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64 Creative Marketing Ideas to Boost Your BusinessWe’ve all hit it – that wall that seems to sap away all your magical creative marketing juices. Suddenly you feel like Peter Pan without his pixie dust.All you need is a bit of help to kick your marketing strategy back on track. And guess what? We’re dishin’ out 64 creative marketing and advertising ideas plus inspirational tips to help you bust through that brick wall, generate more leads and increase online sales. Let’s get started withSocial Media Marketing IdeasPush your handles – If you’re really looking to bump up those Twitter followers, you can’t be afraid to be a bit shameless. Speaking at a conference? Put your Twitter handle on the slideshow (heck, keep it in the corner the entire presentation). Ordering new business cards? Better include that adorable handle!Very cool Twitter-themed business card from Luis Felipe SilvaJoin in on weekly hashtag themes like #ThrowbackThursday – If you want to build your social media following, you need to be an active participant in the community. This means posting regularly, and also joining in on fun weekly social media traditions that already have a loyal audience. Show the kids how hip you can be!Vines – Vines, quick 6-second video clips, are largely under-utilized. With a little work and some fun content, you could become a big fish in a small pond on Vine.Pin your own images (and others) - Don’t underestimate the value of this image-sharing site. Post your strongest visual assets (templates, infographics, etc) on Pinterest and link them to your webpages for some serious traffic.Keep social tabs on competitors - Facebook business pages allow you to follow other accounts via the Pages to Watch feature. Follow your competitors and see what they post, and which of their posts get the most shares and likes. See what works and follow their lead.From Inside FacebookUrban Marketing IdeasLiving in a concrete jungle allows for some pretty creative concepts.Step out on the streets – In an online age, there’s something to be said for going au naturel and exercising a little IRL marketing. Go old school with flyers and poster in local cafes, do some sidewalk chalk writing. This strategy is most effective for locally oriented businesses, but it can work for anyone.Street chalk Twitter handle by Marquette ITSCommission a mural – Try getting permission to decorate the side of a prominent building with a large mural.Great Di Bruno Bros mural found on YelpUse your surroundings – Get a little imaginative and think about how you can use your urban surroundings for potential marketing magic.Very creative urban marketing efforts by Vijar Barbecues, found on OwniUnusual sponsorships – Urban living results in some unique marketing opportunities you won’t find elsewhere. They secret is, you need to think creatively to capitalize on these opportunities.Citi Bank sponsoring Citi Bike (image from Bicycling)Bonus: We've pulled all of these tips (and added 5 more!) into a PDF for you to read later. Download it here -->Contest Marketing IdeasPhoto Contests - Photo contests are great for a number for reasons – they’re relatively easy to enter (anyone with Instagram and a few spare seconds can submit), and they also provide sponsors with a great form of user-generated content that can be reused and implemented elsewhere.Check out Harpoon Brewery – they’ve mastered the art of photo contests. (And click here for more Instagram marketing ideas.)Video contests - Not as many people will enter video contests, but you’re more likely to get a higher caliber of content since creating a video requires more effort on the user’s part. This kind of content can be extremely valuable for businesses down the line, especially when you have talented filmers creating video content just for you!Submit your vote contests - Voting contests get a ton of entries because they’re so easy to participate in (just click a button, in most cases). What’s cool about voting contests is that you can use the data obtained from the votes to create a mini data study. Share what you learned in a blog post!Caption Contests - Post a photo and ask users to submit their best caption - this kind of contest can get some pretty great laughs.Sweepstakes - The most traditional of contests, sweepstakes/giveaways are a tried and true classic. They are quick and simple to enter – plus it’s easy to ask for email subscriptions as part of the submission form.Marketing Ideas for Contest PromotionPost to deal sites - People love free stuff, some more than others. The people who really love a good deal tend to frequent deal sites and forums. There’s almost always a sweepstake/contest forum section where you can add your contest into the mix.I’ve seen contests in which 90% of traffic is driven from these types of sites – alright, they aren’t always the most qualified leads, but if you want quantity over quality, this is a sound strategy. Start of submitting to Slickdeals and go from there. This can be a great form of restaurant marketing.Hashtag-ify your contest - Adding a relevant (and unique) hashtag to your contest helps you keep track of entries and makes them easy to scan through and organize. Besides, they’re just plain fun.Make contests super sharable - This means adding “share this contest” buttons if you have an entry form on a website, or simply encouraging social sharing in general. The more people who know about your contest, the merrier (for you anyway)! Need more ideas for Facebook? Download our free guide here!Offer bonus points for sharing - If you offer users bonus points for sharing news of your contest via social media, they’ll be much more likely to concede. Tools like Rafflecopter make it easy to offer users extra entries for different actions (e.g. Joining the mailing list = +5 entries. Sharing contest on Twitter = +2 entries).(image from Website Spot)Notify email subscribers of contest - Remember, you already know that your email subscribers like you and are interested in what you have to offer. If you’re running a contest for a free year of your software, you know your subscribers are going to want in!Promote your contest on (all) social media - If you’re running a photo contest via Instagram, make sure you still promote the contest on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. You want all your followers, across allsocial media networks to know about your great giveaway!Share buttons from Wordpress plug-inDownload our free guide to 10 Smart and Easy Facebook Marketing Ideas!Content Marketing IdeasWrite for your audience – The best pieces of content are the ones directed at your key audiences. Understand your customer: know their pain points, what gets them psyched, and what keeps them up at night. Killer content address your audience’s needs and concerns!Add a visual element to ALL your content pieces – People get bored with text really fast! To keep visitors reading, it’s essential to have images breaking up your text paragraphs. Don’t overlook the importance of a visual element, even in blog posts that are predominantly text-based. You can see some examples of highly visual business blogs here.Infographics – We know readers love visual content, and infographics are a prime example of beloved, linkable visual assets.While the idea of creating a top-notch infographic may sound daunting, it doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t need fancy software – in fact, you can make a decent infographic just using Powerpoint. There are plenty of infographic guides templates out there to get you started. Speaking of…Useful templates - Templates are another powerful form of visual assets that visitors find extremely helpful. Templates serve as a visual framework that can help users create custom piece without completely starting from scratch. Take this landing page template as an example – it explains the basic layout and fundamentals, letting users get a grasp on great landing page essentials before making their own.Graphs and Charts - The infographic’s less cool cousins, one-piece graphs and charts still have their place as formidable pieces of visual content. They may not be as impressive as infographics, but they require considerably less time and effort to create and are still shareable, so don’t be afraid to use them generously. For visual learners, a graph will be much easier to interpret than a chunk of text and numbers. Make sure you appeal to all kinds of learners!That’s why you find so many dragons at the animal shelter (image from Reddit)Videos – Video is incredible when it comes to drawing in and retaining the attention of users – retention rate for visual information can reach 65% vs. 10% for text-based info. Plus, customers who view product videos are much more likely to convert than those that don’t. Video content is a powerful tool, whether you’re trying to demonstrate how your product works IRL or educating visitors.Statistic lists – Are you hitting a content idea wall? For an easy content marketing fix, collect interesting statistics on a subject matter related to your biz and create a blog post about what you’ve learned. Massive stat lists are easy to make and extremely sharable. Plus, some of the wilder stats may get your gears turning about other content ideas, such as…Future predictions – Play the soothsayer by predicting future trends in your industry – just make sure you have at least some data to back up your hypothesis.Controversy – Controversial contentalways earns attention, but it’s not for the faint of heart – playing with fire can get you burned! Rather than stirring up controversy yourself, the safer road may be to answer or respond to larger industry controversy with your own interpretation.Rumors travel fastAggregate awesomeness from other sources - Another easy way to create killer content is to curate quality content from elsewhere. No, it’s not stealing ... at least, not if done properly.It’s completely kosher to borrow content from other sources if you’re doing something new with it. For example, take our guide to the best SEO Reddit AMAs. The content we quoted from was originally posted on various Reddit forum threads. We took what we deemed the “best” portions of the Q&As from different threads and put it all together to make a super SEO advice guide. This new post is much easier for users interested in SEO to read, rather than scouring through various Reddit threads. NOTE: Play it safe by always giving credit where it’s due.Ask the experts – Another great content marketing idea is to interview industry thought leaders with set questions and share their responses in a blog post; for example, our interview with industry experts on the future of PageRank. This kind of content tends to do well, and it’s always interesting to see where industry gurus agree and where they don’t. One great thing about sharing expert opinions – chances are, the folks you write about will share your write-up with their own followers! (Pro tip – ask the opinions of groups with large Twitter followers!)A very impressive panel of expertsTop 10s – People go nuts over top 10 lists – top 10 tools, top 10 blogs, you name it.Lists – Piggy-backing on top 10s are lists in general. Starting your title with a number can make it stand out more in search listings (e.g. 3 Ways to Slice a Pineapple). Why do people love lists? Because they are super scannable and quick to read. This is probably why over a third of Buzzfeed's posts have a number in the title. Great content strategies involve a mix of quick, snackable content pieces and more in-depth, long-form articles. Variety is the spice of life, yo.Product comparison guide – Decisions, decisions – oh, the pitfalls of capitalism. It’s tough being a consumer with so many products to choose from. Help out users with a marketing comparison guide, especially if you have a series of product offerings for different needs. If you’re comparing your product with competitors, be objective and fair; maybe you’re a better fit for small businesses, while a competitor is better for larger corporations.Alternatively, write up a comparison guide for a product you don’t offer, but which relates to your audience’s business. For example, a video game reseller could write a product comparison guide for different video game controllers. This is helpful content that gets relevant users familiar with your brand.Content is an open door – Don’t just create awesome content and abandon it – feature your best stuff in other related blog posts as well. You can link to or call out other pieces of content mid-post, or list some related articles at the end of your post. Something along the lines of “Want to learn more about ________? Check out our _________ guide and our __________ infographic.”Content, love = apples, oranges. (Image from Disney’s Frozen)Slideshare – The slideshow is back and better than ever! Repurpose PowerPoint presentations for audience-friendly slideshares. Check out these tips from Jonathan Colman on getting more views on Slideshare.Webinars – Host your own free webinar or partner with another business for twice the expertise (and twice the promotion power). Webinar are a great source of business leads.Google related search – Checking out the Google related searches (found at the top and bottom of the SERP when you perform a search) for a keyword query is a great tool for generating content ideas. Just Google a term and see what related searches turn up. You may be surprised!Pop-up opt-in – There’s a lot of debate around newsletter opt-in pop-ups. They’re annoying, they’re intrusive, but quite often, they also work! A/B test one and see how it affects your newsletter subscriptions. If newsletter subscribers have proved to be valuable leads for your business, do what you must to obtain them.Continue your lucky streak – Not sure what to write about? Go into your analytics account and take a peek at your most popular posts to see what subjects users get excited about, then write a variation or extension of one of your most popular posts.eBooks – Another great marketing idea is to write a comprehensive ebook on a known pain point or popular industry topic, then create a quality landing page around the offer. Better yet, don’t start from scratch; repurpose past blog posts and articles into a mega e-book collection.101 guides – There’s always someone just starting out in the biz; beginner's guides and Industry Knowledge 101 content pieces will always get linked to and shared around by newbs.Even great content needs promotion –Don’t just publish your content and expect it to promote itself; share it with your email subscribers and social media followers.Post about industry hot topics – What’s the buzz in your field? Post about topical news and trending topics related to your industry to get in on the burst of action and show that you’re in the know.Guest Posts – While the SEO value of guest posts has been called into question, there’s nothing wrong with guest posting if done right. Just focus on the value of getting your brand in front of a new audience, rather than the links.(Image from Flickr user matsuyuki)White papers – Guides, e-ooks, white papers – they’re kind of all the same thing, but labeling your assets differently can help your message resonate with different audiences. Test your labels to see which works best with your prospects.Quality content – This should go without saying, but only produce quality content that you can be proud of! Google hates thin content, and users don't like it either.Show some skin – I mean metaphorical skin of course – show that you are not a robot. Don’t be afraid to have some fun and show off your company’s personality. Express yourself; and if that means literallyshowing some skin, well then, more power to you. You’re human after all.Online magazine – Producing your own virtual magazine is another epic form of content marketing. For a great example, check out Dark Rye, a stylish online magazine produced by Whole Foods. For a quick and easy fix, make your own online newspaper with Paper.li.Podcasts – Podcasts are great because users can download them and then listen on the go! Possible podcast concepts include discussing hot industry news or interviewing experts, in your space.Cover events – If you attend a conference (or even an online event), consider writing a post about what info you gathered from the event, what you found valuable, etc. Chances are others will find it valuable too! Use the hashtag from the event in your promotional efforts.Collaboration – Collaboration can extend your reach and build your reputation. Consider all the different partnerships you could build – partner with a charity? A related business? You can co-author a blog post or guide, co-host a webinar, etc.Want to save this list for later? We've created a handy PDF for you (plus we added 5 more exclusive tips) -->Memes – Memes are fun and familiar for internet-goers. Get a little cheeky with some fun memes – it’s easy to make your own with sites like meme generator.#SummertimeSadnessSocial proof – Sometimes great content marketing ideas also serve as fantastic forms of social proof. Take this inventive content project by a haunted house called Nightmares Fear Factory. They take photos of victims…er, I mean guests, and post them to their Flickr feed. The photos are absolutely hysterical and prove that Nightmares Fear Factory is as scary as they claim to be! (Thanks for the heads up from Shopify).Divvy up your content – Don’t go content-overboard or you’ll end up overwhelming users. We live in a competitive attention economy, and if you’re creating new stuff every single day, people may tire of you, even if everything you share is excellent. Them’s the breaks, kid. Figure out what pace works for your audience.Conduct a content audit – Is your existing content up to snuff? What is driving conversions? What isn’t – and why? Asking these questions might make you sweat, but you’ll be better off knowing the truth. Finding the answers to these questions will ensure that your marketing strategy moves forward in the right direction.Branded tools – Create awesome, valuable tools that your audience will find useful. You can use parts of the tool to push towards your product offering, but make sure the tool itself is high-caliber – don’t just make it a glorified sales pitch. Providing free tools will make users think fondly of you and extend your brand as more people share your awesome free tool!Mobile! – With 79% of internet usersconducting online shopping via mobile devices, you should be embarrassed if you're not mobile-friendly. This is not optional, although many still treat it like it is.Gameification – Gamification is a great marketing idea to get users excited about engaging with you. As on Whose Line is it Anyway, the points are meaningless, but you’d be surprised how much people really enjoy getting points. We all love instant affirmation – it’s like virtual crack!Apps like Belly and Foursquare combine gamification with customer loyalty programs. Starbucks also has its own tame version of gamified loyalty programs in which you earn stars for Starbucks purchases. Consider if gamification could work for your biz.Get by with some content help from your friends – There are a ton of great tools out there to help you find quality content (Storify & Buffer to name a few). Remember, you don’t want to just share your own content – sharing great pieces by others in your industry shows that you’re a team player and valuable source of unbiased knowledge.Comics – While newspaper funnies are a dying breed, online comics are alive and thriving! Consider making your own internet comics that relate to the absurd and surreal aspects of your industry. Try free tools like Pixton or Strip Generator to get started.Copy the masters – Watch to see who is creating great content, and follow their lead. Take a close look at clickbait sites like Upworthy and Buzzfeed that get a ton of shares; while their audience and content subjects will be different from yours, they serve as an excellent study in how to improve your marketing strategy. What are they doing right? Can you implement something similar?Take your time with titles – While we’re on the subject, Upworthy is famous for their killer, clickable headlines. Even a superb blog post won’t get the attention it deserves without a good title. Should it be clever? Eye-catching? SEO-friendly? Think about what will appeal to your audience. It’s recommended you write as many as 5-10 titles for every article, then choose the best!4-1-1 – The 4-1-1 concept comes from Andrew Davis, author of Brandscaping. Davis’ social media sharing strategy dictates that for every six pieces of content shared on social media:4 should be content from other industry influencers that is relevant to your audience1 should be your own original, educational content1 should have a sales aspect (coupon, product news, press release), aka, a piece of content most people will simply ignore.The philosophy behind the 4-1-1 concept is that when you share industry thought leadership, you’re building relationships within the industry and demonstrating a certain level of selflessness which earns serious reputation points that come in handy in the long haul.Creative Marketing Ideas [Summary]Ready to grow your business? Try out these 64 creative marketing ideas:Promote your social media handles, even in personJoin in on popular hashtagsCreate short, engaging Vine videosPin your site images and graphics on PinterestKeep tabs on competitors’ social profilesTry urban marketing like flyers, posters, and sidewalk chalkCommission a muralUse your surroundings to your advantageConsider unusual sponsorshipsHost a photo contestHost a video contestHost a voting contestHost a caption contestHost a good old-fashioned sweepstakesPost to deal sites like GrouponAdd a hashtag to your contestsMake contests super sharable on social mediaOffer bonus points for sharing contestsNotify email subscribers of contestsPromote your contest on (all) social mediaWrite content catered to your audienceAdd a visual element to ALL your content piecesCreate data-packed infographicsUse templates to make content creation easierInclude graphs and charts in your contentUse videos for interactivityLeverage the power of listsMake bold future predictionsInject controversy into your copyAggregate awesome content from other sourcesCreate an “ask the experts” roundupWrite relevant top 10 listsAnd other lists, too!Write a product comparison guideLink to your existing content with CTAsPost presentations on SlideshareHost free webinarsGet ideas from Google related searchUse pop-up opt-ins on landing pagesUse analytics to take advantage of popular contentWrite eBooksCreate 101 guides to teach the basicsPromote your contentPost about industry hot topicsWrite (and allow) guest postsCreate white papersOnly generate quality contentGive your company some personality and don’t be afraid to use itContribute to online magazinesHost a podcastCover local and news related eventsCollaborate with peersCreate viral memesUse social proof in your contentDivvy up your contentConduct a content auditCreate branded toolsMake and promote mobile-specific contentUse gamification to promote interactionFind and share content by othersCreate hilarious web comicsCopy the mastersTake your time with content titlesStick to Andrew Davis’ 4-1-1 content strategyWhat are your best creative marketing ideas?CONTACT USCOMPANYSUPPORTSITE MAPTRADEMARKSPRIVACY POLICY© WordStream. 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Most comprehensive list ever.List of Lists☆NameDescription★★★Good Blog Post Resources about Algorithm and Data Structures — CodeforcesA collection of fantastic tutorial blog posts written by Codeforces users. Some intriguing ones include Palindromic Trees, Policy Based Data Structures, and a lot more.★★★Data Structures and Algorithms — CodeChef DiscussA very complete list of competitive programming resources. A must-have in your browser bookmark.★★★How to prepare for ACM — ICPC? — GeeksforGeeksA detailed walk-through of the preparations for ACM-ICPC.SyllabusesFind out what topics you need to learn.☆NameDescription★★★IOI SyllabusA detailed syllabus on which IOI contestants will be tested. This is still somewhat relevant to ACM-ICPC.★★★How to prepare for ACM — ICPC? — GeeksforGeeksA detailed walk-through of the preparations for ACM-ICPC.★★☆Programming Camp SyllabusA list of important topics in competitive programming with exercise problems.★★☆Juniors Training Sheet, by Mostafa Saad IbrahimSimple problems for newcomersTutorial WebsitesAwesome websites with great tutorials.☆NameDescription★★★Topcoder Data Science TutorialsA list of tutorials written by respected Topcoder members. Many top programmers started learning data sciences from here.★★★E-Maxx (Russian), (English)A tutorial website widely used and referenced in the Russian-speaking competitive programming community. Only a small fraction of the original site is translated into English, but Google Translate would work okay.★★☆Algorithms — GeeksforGeeksA website with a large archive of nicely written articles on different topics. It is a great complimentary resource for algorithm courses.★★☆PEGWikiA website with amazing in-depth wiki-like writeups on many topics. It's far better than those on Wikipedia in my opinion.★★☆Notes — HackerEarthA great crowdsourcing platform for tutorials. Also visit Code Monk.★★☆USA Computing Olympiad (USACO)Contains several training pages on its website which are designed to develop one's skills in programming solutions to difficult and varied algorithmic problems at one's own pace.★★☆basecsA blog with in-depth, illustrated tutorials on basic algorithms and data structures.★★☆Competitive Programming — CommonloungeShort video tutorials for beginner and intermediate concepts. Advanced tutorials selected from the best ones available on various CP blogs.★☆☆OLYMPIADS IN INFORMATICSAn international journal focused on the research and practice of professionals who are working in the field of teaching and learning informatics to talented student.★☆☆algolist (Russian)A Russian website devoted to algorithms of all sorts. Some topics listed on this website seems pretty interesting.★★☆演算法筆記 (Algorithm Notes) (Chinese)One of the most popular tutorial websites among the Taiwanese competitive programming community. The maintainer for this website spends immense efforts on researching algorithms.★★☆国家集训队论文 1999-2015 (Papers from Chinese IOI training camps) (Chinese)Papers from the Chinese IOI training camps. It's interesting for the fact that one can tell different regions emphasize different things.Open CoursesConsider beginning your competitive programming journey with these awesome courses!☆NameDescription★★☆Code Monk, by HackerEarthA fantastic step-by-step tutorial on the essential topics in competitive programming.★★★Stanford CS 97SI: Introduction to Competitive Programming ContestsOffers comprehensive lecture slides and a short list of exercise problems.★★☆How to Win Coding Competitions: Secrets of ChampionsA course by ITMO University on competitive coding on edX.★★☆Codechef's Indian Programming CampVideo Lectures from Codechef's Indian Programming Camp 2016. Lectures given by top competitive programmers like Sergey Kulik, Kevin Charles Atienza and Anudeep Nekkanti. Primarily focused on exploring these concepts by applying them to actual competitive contest problems.★★☆Reykjavik T-414-ÁFLV: A Competitive Programming CourseAn awesome course taught by Bjarki Ágúst Guðmundsson (SuprDewd). These lectures feature neat slides and a nice list of problems to practice.★★☆NCTU DCP4631: Problem Solving and Programming TechniquesA course on basic topics featuring good lecture slides.★☆☆Materials (English) from Arabic Competitive Programming ChannelSome materials (slides & source codes) covering a broad range of algorithmic topicsOpen Courses for Algorithms and Data Structures☆NameDescription★★★prakhar1989/awesome-courses#algorithmsA fantastic list of open courses offered by notable institutions (MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley ... etc.).★★★MIT SMA 5503: Introduction to AlgorithmsLectured by Prof. Charles Leiserson (one of the coauthors of Introduction to Algorithms) and Prof. Erik Demaine (a brilliant professor who has made remarkable breakthroughs in data science), the course offers great materials, accompanied by intuitive and comprehensive analyses.★★☆UIUC Algorithm Courselecture notes, homeworks, exams, and discussion problems covering a broad range of algorithmic topicsBooksA list of recommended books for competitive programming.☆NameDescription★★☆Competitive Programming, by Steven and Felix HalimThis book contains a collection of relevant data structures, algorithms, and programming tips. It's a well-received book. ... The first edition is free for download (pdf).★★☆Programming Challenges: The Programming Contest Training Manual, by Steven Skiena and Miguel RevillaThis book includes more than 100 programming challenges, as well as the theory and key concepts necessary for approaching them. Problems are organized by topic, and supplemented by complete tutorial material.★★☆Competitive Programmer's Handbook, by Antti Laaksonen (pllk)An introduction to competitive programming for aspiring IOI and ICPC contestants. Free to download (pdf).★★★Looking for a Challenge, written by a group of authors associated with the Polish OlympiadsMost of the problems described in the book are really hard but they are explained in such a way that even beginners can understand. It appears to be out of stock (as of Aug, 2016), but you can reserve one on their official website.★★☆Computational Geometry: Algorithms and Applications, by Mark de Berg, Otfried Cheong, Marc van Kreveld, Mark OvermarsThis is a well-written book which covers a broad range of computational geometry problems.★☆☆The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Programming Contests, by Nite NimajnebThis book is free for download (pdf). This book covers various topics relevant to competitive programming.★★★プログラミングコンテストチャレンジブック (Japanese), by 秋葉拓哉, 岩田陽一, 北川宜稔An absolutely phenomenal book. The contents, organized in a very coherent manner, are nothing short of amazing. ... 培養與鍛鍊程式設計的邏輯腦：世界級程式設計大賽的知識、心得與解題分享 (Chinese Traditional)★★☆算法竞赛入门经典 (Chinese), by 刘汝佳The Art of Algorithms and Programming Contests (English), 打下好基礎：程式設計與演算法競賽入門經典 (Chinese Traditional)★★☆算法竞赛入门经典——训练指南 (Chinese), by 刘汝佳, 陈锋提升程式設計的解題思考力─國際演算法程式設計競賽訓練指南 (Chinese Traditional)★★★算法艺术与信息学竞赛 (Chinese), by 刘汝佳, 黄亮An old-time classic. It's old but the contents in this book are still considered to be very difficult by today's standards.Books for Algorithms☆NameDescription★★★Introduction to Algorithms, by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest and Clifford SteinAlso known as CLRS (taken from name initials), this book is often referred to as the "bible" for algorithms and data structures. It's one of the most popular textbooks for university algorithm courses. This book covered various algorithms and data structures in great detail. The writing is more rigorous and can be difficult to some.★★☆Algorithm Design, by Jon Kleinberg and Éva TardosThis book revolves around techniques for designing algorithms. It's well-organized and written in a clear, understandable language. Each chapter is backed with practical examples and helpful exercises. The chapter on network flow is highly praised by lots. ... The lecture slides that accompany the textbook are available on its official website.★★☆The Algorithm Design Manual, by Steven S. SkienaThe book is written in more readable text. Some find it comprehensive than other books. You can also find some good resources (including the author's own video lectures) on its official website.★★★Algorithms, by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin WayneThis book is neatly categorized, coupled with elaborate explanations and fantastic illustrations. It is used in some IOI training camps as a textbook.Books for Mathematics☆NameDescription★★☆Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications, by Kenneth H. RosenDiscrete Mathematics is closely relevant to competitive programming. This book provides comprehensive materials on a wide range of topics including: Logics and Proofs, Sets, Functions, Sequences, Matrices, Number Theory, Recursion, Counting, Probablity, Graphs, Trees and Boolean Alegra to name but a few.★★☆Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science, by Ronald L. Graham, Donald E. Knuth, Oren PatashnikThe book offers a deeper insight into Discrete Mathematics with more emphases on number-related topics.★★☆Linear Algebra and Its Applications, by David C. Lay, Steven R. Lay, Judi J. McDonaldThe book does a brilliant job at bridging the gap between a physical system (for scientists and engineers) and an abstract system (for mathematicians).★★☆Introduction to Probability, by Charles M. Grinstead, J. Laurie SnellThis is a well-written introductory probabilities book. ... It's free for download (pdf) (released under GNU Free Documentation License).★★☆How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method, by G. PolyaAn old-time classic. In this book, the author provides a systematic way to solve problems creatively.Sites for PracticeGood online judge systems / contest platforms to practice.☆NameDescription★★★CodeforcesCodeforces is one of, if not, the most popular contest platforms out there. Currently maintained by Saratov State University, it features regular contests and countless awesome original problems. Additionally, every contest provides immediate helpful tutorials (usually) written by the authors themselves. Codeforces also houses a strong and engaging community. All in all, one would indeed learn and improve tremendously here.★★★TopcoderTopcoder has been around since 2001. Rich in history, It's considered to be one of the most prestigious organizations when it comes to technology competitions. Hundreds of SRMs gave birth to an abundant problemset. Problems here are typically more challenging than others and Topcoder therefore appeals to many elite programmers. The annual Topcoder Open (TCO) is also a widely-discussed event.★★★Google Code JamGoogle Code Jam is certainly one of the most highly-esteemed programming competitions. The competition consists of unique programming challenges which must be solved in a fixed amount of time. Competitors may use any programming language and development environment to obtain their solutions.★★☆CodeChefCodeChef is a non-profit educational initiative of Directi. It's a global competitive programming platform and has a large community of programmers that helps students and professionals test and improve their coding skills. Its objective is to provide a platform for practice, competition and improvement for both students and professional software developers. Apart from this, it aims to reach out to students while they are young and inculcate a culture of programming in India.★★★SPOJThe SPOJ platform is centered around an online judge system. It holds a staggering amount of problems prepared by its community of problem setters or taken from previous programming contests, some of which are great problems for practice (refer to the Problem classifiers section). SPOJ also allows advanced users to organize contests under their own rules.★★☆TimusTimus Online Judge is the largest Russian archive of programming problems with automatic judging system. Problems are mostly collected from contests held at the Ural Federal University, Ural Championships, Ural ACM ICPC Subregional Contests, and Petrozavodsk Training Camps.★☆☆HDUHDU is an online judge maintained by Hangzhou Dianzi University. It's home to many classic problems from the Chinese IOI scene.★★★AtCoderAtCoder is a new but phenomenal contest platform created by a team of highly-rated Japanese competitive programmers.★★☆Aizu Online JudgeAizu online judge is a contest platform and problem archive hosted by The University of Aizu. It has a lot of great problems from programming competitions in Japan.★★☆UVaAn old-school problem archive / online judge with rich history. Thousands of problems, including many classic ones, are featured here. However, it is strongly advised that you practice with uHunt following its "Competitive Programming Exercise" section.★★☆HackerRankHackerRank is a company that focuses on competitive programming challenges for both consumers and businesses. HackerRank's programming challenges can be solved in a variety of programming languages and span multiple computer science domains.★★☆POJPOJ is an online judge with many great problems maintained by Peking University. Most Chinese competitive programmers began their journey here.★★☆Project EulerProject Euler features a stunning set of good math problems. It also hosts a forum where people can discuss.★☆☆HackerearthHackerEarth is a startup technology company based in Bangalore, India that provides recruitment solutions.★☆☆Caribbean Online JudgeCOJ is hosted by University of Informatics Sciences (UCI, by its acronym in Spanish), located in Cuba. Feature ACM ICPC and Progresive constest styles, mostly from Caribbean and Latin American problem setters, also has problem classifier and contest calendar.★★☆CS AcademyNew in the competitive programming scene, CS Academy is a growing online judge that hosts competitions once every two weeks. It supports live chat, interactive lessons and an integrated online editor (that actually works).★★☆Russian Code CupProgramming competitions powered by Mail.Ru: почта, поиск в интернете, новости, игры Group. Competition consists of 3 qualification, 1 elimination and 1 final rounds. For each round contestants are given 4-8 problems which must be solved in a fixed amount of time.★★☆CodeFightsCodeFights is a website for competitive programming practice and interview preparation. It features daily challenges of varying difficulty, an archive of problems and regular (every 15 minutes) mini-tournaments. Good for beginners.Problem ClassifiersSites classifying programming problems.Choose a category (eg. DP) of interest and practice problems on that topic.☆NameDescription★★★A2 Online JudgeMixed★★★Problem ClassifierSPOJ★★☆UVa Online JudgeCP Book★☆☆Codeforces TagsCF (DP)★★☆HackerRankHackerRank★★☆Juniors Training Sheet, by Mostafa Saad IbrahimSimple problems for newcomers★★☆Lucky貓的 UVA（ACM）園地 (Chinese)UVa★★☆Topcoder problem archiveList of problems with categories and complexity levelsContest CalendarsCalendars for impending programming contests.(Never miss another contest!)☆NameDescription★★★Programming Contest Calendar — HackerRankGoogle Calendar export available★★☆clist.byAPI available for use★★☆Coding Calendar (Android App)★★☆Coder's Calendar: Android App, Chrome Extension, Firefox Add-on★★★CodeHorizon: iOS App, Android AppSites for QuestionsThese are great sites to ask questions.Paste your codes at ideone, pastebin or other sites to avoid formatting issues.☆NameDescription★★★CodeforcesFor quick answers, Codeforces is definitely the go-to place to ask about anything competition-related.★★★Competitive Programming — QuoraYou would typically get more elaborate answers on Quora, but you might not have your questions answered straightaway.★★★Competitive Programming — CommonloungeMost questions get a response in < 30 minutes. Questions can range from beginner simple questions to in-depth questions.★★☆Theoretical Computer Science Stack ExchangeThis place is generally for the academics, so don't ask questions about contest problems here.★★☆Algorithmic Competitive Programming Stack Exchange (proposed)Competitive programming enthusiasts on Stack Exchange are discussing whether to create a new competitive programming Q&A site.ImplementationsAlgorithm & Data structure implementations.☆NameDescription★★★CodeLibrary, by Andrey Naumenko (indy256)CodeLibrary contains a large collection of implementations for algorithms and data structures in Java and C++. You may also visit his GitHub Repository.★★★spaghetti-source/algorithm, by Takanori MAEHARA (@tmaehara)High-quality implementations of many hard algorithms and data structures.★★★kth-competitive-programming/kactl, by Simon Lindholm (simonlindholm) et al.A phenomenally organized, documented and tested team notebook from KTH Royal Institute of Technology. One of the most well-crafted team notebooks (contest libraries) I've ever seen.★★☆jaehyunp/stanfordacmStanford's team notebook is well maintained and the codes within are of high-quality.★★☆ngthanhtrung23/ACM_Notebook_new, by team RR Watameda (I_love_Hoang_Yen, flashmt, nguyenhungtam) from National University of SingaporeRR Watameda represented National University of Singapore for the 2016 ACM-ICPC World Finals. The items in this notebook are pretty standard and well-organized.★★☆bobogei81123/bcw_codebook, by team bcw0x1bd2 (darkhh, bobogei81123, step5) from National Taiwan Universitybcw0x1bd2 represented National Taiwan University for the 2016 ACM-ICPC World Finals. This notebook contains robust implementations for advanced data structures and algorithms.★☆☆foreverbell/acm-icpc-cheat-sheet, by foreverbell (foreverbell)A notebook with some advanced data structures and algorithms including some from the China informatics scene.★☆☆igor's code archive, by Igor Naverniouk (Abednego)A good notebook by Igor Naverniouk who is currently a software engineer at Google and part of the Google Code Jam team.Language SpecificsLanguages and other miscellaneous knowledge.C/C++☆NameDescription★★☆Power up C++ with the Standard Template Library — Topcoder: Part 1, Part 2An introductory tutorial on basic C++ STLs.★★☆Yet again on C++ input/output — CodeforcesLearn more about C++ I/O optimizations.★★☆C++ Tricks — Codeforces ... What are some cool C++ tricks to use in a programming contest? — QuoraPlentiful C++ tricks for competitive programming. Note that some should be used with care.★★★C++ STL: Policy based data structures — Codeforces: Part 1, Part 2Detailed introduction to the extra data structures implemented in GNU C++. The official documentation can be found here.★☆☆C++11 FAQ (English, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean)A list of FAQs regarding C++11 collected and written by Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++.Java☆NameDescription★★☆How to read input in Java — tutorial — CodeforcesLearn how to read input faster. This is a must-read for those who intend to use Java for competitive programming★★☆How to sort arrays in Java and avoid TLE — CodeforcesSome tips on how to avoid hitting the worst case of quick sort★★☆BigNum arithmetic in Java — Let's outperform BigInteger! — CodeforcesA basic but faster custom BigInteger class★★☆EZ Collections, EZ Life (new Java library for contests) — CodeforcesA Java library for contests written by Alexey Dergunov (dalex). ArrayList, ArrayDeque, Heap, Sort, HashSet, HashMap, TreeSet, TreeMap, TreeList and pair classes are implementedMiscellaneous☆NameDescription★★★Bit Twiddling HacksA huge compiled list of bit manipulation tricks.★★★Comparing Floating Point Numbers, 2012 Edition — Random ASCIIEverything you need to know about floating point numbers. A must read especially for geometry topics.★★☆Object-Oriented C Style Languages: C++, Objective-C, Java, C# — a side-by-side reference sheetA detailed side-by-side reference sheet for common syntaxes.ToolsAwesome tools that will make your life easier.IDEs☆NamePlatformDescription★★★VimCLI / Cross-PlatformVim is one of the most popular text editors among advanced programmers. It allows text-editing to be done very efficiently with solely keystrokes. Vim is also highly configurable, extensible and integrates with shells (command lines) really well. The only setback about Vim is that it has a high learning curve for beginners.★★★EmacsCLI / Cross-PlatformEmacs is another popular text editor (or development environment to be more precise). The debate on "Vim vs. Emacs" is constantly brought up due to their popularity. Basically Emacs is more than just a text editor. It has plugins like file managers, web browsers, mail clients and news clients that allows users to performs these tasks directly inside Emacs. Emacs is "heavier" because of this, but it arguably has a relatively easier learning curve for beginners.★★★Far ManagerHybrid / WindowsFar Manager is the most widely-used editor in the RU/CIS competitive programming community. It's actually a file manager in its bare bones, but you can install FarColorer — a syntax highlighter plugin to program on it. Properly configured, Far Manager allows you to navigate between files very efficiently while writing your codes.★★★Code::BlocksGUI / Cross-PlatformCode::Blocks is the go-to IDE for C/C++. It's a full-fledged, versatile IDE with numerous great features. Code::Blocks is usually provided along with Vim in programming contests.★★★IntelliJ IDEAGUI / Cross-PlatformIntelliJ IDEA is certainly one of the best IDEs for Java. It's used by most competitive programmers who use Java as their main language. Be sure to check out CHelper, a very handy plugin written for programming contests.★★☆Sublime TextGUI / Cross-PlatformSublime Text is an extraordinary text editor. Packed with powerful and innovative features like Multiple Carets, Minimaps and Command Palletes, it attracts a strong and engaging community. Sublime Text is highly extensible, so be sure to have Package Control installed and explore perhaps one of the largest catalogue of plugins!★★☆EclipseGUI / Cross-PlatformEclipse is another good IDE for Java. It's an okay alternative to Intellij IDEA (A tad inferior to IDEA by today's standards). Sometimes contests only provide Eclipse for some reason, so this might be a good incentive to try and use Eclipse.★★☆CLionGUI / Cross-PlatformCLion, produced by JetBrains — the same company who made Intellij IDEA, is a powerful IDE for C++. Free educational licenses are available OR you can try out their EAP (Early Access Program)which is still free as of Aug, 2016. You may want to turn off its code inspection feature as it will cause quite a bit of lag.★☆☆Other IDEsMixedVisual Studio is the IDE to use in case you want to code in C#, but beware that it will be a 7GB installation. ... Both Atom and Visual Studio Code are built with Electron (written in JavaScript) and therefore somewhat resource-hogging. ... CodeLite is a newly rising IDE. Beware that the load-up and project-creation times can be extraordinary.Personal use☆NameDescription★★★VisuAlgoA website featuring a large collection of visualization tools for algorithms and data structures.★★★General Practice Helpers: ... CHelper(IntelliJ IDEA) (manual) ... caide (Visual Studio, CodeLite) ... JHelper (AppCode, CLion)Great tools that parse contests, inline library codes and provide testing frameworks. They save you from spending your precious time on switching windows and copy-pasting back and forth.★★☆Codeforces Parsers: ... Codeforces Parser... GoCF ... cfparser (emacs)These tools parse Codeforces contest problems and help run sample tests.★★★The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS)A stunning encyclopedia with a database of countless integer sequences. It also features a powerful search engine. Sometimes a seemingly difficult combinatorics problem could be equivalent to a simple or studied integer sequence.★★☆Syntax Highlighters: ... tohtml.com ... markup.su ... hilite.meVery handy for creating slides or team notebooks with pretty, formatted code snippets. Just copy the highlighted code snippets and paste them in your favorite WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) editor!★★☆Code Sharing: ... Ideone.com ... Pastebin.com ... Ubuntu PastebinThese tools generate semi-permanent pages for code sharing. Very useful especially when you're trying to get someone else to look into your code.★★☆IneffableA simple command-line grader for local grading.★★☆uDebugA platform that provides expected outputs for user-specified inputs to problems on the UVa Online Judge. Some problems also provide additional test cases for debugging.Contest Preparation☆NameDescription★★★polygonpolygon provides a platform and a rich set of tools for professional contest preparation. ... An example: Validators with testlib.h — Codeforces★★☆Graph EditorA fantasic tool to create and visualize graphs.★★☆tcframeA C++ framework for generating test cases of competitive programming problems.★★★Virtual Judge (vjudge)Virtual Judge (vjudge) allows users to create virtual contests with problems from notable problem archives.★★☆BNU Online JudgeBNU Online Judge also allows users to create virtual contests.★★☆KattisKattis assists in contest preparation (E-mail them for assistance).CommunityMeet the god-like competitive programmers!Learn helpful tips, tutorials and insights from these people :)BlogsName (Handle)Blog NameCodeforces blogsPetr Mitrichev (Petr)Algorithms WeeklyMakoto Soejima (rng_58)rng_58's blogBruce Merry (bmerry)Entropy always increasesPrzemysław Dębiak (SomeGuyTookMyHandle)Psyho's blogAnudeep Nekkanti (anudeep2011)Namespace Anudeep ;)vexorian (vexorian)vexorian's blogAshar Fuadi (fushar)Fushar's blogLiJie Chen (WJMZBMR)WJMZBMR (Chinese)Huang I-Wen (doreamon, dreamoon)小月的耍廢日誌 (Chinese)Shiang-Yun Yang (morris1028)Morris' Blog (Chinese)Yuhao Du (TooDifficuIt, TooSimple, xudyh)xudyh (Chinese)Youtube and LivestreamsName (Handle)LinkPetr Mitrichev (Petr)YoutubeEgor Kulikov (Egor)YoutubeAdam Bardashevich (subscriber)YoutubeBohdan Pryshchenko (I_love_Tanya_Romanova)Twitch, YoutubeVladimir Smykalov (enot.1.10)Twitch, YoutubeAleksandar Abas (Alex7)YoutubeMostafa Saad Ibrahim (mostafa.saad.fci)Competitive Programming Youtube (Arabic Speech-English Text)Tushar RoyYoutube, with many tutorial videos.QuoraVisit Competitive Programming — Quora (Top 10 Most Viewed Writers).Important Community FiguresDescriptionBill PoucherExecutive Director of ACM-ICPC. CS Professor at Baylor University.Michal Forišek (misof)Organizer of IPSC and IOI. CS Teacher at Comenius University in Slovakia. Algorithm and CS Education Researcher. Former highly-rated competitive programmer.Ahmed Aly (ahmed_aly)Founder of A2OJ. HackerRank Lead Software Engineer. Former member of the Google Code Jam team.Competitive ProgrammersThanh Trung Nguyen (I_love_Hoang_Yen)Brian Bi (bbi5291)Jonathan Paulson (jonathanpaulson)Miguel Oliveira (mogers)Egor Suvorov (yeputons)Michal Danilák (Mimino)Bohdan Pryshchenko (I_love_Tanya_Romanova)Vladimir Novakovski (vnovakovski)Nick Wu (xiaowuc1)Cosmin NegruseriLalit Kundu (darkshadows)Ashish Kedia (ashish1294)Johnny Ho (random.johnnyh)Joshua Pan (lonerz)Anudeep Nekkanti (anudeep2011)Steven Hao (stevenkplus)Raziman T.V. (razimantv)Other Awesome ResourcesArticlesInformative and helpful articlesSubjectOverview of Programming Contests, by Przemysław Dębiak (Psyho, SomeGuyTookMyHandle)The 'science' of training in competitive programming — Codeforces, by Thanh Trung Nguyen (I_love_Hoang_Yen)If you ask me how to improve your algorithm competition skill, I will give you the link of this blog. — Codeforces, by Huang I-Wen (dreamoon, doreamon)How to prepare for ACM — ICPC? — GeeksforGeeks, by Vishwesh ShrimaliComplete reference to competitive programming — HackerEarth, by Ravi OjhaGetting started with the sport of competitive programming — HackerEarth, by Triveni MahathaFAQsFine answers to frequently-asked questionsQuestionHow do I start competitive programming? — QuoraHow can I become good at competitive programming? — Quora ... What is the best strategy to improve my skills in competitive programming in 2-3 months? — Quora ... What is a good 6 month plan to start and progress through competitive programming? — QuoraHow is competitive programming different from real-life programming? — QuoraWhat have you gained from competitive programming? — QuoraAwesome ListsRelevant awesome listsNameLinkC++ BooksThe Definitive C++ Book Guide and List — Stack OverflowJava BooksWhat are the best books to learn Java? — QuoraAdvanced Java BooksWhat is the best book for advanced Java programming? — QuoraAlgorithmstayllan/awesome-algorithmsAlgorithm Visualizationenjalot/algovisMathrossant/awesome-mathC++fffaraz/awesome-cppJavaakullpp/awesome-javaCoursesprakhar1989/awesome-coursesFree Programming Booksvhf/free-programming-booksInterview QuestionsNameDescriptionCareerCupThe most popular website for software engineering interview preparation.InterviewBitFeatures intriguing and refreshing game-play designs which are designed to invoke one's interest in practicing.Awesome InterviewsA curated list of awesome interview questions

Below is an article I wrote on getting into UX Design via a General Assembly Immersive course. if you want to read it in Medium go hereHow to become a UX Designer at 40 with no digital or design experience!Notes I wish I’d had before becoming a Designer in Sydney.“Not as easy as i thought this design stuff!” (Photo from Unsplash)What is User Experience Design?User Experience Design is the process of enhancing a persons experience with a product or service and involves an understanding of their behaviourto create a successful design.Example: A business has an app, they want the sign-up process to have a great User Experience (UX). You have business requirements. You find the engineers (computer programmers) limitations. You research, collaborate with designers and others. You create ideas and prototypes to test. You develop what is the best, test more and iterate on that. That’s UX.There is a great demand for good UX Designers. If you have no previous digital or design experience don’t panic. I had neither and managed to get into the world of UX. I chose to be a UX Designer because it was creative, in technology and in demand (and I didn’t need to wear a suit to work!). My journey was not easy, I’ve had bumps along the way but I wouldn’t change a thing.If you are willing to work hard, be patient, and work outside your comfort zone, it’s a really exciting career.___________________________________________________________________Your journey into UX DesignTopics I’ll cover:Studying UX Design, the tools to learn, your UX portfolio, getting a job, the UX process, how to design, user testing , people you’ll work with and ongoing learning.___________________________________________________________________1. UX Study On Campus:Bootcamp study provides you with a good foundation of working in User Experience Design. In Sydney General Assembly and Academy Xi are great places to start your UX journey. They don’t fully prepare you for the real world of UX work, but it certainly helps you in the door.General AssemblyGeneral Assembly is in several cities around the world and has a solid reputation. It focuses on short immersive technology learning courses.In Sydney, it has a 10 week, 5 days a week, full-time immersive UX course. They also do a part time course for 10 weeks 2 evenings per week. I suggest if you are serious to move into UX (and have no experience) commit to the immersive 10 week course. Susan Wolfe taught me in Sydney in 2014 and I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher.The 10 week UX Immersive (as of March 2017) : $13,500.00 (AUS)The 10 week part time UX Course (as of March 2017): $5,000.00 (AUS)General Assembly, UX Design (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)Academy XiAcademy Xi is the new kid on the kid on the block in Sydney and they to have a good reputation. They teach full and part time technology courses. In Sydney they have a 10 week full time UX course. They also teach UX Design ina 10 week part time course 10am-4pm on Saturdays.The 10 week UX full time UX Course (as of March 2017) : $10,000.00 (AUS)The 10 week part time UX Course (as of March 2017: $3,500.00 (AUS)Academy Xi, UX Design (Sydney, Melbourne)___________________________________________________________________2. UX Study Online:There are quite a few companies that do UX courses online. For me online wasn’t an option. I wanted to get an immersive experience and learn quickly.A few courses worth a look:SpringboardThis would be my choice if I did an online course tomorrow. You get a mentor and it sets you up for an entry level UX Design job. It is also the best value of the online courses here.The self paced 2–4 month UX Course (as of March 2017): $299.00 per month (USD)www.springboard.comDesign LabI did a UI course with Design Lab and they are great. You get a mentor and the content is substantial.The full time 12 week or part time 24 week UX Course (as of March 2017): $2799.00 (USD)www.trydesignlab.comGeneral AssemblyThere part time course is reasonable value. You get a mentor and can do it outside your working life. I would not advise this if you have no previous experience. They say allow 8–10 hours per week.The self paced 5 week course (as of March 2017) : $850.00 (USD)www.generalassemb.lyCareer FoundryThese guys are bit more pricey but go more in depth.They state it will be 10 months at 15 hours a week study. Looks interesting but is a big commitment.10 month course (as of March 2017): $6000.00 (USD)www.careerfoundry.com___________________________________________________________________3. UX Design Tools:Sketching on paperPick up a pencil or pen, some paper and doodle. Sketching is an important part of UX design. You DO NOT need to be a born artist to be able to sketch meaningful designs. You just need to get in the habit of sketching out ideas, app or web screens and customer journeys. I am not a sketcher or an artist, but getting into the habit of sketching has been invaluable. With sketching you can look at ideas quickly. If they don’t work you can throw them away and get onto the next idea..I recently did a community college course in Sydney to practice cartoon drawing. I am no master but I wanted to create my own style to storyboard ideas. The Napkin Academy would be a great way to start your journey in sketching your ideas.www.napkinacademy.comSketchWhat is Sketch? Sketch is the modern day tool for UX Designers. In days gone by Adobe’s photoshop and illustrator where the tools to use. I never used Adobe’s software so jumped straight into Sketch. This will be slightly daunting at first but just dive in and get going. Go online and do some lessons. Be patient, practice everyday and you’ll get there.www.sketchapp.comSketch lessonsOther options instead of Sketch?New tools called Figma and Adobe XD have some great features. My advice would be to learn Sketch to get started.___________________________________________________________________4. Prototype Tools:There are lots of new prototyping tools coming out all the time. Here is a snapshot of what to learn to get started:Sketching out wireframesThe most simple of prototypes. This is a quick option to get things in front of users. Sketched or printed up designs can be a great way to get some quick user validation on an idea. You can even add sketches to make clickable prototypes with Pop App by Marvel.www.marvelapp.com/popInvisionThis is a great tool for prototyping straight forward web and app journey’s. You design the screens in Sketch and export out and add to Invision. You can then create a clickable prototype. You will not able to do advanced interactions but it is a must learn. Don’t worry if this doesn’t fully make sense at the moment, it will.www.invisionapp.comIntro to InvisionPrinciplePrinciple is a more advanced prototyping tool than Invision. It lets you create great little animations pretty quickly. Don’t learn this until you’ve learned Invision.www.principleformac.comLessons in PrincipleKiteThis is a new tool that could overtake Principle. Essentially it will allow you to do a bit more that Principle can do. Don’t worry about this until you have learned Invision and got a hold of Principle. Just a good one to keep in mind for the future.www.kiteapp.co___________________________________________________________________5. The UX Portfolio:The UX Portfolio is the story of who you are and what you’ve done in your UX career. When I finished at General Assembly I decided to code my portfolio. I enjoyed the process but you DO NOT need to code your own UX portfolio. There are lots of great tools to help you do a great and simple portfolio to tell your story.I will write a fuller article on the UX portfolio at some stage. Make sure you have a brief ‘about’ section with your contact details. Then have your portfolio cases. Document the problem you had to solve for each case and how you solved it. UX Managers will want to see your process. Remember to keep it simple with not to much jargon.My first coded portfolio (excuse the UXGuy title!)PDF DocumentIn many ways, this is a sensible option when you’re starting out. You avoid focusing too much time on the technical side of the portfolio and more on the content and UX. You can design it in Sketch (once you have got your head around Sketch!). It can be done in A4 pages which can then be sent as a PDF to the potential employer.SquarespaceSquarespace has great website portfolio templates you can use off the shelf. Bit of thought is required but the results can be impressive.www.squarespace.comDunkedLike Squarespace Dunked has portfolio website templates where you can add your content without too much trouble.www.dunked.com___________________________________________________________________6. Getting a UX Job:This’ll feel scary. You’ve studied and got your head around some of the tools. You don’t feel like a UX Designer, you feel like an imposter! Everyone started here, don’t panic, feeling like an imposter is part of the journey!LinkedinGet your profile on Linkedin up to date. Put in a simple photo. Give yourself a straight forward intro focused on your strengths. Put in your experience with a snapshot of your roles. Same for your education, plus add any short courses you may have done related to UX.People want to get a snapshot of you on Linkedin, they don’t want to read a book. Keep the bullshit out, write naturally and avoid jargon and buzzwords.Pay for the premium Linkedin if it helps you. You can direct message people with Linked Premium. This can be a great way to talk to a company that you’re keen to work at.Good Tip: Message UX designers to ask questions about work at their company. This can be a great way to get in the door.Meet Union PacificPhoto from We are what we do | Meetup: Tech Talks at Pivotal Labs, SydneyGive them your email for regular news and updates for your area. When you go to a meet up, ask questions, say hi to people, be open. I am not a big crowd person but you need to meet people, this could be the door you need.UX Design Meet Ups in SydneyGood Tip: set up a new email for all your UX stuff. This will mean it will not get lost in your sea of regular emails. Avoid being [email protected], just have your name or something close. I had UXGuy and it pains me to see it now!RecruitersPhoto from Hello Erik - Service Design ProfessionalRecruiters are good and bad. Stay away from recruiters who don’t know what UX is. If the role includes coding forget it. If you’ll be the only UX Designer at the company, don’t bother. If like me you have no previous experience, find somewhere that’ll have good people to mentor you. It is nice to get offers from recruiters, but do your research.The InterviewThere is a great article by Springboard about the questions you’ll be asked at a UX interview. Read up and be prepared.www.medium.com/the-7-questions-youll-be-asked-at-a-ux-design-interview___________________________________________________________________7. UX Process:What is the UX process?The UX process is the structure that UX Designers follow to get a desired outcome.Research > Insights > Design Concepts > Test Prototypes > DevelopThere are many variations to the UX process. Typically there is a common sense A to Z journey to get the outcome. My advice would be to look at the options and create your own process. Not all projects will use the full journey, but it’s great to have a structure to follow.Work for a business that follows a UX processMany businesses don’t follow a UX process. They don’t see it as important. Working for companies with no process will make life tough. I did this for a UX contract when I started and it was no fun. It did nonetheless teach me what not to do!Work for a business with a UX process, as you will learn so much more. A mature UX business will really give you a great start to your UX career.Do a side project and go through your full UX processA side project can be great for your learning. Once completed you can add it to your portfolio. A side project could be a re-design of an existing website or app, provided you are solving a genuine problem. Or you could work for a business that can’t afford a full time UX Designer but would like some help.UX booksHere are some great books to get started in UX Design:The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman2. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk3. Don’t Make Me Think (revisted) by Steve Krug4. Simple and Usable: Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design by Giles Colborne5. Smashing UX Design by Jesmond J. Allen and James J. Chudley6. The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garret7. A Project Guide To User Experience Design by By Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler8. Sketching User Experiences by By Saul Greenberg, Sheelagh Carpendale, Nicolai Marquardt and Bill Buxton9. Universal Principles of Design by By William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler10. Designing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen11. Measuring the User Experience by Tom Tullis and Bill Albert___________________________________________________________________8. How to Design:Don’t be precious with your designsOne great trait of a designer is to be flexible. Don’t get attached to your designs. You need to be able to throw them away if they don’t work.Embrace failure of your designs, it means you are one step closer to reaching the end goal.Don’t be scared to get feedbackGet up from your desk and talk to designers, developers, managers, whoever. My experience is that if you talk to five people at least one comes up with great feedback. The quicker you do this, the quicker you can fail and go on to create a great experience.Talk to developersYou need to confirm with the developers that what you have designed can be developed and how long it’ll take. Normally this would be done at the sketching stage but be sure to confirm when designed. When showing stakeholders you want to be able to clearly state that your designs can be developed and the time it will take. Gaining trust from stakeholders by having this information is invaluable.Concept DesigningIt’s great doing concept work for a project if you have time. This is a good way to stay inspired and some of the work may filter through to get developed. My advice would be to do designs that disrupt what is being done. This can open the innovative culture in your team. I don’t do enough of this, but I can see the value and plan to do more.___________________________________________________________________9. User Testing:User testing is a crucial part of the UX process. Get into some user testing yourself to see the process. At Tabcorp we have a great UX Research team. They give us great direction in how we should test our designs, to get the best insights.Great free e-book on testing: www.uxpin.com/guide-to-usability-testing___________________________________________________________________10. People you’ll work with:Be thoughtful of your fellow designersGive positive feedback. When something seems odd maybe “looks great but might be worth looking at the option of…”. Never makes sense to trample on someones designs, doesn’t benefit anyone.UX ResearchersUX researchers will organize and often do the user testing. If you need to get prototypes to UX Researchers be thoughtful. They may have lots of different prototypes so make their life easy. Check the prototype links on test day to make sure all is in order. If you are testing beta sites then make sure everything is in order. The research team does such an important job, so it’s worth keeping them onside.Choose your battles and learn to fightAs a UX Designer you need to fight your corner.“If you don’t battle you’ll end up a UI Designer”(wise words from an old colleague of mine)There will come a time when the business wants to do something that is bad for the customer. Go to battle with stats, testing results or any info that provides proof that it’ll be a problem. Your opinion alone will not be enough, so be prepared. Andrew Doherty (a designer at Google) writes a brilliant article about being prepared to fight:www.medium.com/good-ux-designers-must-be-prepared-to-fight-Choose your allies wiselyOnce you’re settled into your new job, find your allies. These are the ones you can ask the stupid questions to. It’s so important to have a few go to people who can help you out when needed. I have a few people at Tabcorp that can always help me out when I need.Don’t miss out on lunches with your teamAny chance you get to do social stuff with the team do it. This is a great time to make some mates at your work. Creating relationships with your colleagues is key to making the team work well together.No doesn’t always mean ‘No’Ask a team lead if something can be developed, they may say ‘no’. Ask a developer the same question and they may say ‘yes’. Different people in the business have different priorities. A team lead may be saying no because of a time constraint. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, so ask a few people before you park a great idea.Get up from your desk and talk to peopleInsights can come from anywhere. You normally don’t find them looking at your computer screen. The real insights come when you talk to people in the kitchen, at their desk or at the pub. Be open to peoples ideas from a top manager to a developer intern. Everyone’s voice is important, so keep your ears pricked!___________________________________________________________________11. Ongoing Learning & Staying Inspired:Find UX mentorsPeople who have lots of experience are gold. I have a few friends who are gold but I don’t use them enough. Experienced designers are great mentors. They are also very giving. Chose the people that you want to be like and learn from them.Have a strategy to stay inspired“It’s easy to be creative but more difficult to stay inspired.”I read the above quote on Medium but forget who wrote it. It could have been Julie Zhuo, from Facebook. There are lots of online resources to keep you inspired. I use Panda which a great Chrome plug in which lets you flick through lots of different tech and design news. I spend 15 mins a day flicking through news. Any articles that interest me, I save them and read later. UX Weekly and Sidebar are also good resources.Go to ConferencesThis is a great way to get out of the office and refresh. Going to conferences or workshops can be inspiring. You meet new faces and with that comes new ideas.Carry on learningThis is a must as a designer. You are always learning and always growing.Read medium articles, on your Kindle or on your computer. Don’t stick to just UX Design. Read about programming, product management and other areas that you work with. Great to get some insights on what is happening around you. Take short courses that fit with your life. When you are at your desk instead of listening to music try a few podcasts instead. This is a great way to learn and work. Product Hunt have a great list of design podcasts that are worth listening to.___________________________________________________________________12. Final words:Use Android & Apple phoneLearn the patterns of these two operating systems. If you are an Apple user then switch to Android and vice versa. Get a feel for what you don’t know. Look at Google’s Material Design guidelines and Apples iOS ones.ListenTo become a good UX Designer you need to listen. Lots of listening and noting down comments.Avoid JargonThe tech world has too much jargon for me. Too many buzzwords and not enough straightforward talk. Say things as they are and you should make good headway.Have humility & fail fastThis is a great quality for any designer. Humility comes from being humble. Being humble allows you to fail fast.Be authentic & don’t bullshitThis is a life rule. You are never the smartest one in the room in a tech company. If you attempt to know more than you know, you’ll get yourself in a pickle. People can see through it so keep yourself honest. If you don’t know something, you can get back to people once you’ve figured it out.A must read article for new DesignersAlana Brajdic (a fellow UX designer at Tabcorp) has a great article on ‘22 things new UX Designers should know before entering the workplace’. Make sure you read it.Alana’s articleConclusionHaving UX Designer as your job title is easy. Getting your head around the full process takes time. Study, learn the tools, read lots, do projects, get your portfolio out there and get a job. Once you have a job this is when the learning really starts. Enjoy the journey as it is a unique time to be a UX designer. Good luck!For further learning have a read of my article ’53 Tech Terms you need to know as a UX Designer’