best monitors for ux design

The best second display you may ever find as a designer

And 6 reasons to radically change the way you work at your desk.

I remember when we used to work on a desk. We used to have notebooks, paper reports, printed faxes, books, post-its, a calculator, a rule, pens, pencils… Our work area was big. We had several documents opened at the same time.

Well, a little chaos helps with creativity, right?

Yes, I'm old. I'm talking about the pre-PC era. Designers and visual artists used to have a drawing table where they planed, drawn, or even made physical prototypes.

At some moments of my l i fe, I have done some drawing and illustration but not enough to consider buying a drawing table. Anyway, I always adored the idea of having all that large space to work. One of these days, perhaps.

The trend of a multi-monitor workspace

At the beginning of the personal computer revolution, the idea to have a second monitor was unthinkable because of the costs and the size of the monitors.

As you know, today it's very common for programmers to have at least two monitors. One for the code and the other for the rest — email, messages, web surfing, references or testing.

Instead, most of the designers I know prefer the large screen over a second monitor—or just a little one aside.

I have used two monitors myself, one for the occasional HTML or CSS code to check, and the other, like the programmers, for the rest of apps, testing and documents.

In my experience, it's very useful to have a couple of screens to separate writing long pieces of text from other operational daily tasks, for example.

Having your main project in one monitor allows you to have a better focus on it, avoid distractions, and help your brain switching contexts — every time you turn to see a monitor your brain connects with the project on it.

In a lot of offices, you still find drawing tables or spaces to work apart from the computer. But most of the work is digital.

Dual monitor setup — Photo by Josh Sorenson on Unsplash

You can work on very large monitors or have more than one to try to match the space of those drawing tables from the past. Dual or multiple monitor setups, ultrawide screens, curved displays…

But, let's face it, there are a lot of disadvantages with working on large or second monitors:

You never stop focusing on a screen, no matter how big or how many. Being in focus looks to be a thing these days, but we have to be careful not misunderstanding the value of focusing on one task with having your sight in one place.
They use a lot of space in your work area, even if you hang the monitors on the wall or on a stand designed for that purpose.
If you have a laptop, it's great to have a bigger or a second monitor at the office or home, but of course, that second monitor is not portable.
The quality of the image resolution, the light, and even the colors make any modern monitor benign for your eyes. But no matter if it's a monitor, a blackboard or a wall, staring for too long periods in one place is not good for your eyes.
They consume a lot of energy, especially if you use them to their full capacity.
Sometimes one monitor for just reading a web page or just to look at it when a new message or email arrives can be too much.

A hybrid solution: screen + paper

For me, the best second display is not LCD, LED, or plasma but a paper-based display: a notebook, a notepad, a journal, or even sheets of paper.

I'm not being cheap. I think there are a lot of advantages to having a paper-based workspace next to your computer.

A person working with laptop and notepad — Photo by ConvertKit on Unsplash

It's good for your brain to switch contexts beyond the computer monitor. Forget augmented or virtual reality, keeping notes, todo lists, ideas, sketches, diagrams, or mind maps on paper allows your brain to locate things in a three-dimensional environment.
The paper display can be as small or as large as you want. The kind and color of the paper it's up to you also. I like plain paper because I can have notes and ideas but also sketches or diagrams. And a notebook allows me to open it and have the space of a page or a double-page depending on my needs at the moment.
You can change your input tool. No matter if you use words or images, occasionally leave the keyboard, and the mouse or trackpad, give some rest to your body from a fixed position.
Like you, I have used that photo editing or drawing app for hours to be on time for a deadline. After that, I have dreamed of designing on that screen when going to bed. Yes, I have dreamed of nodes and Bézier curves. You can change your point of view or your perspective about your project using two different tools, one digital and another analog.
Changing focus and looking to a different surface for your words or images is good for your eyes.
Your paper-based workspace is portable. You can carry it and use it next to your laptop at the cafe.

Person taking notes or drawing on a notebook — Photo by Hadis Malekie on Unsplash

There is more

One of the unsuspecting advantages of a second analog display is that it can be your main workspace and not your second.

When I need to outline, diagram, or draw a concept map for a project, I work better on paper. I make more space for the notepad — or a simple sheet of paper — on my desk and leave the computer monitor to the side. I might still use the screen to look for something on the web or read an opened document, but for several minutes my main work is done on paper.

A sheet of paper can become my drawing or mindmap app, my canvas, my workspace, my text editor… sometimes even my spreadsheet.

I'm not against electronic displays. Even if you already have a large or second monitor, having a paper-based workspace can help you. You may have post-its or little notebooks, but what I propose is to do part of your work on paper, parallel to your work on the screen.

Do you need to have everything on the cloud for reference or to share it with co-workers? A photo with your smartphone can be enough but there are many apps to keep handmade sketches or manuscripts on the cloud.

I invite you to try it. How does a paper-based workspace function for you?