✏ Issue #496: Designing for the Unexpected, 9 Must-Install Craft Plugins, Freelancer Club, Learn MySQL for Free, and more…

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The one constant for web designers is the fact that change happens, whether it be social, environmental, technical, or some other -al. In this superb essay, Cathy Dutton delves into designing for situations you can’t imagine, devices that don’t yet exist, or experiences that have yet to evolve. It’s a must-read for all web professionals.

meet.atSlack is a Slack application that pairs co-workers based on their interests and automatically schedules get-to-know-you meetings. It gives you full control over who can and can’t schedule meetings and allows employees to choose their own availability. Built-in analytics enable you to monitor human connections in your workplace.

Ever had doubts about your ability as a designer? If you have, you’re not alone; in fact, not experiencing imposter syndrome from time to time is abnormal. In this helpful post, Kate Hollowood talks to three creative powerhouses about their own struggles with self-doubt and how they found the courage to keep going.

MySQL is the most popular database globally; you’ve probably most commonly encountered it as the database powering WordPress sites. In this awesome, free 2-hour video Bharath Ram Manoharan walks us through everything you need to know to leverage it, from your first simple SQL commands to high-level concepts.

Craft CMS is rapidly growing into a mainstream tool, and in the process, it’s developing a diverse and reliable plugin ecosystem. This week we published a roundup of workhorse plugins to install on any fresh Craft installation, from Pixel & Tonic’s own enhancements to plugins that tweak editing to premium SEO tools.

If you’re a freelancer, you’ll know how tough it is out there on your own. Freelancer Club is a fantastic site with over 50,000 members, designed to help you master the industry and thrive as an independent professional. Alongside guides to freelancing, you’ll find an active jobs board and a vibrant community of like-minded members.

Great data visualizations are often the difference between a person fully understanding a complex set of data and failing to understand it at all. As designers, we’re constantly asked to present numerical data in visual form by clients. In this useful guide, Angelica Gutierrez explains how to leverage the human visual system.

neverinstall is an incredible new service that allows you to run desktop applications through your browser. Apps are run on remote servers with far more computing power than your machine, meaning they could run up to ten times faster, you can collaborate with colleagues, and you no longer have to worry about app security.