I use Sketch, Principle app, Figma, Invision, XD for design, prototyping and wireframes.

Adobe Creative Suite I use for visual design and video production.

SublimeText, Atom or VisualStudio I use for coding SCSS, HTML and JavaScript.

Sometimes I also use Xcode or AndroidStudio as they come handy in testing and seeing tech limitations that may arise in development and design.

My main title & occupation is UX/UI Designer. 

At first I started creating flash animated websites, regular web interface and web design layouts, presentations, graphic designs, banners, posters, logotypes, branding was what I did in the beginning which later evolved into my User Experience profession.

Depends on what design we are talking about.

In UX the most important is that the end result is scalable, measurable and that the product or designed feature meets users & company needs.

Only by working together with the development, management and with our users in mind we can provide a scalable solutions which brings the value and sustains the growth.

Being data driven is very important. 

To be able to measure and have input which can help to make more accurate decisions to tackle the product is key, though without the logic and understanding basics of human perception, psychology, conditioning and behaviour it is almost impossible to take an accurate decision or even perform an AB or usability test in the most efficient way.

When it comes to numbers it is always a human mind assuming and analysing results in particular setting and taking decision on the data input in that moment and that is important to keep in mind. Each research or data conclusion will ideally require a dedicated test to get the most accurate results.

Team work is very important for me because without skilled people you trust and collaboration there is no good product or good energy which gives the life to work. 

I learned and keep on learning so much while working with others every day.

Even though I can lead and inspire others I’m always focused and agile to be able to notice and learn in every new human interaction. 

Communication is the key.

Listening and being direct is a way I like to follow in order to take care of my team. It is very important to maintain and evolve together to create best environment for trust and growth possibilities.

Being attentive and helpful, offering yourself to assist in any way you can is also proven to be very productive, inspiring and create a good overall vibe with people you work with.

In my teams and to my clients over the past years I've been suggesting the use of NVC (Nonviolent Communication) model coined by Marshall Rosenberg. It is the model of communication which is based on human needs which drive every human interaction and it helps a lot in understanding the users needs and in creation of personas for the product discovery.

In my experience small workshops & different team activities where the knowledge can be shared and where people can inspire each other is very beneficial too.

In my opinion a UX & UI designer needs to know some of the coding as well.

The designer does not need to be the developer but in order to understand what can be made a constant feedback, communication and updating the knowledge of the frontend and also a backend is very welcome as it can help a lot in designing different UX flow as well as UI components especially in agile projects.

Here is one article I wrote about using predefined components libraries like Material UI and in this other article called User Sight I explained the importance of design quality & development in constant product delivery.

That depends on the project.

I don’t have a strict pattern as each project is unique and each setting has it’s own needs which means that it may require a different method and approach.

Something which is considered to be “best practice” may and will be proven to be not so effective in some other environments and projects.

That is a hard question…

In my understanding the great UX is the one created considering user needs and when I say user needs I mean the whole package not only the enduser which we call “consumer” but actually the whole thing. 

The users in the process are also the management and the developers as well. It is a hard task to combine all the values from all the angles and put them into one unified experience but that is also a beauty and challenge which comes with the UX profession.

Overall, the smoother the flow is and more the product is needed to exist for the end users on which ultimately it depends on, the better and easier the experience can be created and measured.

Scalability, agility, simplicity and trust counts in the product and is one of the values for me.

We are all good to talk about accepted and already tested "best practices" and the "safe approaches" in the industry that no one can debate on, but when it comes to innovation and reality we always need to stop tapping ourselves on the back how virtues we think we are or how "great" our product is and focus on what actually can be accomplished and improved in real time with the actual environment and conditions that we face in the moment.

There are many bad UX examples in the world which can easily be detected by simple lack the focus on user experience or the interface... on the other hand there are many bad practices which are heavily focused around users and big companies are not immune to it and sometimes they even contribute in creating it. 

What can seam like "no brainer" UX or UI which can look like an error is in fact the desired design and business solution which I don't think provides a trustworthy user experience in a long run but seams to work in providing the instant value for businesses. 

Read more in my article Evil UX.

Good UI should be easy to use. 

Simple. 

"Don’t make me think, sort of the thing", and this also could apply on most UX work as well.

Unlikely the UX & UI the graphic design is a bit more free.

An effective Key Visual to me can be done with much more freedom as the image of the overall visual sends the message almost instantaneously on site and maybe for that same reason Key Visuals (main promo images on site) often sell the product.

I would use the saying that ”the picture speak more than words” and if you get the message in first 3 seconds of seeing the image then I consider that to be a good sell.

A good logotype is a simple, scalable and conceptual one. Needs to work as a standalone symbol & in different setups as well. 

Easy to recognise, memorise & apply on different mediums.

I have a lot of experience with Wordpress though I prefer having a customised CMS, or writting own code instead of using plugins and depending on the external third party updates, that is why for my website I decided to create the code myself.

There are many benefits for creating own code or platform for SEO and scalability reasons, though every project has different needs and compromises to take in consideration.

However if you are stuck with the Wordpress and would like to make it look nicer I highly recommend to try using Oxygen plugin or DIVI theme as it will simplify work for you in the lack of frontend development.

I do create design systems for different purposes both for external products which we often call consumer / custumer oriented as well as internal libraries for different operational needs for technical staff or internal users for b2b products.

Both systems need different approach as they are tailored to accommodate different needs for most efficient usage and results.