#1% better
Articles tagged with #1% better, part of Rich McNabb's ongoing writing work.
Molly’s love of books & her fall from grace
When a library fine landed with my name on it instead of hers, my 15 year old had to find her own way out of an $80 mess, and back into everyone's good books, including her own, without help. No lecture, just what actually happened next.
How to advance early on in your UX/UI design career
Relax, this isn't a "buy my course" article, I promise you. No funnel, no upsell waiting at the end, just what's genuinely worked for me across almost 20 years of working as a UX/UI designer. Just what I wish someone had told me earlier on.
Ranked: 30+ best stand-up comedy specials to stream
One person, a microphone, and an hour to win over a room full of strangers, there's something captivating about a great stand-up special. Here's a personal, ranked list of 30+ of the best, crowd-pleasers to career-defining sets.
How one wrong booking ended up with five cards on the table
Everyone has values. Few people can actually name their own core values without stopping to think hard about it. Here's how one wrong online booking led me to finally find mine, and why I wish I'd done it sooner. A five minute exercise that.
Designing a four-metre high art gallery wall in my stairwell
A year and a half in the making: 50 album covers, custom framing, and a four-metre gallery wall built from scratch in my stairwell. Here's how the whole thing actually came together, one frame and one wall bracket at a time.
How I’m wired: ENFJ, CliftonStrengths & pattern recognition
Personality tests are one of those things hiring managers love to ask about. Rather than hunting through old emails every time, here's how my ENFJ result, CliftonStrengths top 10, and neurodivergent thinking all point the same way.
10-step UX/UI design process to deliver products people love
"What's your design process?" I get asked this constantly, and for years I genuinely didn't have a real answer. This is the exact 10-step process I finally wrote down, from initial brief through to final delivery to a client.
Claude Assist: Rebuilding my UX/UI design portfolio no-code
Six weeks of nights and weekends, hundreds of AI prompts, and one very old, PHP-patched website. Here's everything I learned rebuilding my UX/UI portfolio from the ground up, no-code, on WordPress. Every mistake included, nothing glossed.
9 design documentaries & movies to add to your watchlist
Nine documentaries about design, creativity and craft that are genuinely worth your time, covering graphic design, typography, urban planning, advertising and indie game development from people who obsess over the details.
Surf workout: Strength, weight training & cardio endurance
How I built my own surf strength training routine from scratch after a shoulder injury, the actual workout, the gear that matters, and what changed once I stopped chasing goals and built systems. No shortcuts, just a proper, structured.
Surf workout: Flexibility, stretching & mobility training
Improve mobility and recovery with surf-specific stretches, a minimal home gym setup, and small daily habits, like cold showers and surf skateboarding, that genuinely stick once motivation fades. Built around what actually works, not just.
Designers “should”… choose their own adventure
A pushback on the "designers should" genre of advice, this one included. Whether it's coding, degrees or portfolios, here are some honest alternatives to help you make up your own mind instead of following someone else's rulebook.
Attractions & Activities: Exploring Wellington, New Zealand
When friends and family fly in from overseas, this is the list I actually send them, the best places to eat, where to find good craft beer and a decent coffee, and what genuinely fills a few days in Wellington, New Zealand.
How to brew the perfect cup of tea
Boil water, add tea, wait, done. It should be simple, but watch how differently people actually make a pot of tea and you'll quickly see it isn't. Here's the step-by-step French press method a good friend taught me years ago.
32 UX certifications: Interaction Design Foundation courses
After almost 20 years in UX/UI, I wanted some formal qualifications behind me. 32 courses in with the Interaction Design Foundation, covering everything from design thinking and research through to AI, accessibility and mobile UX.
Where to buy vinyl records in-store & online in New Zealand
Real Groovy offers points on every purchase and free shipping over $100, New Zealand's largest supplier of new and used music since 1981. A guide to where to actually buy vinyl records in New Zealand, in-store and online.
How to make the perfect Espresso Martini
I met Angus while we were both working at HazardCo back in 2020. Little did I know he'd end up giving me his go-to Espresso Martini recipe, equal parts vodka, espresso and Kahlúa, shaken hard for the best result every time.
Best fonts when designing mobile apps, websites & dashboards
These are the fonts professional designers keep coming back to, again and again, to convey style, tone, emotion and readability. The serif and sans-serif typefaces that actually earn a place in real projects, with the history behind each.
Baked chicken recipe based on the KFC 11 herbs & spices
These are the fonts professional designers keep coming back to, again and again, to convey style, tone, emotion and readability. The serif and sans-serif typefaces that actually earn a place in real projects, with the history behind each.
Books that challenged & fundamentally reshaped how I think
These books aren't really about the industries they're set in, they're about the people behind them: founders who bootstrapped from nothing, a cartoonist who turned failure into a career. A reading list that genuinely reshaped how I think.
Home office purchases to improve your work-life balance
A pair of noise-cancelling headphones picked up a few years ago changed how I work more than I expected. A personal, honest list of the purchases that actually made a difference to how I work, stay healthy and properly switch off.
Questions I ask when applying & interviewing for UX roles
The questions I actually ask when interviewing for a UX/UI design role, plus the frameworks, from the three lenses of innovation through to the double diamond, that shape how I work once hired. Questions that reveal more than a resume ever.
Things I’m thankful for in 2019: Surfing, friends & travel
It's only when you pause and properly look back that you realise how many memories got packed into a single year. Reflecting on the moments that made 2019 unforgettable, surfing in Wales, six countries, a new album, and turning 40.
Taking two months off work over the summer school holidays
Every school holidays, I take at least a week off instead of putting the kids into holiday programs or after-school care. Here's how Molly, Charlie and I sit down together and plan what we get up to. No holiday programs, just time actually.
Homemade muesli recipe with superfoods for surfing trips
Most breakfasts don't fail because they're complicated, they fail because they require thinking when you're not ready to think yet. This baked muesli recipe with superfoods solves that, made once, ready for a week of early surf mornings.
Design websites & mobile apps with 4px/8px baseline grids
How I use a 4px/8px baseline grid alongside a traditional typographic scale to create consistent, well-structured layouts across both web and mobile design, without second-guessing spacing decisions on every single screen.
What my ideal Product Design UX/UI role would look like
"What's the problem you're trying to solve?" That's usually my first question when exploring a new opportunity, and honestly, the answer carries a lot of weight. Here's what my ideal Product Design UX/UI role would actually look like.
UX/UI Basics for designing apps & websites people love
"Where am I?" Always indicate active navigation states. A quick, practical reference covering the core principles of UX and UI design, from information architecture and affordances through to signifiers and genuinely useful testing.
Designing two custom geometric typefaces from the ground up
Two free geometric fonts built 30 minutes at a time. One inspired by modular Lego-like shapes, the other by Herbert Bayer's 1925 universal typeface, both released free to download, use, and adapt for personal or commercial work.
Small collection of logo design & brand identity projects
Logo design isn't my primary service, but it's something I genuinely enjoy doing. Over the years I've taken on the occasional branding project alongside my core UX/UI work, plus a few personal ones just for the fun of it.