About Me

Laura Szumylo

Hi, I’m Laura, a UX designer with 5+ years of experience working with small businesses and first-time founders.

I didn’t come from a traditional UX background. Over the years, I’ve worn many hats: photographer, small business owner, healthcare admin, and marketer. After a long string of career pivots, I discovered UX design and instantly saw how it connected everything I’d done before.

I studied UX while working full-time, squeezing in bootcamp assignments after long days in the office. It wasn’t easy, but it taught me how to adapt, persevere, and bet on myself.

Today, I’m a freelance UX designer and mentor. I’ve worked with over 200 design students and kept noticing the same issue: case studies often left out key details, not because the work wasn’t done, but because no one had clearly explained what hiring managers are actually looking for.

That’s why I started UX Gaps.

During mentoring sessions, students would ask smart follow-up questions, and I realized there wasn’t a clear, up-to-date place to send them. Most online resources were vague, outdated, or more confusing than helpful.

So I decided to build what was missing.

UX Gaps exists to fill in the parts that often get skipped, with practical advice, real-world examples, and clear guidance for junior designers and career changers. No fluff. Just the insights that actually help you grow.

Coming Soon

• Self-paced courses to build your skills

Thanks for stopping by. Share and follow to stay in the loop on new posts and resources!

Have a question or want to say hi? I’d love to hear from you — reach out at uxgaps@gmail.com or connect on LinkedIn.

Popular posts from this blog

Margins and Gutters: Spacing That Brings Your Grid to Life

Image
When it comes to grid-based design, margins and gutters are often the unsung heroes. While columns define where your content sits, margins and gutters define how your content breathes and interacts within that space. They create the invisible structure that guides the eye and helps users understand the hierarchy and flow of information. Understanding how to size and justify these values is a key part of designing flexible, readable layouts, especially when you’re building across multiple screen sizes. “Eyeballing it” won’t cut it when a stakeholder asks why your spacing feels off. You should be able to explain why you chose the numbers you did, and that’s what this post is all about. What Are Margins and Gutters? Gutters are the spaces between columns. They keep content from feeling cramped and ensure text and images don’t run into each other. Margins are the space on the outer edges of the grid. They keep content from hugging the edges of the screen and give your layout room to brea...
Read more

So You Want to Freelance: The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

After finishing a UX design bootcamp, a new designer is eager to get their career started. They’ve been networking, attending meetups, sharing work online, and even landed interviews. But nothing has felt like the right fit yet. So instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity, they decide to try freelancing. The thinking is simple: “Why wait for a company to hire me when I can start working on my own projects right now?” They tell friends and family they’re available for freelance work, and a few opportunities come up. Maybe it’s a local store downtown that needs a website redesign, and they barter services — “ I’ll design your website if you help me with something in return.” Or maybe a cousin needs a simple portfolio site. These early projects are valuable. They provide practice, portfolio pieces, and confidence. But they’re not real client work. There’s no legal agreement, no formal contract, no defined scope. If something goes wrong, the stakes are low. That’s part of the probl...
Read more

Is Your Case Study a Barrier or a Breakthrough?

You’ve sent out applications for every role you feel qualified for. You’ve tapped your network — friends, mentors, anyone rooting for you. But the responses are the same: silence or “no.” The job market feels tighter than ever, and every application seems to vanish into a black hole. Time feels frozen, and with each passing day, your projects start to feel outdated. The pressure builds. Self-doubt creeps in. Imposter syndrome piles on. Then one day, you ask a trusted friend, not a recruiter, but someone who knows what a strong case study should communicate, to review your portfolio. Their questions sting. They don’t understand your choices, your reasoning, or how you moved from point A to point B. That’s when it clicks. Your case study isn’t telling a story. It’s just a list of steps. Surface-level. You go back and revise. You add context, reasoning, validation, and the connections between your actions and outcomes. It’s not an overnight miracle — you don’t land a job the next day — b...
Read more