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Adapted from Nonlinear: Navigating Design With Curiosity and Conviction (MIT Press, February 4, 2025). When I open my smartphone in the morning, every social media app is full of advertisements marketing something to me. I feel like I’m trapped in a circuitous loop from ads and information coming through my devices: “Buy this, buy that!” We’re all stuck in this loop. Can we fix it? John Maeda (vice president of engineering, computational design, and AI at Microsoft) once created a computational artwork of an infinity loop that he often uses in his keynotes. We talked about my interpretation of his visual during a video livestream together back in 2020. I likened it to the accelerating paradigm of “marketers marketing and consumers consuming.” I often think about the harm of such paradigms accelerating and impinging on society and our planet. How might we envision actually showing up for people when and where they need us the most? What are the vectors that will lead us to that place? Instead of being encouraged to buy things people don’t need, how can we creatively and intuitively deliver what they do need? We can imagine a wide range of answers to that question. In my own work at dreams • design + life, I pay particular attention to those opportunities that potentially foster a better way of showing up for people and communities. I try to prioritize our time for those projects that meet people where they are versus feeding into unsustainable cycles of consumption. In my mind, there are a couple qualities I tend to lean on that illuminate how brands might show up. Utility When we design something new that captures someone’s attention, what path of new utility are we actually creating for them? What are we making that’s actually useful for their needs? How are we helping them complete a step that’s naturally part of the journey they want to fulfill? Can that step be accomplished faster, better, and more meaningfully than the things they are already doing today? One of my first client partners was a biotech venture called Invoy, founded by Lubna Ahmad. Invoy helps people lose and maintain weight without depending on food journals, bathroom scales, or single diet solutions. Instead, Invoy uses breath technology and expert coaching to generate high engagement and a positive member experience, leading to sustainable weight loss and weight management. Stepping on an outdated bathroom scale [Image: courtesy MIT Press] With Invoy, I wake up every morning and exhale into the breath device for a few seconds. Using the Invoy app, I answer a series of questions, reflecting on my behaviors over the past 24 hours, after which I allow the breath device to finish analyzing my breath sample. The app reveals a breath score at the end of the analysis (which takes no more than two minutes to finish). Later in the day, you can engage your Invoy program analyst through the chat feature in the app, and they will help you interpret your results and give you actionable recommendations that cut across diet, exercise, and many forms of habits. By breathing into the device every morning, I found myself empowered with a level of agency that I didn’t have before. Information Relevance To understand any new form of utility we can bring to someone’s journey, we also have to understand the full context of paradigms and realities they are experiencing. In the digital age, they likely have information impinging upon them in a million different directions. To give someone confidence that your new solution is appropriate for them, they need relevant information (benefits, reviews, ratings, feedback, etc.) that shows this utility is specifically for them and their needs. If we think back to Invoy and its focus on the morning moment of truth, the new utility of a breath device requires enveloping that within a delicate orchestration of information that would give someone confidence that it’s worthwhile to breathe into the device every morning. The Invoy team could easily overwhelm their members with all the data that was at their disposal from every breath test. Instead, Invoy’s platform outputs a very simple breath score (on a scale of 0.0 to 15.0) that gives you a sense of whether you’re burning fat, staying neutral, or storing fat. If the resulting breath score falls below 3.0, that means you are probably using different energy stores (e.g., glucose from carbohydrates) other than fat. That may or may not be fine, but at least you know what’s exactly happening if you notice your weight trending up due to the likely storage of fat. If the breath score falls between 4.0 and 15.0, then you are surely using fat as an energy source and you should expect the fat composition in your body to decrease. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs [Image: courtesy MIT Press] Emotional Resonance Assuming that we create a new utility that proves itself beneficial, that’s great. To give someone confidence that the new utility is for them, we need relevant and succinct information that would provide them necessary context about the solution’s fit for their needs. We have to earn their respect and trust that our brand deserves the right to belong within their preferred journey. How we show up matters. With Invoy, eliciting a conversation with someone about their weight raises all types of stigmas and emotions. Every one of us can probably identify a life stage in which we had difficulty managing our weight. In those moments, we probably felt like failures. The reality is that we were probably working with outdated tools, such as the bathroom scale or food journal. When we look at that number on the scale, we feel judged and insecure. In reality, our weight challenges are not necessarily our fault as much as we are led to believe. Deep down (and many members have said this), members recognize their need for structure and an objective coach, who can be a bit more data-driven than a cheerleader—not someone that will blame them for their missteps and make them feel worse. Program analysts must be objective with the data, providing clear facts about what’s happening in each of their member’s bodies, but they also need to be compassionate in the delivery of key insights and behavioral recommendations. A good coach never beats up someone who falls off track. They must affirm and encourage a member when that member is doing something right, and they must offer constructive guidance whenever there’s a deviation. Add a healthy dose of empathy and compassion to be helpful, and that has garnered Invoy program analysts’ success in building emotional resonance with Invoy’s members over the long run. * * * Finding opportunities to break out of the infinity loop is not easy. Serendipity, proactiveness, and market timing may be the variables manifesting together that allow an innovation to succeed. These are vectors we have to sense, spot, and anticipate in the forest of ambiguity. We have to anticipate which technologies and key differentiators are potentially ready for prime time and cultivated by the right team. I find myself constantly scanning for potential client partners who I feel are playing the long game in what they invest in for their future customer experiences, thinking beyond their short-term goals. Bullishly, I want to find those companies that are putting in the hard work to build differentiated capabilities and intellectual property that could be meaningfully leveraged in the future to inform a new experience. Kevin Bethune [Photo: Harrison Boyce/courtesy MIT Press] The vectors that lead to these opportunities are out there, but they will not find you: you have to put yourself in the forest and move about to increase the chances of finding them. Ideally, you talk with people in the know, scan market movements, and find vectors that will lead you to new signals. Signals lead to incredible opportunities if you keep scanning, exploring, and experimenting proactively. View the full article

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Shopify themes play a pivotal role in the e-commerce platform provided by Shopify, enabling businesses to host and run their online stores with ease. They not only allow you to organize your store’s layout but also empower you to craft beautiful, mobile-friendly online storefronts. Whether you opt to build from scratch or customize an existing theme, the flexibility ensures you can sell products across various channels — be it the web, mobile, social media, online marketplaces, physical locations, or even pop-up shops. What is a Shopify Theme? Once you get the answer to what is Shopify, knowing what Shopify themes are will help you better use the platform more efficiently. Shopify themes are the backbone of your online storefront on the Shopify platform. They act as pre-designed website structures, allowing you to present your products and brand in a visually appealing and organized manner. Beyond just appearances, the chosen theme governs various functionalities of your website. From the organization of your product listings to how customers browse different sections to the ease of the checkout process—everything is influenced by the theme’s design and integrated features. Given the importance of mobile browsing in today’s e-commerce landscape, many Shopify themes are built to be responsive, automatically adjusting to fit different device screens, ensuring a seamless shopping experience. The Importance of Responsive Shopify Themes With the ubiquity of mobile devices, the need for a website to be responsive has become paramount. A responsive Shopify theme ensures that your online store is easily accessible and visually appealing across all devices, be it a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. Mobile shopping has seen a significant rise, and if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you risk alienating a vast segment of potential customers. Simply put, responsive design is about offering a consistent and efficient shopping experience, irrespective of the device being used. What is the Shopify Theme Store Shopify offers a range of tools through its themes to assist you in setting up and managing your online business. With Shopify, you can choose from both free and paid Shopify themes that provide you with the necessary tools to display your products online, process payments, and much more. Shopify offers both free and paid themes which come with the ability to customize themes without having to touch a line of code. Paid themes, compared to free themes, do offer more options for modifications and customization. To get Shopify themes, you will first need to sign up on Shopify, and subscribe to the plans available on offer. If you are on the fence about using Shopify, a 14-day free trial is also available. Shopify offers a wide range of themes that you can use for your particular business. With them, you can explore free and paid Shopify themes to find the right look and feel for your store. You can also find inspiration, discover styles, and start building your brand. Benefits of Shopify Themes: Variety of tools for online business setup and management. Option of using free or paid Shopify themes. Customization without needing to code. Wide range of themes suitable for various businesses. Opportunities to discover styles and build a brand. How Do I Get Themes on Shopify? There are two ways to get Shopify themes: You can add a free theme from your Shopify admin or try out a paid theme from the Shopify Theme Store. You can find the right theme for your business in the Shopify Theme Store. The Theme Store offers a wide variety of Shopify themes that you can add to your online store. It includes free themes that are developed by Shopify and paid themes that are developed by third-party designers. Before you decide on a theme and start customizing, you will need to decide on the features and designs you would like to see on your online store. Through Shopify themes, you can easily modify the content and layout of the different pages on your store. How to Get Shopify Themes: Choose from free themes in your Shopify admin. Explore paid themes in the Shopify Theme Store. Themes developed by both Shopify and third-party designers. Decide on the features and designs before customization. Modify content and layout easily with themes. Our Methodology: How We Chose the Best Shopify Themes Shopify stands as one of the most popular e-commerce platforms today, and a well-chosen theme can make all the difference in converting visitors to customers. With countless themes available, pinpointing the optimal choice can be daunting. To assist in this selection, here’s how we evaluated the best Shopify themes: Design and Aesthetics (10/10) First impressions matter. We prioritize themes that offer a clean, modern design, ensuring a visually appealing shopping experience. Mobile Responsiveness (10/10) With a significant portion of shoppers making purchases on mobile devices, themes that excel on both desktop and mobile screens rank highly in our list. Load Speed and Performance (9/10) Slow load times can deter potential customers. We favor themes optimized for speed, ensuring pages load swiftly and smoothly. Customization Capabilities (9/10) Every business has its unique touch. We value themes that provide comprehensive customization options, allowing brands to tailor their online store to their vision. Built-in Features (8/10) Additional tools, such as product zoom, quick view, or color swatches, can enhance the shopping journey. We highlight themes that come equipped with these beneficial features. SEO-friendliness (8/10) Visibility on search engines is vital for driving organic traffic. Themes that adhere to SEO best practices and ensure an optimized structure are preferred. Ease of Use (8/10) User-friendly backend interfaces ensure that even those without technical know-how can manage and update their store effortlessly. Support and Documentation (7/10) A robust support system and comprehensive documentation can be crucial when setting up or troubleshooting. We place emphasis on themes backed by these resources. Integration Compatibility (7/10) Businesses often use various apps and plugins to extend functionality. We lean towards themes that are compatible with a broad range of Shopify apps and integrations. User Reviews and Feedback (7/10) Firsthand experiences provide valuable insights. We take into account user reviews and feedback, focusing on themes that have garnered positive responses. Price and Value Proposition (6/10) While quality is essential, affordability and value for money play a role in our evaluation. We balance the theme’s pricing against its features and potential benefits. A Shopify theme isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about functionality, user experience, and driving sales. In our meticulous selection process, we’ve endeavored to highlight themes that offer an ideal blend of design and practicality, helping businesses create a captivating online presence. Best Shopify Themes for Small Businesses Shopify themes are ideal e-commerce solutions for small businesses. It offers you a set of tools that help you accomplish everything you need to launch, run, and manage a successful e-commerce business. Ease of use is also a major appeal as you launch and manage your online store without requiring you to know coding or tech skills. Its solutions also include offline sales with the Shopify POS system and 24/7 customer support by phone, email, and live chat. Plans start with the Basic Shopify plan at a cost-effective $29 monthly subscription. Here, you get to post unlimited products, a custom domain, Shopify Payment (so you can easily accept credit cards without setting up a third-party payment gateway), two users, customer support, and more. This is in addition to the cheaper Shopify Lite plan available for $9 per month, which lets you sell on Facebook, accept credit cards, and use buy buttons on any website. Highlights of Shopify’s Themes for Small Businesses: Tools for complete e-commerce solutions. User-friendly interface that doesn’t require coding skills. Integration with offline sales through Shopify POS. 24/7 customer support across various channels. Plans range from Shopify Lite to Basic Shopify with diverse features. Below are our top picks of premium Shopify themes for small businesses in alphabetical order. Banita Banita is a customizable Shopify theme for creating any type of online store with Shopify. Primarily configured for a fashion and clothing online shop, users can easily use this theme for a wide range of different Shopify stores as well. With it, you can convert your site into a simple catalog without adding to cart and login/register functionality. A key selling point with Banita is its banner generator tool, which you can use to design custom banners for promoting offers and products from your store. Another perk with Bantia is that it integrates with Instagram and YouTube. Basel Basel is a minimalist responsive theme built to create a modern, powerful e-commerce website. It comes with well-designed layouts for your single product page. It features product hovers with unlimited options for the shop page and chooses from eight different product hover effects. Through the theme settings, you can choose one of 11 different layouts for your website header where you can also set your header color, text color scheme, logo, size, and others. Belle Belle’s Shopify theme is easy to install and highly customizable, with unlimited options. To tweak the look and feel of your online store, you can use its built-in Mega Menu options in five awesome styles to create customizable columns, backgrounds, colors, and more. With the Masonry banner gallery style added with new updates, you can showcase your collections in a different way to highlight your front page. Boost Boost’s theme hotspots images by tagging images and creating link labels for the easier in-context discovery of your products. With it you can highlight promoted products, offers, and collections in your main menu. You can also showcase selected featured products on blog and article pages. It comes with predictive search capabilities where you can display live search results and links for products, pages, and articles. District District features come with 20 sections that you can drag and drop to create your site’s layout. You can add images and auto-playing background videos to promote your brand, latest products, and current sales. You can use it to showcase your brand’s style with a grid of your latest Instagram images. District also offers built-in color swatches, a size chart popup, and an instant dynamic checkout button. You can even split your product description into two parts and add extra images and videos to the product page. This theme is ideal for jewelry and accessories, fashion, and clothing sites. Ella Ella Shopify theme offers multiple layouts and styles to create different structures and satisfies any brand-specific requirements, as well as provides you with numerous Child Themes for different kinds of business. This theme, popular among apparel and fashion businesses, comes with banner and product blocks on more than Homepage layouts, over seven stunning Shopping pages, more than nine product pages, in addition to multiple headers and footers. Empire Empire is an Amazon-inspired theme optimized for large product catalogs for businesses in business equipment and supplies, electronics, homes, and gardens. Its best-selling point is its navigation and filtering, which will help customers find what they want, discover new items, and check out faster. Additional tools under the hood include quick buy, slide-out cart, marketing and conversion, recently viewed, recommended products, store locator, image hotspot, zoom, and rollover, product videos, and more. Eva Eva theme is a responsive Shopify and includes modules with Drag & Drop builder to make customization possibilities. This theme is suitable for businesses in clothing, electronics, furniture, and accessories. It offers a clean design, simple user experience, advanced functionality, extensive documentation, and speedy support. Everest Everest theme comes with a built-in slider, a theme editor that lets you control the color style fonts and other sections of your site. Popular among fashion and apparel and other retailers, this theme gives you a whole load of e-commerce capabilities. These features include a countdown timer, the number of products remaining in stock, estimated delivery times, security badges, product image zoom, and direct buttons for adding items to the cart or proceeding to checkout, among others. Flow Flow’s theme is popular among food and drinks e-commerce businesses for its sharp, minimalist design that helps to put your products front and center. Its unique product grid helps to showcase products in a masonry-style grid that highlights individual products when you hover over them. Its unique collection page sidebar also helps you to share collection-specific details in a dedicated sidebar on your collection page while also featuring YouTube or Vimeo videos. With the promotional banner, you can post the latest sales, promotions, or discounts at the top of the page. Furnitto This furniture store packs an awesome collection of features and functionalities to boost your online sales. Furnitto includes a navigable mega menu, 55 collections catalog, cross-browser compatibility, SEO-friendly coding, bootstrap design, product quick view, and more. Gecko Gecko theme is fully optimized for both mobile devices and desktops. a paid theme. It is designed for an array of different online retailers in clothing and fashion. It is packed with features that include fast loading and you can choose for thumbnails to be displayed on the left, right, or bottom of a listing or use the Sticky feature to keep your product detail where it is when scrolling. With it, you can also display product videos on product pages. Additional tools available include sale popups, integration with Instagram, image zooming, product filters, sticky cart, and more. Goodwin The Goodwin multipurpose theme allows you to create stores in all categories, with many features. It is responsive to mobile users and popular with fashion, apparel, electronics, furniture, and e-commerce retailers. This theme includes a visual builder for mega menus in both horizontal and vertical designs. It also includes a new banner-generating tool, as well as the ability to add dynamic payment buttons to the basket. Handy The Handy theme comes with a mobile-first design optimized for small-screen experiences, which is popular among fashion and apparel businesses. It lets customers easily search your store for products, tags, and more on mobile devices. You can also feature product images in a large, multi-column drop-down menu. In terms of promotions, you can promote sales, discounts, and featured products with special promotional tiles while displaying contact information, store hours, and location with icons. Icon Icon’s theme is great for art and photography, clothing and accessories, home and garden, and health and beauty businesses. This theme lets you accommodate any catalog size, facilitates Dropshipping, and provides valuable support to high-volume stores. If your business focuses on visuals, then Icon supports large photographs and images, includes native slideshow functionality, and offers a quick view feature for product details. Kodo Kodo theme is an ideal choice for businesses in cosmetics, furniture, handmade goods, interior design, and electronics. Besides aster loading, it offers a mobile-optimized design, unlimited header styles, category layouts, product page layouts, an Instagram shop, and more. Loft Loft Shopify theme is popular among home and garden, clothing and accessories, and health and beauty industries that help in editorial content and visual storytelling for your online store. With it, you get cart notes, quick view, recommended products, stock counter, in-menu promos, promotional banners and tiles, product reviews, image galleries, rollover, and zoom, slideshow, product tabs, and more. Material Material multi-purpose theme is fully customizable and is popular among businesses in furniture, clothing, and fashion businesses. It comes with a fully responsive feature, integrated media slider, product quick view functionality, a book page, a well-structured product layout, and a lightbox effect. This is in addition to an advanced filter module, Instagram Feed, QuickShop, and Color Swatches and can work smoothly on all devices like MAC, PCs, and iPads. Outstock Outstock theme offers online store solutions for businesses in furniture and fashion e-commerce stores. It comes with a clean and modern design and includes features that include a powerful admin control panel, built-in slider, responsiveness, drag and drop features, mega menu builder, newsletter popup, grid and list modes, and more. Pacific Pacific theme comes with a modular, expansive theme for clothing and fashion e-commerce businesses and stores with large inventories. Its multi-level sidebar menu helps customers easily navigate your store, while its multi-column menu helps you to place product images in a large, multi-column drop-down menu. With the home page slideshow, you can showcase large, high-resolution images at the top of your home page. In addition, you can feature videos from YouTube or Vimeo. Parallax Popular among sports and recreation service providers, Parallax helps to create an animated depth effect as you scroll down the page. It also comes with a multi-level drop-down menu to help customers navigate your store. Its promotional banner helps you to announce the latest sale, promotion, or discount at the top of your store’s home page while featuring multiple videos on your home page. With it, customers can also easily add to their cart without leaving their current page. Porto Porto Shopify theme offers users a powerful package to run an e-commerce store. It has all the required tools and features to create a fast, responsive website with user experience. It comes with more than 20 niche demos and layouts; gain full control over your entire website through your own Content Management System that lets you change the navigation, site content, images, products, collections, and so much more. Roxxe Roxxe is a Shopify theme with a whopping collection of over 68 demos. This theme is applicable for auto parts, cleaning, cosmetics, fashion, furniture, and pretty much any online store you can also customize to your liking as well. Some tools that come with Roxxe include an exit pop-up, newsletter subscription bar, countdown timer, testimonials, and product quick view. Its free shipping bar application allows you to display your free shipping offer in the form of a customizable bar. The shipping bar can be displayed in any position of your responsive homepage that can be optimized for all screen sizes including desktop, tablet, and mobile. Shella Shella premium theme is responsive and popular with the fashion industry. This theme lets you create your homepage with content blocks; Instagram integration, promo box, product listings, and custom content. With it, you can boost your sales through a countdown timer, number left in stock, recent purchase, free shipping progress bar, estimated delivery time, and more. It comes with a mega menu builder with navigation menus, four types of promo boxes, and product lists. Plus, you can configure your popup layout using a twelve-column grid. Split Split’s theme is ideal for businesses engaged in the home and garden, clothing and accessories, toys and games, and for visual brands with a story to tell. It offers a one-of-a-kind balanced split-screen layout to create a truly engaging user experience. Its smart adaptive grid helps organize sections based on the number of used items, so you don’t have to worry that your store is too large or small. It also helps customers see products commonly purchased together with an option to purchase without leaving the page. Additional features include cart notes, in-store pickups, a slide-out cart, recommended products, a stock counter, a store locator, in-menu promos, an FAQ page, product reviews, and more. Story The Story theme is popular among Home and Garden e-commerce businesses and noteworthy brands. With it, you can create custom forms that include tailored contact, inquiry, or sign-up forms that suit your business needs. You can also filter collection pages by brand, price, and other customizable options. With the Lookbook feature, you can showcase your products in a lookbook that displays collections in an editorial-style spread. Its familiar timeline tool helps to tell the story of your brand. Turbo Turbo’s theme features two-speed settings: Ludicrous and Sport. Both settings are intended to ensure your shop operates smoothly and efficiently. This highly customizable theme is user-friendly and optimized for mobile devices, delivering exceptional performance. With it, you can add numerous menus to your website, making it easy for customers to navigate from one page to the next. It comes with a predictive search full-width image section with multiple action buttons, text and color settings, and product row sliders. Its popup feature can be used to encourage your visitors to subscribe to your newsletter. Universe Universe is a multipurpose Shopify theme that offers a flexible solution for travel, fashion, and accessories businesses both large and small. It offers fully customizable features and offers a complete solution that works out of the box. These include a powerful mega menu, interactive product carousels, Google Maps and YouTube integration, Product image zoom, slide-out shopping cart display, social media integration, the ‘Coming soon template, and more. Venue Venue is a great choice for businesses in clothing and fashion as well as brands active across multiple channels. With it, businesses can sell online and in-person, by offering features such as dates and events section to get customers to your brick-and-mortar location. There are also unique features like custom filters and tags, built-in age-checker popup for businesses selling age-restricted products, allow customers to quickly add items to their cart without leaving their current page, and advance menu promotions that can highlight promoted products, offers, and collections in your main menu. Vogue Vogue offers a lookbook theme to your clothing and fashion online store for seamless browsing. With it, you can showcase high-resolution product imagery throughout your store with a full-width layout. You can also feature multiple products, posts, or promotions in a grid-style layout on your home page. Its sidebar menu can feature products, collections, social media links, and more. You can also Improve discoverability with infinite scrolling between product pages. Wokiee Wokiee theme works well for apparel, clothes, electronics, fashion, and fashion online stores. It includes tools and modules to create fast, responsive, and mobile-ready websites with an amazing user experience. It comes with features with a single product store layout, integrated sales notification, advanced mega menu functionality, and more. You can choose one of the presets to create a store, copy-paste any skin, and the branding. Wokiee has a lot of e-commerce features, such as mega menus, banner sections, AJAX search, AJAX filter, Google rich snippet tools, and much more. Yanka Yanka’s Shopify theme sways heavily towards the fashion industry. It comes with over 18 pre-built demo content and useful eCommerce elements like product grids, collections or sliders, and templates. In terms of solutions, it provides responsive design, product quick views, a live search tool, Instagram integration, product comparison, custom headers, newsletter integration, and more. Zeexo Zeexo’s Shopify theme is popular among the apparel, electronic, fashion, and furniture industries as it offers more than 100 different pre-made shop templates. This theme comes with mobile user experience optimization, Google mobile-friendly, SEO optimization, multiple header designs, social and theme icons, and more. Best Free Shopify Themes for Your eCommerce Store Shopify provides several free themes that are responsive and customizable. These free Shopify themes are a great option for those looking for an online website builder while staying within a budget. Brooklyn Brooklyn offers solutions for fashion and apparel businesses with a focus on brand imagery. Its headers slideshow helps to display multiple products or brand images at the top of your home page. It also features a slide-out cart, so customers can easily add items without having to leave the page, Brooklyn lets you use videos from YouTube and Vimeo for greater impact. Debut Debut theme offers solutions to your online store by showcasing a carefully curated selection of products. This theme helps you engage with customers by showing where items are available for pickup. You can also promote sales, promotions, or discounts at the top of your store’s home page. You can also feature product and brand videos from YouTube and Vimeo. Customers can also filter products by type, and sort by best sellers and price on the collection page. It comes with a predictive search feature that lets you display live search results and quick links for products and store pages. Express Food and drink businesses can find the perfect fit with the Express theme, and it is ideal for stores with a small number of products, like menu items. It is optimized for one-page stores where you can showcase your products and your content on one page for quick ordering. Express is designed specifically for smaller devices and mobile commerce, requiring little content and photography. With it, you can display multiple featured collections all on your home page and even add them to their cart without leaving their current page. Minimal With the Minimal theme, you can organize your products thanks to their clean and simple design. Mostly used for art and photography e-commerce businesses it comes with features such as optional sections for a home page video or slideshow, along with built-in product filtering. Addition features under the hold include in-store pickups, cart notes, marketing and conversion, stock counter, and recommended products Narrative Narrative’s theme offers users some great options for brand and product storytelling. Popular among home and garden and art and photography e-commerce businesses, it is particularly ideal for stores with a single product or a small number of products. It lets you tell your story by featuring an auto-play, full-screen video at the top of your home page. With it, you can showcase the finer details of your product with customizable image blocks, quote slides, and more. In terms of navigation, you can create a better browsing experience by surfacing your menu, logo, and cart when customers begin to scroll up the page. Simple Simple’s theme offers a clean and minimal them to showcase your products to customers. With its product image zoom feature, you can give customers a closer look and extra product details when they hover over an image. You can also animate images of your product and brand into the page to create a sleek transition effect. It also showcases recommended products on product pages to increase discoverability as well. This theme is popular among the fashion and clothing industries. Supply Theme Shopify Supply theme can help you easily organize your products and filter large inventories by brand, price, and other customizable options. With featured collections available on your homepage along with collection filtering in the sidebar customers can easily search and add to their cart items easily. Supply themes can be used by jewelry, clothing, fashion, and accessories sellers. Venture Venture is a free Shopify minimal theme that is tailor-made for businesses with large product catalogs. It comes with multi-column menu options that allow you to showcase product-specific details through a drop-down menu. You’ll also be able to highlight a single flagship product by featuring it front and center on your home page or showcase multiple products or brand images on your home page through a slideshow. You can also filter products by type and sort by best sellers and price on the collection page. Voonex Voonex is a free theme that is perfectly designed to fit an eCommerce website featuring an event of any kind. This theme is built to fit in any eCommerce website about the event, conference, meeting, summit, exhibition, concert, or expo. It helps to provide solutions in regards to the essential parts of an event and conference theme like Event Information, Speaker Profiles, Sponsors, Schedules, The Venue, and Blog Pages are well structured in order for your attendees to follow the events easily with full information. This theme is free for its basic version which comes with some limited features. If you want to upgrade to more sophisticated options, you’ll have to pay for the Premium version for $ 56. What You Should Look for in a Shopify eCommerce Theme Choosing the right Shopify theme is crucial for creating a lasting impression and driving sales. While aligning with your business aesthetics is vital, financial investment should also be a consideration. You shouldn’t have to empty your pockets to get a theme that represents your brand adequately. Key Features to Consider for Shopify Themes To ensure you pick the best Shopify theme for your business, here’s a concise checklist of essential features to keep in mind: FeatureBrief Description Ease of CustomizationAdjust to fit your brand without complex coding. ResponsivenessAdapts to all screen sizes, ensuring a consistent browsing experience. Mobile-FriendlinessOptimized for mobile devices where most online shopping occurs. SEO CompatibilityEnhance search rankings with tailored meta titles and descriptions. Marketing & Social IntegrationConnect and sync with platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. Customer TestimonialsBoost credibility with social proof from satisfied customers. Product Page FeaturesDetailed visuals, descriptions, shipping info, and payment options. Navigation FeaturesIncludes features like Mega menus for a streamlined user experience. Niche AppropriatenessThemes tailored to specific business needs. Dynamic VisualsStandout templates that highlight the store's unique offerings. Customer SupportPrompt tech support accessibility for theme-related issues. Visual Page BuilderUser-friendly interface to design and edit store layouts. Advanced Product FilteringSort products by categories, pricing, popularity, etc. Homepage LayoutsEngaging designs that showcase products and boost credibility. Ease of Customization Selecting the ideal Shopify theme is all about striking a balance between aesthetic alignment with your brand and affordability. The right Shopify theme should seamlessly incorporate vital elements such as crisp product images, clearly displayed price tags and an easily distinguishable Call-to-Action (CTA) button. These elements should be showcased in a manner that efficiently communicates crucial information to prospective customers without making the page feel overloaded or chaotic. Moreover, when looking for the perfect Shopify e-commerce theme, it’s essential to consider the breadth of customization options available to ensure it can adapt to your business’s unique needs. Responsiveness In today’s digital landscape, an effective online store is one that employs responsive Shopify themes. Such themes are meticulously designed to adapt seamlessly to any screen size, be it expansive desktop monitors or compact screens of smartphones and tablets. Investing in responsive Shopify themes is a prudent choice as they inherently come with attributes that enhance customer engagement, simplify navigation, and provide an intuitive user experience, ensuring visitors stay longer and explore more. Mobile-Friendliness With the surge in mobile internet usage, prioritizing mobile-friendliness in your online store is not just an option but a necessity. The reality is stark: a significant majority of online browsing and shopping transactions now happen via mobile devices. Therefore, to truly thrive in the online marketplace and tap into this vast demographic, your store needs to be impeccably optimized for mobile, ensuring swift loading times, efficient checkouts, and a pleasing user interface. SEO Compatibility Visibility is key in the vast digital marketplace. To ensure that your online store is easily discoverable by potential customers, it’s imperative to secure good rankings in search engine results. The intrinsic design of some Shopify themes can assist in this endeavor by allowing store owners to customize SEO parameters effortlessly. This functionality enables you to infuse specific, keyword-rich information about your products into meta titles and meta descriptions, enhancing search engine visibility. Marketing and Social Media Features In this age of connectivity, integrating social media into your business strategy can significantly amplify your reach. By intertwining your Shopify store with your business’s blog and various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, you not only foster deeper connections with your existing customer base but also attract potential customers who discover your products through shared content, reviews, or recommendations. Excellent Customer Testimonials Showcasing genuine feedback from your customers is one of the most impactful strategies you can employ on your online store. When you weave in authentic customer testimonials, you not only highlight the quality of your products or services but also leverage the power of social proof. These testimonials serve as evidence that your product delivers as promised, making potential customers more confident in their purchase decisions. Product Page Features An effective product page is a blend of aesthetics and functionality. It’s a space where customers should find comprehensive details about the product and its features. Besides basic details, the page should be equipped to guide the customer’s journey with sorting options, promotional announcements, captivating visuals, detailed descriptions, and an array of color options. Furthermore, it’s essential to provide logistical details like shipping information and a variety of payment gateways. These features, when combined, ensure that the customer has a smooth and informed shopping experience. Navigation Features Seamless navigation can significantly influence the user experience on your online store. A clutter-free and intuitive navigation system can make browsing easy, leading to longer site visits and potential conversions. Introducing features like Mega menus can be especially beneficial. These are expansive dropdown panels that appear on hover, providing users with an organized view of categories and subcategories, making their browsing journey straightforward and enjoyable. Appropriateness for Your Niche Every business has unique requirements, and your online store should reflect that. While diving into the vast pool of Shopify themes, it’s pivotal to prioritize those that resonate with the ethos of your brand and the niche you operate in. An apt theme will inherently align with your business’s character, making customization smoother and more effective. Dynamic Visuals to Showcase Products In the digital retail space, first impressions are often made through visuals. Opting for themes that allow dynamic displays can enhance your product presentation, emphasizing its unique features and benefits. When selecting visual elements, it’s crucial to ensure they harmonize with the overall style and aesthetic of your chosen template, creating a cohesive and engaging shopping environment. Customer Support Navigating the intricacies of an online store can sometimes be challenging. During these times, having reliable and prompt customer support can make all the difference. Ensure the theme you select is backed by a robust support system, offering guidance and solutions whenever you encounter hurdles. This not only saves time but also ensures your store runs smoothly, offering customers an uninterrupted shopping experience. Visual Page Builder Features In today’s digital era, building your online storefront should be as easy as arranging blocks on a canvas. A competent visual page builder offers you that simplicity. With drag-and-drop features, you can shape your store’s appearance and functionality without delving into the intricacies of coding. These tools bring a layer of versatility, allowing you to experiment with various layouts, elements, and content until you find the perfect fit. The true strength of a visual page builder lies in its ability to adapt. As your brand grows or trends change, you should be able to swiftly modify your store’s look and feel, ensuring it always resonates with your target audience. Advanced Product Filtering The modern shopper values efficiency. They wish to find their desired products without wading through countless irrelevant listings. This is where advanced product filtering comes into play. An efficient Shopify theme empowers your customers to fine-tune their search based on specific criteria, be it bestsellers, price ranges, or product groups. This not only speeds up the shopping process but also enhances the user experience, making it likely for customers to return for future purchases. Great Homepage Layouts The homepage acts as the grand entrance to your online store. It sets the tone, introduces your brand, and guides visitors towards making a purchase. To ensure your homepage leaves a lasting impression, it needs to be a harmonious blend of aesthetics and functionality. Elements like captivating headers, striking graphics, and immersive videos can draw visitors in. However, it’s the subtle touches that often make the difference. Features like showcasing best-selling products or highlighting unique value propositions give potential customers a quick snapshot of what you offer. Furthermore, instilling trust is essential. Incorporating elements like security badges assures visitors that their transactions are safe, encouraging them to explore your store further. How to Buy Custom Themes for Your Shopify Store To get themes, you will first need to sign up on Shopify, and subscribe to the plans available on offer. You can then buy either through the Shopify Theme Store or third-party developers. What are the best Shopify themes? Some of the best Shopify themes include Wokiee, Universe, Porto, and Brooklyn. Can you customize a free Shopify theme? Yes, free Shopify can be customized to a certain degree so that you can align the design of your eCommerce store with your business goals and increase sales. Which free Shopify theme is responsive? Simple, Supply , Venture, and Narrative are free responsive Shopify themes. Why are Shopify themes so expensive? A lot of costs go into designing and developing themes in addition to the considerable amount of time and resources in developing code, testing it, and providing support, all of which may not be provided or as high quality with lower-cost options. Which is the best converting Shopify theme? Wokiee is widely regarded as the best converting Shopify theme. Its design and features are optimized to enhance user experience, leading to higher customer engagement and increased sales conversions. What is the best-paid theme on Shopify? Empire is considered the best-paid theme on Shopify. This is because it comes with an Amazon-inspired theme optimized for literally any type of e-commerce store. Image: Shopify This article, "Best Shopify Themes for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Shopify themes play a pivotal role in the e-commerce platform provided by Shopify, enabling businesses to host and run their online stores with ease. They not only allow you to organize your store’s layout but also empower you to craft beautiful, mobile-friendly online storefronts. Whether you opt to build from scratch or customize an existing theme, the flexibility ensures you can sell products across various channels — be it the web, mobile, social media, online marketplaces, physical locations, or even pop-up shops. What is a Shopify Theme? Once you get the answer to what is Shopify, knowing what Shopify themes are will help you better use the platform more efficiently. Shopify themes are the backbone of your online storefront on the Shopify platform. They act as pre-designed website structures, allowing you to present your products and brand in a visually appealing and organized manner. Beyond just appearances, the chosen theme governs various functionalities of your website. From the organization of your product listings to how customers browse different sections to the ease of the checkout process—everything is influenced by the theme’s design and integrated features. Given the importance of mobile browsing in today’s e-commerce landscape, many Shopify themes are built to be responsive, automatically adjusting to fit different device screens, ensuring a seamless shopping experience. The Importance of Responsive Shopify Themes With the ubiquity of mobile devices, the need for a website to be responsive has become paramount. A responsive Shopify theme ensures that your online store is easily accessible and visually appealing across all devices, be it a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. Mobile shopping has seen a significant rise, and if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you risk alienating a vast segment of potential customers. Simply put, responsive design is about offering a consistent and efficient shopping experience, irrespective of the device being used. What is the Shopify Theme Store Shopify offers a range of tools through its themes to assist you in setting up and managing your online business. With Shopify, you can choose from both free and paid Shopify themes that provide you with the necessary tools to display your products online, process payments, and much more. Shopify offers both free and paid themes which come with the ability to customize themes without having to touch a line of code. Paid themes, compared to free themes, do offer more options for modifications and customization. To get Shopify themes, you will first need to sign up on Shopify, and subscribe to the plans available on offer. If you are on the fence about using Shopify, a 14-day free trial is also available. Shopify offers a wide range of themes that you can use for your particular business. With them, you can explore free and paid Shopify themes to find the right look and feel for your store. You can also find inspiration, discover styles, and start building your brand. Benefits of Shopify Themes: Variety of tools for online business setup and management. Option of using free or paid Shopify themes. Customization without needing to code. Wide range of themes suitable for various businesses. Opportunities to discover styles and build a brand. How Do I Get Themes on Shopify? There are two ways to get Shopify themes: You can add a free theme from your Shopify admin or try out a paid theme from the Shopify Theme Store. You can find the right theme for your business in the Shopify Theme Store. The Theme Store offers a wide variety of Shopify themes that you can add to your online store. It includes free themes that are developed by Shopify and paid themes that are developed by third-party designers. Before you decide on a theme and start customizing, you will need to decide on the features and designs you would like to see on your online store. Through Shopify themes, you can easily modify the content and layout of the different pages on your store. How to Get Shopify Themes: Choose from free themes in your Shopify admin. Explore paid themes in the Shopify Theme Store. Themes developed by both Shopify and third-party designers. Decide on the features and designs before customization. Modify content and layout easily with themes. Our Methodology: How We Chose the Best Shopify Themes Shopify stands as one of the most popular e-commerce platforms today, and a well-chosen theme can make all the difference in converting visitors to customers. With countless themes available, pinpointing the optimal choice can be daunting. To assist in this selection, here’s how we evaluated the best Shopify themes: Design and Aesthetics (10/10) First impressions matter. We prioritize themes that offer a clean, modern design, ensuring a visually appealing shopping experience. Mobile Responsiveness (10/10) With a significant portion of shoppers making purchases on mobile devices, themes that excel on both desktop and mobile screens rank highly in our list. Load Speed and Performance (9/10) Slow load times can deter potential customers. We favor themes optimized for speed, ensuring pages load swiftly and smoothly. Customization Capabilities (9/10) Every business has its unique touch. We value themes that provide comprehensive customization options, allowing brands to tailor their online store to their vision. Built-in Features (8/10) Additional tools, such as product zoom, quick view, or color swatches, can enhance the shopping journey. We highlight themes that come equipped with these beneficial features. SEO-friendliness (8/10) Visibility on search engines is vital for driving organic traffic. Themes that adhere to SEO best practices and ensure an optimized structure are preferred. Ease of Use (8/10) User-friendly backend interfaces ensure that even those without technical know-how can manage and update their store effortlessly. Support and Documentation (7/10) A robust support system and comprehensive documentation can be crucial when setting up or troubleshooting. We place emphasis on themes backed by these resources. Integration Compatibility (7/10) Businesses often use various apps and plugins to extend functionality. We lean towards themes that are compatible with a broad range of Shopify apps and integrations. User Reviews and Feedback (7/10) Firsthand experiences provide valuable insights. We take into account user reviews and feedback, focusing on themes that have garnered positive responses. Price and Value Proposition (6/10) While quality is essential, affordability and value for money play a role in our evaluation. We balance the theme’s pricing against its features and potential benefits. A Shopify theme isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about functionality, user experience, and driving sales. In our meticulous selection process, we’ve endeavored to highlight themes that offer an ideal blend of design and practicality, helping businesses create a captivating online presence. Best Shopify Themes for Small Businesses Shopify themes are ideal e-commerce solutions for small businesses. It offers you a set of tools that help you accomplish everything you need to launch, run, and manage a successful e-commerce business. Ease of use is also a major appeal as you launch and manage your online store without requiring you to know coding or tech skills. Its solutions also include offline sales with the Shopify POS system and 24/7 customer support by phone, email, and live chat. Plans start with the Basic Shopify plan at a cost-effective $29 monthly subscription. Here, you get to post unlimited products, a custom domain, Shopify Payment (so you can easily accept credit cards without setting up a third-party payment gateway), two users, customer support, and more. This is in addition to the cheaper Shopify Lite plan available for $9 per month, which lets you sell on Facebook, accept credit cards, and use buy buttons on any website. Highlights of Shopify’s Themes for Small Businesses: Tools for complete e-commerce solutions. User-friendly interface that doesn’t require coding skills. Integration with offline sales through Shopify POS. 24/7 customer support across various channels. Plans range from Shopify Lite to Basic Shopify with diverse features. Below are our top picks of premium Shopify themes for small businesses in alphabetical order. Banita Banita is a customizable Shopify theme for creating any type of online store with Shopify. Primarily configured for a fashion and clothing online shop, users can easily use this theme for a wide range of different Shopify stores as well. With it, you can convert your site into a simple catalog without adding to cart and login/register functionality. A key selling point with Banita is its banner generator tool, which you can use to design custom banners for promoting offers and products from your store. Another perk with Bantia is that it integrates with Instagram and YouTube. Basel Basel is a minimalist responsive theme built to create a modern, powerful e-commerce website. It comes with well-designed layouts for your single product page. It features product hovers with unlimited options for the shop page and chooses from eight different product hover effects. Through the theme settings, you can choose one of 11 different layouts for your website header where you can also set your header color, text color scheme, logo, size, and others. Belle Belle’s Shopify theme is easy to install and highly customizable, with unlimited options. To tweak the look and feel of your online store, you can use its built-in Mega Menu options in five awesome styles to create customizable columns, backgrounds, colors, and more. With the Masonry banner gallery style added with new updates, you can showcase your collections in a different way to highlight your front page. Boost Boost’s theme hotspots images by tagging images and creating link labels for the easier in-context discovery of your products. With it you can highlight promoted products, offers, and collections in your main menu. You can also showcase selected featured products on blog and article pages. It comes with predictive search capabilities where you can display live search results and links for products, pages, and articles. District District features come with 20 sections that you can drag and drop to create your site’s layout. You can add images and auto-playing background videos to promote your brand, latest products, and current sales. You can use it to showcase your brand’s style with a grid of your latest Instagram images. District also offers built-in color swatches, a size chart popup, and an instant dynamic checkout button. You can even split your product description into two parts and add extra images and videos to the product page. This theme is ideal for jewelry and accessories, fashion, and clothing sites. Ella Ella Shopify theme offers multiple layouts and styles to create different structures and satisfies any brand-specific requirements, as well as provides you with numerous Child Themes for different kinds of business. This theme, popular among apparel and fashion businesses, comes with banner and product blocks on more than Homepage layouts, over seven stunning Shopping pages, more than nine product pages, in addition to multiple headers and footers. Empire Empire is an Amazon-inspired theme optimized for large product catalogs for businesses in business equipment and supplies, electronics, homes, and gardens. Its best-selling point is its navigation and filtering, which will help customers find what they want, discover new items, and check out faster. Additional tools under the hood include quick buy, slide-out cart, marketing and conversion, recently viewed, recommended products, store locator, image hotspot, zoom, and rollover, product videos, and more. Eva Eva theme is a responsive Shopify and includes modules with Drag & Drop builder to make customization possibilities. This theme is suitable for businesses in clothing, electronics, furniture, and accessories. It offers a clean design, simple user experience, advanced functionality, extensive documentation, and speedy support. Everest Everest theme comes with a built-in slider, a theme editor that lets you control the color style fonts and other sections of your site. Popular among fashion and apparel and other retailers, this theme gives you a whole load of e-commerce capabilities. These features include a countdown timer, the number of products remaining in stock, estimated delivery times, security badges, product image zoom, and direct buttons for adding items to the cart or proceeding to checkout, among others. Flow Flow’s theme is popular among food and drinks e-commerce businesses for its sharp, minimalist design that helps to put your products front and center. Its unique product grid helps to showcase products in a masonry-style grid that highlights individual products when you hover over them. Its unique collection page sidebar also helps you to share collection-specific details in a dedicated sidebar on your collection page while also featuring YouTube or Vimeo videos. With the promotional banner, you can post the latest sales, promotions, or discounts at the top of the page. Furnitto This furniture store packs an awesome collection of features and functionalities to boost your online sales. Furnitto includes a navigable mega menu, 55 collections catalog, cross-browser compatibility, SEO-friendly coding, bootstrap design, product quick view, and more. Gecko Gecko theme is fully optimized for both mobile devices and desktops. a paid theme. It is designed for an array of different online retailers in clothing and fashion. It is packed with features that include fast loading and you can choose for thumbnails to be displayed on the left, right, or bottom of a listing or use the Sticky feature to keep your product detail where it is when scrolling. With it, you can also display product videos on product pages. Additional tools available include sale popups, integration with Instagram, image zooming, product filters, sticky cart, and more. Goodwin The Goodwin multipurpose theme allows you to create stores in all categories, with many features. It is responsive to mobile users and popular with fashion, apparel, electronics, furniture, and e-commerce retailers. This theme includes a visual builder for mega menus in both horizontal and vertical designs. It also includes a new banner-generating tool, as well as the ability to add dynamic payment buttons to the basket. Handy The Handy theme comes with a mobile-first design optimized for small-screen experiences, which is popular among fashion and apparel businesses. It lets customers easily search your store for products, tags, and more on mobile devices. You can also feature product images in a large, multi-column drop-down menu. In terms of promotions, you can promote sales, discounts, and featured products with special promotional tiles while displaying contact information, store hours, and location with icons. Icon Icon’s theme is great for art and photography, clothing and accessories, home and garden, and health and beauty businesses. This theme lets you accommodate any catalog size, facilitates Dropshipping, and provides valuable support to high-volume stores. If your business focuses on visuals, then Icon supports large photographs and images, includes native slideshow functionality, and offers a quick view feature for product details. Kodo Kodo theme is an ideal choice for businesses in cosmetics, furniture, handmade goods, interior design, and electronics. Besides aster loading, it offers a mobile-optimized design, unlimited header styles, category layouts, product page layouts, an Instagram shop, and more. Loft Loft Shopify theme is popular among home and garden, clothing and accessories, and health and beauty industries that help in editorial content and visual storytelling for your online store. With it, you get cart notes, quick view, recommended products, stock counter, in-menu promos, promotional banners and tiles, product reviews, image galleries, rollover, and zoom, slideshow, product tabs, and more. Material Material multi-purpose theme is fully customizable and is popular among businesses in furniture, clothing, and fashion businesses. It comes with a fully responsive feature, integrated media slider, product quick view functionality, a book page, a well-structured product layout, and a lightbox effect. This is in addition to an advanced filter module, Instagram Feed, QuickShop, and Color Swatches and can work smoothly on all devices like MAC, PCs, and iPads. Outstock Outstock theme offers online store solutions for businesses in furniture and fashion e-commerce stores. It comes with a clean and modern design and includes features that include a powerful admin control panel, built-in slider, responsiveness, drag and drop features, mega menu builder, newsletter popup, grid and list modes, and more. Pacific Pacific theme comes with a modular, expansive theme for clothing and fashion e-commerce businesses and stores with large inventories. Its multi-level sidebar menu helps customers easily navigate your store, while its multi-column menu helps you to place product images in a large, multi-column drop-down menu. With the home page slideshow, you can showcase large, high-resolution images at the top of your home page. In addition, you can feature videos from YouTube or Vimeo. Parallax Popular among sports and recreation service providers, Parallax helps to create an animated depth effect as you scroll down the page. It also comes with a multi-level drop-down menu to help customers navigate your store. Its promotional banner helps you to announce the latest sale, promotion, or discount at the top of your store’s home page while featuring multiple videos on your home page. With it, customers can also easily add to their cart without leaving their current page. Porto Porto Shopify theme offers users a powerful package to run an e-commerce store. It has all the required tools and features to create a fast, responsive website with user experience. It comes with more than 20 niche demos and layouts; gain full control over your entire website through your own Content Management System that lets you change the navigation, site content, images, products, collections, and so much more. Roxxe Roxxe is a Shopify theme with a whopping collection of over 68 demos. This theme is applicable for auto parts, cleaning, cosmetics, fashion, furniture, and pretty much any online store you can also customize to your liking as well. Some tools that come with Roxxe include an exit pop-up, newsletter subscription bar, countdown timer, testimonials, and product quick view. Its free shipping bar application allows you to display your free shipping offer in the form of a customizable bar. The shipping bar can be displayed in any position of your responsive homepage that can be optimized for all screen sizes including desktop, tablet, and mobile. Shella Shella premium theme is responsive and popular with the fashion industry. This theme lets you create your homepage with content blocks; Instagram integration, promo box, product listings, and custom content. With it, you can boost your sales through a countdown timer, number left in stock, recent purchase, free shipping progress bar, estimated delivery time, and more. It comes with a mega menu builder with navigation menus, four types of promo boxes, and product lists. Plus, you can configure your popup layout using a twelve-column grid. Split Split’s theme is ideal for businesses engaged in the home and garden, clothing and accessories, toys and games, and for visual brands with a story to tell. It offers a one-of-a-kind balanced split-screen layout to create a truly engaging user experience. Its smart adaptive grid helps organize sections based on the number of used items, so you don’t have to worry that your store is too large or small. It also helps customers see products commonly purchased together with an option to purchase without leaving the page. Additional features include cart notes, in-store pickups, a slide-out cart, recommended products, a stock counter, a store locator, in-menu promos, an FAQ page, product reviews, and more. Story The Story theme is popular among Home and Garden e-commerce businesses and noteworthy brands. With it, you can create custom forms that include tailored contact, inquiry, or sign-up forms that suit your business needs. You can also filter collection pages by brand, price, and other customizable options. With the Lookbook feature, you can showcase your products in a lookbook that displays collections in an editorial-style spread. Its familiar timeline tool helps to tell the story of your brand. Turbo Turbo’s theme features two-speed settings: Ludicrous and Sport. Both settings are intended to ensure your shop operates smoothly and efficiently. This highly customizable theme is user-friendly and optimized for mobile devices, delivering exceptional performance. With it, you can add numerous menus to your website, making it easy for customers to navigate from one page to the next. It comes with a predictive search full-width image section with multiple action buttons, text and color settings, and product row sliders. Its popup feature can be used to encourage your visitors to subscribe to your newsletter. Universe Universe is a multipurpose Shopify theme that offers a flexible solution for travel, fashion, and accessories businesses both large and small. It offers fully customizable features and offers a complete solution that works out of the box. These include a powerful mega menu, interactive product carousels, Google Maps and YouTube integration, Product image zoom, slide-out shopping cart display, social media integration, the ‘Coming soon template, and more. Venue Venue is a great choice for businesses in clothing and fashion as well as brands active across multiple channels. With it, businesses can sell online and in-person, by offering features such as dates and events section to get customers to your brick-and-mortar location. There are also unique features like custom filters and tags, built-in age-checker popup for businesses selling age-restricted products, allow customers to quickly add items to their cart without leaving their current page, and advance menu promotions that can highlight promoted products, offers, and collections in your main menu. Vogue Vogue offers a lookbook theme to your clothing and fashion online store for seamless browsing. With it, you can showcase high-resolution product imagery throughout your store with a full-width layout. You can also feature multiple products, posts, or promotions in a grid-style layout on your home page. Its sidebar menu can feature products, collections, social media links, and more. You can also Improve discoverability with infinite scrolling between product pages. Wokiee Wokiee theme works well for apparel, clothes, electronics, fashion, and fashion online stores. It includes tools and modules to create fast, responsive, and mobile-ready websites with an amazing user experience. It comes with features with a single product store layout, integrated sales notification, advanced mega menu functionality, and more. You can choose one of the presets to create a store, copy-paste any skin, and the branding. Wokiee has a lot of e-commerce features, such as mega menus, banner sections, AJAX search, AJAX filter, Google rich snippet tools, and much more. Yanka Yanka’s Shopify theme sways heavily towards the fashion industry. It comes with over 18 pre-built demo content and useful eCommerce elements like product grids, collections or sliders, and templates. In terms of solutions, it provides responsive design, product quick views, a live search tool, Instagram integration, product comparison, custom headers, newsletter integration, and more. Zeexo Zeexo’s Shopify theme is popular among the apparel, electronic, fashion, and furniture industries as it offers more than 100 different pre-made shop templates. This theme comes with mobile user experience optimization, Google mobile-friendly, SEO optimization, multiple header designs, social and theme icons, and more. Best Free Shopify Themes for Your eCommerce Store Shopify provides several free themes that are responsive and customizable. These free Shopify themes are a great option for those looking for an online website builder while staying within a budget. Brooklyn Brooklyn offers solutions for fashion and apparel businesses with a focus on brand imagery. Its headers slideshow helps to display multiple products or brand images at the top of your home page. It also features a slide-out cart, so customers can easily add items without having to leave the page, Brooklyn lets you use videos from YouTube and Vimeo for greater impact. Debut Debut theme offers solutions to your online store by showcasing a carefully curated selection of products. This theme helps you engage with customers by showing where items are available for pickup. You can also promote sales, promotions, or discounts at the top of your store’s home page. You can also feature product and brand videos from YouTube and Vimeo. Customers can also filter products by type, and sort by best sellers and price on the collection page. It comes with a predictive search feature that lets you display live search results and quick links for products and store pages. Express Food and drink businesses can find the perfect fit with the Express theme, and it is ideal for stores with a small number of products, like menu items. It is optimized for one-page stores where you can showcase your products and your content on one page for quick ordering. Express is designed specifically for smaller devices and mobile commerce, requiring little content and photography. With it, you can display multiple featured collections all on your home page and even add them to their cart without leaving their current page. Minimal With the Minimal theme, you can organize your products thanks to their clean and simple design. Mostly used for art and photography e-commerce businesses it comes with features such as optional sections for a home page video or slideshow, along with built-in product filtering. Addition features under the hold include in-store pickups, cart notes, marketing and conversion, stock counter, and recommended products Narrative Narrative’s theme offers users some great options for brand and product storytelling. Popular among home and garden and art and photography e-commerce businesses, it is particularly ideal for stores with a single product or a small number of products. It lets you tell your story by featuring an auto-play, full-screen video at the top of your home page. With it, you can showcase the finer details of your product with customizable image blocks, quote slides, and more. In terms of navigation, you can create a better browsing experience by surfacing your menu, logo, and cart when customers begin to scroll up the page. Simple Simple’s theme offers a clean and minimal them to showcase your products to customers. With its product image zoom feature, you can give customers a closer look and extra product details when they hover over an image. You can also animate images of your product and brand into the page to create a sleek transition effect. It also showcases recommended products on product pages to increase discoverability as well. This theme is popular among the fashion and clothing industries. Supply Theme Shopify Supply theme can help you easily organize your products and filter large inventories by brand, price, and other customizable options. With featured collections available on your homepage along with collection filtering in the sidebar customers can easily search and add to their cart items easily. Supply themes can be used by jewelry, clothing, fashion, and accessories sellers. Venture Venture is a free Shopify minimal theme that is tailor-made for businesses with large product catalogs. It comes with multi-column menu options that allow you to showcase product-specific details through a drop-down menu. You’ll also be able to highlight a single flagship product by featuring it front and center on your home page or showcase multiple products or brand images on your home page through a slideshow. You can also filter products by type and sort by best sellers and price on the collection page. Voonex Voonex is a free theme that is perfectly designed to fit an eCommerce website featuring an event of any kind. This theme is built to fit in any eCommerce website about the event, conference, meeting, summit, exhibition, concert, or expo. It helps to provide solutions in regards to the essential parts of an event and conference theme like Event Information, Speaker Profiles, Sponsors, Schedules, The Venue, and Blog Pages are well structured in order for your attendees to follow the events easily with full information. This theme is free for its basic version which comes with some limited features. If you want to upgrade to more sophisticated options, you’ll have to pay for the Premium version for $ 56. What You Should Look for in a Shopify eCommerce Theme Choosing the right Shopify theme is crucial for creating a lasting impression and driving sales. While aligning with your business aesthetics is vital, financial investment should also be a consideration. You shouldn’t have to empty your pockets to get a theme that represents your brand adequately. Key Features to Consider for Shopify Themes To ensure you pick the best Shopify theme for your business, here’s a concise checklist of essential features to keep in mind: FeatureBrief Description Ease of CustomizationAdjust to fit your brand without complex coding. ResponsivenessAdapts to all screen sizes, ensuring a consistent browsing experience. Mobile-FriendlinessOptimized for mobile devices where most online shopping occurs. SEO CompatibilityEnhance search rankings with tailored meta titles and descriptions. Marketing & Social IntegrationConnect and sync with platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. Customer TestimonialsBoost credibility with social proof from satisfied customers. Product Page FeaturesDetailed visuals, descriptions, shipping info, and payment options. Navigation FeaturesIncludes features like Mega menus for a streamlined user experience. Niche AppropriatenessThemes tailored to specific business needs. Dynamic VisualsStandout templates that highlight the store's unique offerings. Customer SupportPrompt tech support accessibility for theme-related issues. Visual Page BuilderUser-friendly interface to design and edit store layouts. Advanced Product FilteringSort products by categories, pricing, popularity, etc. Homepage LayoutsEngaging designs that showcase products and boost credibility. Ease of Customization Selecting the ideal Shopify theme is all about striking a balance between aesthetic alignment with your brand and affordability. The right Shopify theme should seamlessly incorporate vital elements such as crisp product images, clearly displayed price tags and an easily distinguishable Call-to-Action (CTA) button. These elements should be showcased in a manner that efficiently communicates crucial information to prospective customers without making the page feel overloaded or chaotic. Moreover, when looking for the perfect Shopify e-commerce theme, it’s essential to consider the breadth of customization options available to ensure it can adapt to your business’s unique needs. Responsiveness In today’s digital landscape, an effective online store is one that employs responsive Shopify themes. Such themes are meticulously designed to adapt seamlessly to any screen size, be it expansive desktop monitors or compact screens of smartphones and tablets. Investing in responsive Shopify themes is a prudent choice as they inherently come with attributes that enhance customer engagement, simplify navigation, and provide an intuitive user experience, ensuring visitors stay longer and explore more. Mobile-Friendliness With the surge in mobile internet usage, prioritizing mobile-friendliness in your online store is not just an option but a necessity. The reality is stark: a significant majority of online browsing and shopping transactions now happen via mobile devices. Therefore, to truly thrive in the online marketplace and tap into this vast demographic, your store needs to be impeccably optimized for mobile, ensuring swift loading times, efficient checkouts, and a pleasing user interface. SEO Compatibility Visibility is key in the vast digital marketplace. To ensure that your online store is easily discoverable by potential customers, it’s imperative to secure good rankings in search engine results. The intrinsic design of some Shopify themes can assist in this endeavor by allowing store owners to customize SEO parameters effortlessly. This functionality enables you to infuse specific, keyword-rich information about your products into meta titles and meta descriptions, enhancing search engine visibility. Marketing and Social Media Features In this age of connectivity, integrating social media into your business strategy can significantly amplify your reach. By intertwining your Shopify store with your business’s blog and various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, you not only foster deeper connections with your existing customer base but also attract potential customers who discover your products through shared content, reviews, or recommendations. Excellent Customer Testimonials Showcasing genuine feedback from your customers is one of the most impactful strategies you can employ on your online store. When you weave in authentic customer testimonials, you not only highlight the quality of your products or services but also leverage the power of social proof. These testimonials serve as evidence that your product delivers as promised, making potential customers more confident in their purchase decisions. Product Page Features An effective product page is a blend of aesthetics and functionality. It’s a space where customers should find comprehensive details about the product and its features. Besides basic details, the page should be equipped to guide the customer’s journey with sorting options, promotional announcements, captivating visuals, detailed descriptions, and an array of color options. Furthermore, it’s essential to provide logistical details like shipping information and a variety of payment gateways. These features, when combined, ensure that the customer has a smooth and informed shopping experience. Navigation Features Seamless navigation can significantly influence the user experience on your online store. A clutter-free and intuitive navigation system can make browsing easy, leading to longer site visits and potential conversions. Introducing features like Mega menus can be especially beneficial. These are expansive dropdown panels that appear on hover, providing users with an organized view of categories and subcategories, making their browsing journey straightforward and enjoyable. Appropriateness for Your Niche Every business has unique requirements, and your online store should reflect that. While diving into the vast pool of Shopify themes, it’s pivotal to prioritize those that resonate with the ethos of your brand and the niche you operate in. An apt theme will inherently align with your business’s character, making customization smoother and more effective. Dynamic Visuals to Showcase Products In the digital retail space, first impressions are often made through visuals. Opting for themes that allow dynamic displays can enhance your product presentation, emphasizing its unique features and benefits. When selecting visual elements, it’s crucial to ensure they harmonize with the overall style and aesthetic of your chosen template, creating a cohesive and engaging shopping environment. Customer Support Navigating the intricacies of an online store can sometimes be challenging. During these times, having reliable and prompt customer support can make all the difference. Ensure the theme you select is backed by a robust support system, offering guidance and solutions whenever you encounter hurdles. This not only saves time but also ensures your store runs smoothly, offering customers an uninterrupted shopping experience. Visual Page Builder Features In today’s digital era, building your online storefront should be as easy as arranging blocks on a canvas. A competent visual page builder offers you that simplicity. With drag-and-drop features, you can shape your store’s appearance and functionality without delving into the intricacies of coding. These tools bring a layer of versatility, allowing you to experiment with various layouts, elements, and content until you find the perfect fit. The true strength of a visual page builder lies in its ability to adapt. As your brand grows or trends change, you should be able to swiftly modify your store’s look and feel, ensuring it always resonates with your target audience. Advanced Product Filtering The modern shopper values efficiency. They wish to find their desired products without wading through countless irrelevant listings. This is where advanced product filtering comes into play. An efficient Shopify theme empowers your customers to fine-tune their search based on specific criteria, be it bestsellers, price ranges, or product groups. This not only speeds up the shopping process but also enhances the user experience, making it likely for customers to return for future purchases. Great Homepage Layouts The homepage acts as the grand entrance to your online store. It sets the tone, introduces your brand, and guides visitors towards making a purchase. To ensure your homepage leaves a lasting impression, it needs to be a harmonious blend of aesthetics and functionality. Elements like captivating headers, striking graphics, and immersive videos can draw visitors in. However, it’s the subtle touches that often make the difference. Features like showcasing best-selling products or highlighting unique value propositions give potential customers a quick snapshot of what you offer. Furthermore, instilling trust is essential. Incorporating elements like security badges assures visitors that their transactions are safe, encouraging them to explore your store further. How to Buy Custom Themes for Your Shopify Store To get themes, you will first need to sign up on Shopify, and subscribe to the plans available on offer. You can then buy either through the Shopify Theme Store or third-party developers. What are the best Shopify themes? Some of the best Shopify themes include Wokiee, Universe, Porto, and Brooklyn. Can you customize a free Shopify theme? Yes, free Shopify can be customized to a certain degree so that you can align the design of your eCommerce store with your business goals and increase sales. Which free Shopify theme is responsive? Simple, Supply , Venture, and Narrative are free responsive Shopify themes. Why are Shopify themes so expensive? A lot of costs go into designing and developing themes in addition to the considerable amount of time and resources in developing code, testing it, and providing support, all of which may not be provided or as high quality with lower-cost options. Which is the best converting Shopify theme? Wokiee is widely regarded as the best converting Shopify theme. Its design and features are optimized to enhance user experience, leading to higher customer engagement and increased sales conversions. What is the best-paid theme on Shopify? Empire is considered the best-paid theme on Shopify. This is because it comes with an Amazon-inspired theme optimized for literally any type of e-commerce store. Image: Shopify This article, "Best Shopify Themes for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A new browser from the Norwegian company Opera just launched today, and it wants you to stop stressing out so much. The free browser, called Opera Air, is billed as the first-ever “mindful browser.” While existing mindfulness apps like Calm and Headspace can help you take a break to reduce feelings of stress, Opera Air proposes a product that integrates mindfulness directly into working online. The browser comes with a sleek, minimal UI and built-in mindfulness tools—like breathing exercises and binaural beats—so users can code, type, or browse the web and get a brain boost simultaneously. Nikita Walia is a brand strategist at U.N.N.A.M.E.D, the creative partners behind Opera Air. According to Walia, who led the strategy behind the new browser’s launch campaign, the team landed on the key insight that most people don’t actually want to disconnect from technology—instead, they want “room to think clearly” in a busy digital world. “We noticed that there was a pretty binary relationship to technology as it’s presented by people’s opinions online,” Walia says. “Either you want to throw your phone in the ocean and disappear, or you’re super, super addicted to technology. We thought Opera could present a third way, where technology can be really supportive to your overall goals and your wellbeing.” For the sizable portion of the workforce that relies on computers for their livelihoods, chucking your Macbook into the sea isn’t exactly the solution to a better workday experience. As a remote journalist myself, ditching technology isn’t a sustainable solution, and even tried-and-true mindfulness practices like meditation can feel difficult to incorporate into a busy schedule. So, I gave Opera Air a try to see if it’s worth abandoning Google Chrome once and for all. [Image: Opera] A browser for minimalists The first thing you’ll notice when you open Opera Air is that there aren’t many bells and whistles—and that’s by design. According to Tomasz Stawarz, Opera Air’s senior director of product, Opera Air is a purposefully pared-down version of Opera’s other browser options, a choice that’s intended to combat the “chaotic” and “overwhelming” nature of the web. The browser’s default settings include one simple Google search bar, an uplifting quote at the bottom of the screen, and a sidebar with five preloaded icons, including Opera’s AI, Aria, and the browser’s two mindfulness tools. This sidebar can be updated to include any combination of apps, but Stawarz suggests that users get a feel for their most-used programs before updating it to keep the screen decluttered. [Image: Opera] Users can choose from a set of custom-designed CGI wallpapers by U.N.N.A.M.E.D and the creative studio Future Romance as their backdrop (I chose a green mountainscape). Opera Air’s features and launch campaign both emphasize a visual bubble metaphor, which pulsates and bounces to mimic the tempo of relaxed breathing. And all of the browser’s UI elements, including search bars, tabs, and icons, are rendered in what Stawarz calls a “frosted glass” effect, which is essentially a minimal, semi-transparent look. “We’ve kept distractions to a minimum by limiting the color palette and embracing clean, minimalistic design,” Stawarz says. [Image: Opera] As a loyal Chrome user, I found Opera Air quite easy to navigate. My main qualm with the browser itself is that, once you’ve racked up enough tabs, it becomes difficult to select one without inadvertently clicking the “X” and exiting out of it—a minor annoyance that got pretty frustrating after about the tenth time it happened. Still, I appreciated the simplicity of the default settings and the browser’s streamlined aesthetics. [Image: Opera] Putting Opera Air to the test The true test of Opera Air is in its two mindfulness features, called “Boosts” and “Take a Break.” I decided to give these tools a trial by fire by testing them out for the first time during a workday with several quick turn-around deadlines. The first feature, “Boosts,” uses something called binaural beats to help users achieve sensations ranging from “Energized Focus” to “Deep Relaxation.” Binaural beats are an auditory technique wherein two slightly different frequencies are played in each ear, causing the brain to generate its own perceived third frequency. According to a press release from Opera, “This is known to influence brainwave activity, helping to promote relaxation, focus, or a meditative state”—although, it should be noted that scientists are still debating exactly how effective binaural beats actually are, and under what conditions. [Image: Opera] Currently, Opera Air comes with 19 Boosts, each of which is composed of three elements: background music, ambient noise (like bird sounds or waves), and binaural frequencies. The Boosts have been created by the Opera Air team with different effects in mind. “Focused Calm,” for example, includes a slower music track and comes with more prominent binaural beats. “Energized Focus,” on the other hand, features a more upbeat soundtrack and less noticeable beats. Users can browse the Boosts’ descriptions to select one that’s right for their current task, and even customize them by adjusting the volumes of the three components of the beats. Both Boosts and “Take a Break” are easily accessible as icons in the browser’s sidebar, so it’s pretty simple to change your Boost or tweak its volume from whatever tab you’re working in. [Image: Opera] I frequently use binaural beats to get into a “flow state” while writing, so, predictably, I found myself better able to focus on my work while a Boost was playing. Still, I’m not entirely sold on the utility of this tool, considering that thousands of similar compositions are just a few clicks away on YouTube. Opera Air’s second mindfulness feature, “Take a Break,” is a bit more involved. This tool takes users to a variety of exercises, including guided breathing sessions, meditation, neck exercises, and a full-body scan, all designed to encourage a moment of relaxation. Each of the four categories includes several different session options, ranging from a three-minute “destress” breathing session to a 15-minute full body scan. During my workday trial, I was pleasantly surprised by a four-minute neck exercise, which gave me some much-need tension release after a few hours spent hunched over my laptop (though the program relies on tracking your facial movements, which I noticed could be somewhat finicky, especially for those with longer hair). Similarly, I observed a noticeable difference in my stress levels before and after a five-minute “box breathing” exercise. All of the sessions include voiceovers from a male or female narrator—you can toggle between “Alex” or “Emma”—which made it easy to close my eyes and really commit to slowing down for a moment. Going into this test, I was concerned that I might be irritated by the browser’s reminders to use “Take a Break,” but I actually found myself wishing it would badger me more. Opera Air lets you decide whether you want to be reminded to do your activities, and you can determine the frequency of reminders, ranging from every 45 to 180 minutes. When your time is up, the “Take a Break” icon on the browser sidebar will begin subtly flashing. Despite setting my reminder frequency to 45 minutes, I found that I often missed the flashing cue, and then ultimately decided to just skip the exercise and do it next time. Granted, there’s only so much a browser can do to convince us to actually practice self-care, but I hope the next iteration of Opera Air will include an option for more aggressive notification. Do I think Opera Air is the answer to my work-induced stress? No. But could it help make staring at my screen for hours more manageable? Definitely. View the full article

Water scarcity is often viewed as an issue for the arid American West, but the U.S. Northeast’s experience in 2024 shows how severe droughts can occur in just about any part of the country. Cities in the Northeast experienced record-breaking drought conditions in the second half of 2024 after a hot, dry summer in many areas. Wildfires broke out in several states that rarely see them. By December, much of the region was experiencing moderate to severe drought. Residents in New York City and Boston were asked to reduce their water use, while Philadelphia faced risk to its water supply due to saltwater coming up the Delaware River. Before the drought, many people in the region weren’t prepared for water shortages or even paying much attention to their water use. As global temperatures rise, cities throughout the U.S. are more likely to experience hotter, drier conditions like this. Those conditions increase evaporation, drying out vegetation and soil and lowering groundwater tables. The Northeast drought was easing in much of the region in early 2025, but communities across the U.S. should take note of what happened. They can learn from the experiences of cities that have had to confront major water supply crises – such as Cape Town, South Africa; São Paulo, Brazil; Melbourne, Australia; Las Vegas; and New Orleans – and start planning now to avoid the worst impacts of future droughts. Lessons from cities that have seen the worst Our new analysis of these five cities’ experiences provides lessons on how to avoid a water supply crisis or minimize the effects through proactive policies and planning. Many cities have had to confront major water supply crises in recent years. Perhaps the most well-known example is Cape Town’s “Day Zero.” After three years of persistent drought in the region, Cape Town officials in fall 2017 began a countdown to Day Zero—the point at which water supplies would likely run so low that water would be turned off in neighborhoods and residents would need to fetch a daily allocation of water at public distribution points. Initially it was forecast to occur in April 2018. Water rates were raised, and some households installed flow restrictors, which would automatically limit the amount of water that could be used. Public awareness and conservation efforts cut water consumption in half, allowing the city to push back its estimate for when Day Zero would arrive. And when the rains finally came in summer 2018, Day Zero was canceled. A second example is São Paulo, which similarly experienced a severe drought between 2013 and 2015. The city’s reservoirs were reduced to just 5% of their capacity, and the water utility reduced the pressure in the water system to limit water use by residents. Water pricing adjustments were used to penalize high water users and reward water conservation, and a citywide campaign sought to increase awareness and encourage conservation. As in Cape Town, the crisis ended with heavy rains in 2016. Significant investments have since been made in upgrading the city’s water distribution infrastructure, preventing leaks, and bringing water to the city from other river basins. Planning ahead can reduce the harm The experiences of Cape Town and São Paulo—and the other cities in our study—show how water supply crises can affect communities. When major changes are made to reduce water consumption, they can affect people’s daily lives and pocketbooks. Rapidly designed conservation efforts can have harmful effects on poor and vulnerable communities that may have fewer alternatives in the event of restrictions or shutoffs or lack the ability to pay higher prices for water, forcing tough choices for households between water and other necessities. Planning ahead allows for more thoughtful policy design. For example, Las Vegas has been grappling with drought conditions for the past two decades. During that time, the region implemented water-conservation policies that focus on incentivizing and even requiring reduced water consumption. Since 2023, the Las Vegas Valley Water District has implemented water rates that encourage conservation and can vary with the availability of water supplies during droughts. In its first year alone, the policy saved 3 billion gallons of water and generated $31 million in fees that can be used by programs to detect and repair leaks, among other conservation efforts. A state law now requires businesses and homeowner associations in the Las Vegas Valley to remove their decorative grass by the end of 2026. Since 2002, per capita water use in Las Vegas has dropped by an impressive 58%. Solutions and strategies for the future Most of the cities we studied incorporated a variety of approaches to building water security and drought-proofing their community—from publishing real-time dashboards showing water use and availability in Cape Town to investing in desalination in Melbourne. But we found the most important changes came from community members committing to and supporting efforts to conserve water and invest in water security, such as reducing lawn watering. There are also longer-term actions that can help drought-proof a community, such as fixing or replacing water- and energy-intensive fixtures and structures. This includes upgrading home appliances, such as showers, dishwashers and toilets, to be more water efficient and investing in native and drought-tolerant landscaping. Prioritizing green infrastructure, such as retention ponds and bioswales, that help absorb rain when it does fall and investing in water recycling can also diversify water supplies. Taking these steps now, ahead of the next drought, can prepare cities and lessen the pain. Sara Hughes is an adjunct professor of environment and sustainability at the University of Michigan. Michael Wilson is a professor of policy analysis at Pardee RAND Graduate School. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

My mom used to always say, “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.” She was a very busy person who seemed to have endless energy and a knack for outperforming others in her real estate firm. While the origin of the quote isn’t clear, the idea is that someone who juggles several projects effectively probably has systems in place for prioritization and efficiency. This makes sense. But there is a point when said “busy person” hits overload. Tossing them one more ball could cause the person to drop all of them. About two-thirds of workers feel empowered to decline extra work, according to a recent report from résumé builder Resume Now, yet 59% feel frequent burnout. Gen Z is the hardest hit, reporting the highest levels of stress as well as difficulty managing their workloads. A recent study from the résumé-building service LiveCareer found that 77% of employees are asked to take on extra work each week, 56% reluctantly agree due to pressure from managers or leadership, and 8% admit they don’t even know how to say no. Why Is Extra Work Hard to Decline? Extra work can be hard to define, which is why it’s challenging to say no, according to Keith Spencer, Resume Now’s career expert. “It’s essentially work that is outside the normal scope of your role,” he says. “Some people are perfectly okay with taking on extra work, because it can allow you to try new things and learn new skills and work with different people. Gaining that new experience can be beneficial.” People often say yes because they’ve developed a pattern of wanting to help others, says Jenn Gunsaullus, a sociologist and relationship expert. “Many folks grew up believing that their main value is in giving and giving,” she says. “There are many positive things in that, but others can take advantage of it in the workplace.” Shira Gill, author of LifeStyled: Your Guide to a More Organized & Intentional Life, agrees. “Most of us are wired as people pleasers, and we don’t want to disappoint,” she says. “We also want to represent ourselves as somebody who’s capable of doing all of the things and rising to the occasion. People sometimes confuse saying no with failure, disappointment, and not rising to the occasion. It’s typically the opposite.” Get to the Root of Your ‘Yes Reflex’ To start saying no to extra work, you need to get clear on why you’ve been saying yes. Gunsaullus suggests asking yourself a series of questions, such as, What stories am I telling myself about why I need to say yes? Who am I by saying yes? “There’s an underlying narrative that’s been trained into your brain throughout your lifetime, but it’s not necessarily factual,” Gunsaullus explains. “We need to pause and reflect on the story and where it came from, then do a little personal growth and work around those patterns.” Gunsaullus says it’s important to get clear on the emotions you have attached to this narrative. Ask yourself, “What emotions am I feeling? Am I scared? Am I anxious? Do I have shame, fear of disappointment or disappointing others?” Next, Gunsaullus suggests trying to pinpoint your physical response. A question like “Where do I feel a reaction inside of me?” shifts an abstract feeling to tangible sensations you can address. “Can you take some deep breaths? Can you pat yourself on the back for reflecting on this and bringing kindness to yourself? That’s a way of breaking the pattern in the moment by orienting to the sensations you’re feeling inside you,” Gunsaullus says. Finally, Gunsaullus says you can start to regain your personal power by determining how you want to respond differently in the future. “How can you respond in a way that you feel proud of yourself?” Gunsaullus asks. “How can you be strategic and productive for your big picture goals of workplace advancement?” Saying No Resume Now’s report found that 42% feel relieved after declining extra work, which means that 58% don’t. “[Saying no] can make people feel guilty,” says Spencer. “Maybe you really respect your manager and now they have to take it on. Or you want to be a team player, and you’re concerned about the perceptions people have of you. It comes down to finding that balance, setting some boundaries, and advocating for yourself to protect your mental well-being.” If you’re noticing the early warning signs of burnout, such as chronic fatigue or feeling irritable or detached at work, have a conversation with your manager as soon as you can. “You don’t want to sacrifice or jeopardize the quality of your work just to be able to deliver a larger quantity of work,” Spencer says. Setting clear boundaries starts with defining the most important outcomes and the amount of time, energy, and output you need to accomplish those, says Gill, who says, “Look at your time critically to assess if there is time and energy left for other smaller or less-meaningful tasks. We all have a slightly different capacity.” Gill also suggests asking your boss for help reprioritizing your workload by saying something like “My understanding was that this was the No. 1 priority. If I take on this new task or responsibility, I fear that it will stall or prevent this outcome from happening.” Gill adds, “Give the boss the onus of deciding by outlining very specifically what will happen if you take on this new task.” Work does need to get done, so Gunsaullus recommends these three considerations. “First, are these types of tasks being spread around?” she says. “Is there equality around it? Second, are you overwhelmed with your workload? Are you already having trouble keeping up with what you’re doing? And third, is there anything in what you’re being asked to do that would be beneficial to your career advancement?” She notes, “Be strategic. It’s saying, ‘I’ve done this the last three times and it’s taken me away from my workload and what I’m committed to doing here.’ Be very clear, factual, and logical.” The Risk of Not Saying No If you seem to be the go-to person for extra work, especially tasks that won’t further your career, it’s important to start to decline assignments. “Folks [who consistently say yes] are some of the most loving, giving people, but they can get taken advantage of in the workplace and become resentful,” says Gunsaullus. “Other people seem to not respect them as much, because they always say yes. They get pigeonholed as the person who always does these things.” Saying no is like building a muscle, Gunsaullus says, explaining, “It’s gaining comfort with discomfort in emotional, mental, social contexts, where we’re feeling triggered in some way and we have patterns, and then we have discomfort around trying something new. The more we train our brains and our neural networks to be able to be more comfortable with discomfort, the easier it becomes. The discomfort might never go away completely, but it’s not as overwhelming.” Gill says creating a not-to-do list and a personal mission statement can help you stay on track. Put them on a Post-it note or index card near your computer or workspace. “People often make long to-do lists, but they don’t make outcome or results lists. Instead of mindlessly doing all of these things, focus on achieving and finishing what’s important,” she says. “When we take on too much, we end up failing at everything.” View the full article

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Search today sure ain’t what it used to be. On the one hand, you’ve got the escalating sense that Google’s once-reliable results are stuck in a downward spiral. It’s a perception we’ve been seeing take shape for some time now, even before Google Search started pushing accuracy-challenged AI answers into its search engine and steering people away from first-party sources. On the other hand, you’ve got AI-powered info engines ranging from ChatGPT and Perplexity to Google’s own Gemini chatbot now browsing the web for you and offering up immediate (if occasionally also inaccurate) answers. For the first time, that’s raising pressing questions about the long-term fate of the conventional search experience—all while Google and other providers struggle to keep junky AI-generated info from clouding their results. It’s a rare moment when something that’s long felt like an unshakable part of our lives suddenly seems vulnerable, and the way we seek out info online is open to reassessment. Amid all of that, Kagi—a company with a minuscule fraction of Google’s resources—sees an opportunity to convince people to stop turning to Google for search, quit leaning on inconsistent AI answers for important information, and start seeking out a smarter way to find what they need without all the cascading compromises. Kagi’s founder insists it isn’t a “Google killer”—and, quite critically, it was never meant to be. But two arenas’ worth of early adopters see it differently, including plenty of Redditors, Hacker News commenters, and even Apple oracle John Gruber, who recently declared Kagi “the best search engine in the world.” And the more you hear about this utopian vision for what the web could be, the easier it is to understand the enthusiasm. “red pill moment” Vladimir Prelovac started sensing a shift in the online search arena as far back as 2018, long before the name ChatGPT had entered the common vernacular or most people thought Google might be in any way vulnerable to a serious search competitor. Prelovac had just sold his former company, a WordPress management platform called ManageWP, to GoDaddy and was raring for a fresh challenge. While the exact price of the acquisition was never made public, Prelovac had enough cash in his coffers to bootstrap a new startup, without any outside funding, and he knew exactly what problem he wanted to pursue. “I had my red pill moment,” Prelovac says, referring to the scene in The Matrix when Keanu Reeves’s character takes a red pill, unplugs from the simulation he’s been living in, and sees the world as it actually exists for the first time. “I realized Google is basically insulting my intelligence, and the [Google Search] product wasn’t being built for me. It was pretty eye-opening.” (Kagi did eventually raise a small round of $670,000 in 2023 and then a second round of $1.9 million in 2024.) As Prelovac recounts the revelation, he increasingly saw signs that Google’s actual customers were the businesses paying to advertise on its search result pages—not the people looking to those same pages for information. He grew disillusioned with what he describes as a deteriorating experience and a lack of exceptional alternatives. So he decided to do something about it. “I thought it was ridiculous that we didn’t have a product that’s actually serving the users, not the advertisers,” he says. “I quickly realized the only way to [fix that] is to create a paid subscription-based service, because that’s the only business model that would align incentives.” Prelovac set out to prove his theory. Within about a year, he had an early prototype of a new service called Kagi—a Japanese word that rhymes with “froggy” and means key, suggesting the way Prelovac hoped to unlock a friendlier, more user-centric web model. Now, seven years later, Kagi boasts 38,000 paying subscribers, a figure that continues to grow, with rates running from $5 to $25 per month. (Most people should probably pick the middle-of-the-road $10 “Professional” plan, allows unlimited searches and access to some of the simpler AI features.) Those figures pale in comparison to the throngs of people who visit Google each day and the billions of dollars Google makes from its search product, of course. But in Prelovac’s mind, that’s precisely the point—and the key to Kagi’s future. Unlocking a smarter search journey The best way to describe Kagi is as a less cluttered, more capable, and more customizable version of what we’re all used to seeing from Google Search—only without the ads, the shopping results, and other assorted distractions. Kagi sports a refreshingly clutter-free and customizable interface. You also won’t find artificial intelligence “answers” forced in your face above regular web results, though you can get to Kagi’s own version of the chatbot concept if you like. (More on that and how it differs from the typical AI chatbot experience in a moment.) Primarily, Kagi is about taking you to the first-party web info related to whatever you’re seeking and making that experience as effective, premium-feeling, and pleasant as possible. It really is a refreshing change, too, once you get past the inevitable initial adjustment and the occasional muscle-memory-jarring moment—one that opens your eyes to the type of web experience that almost feels more aspirational than realistic in this day and age. And yet, here it is. “If the user is paying you as a search product company, then you’re incentivized to make search better and better,” Prelovac reasons. “Otherwise, they walk away with their wallet.” To that end, in addition to the lack of ads and sponsored elements within its results, Kagi empowers you to do things like block specific websites from your results, increase the weight of sites you like in results, and customize nearly everything about the interface—ranging from which widgets and types of results show up to all sorts of settings around the site’s appearance and behavior. Kagi continuously works to remind you that it’s your search experience, and you should be in control. It’s a lovely upgrade from the effort-requiring work-arounds we’ve all grown accustomed to pursuing for any manner of meaningful customization or unreliable-AI-answer avoiding in the standard search arena, and it’s something you really resent losing when you go back to Google or any other more conventional search service. You can customize practically everything about the way Kagi looks and functions. Kagi even allows you to create your own custom “lenses,” which are search filters that show you results only from specific sets of websites, making it easy to limit a search to something like academic sites, forums, or your own personal domains on demand and with virtually no ongoing effort. Kagi’s lenses are an interesting way to limit certain searches to specific sorts of sites. And all of that is still just scratching the surface of how Kagi works to reshape search, both inside and out. A revamped window to the web Even if you don’t customize a thing or exert much energy thinking about the interface, you’ll notice some significant differences in what Kagi’s like to use compared to the status quo. The service combines its custom web index with search results from “almost every other search engine in the world,” as Prelovac describes it—which, rather ironically, suggests you’re actually seeing at least some Google results within Kagi. But Kagi puts all of that data through its own special blender before serving it up to you—and, as you’d imagine, it includes assurances that your search data will never be saved or used for any manner of advertising. The aim is to create the perfect mix of high-quality results that actually answer what you’re after without making you want to gouge your eyes out. “We push down sites that have a lot of ads and trackers, because that usually correlates with low-quality content, and we push up results that have very little ads or no ads and tracking on them, which usually correlates with high-quality content and somebody writing because it’s their passion,” Prelovac says. Kagi’s index also brings in an added emphasis on what Prelovac calls the “noncommercial” or “small” web—personal blogs, discussions, and other off-the-beaten-path sites that tend to get buried in results from Google as well as the newer breed of large language model chatbots. This atypical approach is apparent with practically every search you perform within Kagi. If I search for “best usb-c to 3.5mm adapter,” for instance, Google gives me a screen that’s heavy on ads and other sales-oriented offerings. Kagi, in contrast, focuses on Reddit threads and recommendations from lots of lesser-known sites that would never show up in a standard search setup. Google’s results, left, compared to Kagi’s If I enter a more specific, black-and-white question—like “Is the Galaxy S25 worth buying?”—Google gives me a bunch of YouTube videos followed by related queries, a block of news stories, and then a single Reddit thread and some more YouTube videos. Kagi serves up a simple summary of different opinions, with clear citations alongside each point, followed by articles at a variety of sites both big and small that seek to answer the inquiry. Kagi also offers a one-click “Quick Answer” option to get a summary of all the top results for any inquiry on the spot. Plus, within each individual result, it provides a handy “Summarize page” command that shows you the high points of any page’s contents right there, no extra clicks or browser tabs required. By and large, though, Kagi really does make its AI elements easy to avoid. The options are available if you want ’em—some tucked away into the service’s $25-per-month “Ultimate” subscription. That plan gives you access to Kagi’s Gemini- and ChatGPT-like Assistant chatbot, which combines large language models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta, and other organizations together with Kagi’s own web results. The system keeps all of your data private and lets you see info from any of those sources with Kagi’s custom filtering in place, which Prelovac hopes will lead to more refined results than what you’d get directly from any of the associated chatbots. “AI is limited by what you feed into it,” Prelovac explains. “It all goes back to incentives.” The big question, then, is how many people are willing to cough up the cash to enjoy these enhancements. The search for sustainability Prelovac says Kagi is already profitable, achieving a level of success never experienced by the higher-profile Neeva, a paid search service launched by former Google executives in 2021 and shut down roughly two years later. In Prelovac’s view, the key differences between Neeva and his creation are the motivation and the metric for success. Neeva raised $77.5 million in funding, with investments from venture-capital bigwigs like Greylock and Sequoia. So despite amassing a pool of 2 million paying users—a number that dwarfs Kagi’s current base of paying members—it never managed to make enough money to be seen as sustainable. “It’s funny that for them, it’s a failure—[and] for us, it’s a success,” Prelovac says. On that note, Prelovac deliberately doesn’t think of his service as attempting to be a “Google killer,” as I alluded to earlier. In his eyes, Kagi and Google don’t share the same customers, so there’s no way they could be competing with each other directly—despite the fact that they serve similar surface-level purposes. “Google’s customers are the advertisers. Ours are the users,” he says. “The source of money for Google and source of money for us comes from totally different market segments.” ​Kagi is also working to set itself apart by developing its own WebKit-based browser, Orion, which includes a smattering of privacy-minded additions while putting the Kagi search service front and center. It’s available only for macOS and iOS at the moment, which means I wasn’t able to use it, personally, as I’m more of a Windows and Android kind of guy. But Prelovac says it’ll make its way to other platforms eventually. ​ ​Without Orion in the mix, getting other browsers to rely on Kagi for their native search functions can be a bit of an adventure. Kagi offers an extension that handles the setup for you, and if you’re using Safari, that’s the only choice you’ve got. With Chromium-based browsers and also Firefox, you can instead just make a few reasonably easy adjustments in your browser’s settings to accomplish the same feat. ​ The same applies for most mobile browsers—again with the exception of Safari, which requires the use of the Kagi extension—or you can just download the native Kagi Android and iOS apps and start your searches there. The real challenge, then, is continuing to convince people to deal with those hurdles while also paying for something they’ve so long seen as a freebie. “We are going against one of the most entrenched habits in society—that search is somehow God-given and free, almost like a right—where in reality, it’s just a service provided by one of the wealthiest tech companies in the world,” Prelovac says. One stat he finds encouraging is that once people get in the door at Kagi, they tend to stick around at unusually high numbers. All Kagi subscriptions start with a 100-search free trial, and Prelovac says about 20% of people who start a trial continue on to a paid plan from there. Even just in the few weeks that I’ve been watching the service closely, I’ve seen its self-reported stats of paying members climb by around 1,000 people—which is somewhere in the ballpark of 3% growth, at this scale. (Kagi has also grown internally, with 40 employees as of the start of 2025, up from 25 when Fast Company wrote about the company just over a year ago.) Still, convincing people to pony up $5 to $25 per month for something they’ve been trained to expect at no cost is a constant mountain to climb. “It’s easy to compete with cheap and bad [by offering] high-quality and expensive,” Prelovac says. “But there are very little analogies in the past where a company has tried to compete with free.” The real saving grace may be Kagi’s goal, which is less about stealing a significant share of Google’s users and more about simply finding enough interest to make itself sustainable long into the future. Speaking of that long-term view, Kagi’s next ambitions include releasing a stand-alone version of its Assistant AI chatbot later this year, launching more native apps across all desktop and mobile platforms after that, and eventually building up an entire integrated portfolio of cross-platform products that equip people to say so long to Big Tech in all sorts of areas beyond just search. But for now, it’s one day and one won-over user at a time. And as for the question of if and when a mass of internet citizens might join the movement and decide search is something worth paying for—for the moment, at least, that’s a question even Kagi can’t answer. Discover all sorts of off-the-beaten-path productivity treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter—a single new inspiring discovery in your inbox every Wednesday! View the full article

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Botox can be expensive. You know what isn’t? Bananas. A new beauty hack making the rounds online involves rubbing the inside of a banana peel all over your face for a few minutes to brighten and tighten skin. You’ve heard of chemical peels for your skin? Now it’s all about the banana peel. “This actually made my face feel so much tighter,” one TikToker said after giving the hack a go. “Me, after seeing a banana peel can help with hydration, brightening, hyperpigmentation & be preventative Botox,” wrote another over a video of them rubbing the peel on their skin. “POV: When you’re 37 years old & do banana peel scrubs instead of Botox,” a third creator posted. “Why didn’t I see this 5,000 bananas ago,” read one of the comments. Can it be that the key to glowing skin has been sitting in our fruit bowls all this time? Dermatologist Geeta Yadav posted a TikTok video sharing her thoughts on the hack: “First off, ew,” she says. And while yes, she acknowledges that bananas contain antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and antimicrobial properties, Dr. Yadav wouldn’t recommend using banana peels in place of an over-the-counter skincare product. As for being “nature’s Botox”? “There’s no topical or food supplement that is going to give you the same effect Botox can when [it’s injected],” she adds. One TikToker points to the lutein in the banana peel as the reason for its possible brightening, hydrating, and soothing properties. “It’s more like preventative Botox,” she says. Skin and aesthetics expert Nina Prisk, founder of Update Aesthetics clinics in the U.K., cautions that while bananas do contain lutein, an antioxidant that may help brighten the skin, it won’t be absorbed properly simply by rubbing a banana all over your face. “It may, in fact, result in skin irritation, especially for those with sensitive skin,” she adds. Unless you are allergic to bananas, this beauty hack is unlikely to do any harm. As for the Botox claims, “rubbing banana skins on the face is simply not comparable to something which has scientific backing and has been used for over 20 years with proven results,” Prisk says. “Although some people might experience a temporary feeling of skin tightening, this will be short-lived, and it will not offer long-lasting results like injectable aesthetic treatments can.” That doesn’t mean bananas don’t have a host of benefits when used as nature intended (i.e., eaten). Naturally rich in potassium, bananas can help keep your skin moisturized and hydrated from the inside out. So just eat the banana, compost the tossed peel, and book an appointment with a professional for any Botox needs. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My company’s head of DEI outed me to 800 people I’m a nonbinary trans person working in sales for a multinational company. I’m out-ish at work. I’ve told my direct team I’m nonbinary, I have they/them pronouns in my email signature, and I wear a mixed wardrobe. I’ve not told anyone I’m trans directly, but I wouldn’t deny it if it came up. That said, the industry is conservative. Most colleagues assume I’m a man regardless of what I wear and everyone still get my pronouns wrong, even those who’ve asked. I mention this to say that I’m open but cautious about declaring my status at work. Our leadership has spoken up a lot about working on DEI in the last few years. Part of the plan to improve culture has been roundtables between senior leadership, the DEI team, and volunteer employees on their experiences with the company and where there have been struggles (think “improving the work environment for neurodivergent staff,” that sort of thing). I’d taken part in several of these before (as someone with ADHD) and found them a positive experience. Because of this, I didn’t think anything of it when our head of DEI asked if I would be comfortable speaking with the DEI team on my experience as a trans person in the workplace. She knew I was trans as I’d spoken to her previously about problems with our benefit system (a whole other story, but if you’re in charge of benefits, maybe don’t assume all your staff are cis and lock your healthcare options accordingly?). I assumed this invitation was more of the same and accepted. It was not more of the same. Four days later, I get an email invite to an all-staff Zoom panel for Pride Month. I’m named as one of the three speakers about “navigating changes to the industry while trans” and it explicitly outs me in the description. The Zoom panel is scheduled for the next day. The invite has gone out to all 800+ employees across the country. I immediately emailed the head of DEI, said this wasn’t what I expected and I didn’t appreciate being put on the spot this way, and pulled out of the panel. Was this a huge error on her part or just a miscommunication? I was probably at least partly to blame for not checking what exactly she was asking of me, but her original email just said “speaking with the DEI team,” not “speaking with the DEI team in front of all of your colleagues.” But it’s weighed on my mind since and I can’t help but wonder if being outed this way has impacted my career opportunities. It’s definitely made me feel less safe speaking with HR. It was absolutely a huge error on her part. This was different than what she had invited you to participate in previously, and she should have spelled out what she meant — and if the wording in your letter about how she approached you (“asked if I would be comfortable speaking with the DEI team on my experience”) is the wording she used with you, her wording wasn’t at all in sync with what the event actually was. This isn’t on you — it’s on her. I’m curious how she handled it once you pointed out what had happened. Your company sounds like they’ve tried to invest in safety and inclusion, so unless she was profoundly apologetic and has talked to you about what will change as a result, you could consider speaking to someone above her about what happened. Related: a VP wants me to out myself at work and won’t take no for an answer 2. My coworker keeps interfering with my work I am having problems with a coworker who repeatedly oversteps onto my tasks. She and I have the same role, me being three years her senior. We used to be on the same team but after a recent reorganization, she moved to another team under the same department. I have never been very fond of her working style: she is very diligent and proactive but tends to act first and ask later, causing unnecessary friction and sometimes overstepping onto other people’s work. Since she changed teams, she has been “suggesting improvements” or inserting herself in tasks that are under my scope and outside of hers. She tends to bypass me and my team — she goes straight to the client to propose her solutions although I am the person who has to implement them, and I am either not interested or have already identified and documented the same solutions. I am getting more and more upset at this because I feel that, at the very least, she needs to communicate with my team before going to the client. I have explained this to her, her manager, and my manager. She just reacts to my messages with a thumbs-up, her manager promises to work with her to improve the miscommunication, and my manager sides with me. However, the situation is still the same and I am at my wits end. Is there anything else I can do to resolve this problem? It sounds like you’ve just been messaging her about it (“she reacts to my messages with a thumbs-up”). Since that hasn’t solved the problem, it’s time to move to an in-person meeting with her about it (or Zoom, if you’re remote), ideally with your manager and her manager there, where you can lay out the pattern, why it’s a problem, and what you need her to do differently. As part of that conversation, ask why this keeps happening when you’ve asked her multiple times to stop — is something getting lost in translation? Is she getting conflicting direction from someone else? Does she think every instance is different and she needs to extrapolate “don’t do X” to a broader variety of situations? Sometimes this kind of meeting will surface that there really was some sort of misunderstanding or miscommunication. Other times, it’ll just drive home to the person that they need to take it more seriously, it’s a big deal if they don’t, and they can’t continue being cavalier about it. If that doesn’t work, you need to escalate it to both your managers each time it happens. Be the squeaky wheel if necessary — but start with a real conversation with her, not just a message. 3. We have to choose between a building with no heat or a building without equipment Where I work, we have two buildings about one mile apart from each other. I have worked out of the original building (#1) most of my time with this company. In 2020, we all transitioned to WFH. Two years ago, we went to one day in the office as a group as mandated from above. However, this entire time we were all coming into the office more often; our group has always done better than most at closing profitable projects, mainly because of our constant contact. This past spring, my group was relocated to a new area in the new building (#2). Both buildings removed our large desks and replaced them with small desks. All these desks were to be used for hot-desking and were supposed to have dual monitors with keyboards and mice at each one. The original space in building #1 did not get set up for a long time, and there are many desks without anything on them because they ran out of monitors and keyboards and are not getting more in from, what we are told. We now have a mandate from above that we must be in the office three days a week and, according to rumors, it can be grounds for termination if not followed. However, the new office area in building #2 is without heat due to a problem with the heating system and it will be for several more weeks (months?). We are in the mid-Atlantic area and it gets below 0 at times. The coldest I saw it in the office was 60 degrees one day (it was below 0 outside). 60 doesn’t sound that cold but it is if all you are doing is sitting at a computer. Our manager has said he will not enforce the mandatory three days a week, but I am worried because our big boss demanded it. Should we continue to go to our new office and freeze, go to the old office and suffer low productivity due to not having a proper computer setup, or continue to work from home and only come in as needed and risk repercussions from upper management? That’s ridiculous. OSHA doesn’t require specific temperatures, but they do recommend temperatures of 68-76° F. Your manager needs to go to his management and explain that until either (a) the heat is fixed or (b) building #1 is given enough equipment, your team can’t come in three days a week — that you’ll be happy to as soon as one of those is remedied, but until then there’s no feasible way to meet the mandate. It’s absurd to expect you to work without heat in the middle of winter or without monitors and keyboards. But your manager needs to spell that out to someone above him (and you should ask him to do that if he hasn’t yet). 4. New employee is billing more time than he works I am a project manager and oversee a team of five. One of my direct reports, “Marty,” was hired in October and has proven to be a quick learner and generally a good employee. However, there’s a recurring issue with his timekeeping. Marty has been routinely not working a full eight hours but is still billing for all eight. He typically arrives around 8:15 am, leaves at 4:30 pm, and takes an hour for lunch, effectively billing about 45 extra minutes each day. While I was deciding how best to address this, another team member, “Hamilton,” who can be a bit nosy but means well, stopped by my office to point out the discrepancy with Marty’s timesheet. I spoke to Marty, explaining that while it’s okay to work outside the standard 8-5 hours, he needs to inform me beforehand. I also asked if this was a workload issue, which he assured me it was not. I thought the conversation went well and he seemed to understand. Cue post holidays and Marty has pinged me every day this week at 4:30 pm, notifying me he is signing off, even though he continues to arrive after 8 am. Given that the job requires billing clients in 15-minute increments, transparency about hours worked is crucial. I am also concerned about potential animosity among team members who might feel that Marty is receiving special treatment. How should I handle this situation to ensure fairness and maintain team morale? It sounds like when you talked to him, you just told him to let you know if he works non-standard hours — but that’s not what the real issue is. The real issue is that he’s billing more hours than he’s working, so you need to go back to him now and clarify that. Since the message somehow got muddled the first time, be very, very clear now: “You have been working less than eight hours a day but billing for eight. We need to make sure your billing matches your hours worked exactly, because ____.” There are some workplaces that tell exempt employees to just bill a straight eight hours per day, regardless of the exact hours they actually worked (typically when it’s for internal purposes and not client billing) and it’s possible he came from one of those. Or maybe he’s sloppy or deliberately deceptive, who knows. But the first step is to tell him clearly what he needs to do differently. If that doesn’t solve it, you’d need a more serious conversation — but so far it doesn’t sound like you’ve clearly told him what needs to change. 5. I’m worried clients think I’m a nepo baby, but I’m not! I have a fairly common last name, and I recently started working at a small company where my boss has the same name as my dad. We are not related at all. I would be less worried if it was a bigger company, but since it’s so small (and if anyone were to look at socials, they would see my dad has the same name), it feels like people might assume a familial connection instead of a coincidence. It’s been fine so far, but I’m starting to shift to a more client-facing role, so I’ve been thinking about how I’m being perceived and how to build my reputation in our field. Is there a chance of my reputation being harmed if people think I got my job through nepotism, or is this something where it’s weirder to address it? Since it’s a common last name, I wouldn’t worry — people will know it’s a common last name, and they’re unlikely to know what your dad’s first name is. That said, if you want to be extra sure, you can always introduce yourself by saying, “Tangerina Murphy (no relation to Percival on our team).” View the full article

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