.
This solution has several benefits. The user can first view the following steps to complete (say, which payment systems are accepted). You don’t even have to click “Next” or navigate to another website to accomplish this. Second, the accordion makes it simple to navigate from block to block to check data without having to reload the page and risk losing it. After all, if the user made a mistake in the first area and discovered it in the second, it’s simple to correct it here. You’d have to return to the previous page in a typical checkout and risk losing the information you’d filled out but hadn’t sent to the server.
You can also use an accordion to create menus. However, you must exercise caution in this situation. The parent accordion category in the example below has no content. As a result, if you repeatedly click on the items to collapse the accordion, the entire content area remains empty. In this situation, it’s also a good idea to include some information in this page section.
The fantastic, beautiful accordion on hover is another example. It is quite adaptable. Although there is no accordion in the mobile version, it is essentially just banners that translate to other links.
Another more extreme example created by evident admirers of such a solution is an accordion within an accordion. The entire site can be navigated using these blocks. It’s amazing.
In mobile interfaces, accordions are also essential for website design. They make it simple to conceal information. All navigation on The Guardian’s website is done through these blocks. The only thing that bothers me is that the parent categories aren’t clickable. A user does not have the choice of seeing all of the sports news. Only the subcategories “Football,” “Cricket,” “Rugby,” and so on are available. On the other hand, The Guardian has moved the parent categories on the front page, which is a reasonable answer to such an issue.
The Wall Street Journal, on the other hand, took a very different approach. They didn’t post the categories on the main page and instead crammed everything into a single block. When a user visits a category, however, there is the Main section. This allows you to navigate to the main parent section or a specific subcategory.
Let’s summarize the accordion:
The choice of date is the next crucial factor to consider when discussing design patterns. I’ll begin with a comparison, as is customary. Users of iOS 14 who have set the alarm clock time will be familiar with this scenario. What is the better option?
I like the first choice since it is more attractive and does not distort the font as much as the second. However, the first variant has a potential issue: it is difficult to modify and twist. After all, the space is limited, and the user must fit precisely into the spot. It’s worth noting that Apple decided to leave both alternatives open.
Consider what you’ll use the Date Picker for a while you’re creating it: a date range for booking hotels or planning excursions, a date to set a birthday or reminder, a date to indicate the time for a movie session, or for ordering a cab. This will impact the rest of the process of envisioning and designing this feature.
It’s critical, in my opinion, to describe the many ways in which the user obtains information right now. The four options are a calendar, a drum (more of a mobile solution), a conventional input area, and a drop-down list. Let’s look at a few distinct solutions that all deal with airline tickets. Wizz Air, for example, utilizes a calendar, but it’s a double one so that the customer can see two months at once.
But, if so, which start date should be specified? It seems it should be the next day, and the website shows this. However, studies have shown that users are not always happy when a date has already been set. People rarely purchase next-day plane tickets. Therefore this “default” setting will almost certainly need to be modified.
Qatar Airlines went even further by announcing a start and end date. Today is the first day of the program. Is that choice required if the user logs in at 23:58? The second issue is that there is no differentiation between the start and end dates and all days in between. Everything is painted in the same hue. Users want to see anchors for dates if they plan a long trip that begins in one location and concludes in another. People are used to being told that we begin and end at specific places. As a result, the user can be certain that the dates are correct.
Today, UIA puts both the departure and return dates on the calendar. We’ve already established that this isn’t ideal. It’s also challenging to select a destination because you have to first click on the list, then go to the dropdown, search for the country, etc. It’s a long and winding road. But, it appears to me that the main blunder is something else. The search results output is blank. If I select two destinations and dates, I may be informed that that destination has no available flights. If I go on to the following date on the calendar, there are no flights available. Overbooking is the only method to find out when they will arrive. I’m likely to use a third-party aggregator that gathers data from numerous airlines straightforwardly and conveniently.
SkyUp’s calendar is one of my favorites. It includes large fields that open up a large calendar, and it’s simple to set the trip’s start and end dates. It indicates days when there are no flights for a specific location, and you can view the price for each ticket right away. This is quite useful because it allows you to choose a day and a flight even before you click confirm.
Let us now turn our attention to the drum. You can enter nearly any information into such an element, including time, date, and other lists. Users may easily navigate this tool and jump between values.
The input field follows. We must consider the format if we allow the user to enter a date using the keyboard. For example, in different regions of the world, “12.10.2021” may be interpreted differently: for some, it may be October 12, while for others, it may be December 10. This is especially significant in the case of the following example site for renting a car in another country. The user must be aware of the format they are dealing with. In this circumstance, several experts advise that the user writes in text. However, there is the issue of localization: would the system recognize that the language is not global English but rather a more non-standard language? After all, the user can use abbreviations when writing. You must either instruct the user on how to do it or use other solutions, such as placing a calendar icon next to it. In this method, the user controls how the data is entered.
If the drop-down list is modest, such as months, there is nothing wrong with it. However, you may accumulate an excessively long list over time. Consider the website Ukrzaliznytsia. The time limit is one hour, and there are 24 items on the list. Perhaps a mixed approach is best here, where the user enters a few digits and then selects from a list.
This is precisely the approach used in Google Calendar. If you start writing 16 in the input box, the sub-options appear at 16:00, 16:15, 16:30, and 16:45 (according to the system’s set step of 15 minutes).
Let’s summarize calendars:
If you summarize everything above, the main recommendation is simple: before applying any design patterns, make sure you know what tasks the user should complete and how to solve them. Based on this, you can build an interface with gorgeous and, more significantly, human-friendly buttons, navigation, accordions, dates, and other features.
The post Design Patterns: How to Create Simple Interfaces first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
Do you ever look at a website and think, why did they do that? Sometimes with website design trends, that’s the exact thought that can come to mind. What about an element works (or doesn’t) and why did it get so popular so fast? That’s the theme of this month’s roundup.
Here’s what’s trending in design this month.
Even for content that’s important or heavy, lighter more whimsical designs are trending. It’s a somewhat strange juxtaposition of design and content, and one that we don’t typically see that often.
Designs that have “weighty content” and information with a light aesthetic tend to have these elements:
That last item is the part of this design trend that’s most surprising. From the design alone, you’d expect light content or information design for kids. But in these examples, it is not at all.
OTR South is for mental health resources for youth. Note that the design does have a youthful feel, but the content and topic are quite heavy.
Wild Fox Squad is a prelaunch site that will ask you to buy NFTs.
Chia Studios is a website design agency.
The question this trend leaves you with is does the visual tone mesh enough with the content to create the right vibe or credibility to engage with the website, do business with the company, or even buy something online?
At first glance, you might not think there’s a lot going on with any of these website design examples. But as you begin to engage with the sites, there’s an obvious trend – they all have long scrolls with animation from the top to bottom of the homepages.
Long scrolling is one of those website design topics – and trends – that people often feel strongly about. Some people love it. Others loathe it.
Here’s the challenge with long scrolling. If something seems long to scroll at desktop size, it takes forever to scroll on smaller screens unless you eliminate a lot of content. That begs the question: will users see and read everything you need them to on the homepage if it is exceptionally long?
Here’s how each of these examples uses long scrolling and animation together.
Match Artists opens with animation as the site loads and then flips to a static home screen. As you scroll, photos expand in the frame with a subtle animation. The more quickly you scroll, the more animated this website appears to be. There’s not a lot to read, which makes the image-scroll-animation combination easier to digest.
Myla Yeomans has an almost empty home scroll, that moves into a text-heavy scroll (shown below) with every scroll screen changing color with animation. The effects aren’t harsh but can give you a bit of motion sickness unless you scroll slowly because of the size and volume of text in the design.
Reyes Holdings might have the busiest animated scroll of this set of examples. There are slider animations that move left to right for content in the hero area as well as parallax and loading scroll animation down the page as elements seem to come in from almost every direction.
Pink is a color trend that has a lot of strong feelings attached to it. The color alone can create assumptions about the website design or content before a user even starts engaging with the site.
Whenever you design with a color like this, you have to consider the baggage that might come with it, whether you agree with it or not.
Pink is often associated with femininity, the pale pink in some of these examples is connected with babies, and it’s not often seen as a strong hue. Common meanings and associations with the color pink include sweetness, health, romanticism, and innocence. All of those concepts should be taken into consideration when this color is part of your design plan. With that in mind, each of these websites uses the pink color trend in quite different ways.
Thursday is a singles website/app. It has a modern vibe and the pink here is muted in a way that almost has a beige tone. The question for users is, does it have enough of a vibe to appeal to all types of people? Something that would seem important for a dating app.
Skin Clinics goes all-in with pink tones on the website and, it appears, in their offices. This is an instance when it is hard to quite figure out how I feel about the color. It’s nice that it doesn’t feel as clinical as all white, but all skin isn’t this color either. It can create an odd tug for how you feel about the design and facility as a whole.
Pixel Bakery uses a few shades of pink for its design that feels oddly childlike. Maybe it’s the yin and yang contrast combination with the almost baby blue. Then there’s this – nothing seems to “match” from a design perspective. Pale pink background, deeper pink logo and text, almost red pink calls to action. There’s a lot to visually digest here.
How do you feel about all of the trending designs featured this month? Do they seem like things that you might try? Web design trends are interesting in that way because they almost seem to catch fire – someone tries something new and then others keep using the design idea and iterations of it. Sometimes these ideas work brilliantly and sometimes they fall rather flat.
It’s a good exercise to think about trends without jumping to the conclusion that you need to use them; sometimes that can also be a lesson in what not to try with your own design.
The post 3 Essential Design Trends, May 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
Every day design fans submit incredible industry stories to our sister-site, Webdesigner News. Our colleagues sift through it, selecting the very best stories from the design, UX, tech, and development worlds and posting them live on the site.
The best way to keep up with the most important stories for web professionals is to subscribe to Webdesigner News or check out the site regularly. However, in case you missed a day this week, here’s a handy compilation of the top curated stories from the last seven days. Enjoy!
The post Popular Design News of the Week: April 25, 2022 – May 1, 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
Acquiring a new customer is difficult, but retaining an existing one is even more challenging. Yet, statistics show that efforts focused on retention bring way more value.
For instance, according to SmallBizGenius, 82% of companies agree that customer retention is cheaper than acquisition. Apart from that, 65% of a company’s revenue comes from existing clients, and increasing the investment in retention by only 5% already gives you a boost in profits by 25% to 95%. Impressive, right?
So what should you do to reach such results?
One component that impacts brand-client relationships is website design. This article will give you three design tricks that will encourage your customers to come back to your site more and more.
It is hard to imagine a website visitor who would spend more than five minutes (usually it’s way less) trying to figure out the navigation system on your website. If you have a loaded, complex site structure, you will not retain a customer.
Take Craigslist, for instance. Its navigation is not user-friendly, not to mention that it took over 30 seconds to load when the acceptable average load time should be no more than 1.7 seconds:
Here’s what proper website navigation presupposes:
Since we mentioned Craigslist, let’s take a look at its competitor AdPost, which has a better website structure:
Instead of listing all the product categories on the front page, like Craigslist, AdPost added them to the search menu, thus making the design more user-friendly and making the navigation cleaner.
If you have visitors coming to your website from around the world, you should not assume they know English. A survey by Weglot found some interesting results regarding the attitude of buyers to shopping on international websites:
So, there is no doubt that having your website localized to several languages can increase customer retention, especially considering the last stat.
To understand the proper practices of making a website multilingual, look at the examples of the best language learning apps. For instance, Preply has a drop-down menu where you can choose from multiple language options, including Polish, Ukrainian, German, and many more:
Translating your website to different languages will help the visitor understand the value of your product better. However, before you invest in localization, make sure you study the data on customer behaviors to understand which languages your audience speaks.
Some companies don’t bother much with designing their websites, especially when it comes to custom elements, such as visuals. However, research has shown that the focus on branding in website design increases customer commitment and e-loyalty, as a result.
Moreover, in the world of billions of websites, you need something that would help your business stand out. And custom illustrations are among those features that contribute to your site’s uniqueness.
Just take a quick look at the Emiozaki Web site. It includes personalized illustrations and animation created in the form of a tablet that substitutes the navigation menu:
This website reflects the brand’s tone and style, and animation adds emotion to UX. Apart from that, it’s also an excellent example of structuring a website.
Or, if you would like an example of a less loaded design, take a look at this personal portfolio by Victoire Douy. It also includes animations that add interactivity to the design. For instance, you can play with the shadow of the girl’s hand:
So, if you want your website to attract more customers and encourage them to hang out for longer, take the creative approach. Hiring an illustrator is, of course, costly, but it will help your site stand out.
As you can see, you’ll have to put in a lot of work to bring forward website design that increases online customer retention. You just have to employ our three best practices. Let’s quickly recap them:
The post 3 Quick Tricks to Boost Customer Retention first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
Vulnerabilities produce enormous reputational and financial risks. As a result, many companies are fascinated by security and desire to build a secure development life cycle (SSDLC). So, today we’re going to discuss SAST — one of the SSDLC components.
SAST (static application security testing) searches for security defects in application source code. SAST examines the code for potential vulnerabilities — possible SQL injections, XSS, SSRF, data encryption issues, etc. These vulnerabilities are included in OWASP Top 10, CWE Top 25, and other lists.
A career as a web designer can be extremely lucrative. The average web designer in the US makes around $50-55,000 per year, equating to an hourly rate of around $25. Of course, not every designer will automatically get a full-time, high-paying job as soon as they earn their web design credentials.
Sometimes, you might need to generate a little extra cash, perhaps to supplement your part-time income or keep the lights on while you’re taking some new courses. You can even use your web design skills to earn some extra money on the side while working a standard 9-to-5.
Today, we will be looking at some of the most effective ways to make extra cash on your web design skills.
Starting with the simplest option, working as a freelancer is one of the best ways to start making cash with your design skills. There are dozens of websites out there to help freelancers find clients these days. Some of the best options include:
As a freelancer, you’ll be able to choose which hours you want to work, and which projects to work on. You can make money from all kinds of design skills this way, from making pages for a website to designing widgets and applications.
However, you’ll also be responsible for tracking down potential leads, building your portfolio, and managing your own taxes, so keep this in mind.
As a web design professional, you’ll end up with a lot of assets over the years. Whether you’re working freelance or full-time, not every asset you create is going to be picked up by your customers. Sometimes, you’ll end up with unused content sitting on your computer.
Fortunately, you can leverage these assets for some extra cash. You can sell things like icons, backgrounds, UI assets, and more. You can even sell themes on sites like ThemeForest if you’ve built something your clients weren’t happy with.
There’s a market out there for just about every asset, from icons and PSD templates to documents, fonts, UI assets, backgrounds, and brushes. You might even build your own website where you can sell assets in the future.
Feel like getting in on the cutting-edge of a new marketplace? NFTs are probably one of the hottest topics in the digital world today. As concepts like Web 3.0 and the metaverse gain traction, NFTs will only become more valuable.
Countless companies and innovators are looking for people to design their NFTs for them these days. If you don’t mind dedicating some of your free time to creating digital graphics, you’re in for a significant amount of earning potential.
If you learn enough about the NFT landscape and blockchain, you could even create your own NFTs. However, this would probably require a lot of time and research. You can learn more about the NFT design and art landscape here.
Don’t have time to build endless new websites right now? No problem, just help other people build their sites instead. Consultants are people in any industry with expertise and insights they can share to support other people. As a web design consultant, you can offer your expertise to other upcoming freelance designers or business leaders.
You’ll need to invest some time into building your personal brand as a consultant. This means developing your social media pages (like LinkedIn) and creating a portfolio. It also helps to have an air of thought leadership. This usually means you’ll need to share at least some content online.
Consulting can be an excellent way to share your skills with other people without having to do all the work of building a design course.
On the other hand, if you like the idea of being a teacher, you can make money almost passively with web design courses and webinars these days. While you do have the option of selling one-on-one education to students, this will usually take up a lot of your time.
If your focus right now is on a side hustle to increase your earnings, it’s often much easier to use a site like Udemy or Skillshare. The great thing about teaching web design these days, it’s much easier than you might expect. The majority of solutions on the web allow you to drip content to your clients automatically. This means you only have to create the content once.
You can create a handful of videos, quizzes, and downloadable assets, and make money off your educational resources while you sleep.
Blogging is still a surprisingly lucrative way to make money. If you have a creative streak and you know how to write about web design in a way other people can understand, you can turn this into an excellent side hustle.
Start by building your own website using your design skills, then start publishing regular blogs with the content you know your customers would be interested in. It’s a good idea to cover a range of topics, from Photoshop, to how to design widgets and more. You can even share reviews of various web design tools and add affiliate links to earn money that way.
Make sure you use SEO strategies to improve your chances of customers actually seeing your blog and promote your content as often as you can across social media. Once you have your blog, you can make money from it by:
If you decide to take the affiliate route, here are some excellent programs to consider.
If you don’t have time to launch your own website and build a following for your blog, you can still make money from writing in other ways. Becoming a freelance web design writer means you can sell your blogs and content to other leading publications.
Many popular websites are constantly looking for new content to add to their blog. If you develop a strong relationship with some of these site owners, you could get yourself a regular gig.
Contributing to other sites as a writer helps you to develop your thought leadership. Many companies will even allow you to link back to your social media pages or profile.
At the same time, you get to earn some extra money writing about things you enjoy.
A lot of web designers today rely on other themes and templates created for WordPress to help them build their websites. Access to themes and templates can make building a new website a much easier, straightforward process.
If you’ve got some excellent coding prowess, you can develop and sell a host of website themes and templates, and sell them wherever you choose. As mentioned above, there are a number of websites available for selling web design assets. Alternatively, you can sell your own packages and templates on your website, depending on your needs.
If you create a particularly valuable theme, you can actually earn a full-time passive income over time. Placing your themes and templates on marketplace sites will also get you a lot of attention from potential clients in the future.
If you’ve ever seen one of those shows where someone buys a house, makes it look great, and then sells it for a higher price, you’ll understand the basic premise of flipping websites. The idea is to purchase an existing website for a low price (preferably with a good domain name), then fix it up to sell on a website selling directory.
If you want to earn a decent amount of money for your website, you’ll need to dedicate a decent amount of time to building traffic, improving the appearance of the site, and so on. However, it can be fun to take on these projects in your free time if you’re looking for a way to hone your skills.
You might learn some important lessons about how to make websites more profitable while you’re flipping your various sites, which could make you more appealing to customers in the long term.
Similar to flipping websites or producing an income from a high-traffic blog, writing a book isn’t something that’s going to give you a lot of extra income overnight. However, it can be an excellent source of passive income in time if you know how to use this strategy correctly.
If you have a specialist skill in web design, or you serve a specific niche, you can generate a lot of attention for an eBook or physical book sharing plenty of accurate and specific information. Remember, writing about web design, in general, will usually make it harder to earn money because there’s already a lot of competition out there.
Writing a book is a fantastic way to create a possible extra source of income as a side hustle, and it can also make you more credible if you decide to go full-time with your web design skills in the future. It’s definitely more impressive to present yourself to clients as a published author.
Remember to advertise your book whenever you can to improve your chances of additional sales.
Web design skills are highly sought after in various parts of the digital world. If you’re willing to devote a little time and creativity to exploring the various avenues above, they can all deliver an excellent source of income to you and your potential business. All you need to do is figure out which side hustle makes the most sense for you.
Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all. In some cases, you might even be able to run multiple side hustles at the same time, particularly if you’re using strategies for passive income, like writing your own book or selling your own course.
Featured image via Unsplash.
The post Side Hustles for Web Design Professionals: How to Make Some Extra Cash first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
Google Cloud Data Studio is a tool for transforming data into useful reports and data dashboards. As of now, Google Data Studio has 22 inbuilt Google Connectors and 571 different Partner connectors which help in connecting data from BigQuery, Google Ads, Google Sheets, Cloud Spanner, Facebook Ads Data, Adobe Analytics, and many more.
Once the data is imported, reports and dashboards can be created by a simple drag and drop and using various filter options. Google Cloud Data Studio is out of the Google Cloud Platform, which is why it is completely free.
Leader européen du popcorn, Nataïs souhaitait moderniser son ERP SAP ECC. La société a choisi l’ERP SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition, déployée avec le concours des équipes de STMS, à travers l’offre RISE with SAP.
Nataïs est une entreprise peu connue du grand public, et pourtant devenue en moins de trente ans le leader européen du marché du popcorn. La société adopte une logique de filière, allant de la semence au produit fini, avec des produits distribués en vrac ou fabriqués et conditionnés pour le compte de grandes enseignes.
Des centaines de millions de grains de popcorn préparés par Nataïs éclatent chaque jour dans les cinémas, foires, fêtes foraines et magasins du monde entier. Mais aussi dans les cuisines, Nataïs ayant produit plus de 210 millions de sachets micro-ondables en 2021.
Nataïs réalise un chiffre d’affaires annuel d’environ 60 millions d’euros, dont 90% à l’export, ses produits étant distribués dans plus de 50 pays. Nataïs compte 140 salariés et s’appuie sur un réseau de 240 agriculteurs locaux qui l’alimentent en maïs et que l’entreprise accompagne en retour dans leurs efforts en matière de développement durable et d’écoresponsabilité. L’ensemble de la « Popcorn family » partage un objectif ambitieux, celui d’être la 1re filière popcorn à atteindre la neutralité carbone, et ce à horizon 2025.
Objectif : moderniser un ERP SAP vieillissant
« Cela fait maintenant plus d’une décennie que nous travaillons avec un ERP SAP, utilisé par une centaine de personnes, confie Célia Ehmann, en charge du périmètre SI au sein de l’entreprise. En septembre 2021, nous avons lancé le projet Caribou, visant à moderniser notre ERP, au travers d’une migration vers l’ERP SAP S/4HANA. »
Nataïs ne voulait pas attendre le dernier moment pour basculer vers le nouvel ERP SAP. D’autant plus que certains projets de développement avaient été mis en pause dans l’attente de la bascule vers SAP S/4HANA.
STMS, qui avait déjà collaboré avec l’entreprise sur d’autres projets, a été choisi pour mener à bien cette migration. Lors de la présentation faite par STMS, Nataïs a eu l’opportunité de découvrir les solutions cloud de SAP, dont l’offre RISE with SAP. « Nous ne savions pas qu’il était possible de basculer en mode cloud. Cette présentation nous a donc permis d’aborder la question du cloud, et de l’offre RISE with SAP. »
En l’occurrence, le cloud permet d’apporter une réponse intéressante aux questions de licensing et de coût d’acquisition de SAP S/4HANA soulevées par l’entreprise gersoise. « Le licensing classique proposé par SAP n’est pas adapté à une PME comme la nôtre. Les avantages apportés par le cloud ont été ici décisifs. »
Après avoir éclairci certains points, comme le périmètre précis de la solution, la compréhension des FUE (Full Users Equivalents), les possibilités de connexion avec les autres applications de l’entreprise, ou encore les moyens de mettre en place un lien internet de secours Internet pour son futur ERP, Nataïs a décidé d’opter pour l’ERP SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, via l’offre RISE with SAP.
Un triple projet : SAP HANA, SAP S/4HANA et Cloud
Le projet a été lancé en fin d’année 2021. Ou plutôt les projets, Nataïs ayant décidé de basculer de SAP ECC vers SAP S/4HANA, mais également vers la base de données SAP HANA et vers le cloud.
« Concernant l’ERP, nous avons mené un audit en amont pour déterminer ce qu’il fallait modifier ou améliorer en priorité, explique Célia Ehmann. Nous n’avons rien changé du périmètre du système, mais cela nous a permis de définir une feuille de route de développement pour notre nouvel ERP. Nous allons conserver certains spécifiques, même si nous allons profiter du projet pour évaluer les efforts requis afin de basculer certains processus vers les standards préconisés par SAP. »
Le passage à la base de données SAP HANA ne sera pas un problème pour Nataïs, la taille de la base de données utilisée par son ERP SAP ECC restant raisonnable. « Nous allons toutefois mener quelques opérations de nettoyage et d’optimisation, lorsque cela fait sens. » La gestion des infrastructures ne posera pas plus de problèmes à Nataïs. « Je vois bien passer des échanges entre STMS, SAP et nos autres prestataires IT, mais ce sont eux qui se chargent de tous ces sujets techniques. »
Go live programmé pour le 4 mai 2022
La phase de recette a démarré le 15 mars, avec comme objectif un go live le 4 mai 2022. Si la migration est réalisée à périmètre constant, quelques changements notables seront appliqués au nouveau SI. « Nous allons refondre les droits d’accès, afin de sécuriser les rôles et autorisations de chacun. Nous allons également déployer plusieurs tuiles Fiori, relatives notamment à des KPI nous intéressant. Enfin, nous allons traiter quelques sujets liés à mobilité, lesquels devraient faciliter la vie de nos collaborateurs en logistique et approvisionnement maïs notamment.
Avant même sa finalisation, ce projet s’est d’ores et déjà traduit par un premier bénéfice : « Il nous a permis de former et animer une équipe d’utilisateurs clés dynamiques, qui partagent et échangent aujourd’hui leurs bonnes pratiques, et sont moteurs sur des projets d’optimisation de nos processus », conclut Célia Ehmann.
The post Le spécialiste du popcorn Nataïs opte pour l’ERP SAP S/4HANA Cloud avec l’offre RISE with SAP appeared first on SAP France News.
Sometimes it’s easy to feel like the world is going to pieces all around us, especially when we’re doom scrolling Twitter between news alerts every few minutes. But if we step back a little, things may not seem so bad.
On the web, we see companies and individuals taking a positive stand, making changes, and carrying on despite challenging circumstances. So in this month’s collection, we celebrate confidence and accentuate the positive, as the song says. Enjoy!
The ‘change view’ option is well used in this portfolio site for Plasticbionic design studio. The grid view is especially pleasing.
Creative agency Fabricca has gone for a simple look, with some appealing illustrations and custom icons.
The color scheme and display font choice (Knockout) make a strong statement here for law firm Normand.
We all need some bored-on-a-slow-friday-afternoon distraction from time to time, and Mailchimp delivers the goods here.
OTR is a mental health service for young people aged 11-25. The site does a great job of feeling approachable and friendly to younger users while not being condescending, cutesy, or childish.
Good use of block color adds extra depth to this otherwise brutalist portfolio site for neueMeta design studio.
This interactive questionnaire helps the customer identify the best chair for their needs. The animation is done well here, and a page of swirling Vitra chairs is a lovely thing to see.
A good balance here of serious and fun in Chia Studio’s portfolio site, professional but friendly.
The concept behind this limited clothing range designed by Stefan Sagmeister is that, taking the long-term view, the world is actually getting better. As such, the Sagmeister 123 site has an overall feeling of quiet positivity. And a koala.
RecPak is a meal replacement shake designed for taking during outdoor activities. The site has an active, dynamic feel that works well to convey a sense of rugged outdoor adventure.
This site for Alicia Moore clothing brand oozes style and sophistication with soft colors and beautiful fashion photography.
Think Packaging’s website has a bright, bold, fun feel. Case studies are well presented visually but keep text to a minimum.
Brand design and packaging blog BP&O has added extended content for subscribers, and their new site is a pleasure to browse.
The Future Factory is a business lead generation agency, which doesn’t sound, well, a bit dull. But, some funky animation and slightly quirky type certainly do not convey dullness.
Polybion’s new website has a spacious feel with a rich color scheme adding a sense of confidence and brand maturity.
The Empathy Experiment is an interactive ‘game’ from digital agency media.monks that examines empathy and inclusivity in the workplace while at the same time showcasing some technical skills.
The opening scroll on Belle Epoque’s site is really pleasing, and the random floating shapes are intriguing.
Richard Ekwonye’s portfolio site is clean and straightforward. Skills are on display, but without intruding on the content.
SND has created UI sound kits. The site is as simple as it could possibly be, and yet it is impossible not to investigate all the sounds and start imagining where you could use them.
Regular readers will know how much we like technical/industrial-made-interesting sites, and this one for KMZ grain storage systems is a perfect example.
The post 20 Best New Sites, May 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.
