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Featured selection of Medium stories, client work, guest posts, and article mentions.

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Google Sheets Geeks •

I Tracked My Time For 365 Days in 30-Minute Logs in 2023 — Here’s What I’ve Learned

I Tracked My Time For 365 Days in 30-Minute Logs in 2023 — Here’s What I’ve Learned

Previously, I tracked and analyzed how I spent my time for 3 months.

What if I tracked my time for an entire year?

Would I learn anything beyond the insights from the 3-month experiment?

· Tools used (all 100% free)

· 1. Which patterns emerge from looking at the mosaics?

· 2. What are my averages and totals per month?

∘ 2.1 Hours of daily sleep

∘ 2.2 Bedtimes

∘ 2.3 Hours scrolling or binging the inter
Bootcamp •

Final day of 15 days of UX writing: Multi-screen registration experience for car buying app

Final day of 15 days of UX writing: Multi-screen registration experience for car buying app

On the final day of 15 Days of UX writing, I crunched my brain over a multi-screen registration experience for a car-buying app.

I first wanted to try the onboarding experience for a banking app.

After feeling overwhelmed for an hour, I ditched the banking app and switched to this exercise.

Write a multi-screen registration experience for a car-buying app that lets users view discounted prices. The ap
Bootcamp •

Day 13 of 15 days of UX writing: Push notification with critical information for truck driver

Day 13 of 15 days of UX writing: Push notification with critical information for truck driver

On Day 9 of 15 Days of UX Writing, I thought about the information a truck driver would need to plan the rest of their delivery route.

Per usual, I got the upper chamber warmed up by brain dumping ideas in my spreadsheet.

I had to keep it brief.

When you’re on the road, you want to know how much work remains before you can take your lunch break and swipe TikToks on your phone.

I went with the follo
Bootcamp •

Day 1 of 15 Days of UX Writing: Writing an In-App Flight Cancellation Message

This winter, I’m scratching my curiosity in UX writing and design, and having another go at the 15 Days of UX Writing Email Challenge.

What I did in 2021

Two years ago, in September 2021, I completed the first few days of this challenge — and then abandoned it.

You can do a LOT with Canva.

Although I knew it wasn’t the proper way to go about it, I designed my “screens” (if you can call them that) in Canva.
Bootcamp •

Day 2 of 15 Days of UX Writing: Writing a Promotional Screen for a Sports App

Day 2 of 15 days of UX writing: promotional screen for a sports app

This winter, I’m scratching my curiosity in UX writing and design, and having another go at the 15 Days of UX Writing Email Challenge.

Day 2 challenged me to write copy for a promotional screen for a sports app.

My approach to tackling the challenge

I know nothing of team sports, so I needed input, and
• Searched “What people love about NFL” on Reddit and through a quick Google search
• Wrote down game terms and slang I coul
Bootcamp •

Day 3 of 15 days of UX writing: Error message for a login screen

Day 3 of 15 days of UX writing: Error message for a login screen

Today is Day 3 of the 15 Days of UX Writing Email Challenge.

The challenge: writing an error message for a login screen.
• How hard can this be? *hair whip*
• Who is the audience? If it’s computer game users, or people who play Warhammer (a miniature fantasy wargame), you could go ham with your slang. For a Lord of The Rings fanatics app, think: “You shall not pass! Unless you enter the correct password.” Since we don’t know, I k
Bootcamp •

Day 4 of 15 days of UX writing: A promotional home screen for a grocery subscription service

Day 4 of 15 days of UX writing: A promotional home screen for a grocery subscription service

Day 4 of the 15 Days of UX Writing Challenge tasked me with writing a promotional home screen message for a supermarket delivery app.
• Instead of a promotional pop-up or overlay, I gave the top half of the screen a bright green color to focus the attention on.
• There’s an ‘x’, suggesting you can get rid of this message by clicking on it. Pretend this section is collapsed, with a little yellow tag hang
Bootcamp •

Day 5 of 15 days of UX writing: recovery screens for a graphic design app

Day 5 of 15 days of UX writing: recovery screens for a graphic design app

I’m on Day 5 of the 15 Days of UX Writing Challenge. Today’s challenge: write an after-crash and recovery screen for a graphic design app.

Here’s my thought process and how the UX copy turned out.

The user works in graphic design. While critiquing a design in a mobile app, their phone abruptly turns off. When they restart the phone, they reopen the app.

They then deal with either of these scenarios.
• They can recover
Bootcamp •

Day 10 of 15 days of UX writing: Asking a user’s zip code and first name

Day 10 of 15 days of UX writing: Asking a user’s zip code and first name

How to ask for a user’s ZIP code and first name without sounding intrusive and scaring them off for good?

On Day 10 of the 15 Days of UX Writing challenge, I worked my way through this issue.

I was inspired by another writer in the Daily UX Writing Facebook group. They used the body copy “For a personal touch!” underneath the “First name” field and added a button reading “Find dream car.”

Like them, I started with a pho
Bootcamp •

Day 7 of 15 days of UX writing: Soccer game live activity

On Day 7 of 15 Days of UX Writing Challenge, I wrote a Live Activity to inform sports fans of the current game score.

I know nothing of team sports, so it matters little which one go with for this exercise. I went with soccer, or English football.

I read through pages on national football teams to learn
• How they talk about players, e.g. what they praise them for
• What language they use to report on matches

English football has its own lingo. I found a bunch of idioms listed on “footie” web
Bootcamp •

Day 8 of 15 days of UX writing: Music app concert alert overlay screen

On Day 8 of 15 Days of UX Writing, I worked on a concert alert overlay for a music app.

Here’s how that went.

The prompt explicitly mentions that “the user has a music app on their phone.”
• Spotify screens that came up on Google

I recreated the Spotify-like interface and stole the orange overlay for my screen too, as made by Junhan Zeng. Turns out she did an entire case study on how Spotify should have notified her Khalid’s concert. They didn’t, she missed the concert, got annoyed, and got t
Bootcamp •

Day 9 of 15 days of UX writing: Error message for expired credit card

Day 9 of 15 days of UX writing: Error message for expired credit card

On Day 9 of 15 Days of UX Writing, I worked on UX copy for an expired credit card.

I started by recreating a Miles carsharing screen, showing details of the car, ran a quick Google search on “card expired” and “update billing details,” and collected screenshots.

And iterated on some UX copy.
• Inspired by a member of the Daily UX Writing Facebook group, I also included a green rectangle showing the last four digits of the c
Bootcamp •

Day 11 of 15 days of UX writing: Title & meta description for contact lense subscription

Day 11 of 15 days of UX writing: Title & meta description for contact lenses subscription

On Day 11 of the 15 Days of UX Writing challenge, I wrote a title and meta description for a contact lense subscription service.

An elderly user is doing a Google search to find an easy way to buy contact lenses online.

Write a title and meta description for a website that sells subscription contact lenses delivered to a user every 30 days — convince them to try it.
• Description: 160 characters max. The
Bootcamp •

Day 14 of 15 days of UX writing: Unknown problem in price comparison app

Day 14 of 15 days of UX writing: Unknown problem in price comparison app

After googling some price comparison apps, I screenshot one I liked and recreated the screen. It will get buried underneath the error message, but that’s okay. It’s good practice in navigating Figma.

Now that the base screen is done, I dove into my spreadsheet.

I highly recommend setting up a spreadsheet that tells you when you’re going above character limit.

This allows you to focus on the message instead of having to
Bootcamp •

Day 6 of 15 Days of UX Writing: Warning Notification Informing Car Drivers About Nearby Fire

Day 6 of 15 days of UX writing: Warning notification informing car drivers about nearby fire

On Day 6 of 15 Days of UX Writing Challenge, I wrote a notification to warn a car driver of fires in a nearby town that could impact their journey.

Here’s how it went.

You don’t want the user to read the headline and think, “Well, that’s unfortunate, but not relevant to me.” It’s my job to prevent them driving straight into a fire they can’t escape from.

The prompt reads there are road closures as a
Practice in Public •

How I Ditched 14 of My 23 Bad Habits in 2023

How I Ditched 14 of My 23 Bad Habits in 2023

When things don’t go your way, it’s easy to sulk, continue sticking your head in the sand, and let another year go by, then wonder why things don’t improve.

My reality was straightforward: these bad habits were in the way of me and a better life.

I didn’t need to add more habits and activities to my life. I needed to ditch those that were dragging me down.

At the beginning of this year, I made a list of every bad habit I wanted to get rid of.

I l
Google Sheets Geeks •

2024, 2025 & Beyond Habit Tracker in Google Sheets (Free Template)

Need a simple and easy way to track your habits? You’ve tried a bunch of apps but none seem to stick?

Try this free Google Sheets template. You can:
• Update it for any year
• Select whether you’d like the mini calendars to start on Sunday or Monday
• Set a target per habit and watch your streak grow
• See emojis appear the more habits you tick off

How to get the free Google Sheets 2024, 2025 & beyond Habit tracker

Make sure you’re logged into your Google account. Then, click this link to mak
Invisible Illness •

The Family Scapegoat: The Role You Were Assigned, But Never Asked For

The Family Scapegoat: The Role You Were Assigned, But Never Asked For

There they were. Three generations of men, firmly standing together like a united front, smiling. Further to the left, I spot a small gap.

And there was me.

Shoulders hunched, head slightly tilted forward, an awkward smile. Why was I there again? I wondered.

I have the answer to this question now: to play a role. That of the Black Sheep.

You get to be part of the flock, but not quite belong to it.

Coming home with a perf
Google Sheets Geeks •

2024, 2025 & Beyond Social Media Editorial Calendar (Free Google Sheets Template)

Need a social media editorial calendar for your small biz or freelance client? Consider this free Google Sheets template.

Once per year, I’d manually update the different versions for the new year.

From 2024 onward, I won’t be doing that anymore, so this is the final update.

How to get the Free Social Media Calendar Template

You know the drill.

Make sure you’re logged into your Google account. Then, click this link to make a copy of the template.

You’ll be taken to the copy, which is saved
Google Sheets Geeks •

All 17 Google Sheets Templates I Ever Made in 1 Overview & a Thank You

All 17 Google Sheets Templates I Ever Made in 1 Overview & a Thank You

This publication has been purely coincidental.

While bored out of my brain at a previous dead-end job, I taught myself how to create and customize Google Sheets.

This Sheets practice has stuck with me ever since. I heavily rely on spreadsheets to streamline my personal and work life today.

Whenever I made a template, I figured, “Maybe other people find this useful too.” That’s how the template sharing started, and continu
Know Thyself, Heal Thyself •

10 Things I’ve Learned From Binge-Watching Dozens of Hours Online Dating Content

Swiping on dating apps is a total waste of time. But consuming online dating content isn’t.

It’s helped me process and figure out what went “wrong” in dating fails. It also prepped me for more successful (and fewer wasted) future dates and relationships.

Growing up, I wasn’t modeled what a healthy relationship looks like.

I’ve learned what this can look like through lots of trial and error. Whenever a romantic escapade goes south and I end up breaking my own heart, I turn to the world of onli
Medium •

Variety vs. Monogamy: My Past Life as an “Ethical Slut”

Variety vs. Monogamy: My Past Life as an “Ethical Slut”

The one “right” relationship format does not exist.

There is more to choose from than only the long-term monogamous relationship that leads to an everlasting marriage, 2.3 kids, 2 cars, and a house in the suburbs.

Here are my 2 cents on “open relationships,” a relationship with varying degrees of commitment in which both partners agree to see other people as well.

Getting into that first relationship

From a young age, I didn’t believe
MuddyUm •

How to Fail at Parenting: 10 Unconventional Tips To Mess Up Your Children Deep Into Adulthood

How to Fail at Parenting: 10 Unconventional Tips To Mess Up Your Children Deep Into Adulthood

Do you want your kids to become the best version of themselves they can be? To turn into caring, engaged members of society who want to contribute, do their best, and live a full life?

Well, you won’t get advice for anything like that here.

This guide is for you if you want to
• Mess up in your role as a parent
• Mess your kid up due to your faulty parenting

You won’t even have to do all the effort
Practice in Public •

33 Valuable Life Lessons I’ve Learned in 33 Years

I never had a plan for my life beyond 30.

Growing up was unpredictable, hectic, and chaotic. I used to assume something bad would happen, and that I’d perish before I’d ever reach this age.

But that (luckily) never happened.

I’m still here. Making small strides every day. Getting better, evolving, learning, healing.

This platform played a pivotal role in the birth of my obsession with self-development and creating on the internet. It only makes sense to share this piece here.

So, here are 3
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Bylines

12 Pros and Cons of Automated Customer Service

Customers can be hard to get, but be sure: they are a lot easier to lose. On many occasions, this happens because of poor customer service.

The available customer service data is quite conclusive on this matter.

The 2019 “One Size Doesn’t Fit All” study showed that nearly 43% of customers blacklist providers after a disappointing customer service experience. A staggering 34% answered that one bad experience is enough to never shop with a company again.

5 Signs You Need Workflow Automation

Whether you are building a business or looking for ways to improve it, chances are you've heard about this topic.

If you observe carefully, you'll notice that workflow automation is everywhere around us:
• It's in the confirmation emails you receive after making an online purchase.
• It’s in the email asking you for a review after an online purchase gets delivered
• It's behind the chatbot answering basic questions before you get referred to a customer support representative

18 HIPAA Compliant Form Builders to Protect Your Patient Data

If you work in healthcare and handle protected health information (PHI), you know that there is no way around it.

PHI needs to be sent, received, and stored safely and securely. First and foremost, it has to be handled according to HIPAA compliance guidelines.

In healthcare it is vital to understand what the rules are, how do they apply to you, and how to comply.

Whether it’s a covered entity that generates PHI, or a business associate who needs to access it, HIPAA regulations matter.

How Scentia Saves 10/hrs a Week with Client Onboarding Automation

Education doesn’t end after you walk out of the premises wearing a mortarboard. The learning path continues when you enter the workforce, or when you take the plunge to start your own company.

Several years into your career, you might get an itch to resume your formal education and challenge yourself academically.

A doctorate is still in demand in many fields and professions. It shows prestige, and can act as a career catalyst.

Guest Posts, Features & Mentions

YourTango •

The Family Scapegoat: The Role You Were Assigned, But Never Asked For

There they were. Three generations of men, firmly standing together like a united front, smiling. Further to the left, I spot a small gap.

And there was me.

Shoulders hunched, head slightly tilted forward, an awkward smile. Why was I there again? I wondered.

I have the answer to this question now: to play a role. That of the Black Sheep.

You get to be part of the flock, but not quite belong to it.

RELATED: 10 Harsh Signs You're The Black Sheep Of The Family

Coming home with a perfect, aest
Social Media Strategies Summit Blog •

29 of the Best Free Content Calendar Templates - Social Media...

Social media marketing is tough. There are plenty of roadblocks that could stop you from delivering the results you want to see.

The seemingly simple processes of planning and posting content are the biggest challenges. Indeed, one in eight social media marketers at small businesses say they struggle to post content consistently, while one in nine find it hard to create the content they need.

If planning is a problem for your team, it’s time you start using a content calendar for social media.
Truity •

How to Communicate With Each Disc Type: Some Easy, Ready-to-Use Scripts

You’ve undoubtedly read articles focused on understanding each of the four DISC types. But putting those insights into action is another matter. How can you talk to each type in a way that cuts down conflict, gets both of you on the same page, and ensures that you get what you want?

In this article, we’re going to think of each DISC type as a specific character:

Since each of these characters communicates in a different way, we’ll share some ready-to-use scripts to apply in your next conversat
Journo Portfolio •

10 Best Copywriting Portfolio Examples 2022 & How to Build Your Own

Ready to build a copywriting portfolio that gets you hired? Here’s our 10 best copywriting portfolio examples and top tips on how to build your own.

Whether you're trying to get hired as a copywriter, you're an experienced freelance copywriter, or you're just striking out on your own, a well-designed copywriting portfolio can be the difference between getting hired or getting overlooked. Building a copywriting portfolio doesn't have to be complicated or time-consuming, and a good digital portfo
Silk + Sonder •

Habit Tracker Excel Spreadsheet - Free & Editable

If you’re looking for a habit tracker excel spreadsheet or Google Sheets template, we’ve created one that is editable and easy to use. Some of us like to use digital habit trackers to document our habits instead of printable versions. But the right template can be hard to find. Especially when your goal is to build new habits and track on a daily basis.

How to Use Weekly and Monthly Habit Tracker Spreadsheets

There are so many free templates out there. Some are highly customizable but equally
The Insight Blog •

Habit Tracker – Why and How

Developing habits allows us to create environment for sustained progress.

To achieve any sizable goal, we simply have to learn to make habits around it.

If we can form habits around whatever we want to achieve or become, sooner or later we’ll get there.

But honestly, it is difficult, and we all fail at it, to different degrees.

I almost always have dreamed of waking up reasonably early and not feel awful.

I am still improving, but lately I was able to build great habits around things that I
vostel Blog •

Why even a couple of hours on volunteering can have a lasting impact - Pt. II | Blog

This year I started doing volunteering activities for vostel.de. Although these are one-time commitments, you can, of course, always help out more often, especially if the event is recurring and you enjoyed or found meaning in it. In total, I participated in four volunteering events throughout this year. In a previous blog post I wrote about my experiences regarding the first two. Below you will get a glimpse of the other two.
Tiller •

6 Ways to Easily Track Time in Google Sheets

As a company that makes tools to track and budget money in spreadsheets, it makes sense that we also use spreadsheets to track and budget our time.

“Time is money” as the saying goes. And in any business, it’s as important to track time as money.

Here at Tiller, we make tools to track money in spreadsheets. So it’s not surprising we also track time in spreadsheets.

Few of us at Tiller need to track our time for invoicing or HR. Instead, we track time to better forecast future projects. And as
Women Techmakers Berlin •

Looking back on WTM Berlin IWD 2018

On March 22 Women Techmakers Berlin as part of the Women Techmakers Global Event Series celebrated not only International Women’s Day 2018 but also our birthday! A thousand thanks to Digital:Lab Volkswagen who gave us a delicious birthday cake and hosted us in their beautiful loft-like venue. Celebrating the event under your wings undoubtedly made attendees feel at home straight away.

A diverse crowd counted 150+ familiar and also many new faces who stopped by to learn a thing or two this eveni