As we kick off 2025, we’re excited to share the latest updates designed to help you level up your skills, celebrate our incredible community, and keep learning smarter. Let’s dive in!

Learning Made Better: New Course Release

• Product Analytics course: Make smarter decisions with data. Learn how to implement effective tracking strategies, build advanced analytics frameworks, and use industry-standard tools to turn raw data into insights that drive product success.

Explore course →

Reimagined Dashboard & Reporting

Our latest Uxcel Teams update gives you a redesigned dashboard that shows exactly where your designers need to grow, saving you hours of guesswork and 1:1 meetings trying to figure out development paths. Watch a video.

You can now quickly see how your team's skills compare to industry benchmarks across 400,000+ designers, making it easier to justify training decisions and resource allocation to stakeholders.

The new reporting tools help you spot skill gaps at a glance and track actual learning engagement, so you can focus on meaningful coaching conversations instead of manually tracking everyone's progress.

Request a demo →

Top Spots in G2’s 2025 Best Software Awards

We’re honored to be recognized in G2’s 2025 Best Software Awards in two major categories:

• #29 in Best Education Software

• #54 in Highest User Satisfaction

These rankings are based entirely on real feedback from educators, designers, and teams using Uxcel daily. With millions of reviews across 180,000+ products on G2, making this list is an incredible honor.

Explore full ratings →

Celebrating Community Achievements

A huge thank you to our Mentors for shaping the Uxcel community with your expertise and support! This month, we’re celebrating our top contributors with a special spotlight on those who reached an incredible milestone — 100+ reviews. Your contributions continue to make a real impact!

Mentors who hit 100+ reviews:

• Salvatore Barras — 130 reviews

• Cristian Georgescu — 100 reviews

And a big shoutout to this month’s top reviewers:

• Nischhal Raj Subba — 55 reviews

• Iryna Stetsenko-Yershova — 35 reviews

• Hamad Tanveer — 31 reviews

What’s Next?

We’re just getting started — expect even more features and improvements to help you grow. Keep learning, keep exploring, and stay tuned for what’s next! 🚀

As we close out an incredible 2024, we’re thrilled to share the latest updates to Uxcel’s platform, designed to elevate learning, empower our community, and enhance team collaboration. Let’s dive in!

Learning Made Better: New Courses and Features

• Churn Busting course: Our most practical course yet, perfect for designers, marketers, and product managers. Learn how to master churn analytics, improve retention, and build impactful user experiences.

Explore course →

• Cross-Functional Design & Product Teams course: Created with guidance from Fouad Jalouri, Director of Service Design for the Government of Alberta, this course helps you master team dynamics, build innovation frameworks, and enhance collaboration across roles.

Explore course →

• Team Assignments 2.0: A smarter way to assign, track, and support learning journeys within teams. The new Assignments Dashboard provides detailed insights into your team’s progress, helping build consistent daily learning habits with features like Earn Pixels.

Learn More About Assignments →

Empowering the Uxcel Community

• Designer Rankings 2024: A huge congratulations to this year’s top designers! Recognition badges and rewards have been distributed, and the Hall of Fame now celebrates these exceptional talents.

Explore Rankings & Hall of Fame →

• Mentors of the Year: A heartfelt thank you to our incredible community for making 2024 an exceptional year for growth and collaboration! Together, we achieved an amazing 1,532 reviews and garnered 4,190 claps, with the support of 145 active mentors helping designers worldwide level up their skills. Special thanks to our top 10 mentors:

Elene Chekurishvili, Cristian Georgescu, Dankwah Desmond Ankomah, Yuliia Povstiana, Vivek Reddy Ambati, Kristina Vilyams, Seth, Franjo Stojić, Nicole Weber, Lily Lin-Marsalo

To all our mentors, reviewers, and contributors — thank you for being an integral part of our journey. Your efforts inspire growth and excellence across the Uxcel community.

Teams Experience: Smarter Learning Management

• Enhanced Teams Dashboard: Streamline assignments, track team progress, and identify skill gaps instantly with our revamped interface.

• New Integrations: Upcoming support for Slack and Microsoft Teams will bring Uxcel learning directly into your team’s daily workflow.

• Team Assignments 2.0: A smarter way to assign, track, and support learning journeys within teams. The new Assignments Dashboard provides detailed insights into your team’s progress, helping build consistent daily learning habits with features like Earn Pixels.

Explore Uxcel Teams Updates →

Looking Ahead to 2025

2025 is shaping up to be our most exciting year yet. Here’s what you can expect:

• 20+ New Courses: From hands-on UX topics to advanced product management strategies, we’re expanding to serve both designers and product teams.

• Improved Learning Experiences: More expert-led courses, deeper engagement, and enhanced support for individual learners and teams alike.

• Live Events: Workshops, team training sessions, and mentorship events led by industry experts to foster growth and connection.

• Community Empowerment: More recognition for mentors and contributors, plus tools to help teams manage skill development seamlessly.

Thank you for being part of our journey. Together, let’s make 2025 a year of growth, learning, and achievement.

Let’s learn & grow together!

Uxcel Team

In November, we revolutionized our home page experience, reimagined project feedback, enhanced team management capabilities, and revamped our designer rankings system. Let's dive into all the exciting updates!

Redesigned Home Experience & Learning Dashboard

Your learning journey is now front and center! We've refactored the home page to create a unified dashboard that puts your progress first. Jump straight into your latest course, track your learning streak, compete in leagues, and watch your skills grow – all from one convenient location.

Reimagined Project Feedback System: Introducing Claps!

We're excited to announce a major overhaul of our project feedback system! While our mentor & community-led project reviews have seen incredible adoption this year, we heard your concerns about the stress associated with star ratings. Enter our new, more encouraging feedback system: Claps 👏

Now you can:

• Express appreciation with up to 5 claps for any project

• Leave detailed reviews enhanced with claps

• Thank helpful reviewers by clapping for their feedback

• Engage in a more supportive and less stressful feedback environment

Give it a round of applause →

Enhanced Events Integration

Never miss an opportunity to learn! We've integrated events directly into the home page, making it easier than ever to:

• Join upcoming learning sessions

• Connect with peers

• Learn from industry experts

• Track all interesting events in one place

Explore all events →

Teams Experience Upgrade

We've significantly improved team management with several key updates:

• Simplified member management with role assignments and squad organization

• Removed Pro seat occupation for admin accounts

• Streamlined billing experience for better transparency

• Enhanced member invitation process

• Improved Pro access management

Explore Uxcel Teams →

Designer Rankings 2024: The Final Countdown

As we approach the end of 2024, we've given our Designer Rankings a fresh new look! The race for the top spots is heating up, and there's still time to make your mark before the final results are announced in early January.

Additionally, we're proud to introduce our new Hall of Fame, celebrating our 2023 ranking winners and establishing a permanent tribute to our community's achievements.

Explore Rankings → & Visit Hall of Fame →

Celebrating Our Top Mentors

A huge thank you to our incredible mentors who continue to support our community's growth:

• Seth — 44 reviews

• Kristina Vilyams — 44 reviews

• Franjo Stojić — 28 reviews

Your dedication to helping others grow is truly inspiring! 🙌

What's Next?

Stay tuned for more exciting updates as we close out 2024. We're committed to making Uxcel more intuitive, impactful, and ready to support your learning journey. Dive in and explore all these new features! 🚀

In October, we enhanced the login and onboarding experience, improved the lesson player, developed a smarter course recommendation system, and more!

Smarter Course Recommendations & Refined Lesson Experience

Our new recommendation system provides personalized course and module suggestions tailored to your unique learning journey, keeping you on the right path to advancing your skills. Plus, we’ve refined the lesson player for smoother navigation, separating theory content for on-demand access. Now you can focus on practical learning at your own pace and revisit theory when you need it.

🎓 New Course: Product Discovery

Product discovery is crucial for building successful products that align with user needs and business goals. In this course, you’ll learn to prioritize opportunities, validate solutions, and make smarter decisions faster. Say goodbye to guesswork and discover how to design products with purpose. Enroll now.

Community Events: In Case You Missed It 

• Webinar: Elevating Design Through Outdoor Experiences — Explore how Gloria Ciceri draws inspiration from nature and how it shapes her work. Watch recording.

• Roast My Portfolio — For a limited time, catch this Pro-only event where Elene Chekurishvili critiques portfolios from our community members. Watch recording.

• Webinar: Design & Product — Learn strategies for effective cross-functional team collaboration with insights from Fouad Jallouli. Watch recording.

Celebrating Community Achievements

A huge thank you to all our Mentors, especially our top contributors, for your commitment to the community’s growth. Your efforts are invaluable!

• Kristina Vilyams — 36 reviews

• Yuliia Povstiana — 77 reviews

• Cristian Georgescu — 78 reviews

• Elene Chekurishvili — reached an impressive milestone with 100 reviews! 🙌

Design Contest 

Our October Design Contest has wrapped up, and we received incredible submissions! We’re currently reviewing entries with input from community voting, mentor feedback, and our internal team to select the winners. Stay tuned for the announcement in a few weeks. In the meantime, take a look at the amazing entries we received! View submissions

What’s New & Upcoming for Uxcel Teams

This November and December, expect significant updates for Uxcel Teams, starting with a revamped billing structure. Watch this short video from Lazar for details on the new setup.

Recent enhancements for Uxcel Teams include:

• Revamped Billing Structure — Learn more

• Improved Team Member Invites with Google Workspace integration — Learn more

• Enhanced Privacy Options for Uxcel Teams — Learn more

• New Subscription Center for Uxcel Teams — Learn more

This month’s updates are designed to make Uxcel more intuitive, impactful, and ready to support your learning journey. Dive in and explore! 🙌

As the leaves start to turn and designers everywhere sharpen their pencils (or styluses), Uxcel is here with a fresh batch of updates to inspire your creativity!

New Release: Introducing Pulse

This September, we launched Pulse, our innovative skill assessment feature designed to help you measure your growth and identify areas for improvement. Think of it as a personal design coach that adapts to your skill level and role.

Ready to see where you stand? Take the Pulse assessment now

P.S. Curious about what makes Pulse stand out? Dive into our in-depth blog article on the science behind Pulse and how it can propel your career to new heights.

In Case You Missed It

Webinar: Elevating Design Through Outdoor Experiences with Gloria Ciceri

Gloria Ciceri, Senior Brand & Motion Designer at Blinkist, led us on an inspiring journey through her nature-inspired design process. Catch the replay here.

AMA: Building Great UX Teams with Joana Teixeira

Joana Teixeira, UX Lead at Via Verde, shared her wisdom on creating and managing successful UX teams. Read the key insights here.

Roast My Portfolio with Jonas Bröms (Pro Members Only)

Expert designer Jonas Bröms provided lucky Pro members with actionable feedback on their portfolios. Want in on the next session? Upgrade to Pro now!

Community Awards

Every month, we celebrate the creativity and innovation of our Uxcel community. Our editors select a standout project, while the community votes for their favorites. Here are September's shining stars:

Editor's Choice: New Interactive Empty State Version with Rive!

Javier Oliver’s playful and interactive empty state design brings life to a typically overlooked UI element. The clever use of Rive animation adds a delightful touch that's sure to engage users.

Community Choice: Media Portal for a Bank

Anna Tikhonova’s sleek dark mode design for a media portal showcases a perfect blend of accessibility and style. The community praised her thoughtful approach to color and typography in a complex interface.

Community Choice: Crypto App Onboarding

Yana Ivchak's vibrant and intuitive onboarding flow for a crypto app caught the community's eye with its bold visuals and clear user journey. Her design proves that complex topics can be presented in an engaging, user-friendly manner.

Check out more top projects from the community in Showcase.

Top Mentors

A round of applause for our most active mentors this month:

1. Dankwah Desmond Ankomah

2. Yuliia Povstiana

3. Elene Chekurishvili

Thank you for being superstars for our community!

Bug Fixes and Improvements

We've been busy polishing our platform to make your Uxcel experience even smoother:

• You can retake assessments right away, including Pulse! Pro members get two attempts per assessment per month, while free users get two attempts per assessment per month.

• For teams: New screening assessment for UX Writer role.

• Pro users can now review their assessment answers.

• You asked, we listened! You can now view user profiles from Leaderboards.

• Fixed issues with rating showcase projects.

• Introduced the option to skip questions in assessments (with extra points as a reward).

As summer winds down, we're ramping up with fresh new features and course content to take your design skills to new heights. Here's your roundup of the latest releases and updates from Uxcel.

Tutorials: Learn from the Best in the Business

We're excited to unveil Tutorials, your new go-to resource for design wisdom. Written by industry experts, these articles offer practical insights across various design disciplines. Here's a taste of what you can explore:

• Master the art of scalable typography

• Bridge the gap between design and development

• Add depth to your designs with expert shadow techniques

Explore all Tutorials and level up your design game today!

New Course: Gamification in Design Context

Our new Gamification in Design Context course is your ticket to creating irresistible user experiences. Learn to harness game mechanics ethically and effectively, boosting user engagement and motivation.

Enroll now and start designing experiences users can't resist!

Community Events Recap

August brought two stellar events to our community:

1. Webinar: Designing UX for Large-Scale Systems with Vitaly Friedman

Vitaly shared strategies for managing complex UX projects and ensuring design consistency in large systems.

Watch the recording

1. AMA: Boosting Your Freelance Design Career with Salvatore Barras

Salvatore offered valuable insights on thriving in the freelance design world and leading remote design teams.

Review the discussion

Keep exploring, keep learning, and stay tuned for more exciting updates!

Gamification has become a powerful tool in creating engaging user experiences. Every challenge, reward, and progress bar can significantly impact user motivation and behavior. The best UX designers understand how to leverage game mechanics to create products that users love to interact with.

We're thrilled to introduce our latest course, Gamification in Design Context, tailored for designers looking to harness the power of game-inspired elements in their work. You'll explore the psychology behind gamification, learn about key game mechanics, and discover how to apply these concepts ethically and effectively in various design contexts.

This course is perfect for designers who want to enhance user engagement, motivation, and loyalty in their products. If you've ever wondered how to make your designs more compelling and interactive, this course is for you!

Enroll today to start building your expertise in creating gamified experiences that delight and motivate users.

As designers, we're on a never-ending journey of growth and improvement. With each project completed and skill mastered, there's always more to learn. That's why we're thrilled to introduce Tutorials - your new source of inspiration and knowledge, right here on Uxcel.

Learn from the Best in the Business

Tutorials are articles and guides written by top designers exclusively for the Uxcel community. You’ll find invaluable insights and practical knowledge across various design disciplines, from UI/UX and visual design to interaction design and beyond.

A Better Way to Stay Ahead of the Curve

How do you keep up with the latest trends and best practices in design? If you've ever struggled to find reliable, actionable advice, you're not alone. Tutorials simplify this process by bringing together expert knowledge and real-world applications in one place.

Follow Your Favorite Writers

See a Tutorial you like? Want to stay connected to a top contributor? Follow the leading voices in the community and build your own network of design professionals. You'll also have the opportunity to engage with thought leaders through comments and discussions.

Put Your New Knowledge to Work

Whether you're tackling a challenging project or preparing for your next big career move, the knowledge you gain from Tutorials will be invaluable. Apply what you've learned to your designs, share insights with your team, and elevate your next project or design task.

Get Started with Tutorials Today

Dive into our collection of Tutorials to start building your knowledge and expertise. With new content added regularly, there's always something new to discover and learn.