“Never, ever hire for JavaScript framework skills. Instead, interview and hire only for fundamentals like web standards, accessibility, modern CSS, semantic HTML, and Web Components.” — Alex Russell
Quick Hit #16 originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.
Almost missed that the WP Twenty Twenty-Five theme was approved a couple weeks ago.
Quick Hit #15 originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.
Invitations have evolved far beyond traditional printed cards. With the advent of digital tools and technologies, it’s now easier than ever to learn how to make digital invitations that are both beautiful and impactful. These digital invitations can be just as stunning as their physical counterparts, and the best part is that you can design them with minimal effort.
Before we dive into how to make digital invitations, let’s first understand why digital invitations are a great choice:
Creating digital invitations might seem like a daunting task, but with the right approach, it’s simple. Here’s how to make digital invitations in a few easy steps:
The first step in learning how to make digital invitations is to choose the right tool. There are many online platforms and apps, such as invitation maker, that allow you to design invitations with minimal effort. Look for a tool that offers a variety of templates, easy-to-use customization options, and the ability to send invitations directly through email or social media.
Some popular tools include:
One of the biggest advantages of using digital invitation tools is the availability of templates. Templates simplify the design process, providing a pre-designed structure that you can customize to suit your event.
When selecting a template, consider the following:
Once you’ve selected a template, it’s time to make it your own. Customization is key to learning how to make digital invitations that are unique and personalized.
Here are some elements you can customize:
One of the benefits of learning how to make digital invitations is the ability to add interactive elements. These features can enhance the overall experience for your guests:
Now that you know how to make digital invitations, let’s discuss some best practices to ensure your invitations are visually stunning:
Less is often more when it comes to design. Avoid overcrowding your invitation with too much text or too many images. Focus on the key information and keep the design clean and simple. This not only makes the invitation look more elegant but also makes it easier for your guests to read and understand.
The quality of images can make or break your invitation’s design. Always use high-resolution images to avoid any pixelation or blurriness. Whether you’re adding a personal photo or a graphic, ensure it’s clear and sharp.
Consistency is key in design. Use the same fonts, colors, and styles throughout the invitation to create a cohesive look. This not only makes your invitation look more professional but also helps reinforce the theme of your event.
Good spacing is essential for readability. Ensure there’s enough white space between different elements, such as text, images, and borders. This makes the invitation look more organized and easier on the eyes.
Before sending out your digital invitations, double-check all the details. Make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors and that all the event information is accurate. A simple mistake can cause confusion and reflect poorly on your event.
Once you’ve mastered how to make digital invitations, it’s time to send them out to your guests. Most digital invitation tools allow you to send invitations directly through their platform, via email, or by sharing a link on social media.
Email is one of the most common methods for sending digital invitations. When sending via email, consider the following tips:
If your event is open to a broader audience, consider sharing your invitation on social media. You can post it on your personal or business pages, or even create a dedicated event page.
Most digital invitation tools offer RSVP tracking features, which allow you to see who has responded to your invitation. This makes it easy to keep track of your guest list and follow up with anyone who hasn’t replied.
Learning how to make digital invitations doesn’t have to be a complicated or time-consuming process. With the right tools and a few simple design principles, you can create beautiful invitations that impress your guests and set the tone for your event. Whether you’re hosting a wedding, a birthday party, or a corporate event, digital invitations offer a convenient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly way to invite your guests.
By following these steps and best practices, you can create digital invitations that are not only visually appealing but also easy to design, ensuring your event is a success from the very start.
Featured image by Ephe N on Unsplash
The post How to Make Digital Invitations: A Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on noupe.
I was recently asked by a student to help with a seemingly simple problem. She’d been working on a website for a coffee shop that sports a sticky header, and she wanted the hero section right underneath that header to span the rest of the available vertical space in the viewport.
Here’s a visual demo of the desired effect for clarity.
Looks like it should be easy enough, right? I was sure (read: overconfident) that the problem would only take a couple of minutes to solve, only to find it was a much deeper well than I’d assumed.
Before we dive in, let’s take a quick look at the initial markup and CSS to see what we’re working with:
<body>
<header class="header">Header Content</header>
<section class="hero">Hero Content</section>
<main class="main">Main Content</main>
</body>
.header {
position: sticky;
top: 0; /* Offset, otherwise it won't stick! */
}
/* etc. */
With those declarations, the .header will stick to the top of the page. And yet the .hero element below it remains intrinsically sized. This is what we want to change.
The Low-Hanging Fruit
The first impulse you might have, as I did, is to enclose the header and hero in some sort of parent container and give that container 100vh to make it span the viewport. After that, we could use Flexbox to distribute the children and make the hero grow to fill the remaining space.
<body>
<div class="container">
<header class="header">Header Content</header>
<section class="hero">Hero Content</section>
</div>
<main class="main">Main Content</main>
</body>
.container {
height: 100vh;
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
}
.hero {
flex-grow: 1;
}
/* etc. */
This looks correct at first glance, but watch what happens when scrolling past the hero.
See the Pen Attempt #1: Container + Flexbox [forked] by Philip.
The sticky header gets trapped in its parent container! But.. why?
If you’re anything like me, this behavior is unintuitive, at least initially. You may have heard that sticky is a combination of relative and fixed positioning, meaning it participates in the normal flow of the document but only until it hits the edges of its scrolling container, at which point it becomes fixed. While viewing sticky as a combination of other values can be a useful mnemonic, it fails to capture one important difference between sticky and fixed elements:
A position: fixed element doesn’t care about the parent it’s nested in or any of its ancestors. It will break out of the normal flow of the document and place itself directly offset from the viewport, as though glued in place a certain distance from the edge of the screen.
Conversely, a position: sticky element will be pushed along with the edges of the viewport (or next closest scrolling container), but it will never escape the boundaries of its direct parent. Well, at least if you don’t count visually transform-ing it. So a better way to think about it might be, to steal from Chris Coyier, that “position: sticky is, in a sense, a locally scoped position: fixed.” This is an intentional design decision, one that allows for section-specific sticky headers like the ones made famous by alphabetical lists in mobile interfaces.
See the Pen Sticky Section Headers [forked] by Philip.
Okay, so this approach is a no-go for our predicament. We need to find a solution that doesn’t involve a container around the header.
Fixed, But Not Solved
Maybe we can make our lives a bit simpler. Instead of a container, what if we gave the .header element a fixed height of, say, 150px? Then, all we have to do is define the .hero element’s height as height: calc(100vh - 150px).
See the Pen Attempt #2: Fixed Height + Calc() [forked] by Philip.
This approach kinda works, but the downsides are more insidious than our last attempt because they may not be immediately apparent. You probably noticed that the header is too tall, and we’d wanna do some math to decide on a better height.
Thinking ahead a bit,
.header’s children need to wrap or rearrange themselves at different screen sizes or grow to maintain legibility on mobile?All of these things could subtly change the .header’s ideal size, and chasing the right height values for each scenario has the potential to spiral into a maintenance nightmare of unmanageable breakpoints and magic numbers — especially if we consider this needs to be done not only for the .header but also the .hero element that depends on it.
I would argue that this workaround also just feels wrong. Fixed heights break one of the main affordances of CSS layout — the way elements automatically grow and shrink to adapt to their contents — and not relying on this usually makes our lives harder, not simpler.
So, we’re left with…
A Novel Approach
Now that we’ve figured out the constraints we’re working with, another way to phrase the problem is that we want the .header and .hero to collectively span 100vh without sizing the elements explicitly or wrapping them in a container. Ideally, we’d find something that already is 100vh and align them to that. This is where it dawned on me that display: grid may provide just what we need!
Let’s try this: We declare display: grid on the body element and add another element before the .header that we’ll call .above-the-fold-spacer. This new element gets a height of 100vh and spans the grid’s entire width. Next, we’ll tell our spacer that it should take up two grid rows and we’ll anchor it to the top of the page.
This element must be entirely empty because we don’t ever want it to be visible or to register to screen readers. We’re merely using it as a crutch to tell the grid how to behave.
<body>
<!-- This spacer provides the height we want -->
<div class="above-the-fold-spacer"></div>
<!-- These two elements will place themselves on top of the spacer -->
<header class="header">Header Content</header>
<section class="hero">Hero Content</section>
<!-- The rest of the page stays unaffected -->
<main class="main">Main Content</main>
</body>
body {
display: grid;
}
.above-the-fold-spacer {
height: 100vh;
/* Span from the first to the last grid column line */
/* (Negative numbers count from the end of the grid) */
grid-column: 1 / -1;
/* Start at the first grid row line, and take up 2 rows */
grid-row: 1 / span 2;
}
/* etc. */
This is the magic ingredient.
By adding the spacer, we’ve created two grid rows that together take up exactly 100vh. Now, all that’s left to do, in essence, is to tell the .header and .hero elements to align themselves to those existing rows. We do have to tell them to start at the same grid column line as the .above-the-fold-spacer element so that they won’t try to sit next to it. But with that done… ta-da!
See the Pen The Solution: Grid Alignment [forked] by Philip.
The reason this works is that a grid container can have multiple children occupying the same cell overlaid on top of each other. In a situation like that, the tallest child element defines the grid row’s overall height — or, in this case, the combined height of the two rows (100vh).
To control how exactly the two visible elements divvy up the available space between themselves, we can use the grid-template-rows property. I made it so that the first row uses min-content rather than 1fr. This is necessary so that the .header doesn’t take up the same amount of space as the .hero but instead only takes what it needs and lets the hero have the rest.
Here’s our full solution:
body {
display: grid;
grid-template-rows: min-content 1fr;
}
.above-the-fold-spacer {
height: 100vh;
grid-column: 1 / -1;
grid-row: 1 / span 2;
}
.header {
position: sticky;
top: 0;
grid-column-start: 1;
grid-row-start: 1;
}
.hero {
grid-column-start: 1;
grid-row-start: 2;
}
And voila: A sticky header of arbitrary size above a hero that grows to fill the remaining visible space!
Caveats and Final Thoughts
It’s worth noting that the HTML order of the elements matters here. If we define .above-the-fold-spacer after our .hero section, it will overlay and block access to the elements underneath. We can work around this by declaring either order: -1, z-index: -1, or visibility: hidden.
Keep in mind that this is a simple example. If you were to add a sidebar to the left of your page, for example, you’d need to adjust at which column the elements start. Still, in the majority of cases, using a CSS Grid approach is likely to be less troublesome than the Sisyphean task of manually managing and coordinating the height values of multiple elements.
Another upside of this approach is that it’s adaptable. If you decide you want a group of three elements to take up the screen’s height rather than two, then you’d make the invisible spacer span three rows and assign the visible elements to the appropriate one. Even if the hero element’s content causes its height to exceed 100vh, the grid adapts without breaking anything. It’s even well-supported in all modern browsers.
The more I think about this technique, the more I’m persuaded that it’s actually quite clean. Then again, you know how lawyers can talk themselves into their own arguments? If you can think of an even simpler solution I’ve overlooked, feel free to reach out and let me know!
Are you running your dropshipping eCommerce business in the EU? Then you should’ve heard about the General Data Protection Regulation.
Whether you’re already established or just launching your dropshipping business in the EU, it is important that you comply with the GDPR regulations. No matter how big or small your business is, if it handles the personal data of EU citizens, GDPR applies to it.
Your website might use cookies to collect information from your site visitors, which could risk your compliance with GDPR. In this article, we will show you how to ensure GDPR cookie compliance for your WooCommerce Dropshipping business. We will also outline the essential steps to achieve full compliance with GDPR.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the principal data protection regulation passed by the European Union on May 25, 2018. The law aims to protect the privacy rights of individuals and the personal data they share with businesses.
Below are the eight rights that GDPR grants to every EU consumer:
Complying with GDPR is very crucial for any business that operates in the EU and/or handles the personal data of EU citizens. This applies to dropshipping businesses, too.
Now, let’s have a detailed look at why GDPR is important for dropshipping businesses:
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal obligation for businesses operating in the EU and collects the personal data of EU citizens. Not complying with GDPR could cost you hefty fines, such as €20 million or 4% of the company’s global annual revenue, whichever is higher.
To date, Meta has received the highest fine for GDPR violation, which is €1.2 billion. To avoid such huge fines, it is important that your dropshipping business should also comply with the GDPR guidelines.
GDPR guides businesses to follow better data handling processes for your business. By complying with GDPR, dropshipping stores are encouraged to collect only the minimum data required for order fulfillment and to implement robust security measures to protect that data.
People are concerned about their privacy in the online space. By complying with GDPR, you can show your commitment to protecting the privacy of your customers. This will build your brand reputation and help you gain the trust of your customers.
GDPR holds businesses accountable for their data collection practices. It requires businesses to be transparent about what data they collect, why they collect it, and how long it will be retained.
GDPR compliance has raised market standards, making it essential for businesses that sell products or services to follow its regulations. If you hesitate, you could face hefty fines and lose potential customers. Even people outside the EU look for GDPR-compliant alternatives, seeing them as a badge of trust and responsibility.
Cookies are small text files that websites place on a visitor’s browser to collect data and track their activities on the internet. Since cookies collect information from site visitors it also affects your GDPR compliance.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires businesses to obtain prior consent from users for collecting or processing their personal data. The consent should be freely given, specific and should be given with affirmative action, such as checking a checkbox or enabling a toggle button. This means pre-ticked cookie notices and opt-out consent mechanisms don’t comply with GDPR.
Businesses should inform users about their use of cookies through a cookie policy. This cookie policy should include the types and categories of cookies used, their purposes and duration, and the third parties that may access the data collected by the cookies.
Given that the GDPR is a comprehensive set of regulations with the potential for future changes, maintaining compliance is a proactive and ongoing process. Businesses should stay informed about any new developments in the regulations and regularly audit their data collection practices to ensure continued compliance.
If you are running your dropshipping business on a WooCommerce store, refer to the step-by-step guide below to ensure your website’s cookie compliance.
The GDPR Cookie Consent plugin by WebToffee is a native cookie consent solution for WordPress websites. It lets you comply with major privacy laws, such as the GDPR, CCPA, CNIL, LGPD, etc. when using cookies on your website.
After purchasing the plugin, you will receive an email to download the plugin zip file. You can also download the plugin file from the My account page of their website.
The other options on this page might not be relevant to you, choose them if necessary.
Refer to these cookie banner examples to customize your cookie banner and make it appealing.
After making the necessary changes, click on Update settings to save the settings.
Your website will now have an active cookie banner based on GDPR cookie compliance requirements.
From this banner, your site visitors can accept or reject cookies on your website, provide granular consent to cookies based on their categories, and revisit or manage their consent preferences anytime they want to.
This WordPress cookie consent plugin enables you to scan your website and identify cookies. It categorizes and lists the cookies found on your site, allowing you to manage them effectively.
Once the scan is complete, the plugin will show the number of cookies on your website in different categories.
Make any necessary changes, and click on Publish to publish the cookie policy page on your website.
Below are some general guidelines for dropshipping stores to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation:
Apart from these, we also recommend that you appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) for your business and conduct data audits regularly to identify and mitigate any potential risks.
Yes. GDPR applies to all businesses that collect or process personal data of EU residents, regardless of where it is located or operates.
Dropshipping businesses often collect names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and payment information.
Only if the customer has given explicit consent for their data to be used for marketing purposes. Businesses must offer an easy way for customers to withdraw their consent.
A DPO is required if the business collects or processes large amounts of personal data from data subjects.
Non-compliance with GDPR can result in huge fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher, along with reputational damage to the company.
GDPR compliance requires a proactive approach to protecting the personal data customers hold by businesses. It sets a standard to safeguard the privacy rights of data subjects. Complying with GDPR is not a one-time process; it requires continuous monitoring and evaluation. Even a slight negligence could result in millions of Euros in fines.
We hope this article has helped you ensure compliance with GDPR when using cookies on your website. The GDPR Cookie consent plugin we mentioned in this article is a complete cookie compliance suite for WordPress websites. It works within the WordPress ecosystem and saves all consent-related data on your web server.
We have also listed some general guidelines to help you comply with GDPR. These guidelines will help you comply with GDPR for your dropshipping business. We also recommend that you hire a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to manage your data collection practices and address any compliance-related issues.
That’s it, folks. We’d love to hear what you think about this article in the comments.
Featured image by Mara Conan Design on Unsplash
The post How to Achieve GDPR Cookie Compliance for WooCommerce Dropshipping Store? appeared first on noupe.
Inclusive Design 24 is in 8 short days — and it’s FREE, no sign-up required!
Quick Hit #14 originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.
In the early days of the web, I remember how annoying it was when print designers would claim they could design websites, too. They assumed that just because they could design for one medium, they could design for the other.
That assumption often led to bad user experiences. The skills for effective web design are quite different from those for print design.
A similar thing happens today. Designers know how to design traditional marketing and e-commerce sites. They, therefore, presume they have the skills to work on SaaS apps and other digital projects.
But when it comes to design, there’s a big distinction between traditional websites and digital products. If we want to work on digital products, we need to understand those differences and adopt a different approach to our work.
People Interact with Digital Products More Regularly
The biggest difference is that users interact with digital products more than most websites.
Think about your own web use. What are the sites you visit most often? If you listed your top ten, well over half would be some form of digital product, from a social media application to a productivity tool.
So, with that in mind, let’s dive into the specifics of how the frequency of usage impacts our design approach and what we can do about it.
Why Frequency of Use Matters So Much
The more we interact with a web app or website, the more important the overall user experience becomes. Users develop deeper connections with digital products. They also form more complex mental models of products they use often. This changes how they see the app in two fundamental ways.
First, friction points become increasingly annoying. Users interact with a digital product many times per day. Any small problem in the interface compounds quickly.
When you encounter a clunky UI or confusing workflow on a website you only visit once in a while, it’s frustrating but easy to overlook. But, when that same friction occurs in an app you use multiple times per day, it becomes a major source of irritation.
Second, the more we use an app, the more familiar we become with it and how it works. We end up using the app automatically, without even thinking, much like when you’ve been driving a car for years, you don’t think about the process. This is known as procedural knowledge.
This is great news for digital product designers, as it means we can create interfaces that become second nature to our users. But, if we break their mental models or introduce unexpected changes, we risk causing frustration and disruption.
So, knowing these two things, how does this affect our approach to digital product design? Well, let’s start by considering the problem of friction.
Fixing Friction Points
As digital product designers, we need to become obsessed with removing friction from the user experience. Failure to do so will alienate users over time and ultimately lead to churn.
To mitigate friction, we need to constantly seek out friction points. We need to diagnose the exact problem and then test any solution to ensure it does, in fact, make things better.
So, how exactly do we find friction points?
The most obvious way is to listen to customers. User feedback is crucial in identifying friction points in the user experience. However, we can’t simply rely on that. Analytics can be your friend, too.
Microsoft Clarity offers essential insights to pinpoint issues on your app.
I would highly recommend using a tool like Microsoft Clarity. It gives detailed insights into user behavior. They help find points of friction. These include the following:
These will help you identify potential friction points that you can then investigate further.
Once you know where things are going wrong, you can use heat maps and session recordings in Clarity. They will help you understand the problem. Why are people excessively scrolling or rage-clicking, for example?
Session recordings are valuable for pinpointing particular problems in the interface.
If the heat maps or session recordings don’t make things clear, that is where you would need to consider usability testing.
Once you understand the problem, you can then begin exploring solutions and testing them rigorously to ensure they effectively reduce friction.
How you test your solution to the point of friction will depend on the size and complexity of the changes you need to make.
For small changes, such as tweaking the UI or changing some text, A/B testing is often the best approach. You show the new solution to a subset of your users and measure the impact on those indicators of frustration.
But A/B testing isn’t always the right approach. If your app has lower levels of traffic, getting results from a statistically significant A/B test can be time-consuming.
Also, when your solution involves big changes, like adding new features or redesigning many screens, A/B testing can be expensive. That is because you need to first fully develop the solution before you can test it, meaning that it can prove costly if that solution turns out not to work.
Your best approach in such situations is to create a prototype for remote testing.
Initially, I usually conduct unfacilitated testing with a tool such as Maze. Unfacilitated testing is easy to set up. It requires minimal time investment, and Maze offers analytics, so you don’t necessarily need to watch every session back.
Maze serves as a valuable resource for conducting remote testing, offering both test data and recordings for each test.
If testing uncovers issues you can’t fix, then try facilitated testing. Facilitated testing enables you to delve into any arising issues by asking questions.
Once you have a solution that works, it’s time to roll that feature out. But you need to be careful at this point because of the procedural knowledge I mentioned earlier.
Dealing With the Dangers of Procedural Knowledge
Introducing fixes to a user interface has a good chance of breaking a user’s procedural knowledge. Interface elements are often moved and so are no longer where users expect to find them, or they look different, and so users miss them.
This can upset many existing customers. That can panic stakeholders and lead to rash decisions.
To some extent, you need to accept that this is inevitable and prepare stakeholders for this eventuality. Users will normally adapt in a couple of weeks of regular use, and so there is no immediate need to panic.
That said, there are things you can do to mitigate the reaction.
Slack use tooltips to explain how their interface works.
The key is to strike a balance. You must add needed improvements while causing minimal disruption to users’ workflows. You will also need to carefully monitor adoption and adapt accordingly.
Change The Way We Work
That constant monitoring and adaptation lies at the heart of digital product design. You cannot rely solely on the initial solution but must be prepared to continuously refine and iterate as user behavior and needs evolve.
Welcome to September’s toolbox.
What is a business owner or manager’s most precious commodity? Time. With countless tasks, projects, and employees to manage, it can often feel overwhelming to divide your time between addressing each area of your business.
Of course, some things need your attention and can’t be outsourced or passed onto another team member. However, business owners and managers can reclaim a significant chunk of their time by incorporating workflow automation into their strategies.
By leveraging workflow automation, companies position themselves to work more efficiently. Designing effective workflows enables owners and managers to save money, provide a better customer experience, and free up valuable time to spend on growing their businesses. Keep reading to learn more about how workflow automation can help you take your business to the next level.
Workflow automation utilizes technology to automate processes and tasks requiring minimal human intervention. Ideally, these workflows can operate from beginning to end on their own. The best tasks to automate include repetitive tasks or streamlined operations, which might include:
The great thing about automation software is it’s easy to update and adjust your process. The more you track the performance of the workflows, the better you’ll understand how effective they are.
Once you establish workflow automation for different business areas, you can expect short- and long-term benefits. Depending on your business goals, the effectiveness of each workflow automation may vary, but most companies experience common benefits such as:
If you want to incorporate workflow automation into your business strategy, you and your team can get started in just a few steps. The initial process is sometimes challenging as you begin designing your workflows, but the results are worth the time and effort. Let’s dive into nine tips you can use to implement automation into your workflow.
Every process should begin with clear objectives. Be specific about your business goals, including individual team or department goals. Consider current or upcoming campaigns, product launches, and long-term projects that could benefit from automation. Defining these goals will help shape your workflows so you can curate them for those objectives.
Take the time to decide what KPIs you’d like to track to help measure the success of each automated workflow. KPIs vary depending on the department and workflow and will most likely change over time as you continue to gather data and insight on performance.
Not all tasks make sense for automation, so you must identify which procedures can benefit from automated workflows. The most common processes involve repetitive tasks that are often time-consuming or prone to errors. When deciding what tasks to automate, consider which processes, when automated, will have the greatest impact on your team’s productivity.
With many automation software options available, it’s important to research what tools best suit your business needs and goals. Some tools may be better suited for small—to medium-sized companies, while others are tailored for large corporations. The same goes for the specific features and types of automation each platform offers—it all depends on your needs.
For example, a business with a significant social media presence might need a program to assist with automated engagement and responses to their audience. A manufacturing company focused on data management needs a tool to help organize data and scale business efforts.
You should also consider other features like integration capabilities and a user-friendly interface.
Remember your budget. Take advantage of free trials or complimentary demonstrations to test the software before committing financially.
Understanding your current workflows is a great starting point as you improve or develop your processes. If you’re updating any systems currently in place, look for areas to enhance the process before automating. This enhancement can help remove unnecessary steps once automation is in place.
You and your team may find it helpful to create visual maps to illustrate workflows and pinpoint opportunities to implement automation. Experiment with diagrams and flowcharts, creating a master blueprint of your workflows as they are now and as they will be with automation.
Conduct training sessions to ensure all team members and departments are familiar with these new initiatives and workflows. Hands-on training allows employees to work directly with new software and tools and can also serve as an opportunity to explore learning curves that can assist with future training.
Beyond the initial training, encourage your team to continue learning by offering ongoing support and access to resources. Create a comprehensive library with training material and tutorials for employees to use. Remember to periodically update the material as your workflows and procedures change so you update everyone on your system’s best practices.
The automation software you choose should comply with industry standards and security regulations to minimize the potential for security breaches. This compliance will help protect your company’s information as well as customer and vendor data from unauthorized access.
Many automated processes handle some kind of sensitive information. Everything from collecting customer and lead generation data to accounting workflows and managing employee records. It’s your company’s best interest to safeguard all sensitive data and take necessary measures to prevent data breaches.
The most successful business owners and managers realize that the landscape of the market and industry will inevitably change over time. So, it’s your responsibility to prepare for these changes within the industry and continue to meet your market and target audience’s demands. Your agility, or willingness to pivot and adapt as needed, can give you the competitive advantage necessary to remain relevant in your industry.
As with any business area, you should monitor automated workflows over time to ensure efficient and successful operation. When implementing these workflows, use the performance data you’ve collected and measure them against the KPIs you initially outlined. Find the areas that need improvement and continue to allow the automation to evolve.
Like everything else in your business, workflow automation relies on a little planning that can go a long way. Start by identifying your goals and mapping out your current workflows to see where to improve. By choosing the right automation tools, you can drive efficiency and reduce the risk of errors, supporting a more strategic and streamlined workflow. Successful business owners and managers can leverage this technology to enable their teams to focus on growing the business and boosting revenue.
Featured image by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
The post Tips for Implementing Workflow Automation in Your Business Strategy appeared first on noupe.
Lush green slowly turning into yellows and reds in the Northern hemisphere; nature reawakening in the Southern part of the world: September is a time of change. A chance to leave old habits behind and embrace the beginning of something new. And, well, sometimes it only takes a small change in routines to spark fresh inspiration and, who knows, maybe even great ideas.
With that in mind, we started our monthly wallpapers series more than 13 years ago, and from the very beginning to today, artists and designers from across the globe have submitted their designs to it to cater for a bit of variety on your screens every month. Of course, it wasn’t any different this time around.
In this post, you’ll find their wallpaper designs for September 2024. All of them come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. As a little bonus goodie, we also added some favorites from past years’ September editions to the collection. So maybe you’ll spot one of your almost-forgotten favorites in here, too? A huge thank-you to everyone who shared their wallpapers with us this month — this post wouldn’t exist without you!
National Elephant Appreciation Day
“Today, we celebrate these magnificent creatures who play such a vital role in our ecosystems and cultures. Elephants are symbols of wisdom, strength, and loyalty. Their social bonds are strong, and their playful nature, especially in the young ones, reminds us of the importance of joy and connection in our lives.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.
Summer In Costa Rica
“We continue in tropical climates. In this case, we travel to Costa Rica to observe the Arenal volcano from the lake while we use a kayak.” — Designed by Veronica Valenzuela from Spain.
Pigman And Robin
Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Spain.
A Mind Of Their Own
“My eyes have a mind of their own: they see what they want to see…” — Designed by Bhabna Basak from India.
More Bananas
Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Spain.
Quality Education For All
“Our team takes pride in aligning our volunteer initiatives with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s ‘Quality Education’ goal. This goal reflects a global commitment to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. We encourage our team members to volunteer with non-profits they care about year-round. Explore local opportunities and use your skills to make a meaningful impact!” — Designed by Jenna Finberg from Portland, OR.
Green Jewellery
“I was thinking about African bead necklaces when making this wallpaper. I chose green and warm colors, because summer has not ended in the north — let’s enjoy it.” — Designed by Philippe Brouard from France.
Discover, Dream, Travel!
“Celebrate World Tourism Day by exploring new destinations and cultures around the globe!” — Designed by Reethu M from London.
Happy Labor Day
“I wanted my design to revolve around the themes of unity, hard work, and patriotism to honor the workforce that builds a great nation. The flags, the skyline, and the human figure outline evoke a sense of pride, appreciation, dedication, and solidarity.” — Designed by Cronix from the United States.
Autumn Rains
“This autumn, we expect to see a lot of rainy days and blues, so we wanted to change the paradigm and wish a warm welcome to the new season. After all, if you come to think of it: rain is not so bad if you have an umbrella and a raincoat. Come autumn, we welcome you!” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.
Terrazzo
“With the end of summer and fall coming soon, I created this terrazzo pattern wallpaper to brighten up your desktop. Enjoy the month!” — Designed by Melissa Bogemans from Belgium.
Funny Cats
“Cats are beautiful animals. They’re quiet, clean, and warm. They’re funny and can become an endless source of love and entertainment. Here for the cats!” — Designed by UrbanUI from India.
Cacti Everywhere
“Seasons come and go, but our brave cactuses still stand. Summer is almost over and autumn is coming, but the beloved plants don’t care.” — Designed by Lívia Lénárt from Hungary.
Summer Ending
“As summer comes to an end, all the creatures pull back to their hiding places, searching for warmth within themselves and dreaming of neverending adventures under the tinted sky of closing dog days.” — Designed by Ana Masnikosa from Belgrade, Serbia.
The Rebel
Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Spain.
National Video Games Day Delight
“September 12th brings us National Video Games Day. US-based video game players love this day and celebrate with huge gaming tournaments. What was once a 2D experience in the home is now a global phenomenon with players playing against each other across statelines and national borders via the internet. National Video Games Day gives gamers the perfect chance to celebrate and socialize! So grab your controller, join online and let the games begin!” — Designed by Ever Increasing Circles from the United Kingdom.
Long Live Summer
“While September’s Autumnal Equinox technically signifies the end of the summer season, this wallpaper is for all those summer lovers, like me, who don’t want the sunshine, warm weather, and lazy days to end.” — Designed by Vicki Grunewald from Washington.
Flower Soul
“The earth has music for those who listen. Take a break and relax and while you drive out the stress, catch a glimpse of the beautiful nature around you. Can you hear the rhythm of the breeze blowing, the flowers singing, and the butterflies fluttering to cheer you up? We dedicate flowers which symbolize happiness and love to one and all.” — Designed by Krishnankutty from India.
Stay Or Leave?
Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Spain.
Hungry
Designed by Elise Vanoorbeek from Belgium.
Rainy Flowers
Designed by Teodora Vasileva from Bulgaria.
Science Is Magic
“Science is like magic, except it’s real.” — Designed by Bhabna Basak from India.
Listen Closer… The Mushrooms Are Growing
“It’s this time of the year when children go to school and grown-ups go to collect mushrooms.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.
Batmom
Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Spain.
Wine Harvest Season
“Welcome to the wine harvest season in Serbia. It’s September, and the hazy sunshine bathes the vines on the slopes of Fruška Gora. Everything is ready for the making of Bermet, the most famous wine from Serbia. This spiced wine was a favorite of the Austro-Hungarian elite and was served even on the Titanic. Bermet’s recipe is a closely guarded secret, and the wine is produced by just a handful of families in the town of Sremski Karlovci, near Novi Sad. On the other side of Novi Sad, plains of corn and sunflower fields blend in with the horizon, catching the last warm sun rays of this year.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.
Bear Time
Designed by Bojana Stojanovic from Serbia.
Maryland Pride
“As summer comes to a close, so does the end of blue crab season in Maryland. Blue crabs have been a regional delicacy since the 1700s and have become Maryland’s most valuable fishing industry, adding millions of dollars to the Maryland economy each year. The blue crab has contributed so much to the state’s regional culture and economy, in 1989 it was named the State Crustacean, cementing its importance in Maryland history.” — Designed by The Hannon Group from Washington DC.
Finding Jaguar
“Nature and our planet have given us life, enabled us to enjoy the most wonderful place known to us in the universe. People have given themselves the right to master something they do not fully understand. We dedicate this September calendar to a true nature lover, Vedran Badjun from Dalmatia, Croatia, who inspires us to love our planet, live in harmony with it and appreciate all that it has to offer. Amazon, Siberia, and every tree or animal on the planet are treasures we lose every day. Let’s change that!” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.
Penguin Family
“Penguins are sociable, independent and able to survive harsh winters. They work as a team to care for their offspring and I love that!” — Designed by Glynnis Owen from Australia.
Early Autumn
“September is usually considered as early autumn so I decided to draw some trees and leaves. However, nobody likes that summer is coming to an end, that’s why I kept summerish colors and style.” — Designed by Kat Gluszek from Germany.
Summer Is Leaving
“It is inevitable. Summer is leaving silently. Let us think of ways to make the most of what is left of the beloved season.” — Designed by Bootstrap Dashboards from India.
Lucha Libre
“This month is Mexico’s independence day and I decided to illustrate one of the things Mexico’s best known for: the Lucha Libre.” — Designed by Maria Keller from Mexico.
Geometric Autumn
“I designed this wallpaper to remind everyone that autumn is here.” — Designed by Advanced Web Ranking from Romania.
Never Stop Exploring
Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Spain.
Still In Vacation Mood
“It’s officially the end of summer and I’m still in vacation mood, dreaming about all the amazing places I’ve seen. This illustration is inspired by a small town in France, on the Atlantic coast, right by the beach.” — Designed by Miruna Sfia from Romania.
Colors Of September
“I love September. Its colors and smells.” — Designed by Juliagav from Ukraine.
Office
“Clean, minimalistic office for a productive day.” — Designed by Antun Hiršman from Croatia.
