In the “Back to basics” series, I would like to rediscover the content of the textbooks I read at the beginning of my industrial design studies. I am a supporter of wise (prudent) use of the achievements of the predecessors, which is why I re-read these valuable, twentieth-century books on design and try to extract… Continue reading What did Victor Papanek leave for UX designers in “Design for Real Word”?
Category: Design
Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.
7 behavioural UX approaches encouraging sustainable purchases
A review and summary of 7 behavioural UX approaches used to inform, enable, and encourage users to purchase planet-friendlier products Photo of Earth by NASA on Unsplash Changing behaviours is not easy. But with the wasteful cycles of consumer products being responsible for 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the global population estimated to… Continue reading 7 behavioural UX approaches encouraging sustainable purchases
How the fifth industrial revolution will end racial inequity if we let it
In America, the history of the Black experience, and racism, is uniquely rooted in the DNA of this country. Continue reading on UX Collective »
Are we losing our peripheral vision?
Rodney Fitch cited Raymond Lowe as one of his three heroes, the other two being William Morris and The Victoria and Albert Museum, where he believed all designers should have their ashes scattered. His admiration for Lowe was simple, he was the first to truly codify the role and practice of a multi-disciplinary design studio… Continue reading Are we losing our peripheral vision?
“How do I solve an ‘impossible’ problem?”
How to think like an astronaut, work the problem, and find solutions that actually work. Continue reading on UX Collective »
Every senior UX Researcher needs to be mixed methods
More art I created thanks to Midjourney… Everyone should use this AI art program. “Kris I need to establish a metric baseline for the [new product] that we are implementing.” — Says a stakeholder on my team “Ok that sounds reasonable, do we have a list of people to send it out to?” — Says… Continue reading Every senior UX Researcher needs to be mixed methods
Can trust be designed?
The power of visual symbols in building credibility — whether for good or bad. Image: Manoel do Amaral Written by Fabricio Teixeira and Caio Braga From the moment we as humans started to organize ourselves into larger groups, following social contracts to ensure a certain level of order became crucial. As historian and philosopher Yuval Harari explains, it’s easy for… Continue reading Can trust be designed?
Why designers can’t lose hope
Image by the author. An article last year by Jesse James Garrett suggested that UX leaders are losing hope. He suggested that businesses have co-opted the tactical efforts of UX to fit them neatly into the Agile process. Here’s what he has to say: Agile’s success at the expense of UX is just one manifestation… Continue reading Why designers can’t lose hope
Down the wrong path: the disaster of the latest Duolingo UI update
The world’s largest language learning platform recently rolled out a major update to its 50M active users, and it has major usability… Continue reading on UX Collective »
BeReal: the social network that wants to change the world
Self-made picture of my BeReal account. Lately, one app has been steadily occupying the first position by downloads in both IOS and Android, making headlines virtually in every newspaper and being the latest buzzword. Can you recall? It is called BeReal. BeReal, which promotes itself as a spontaneous and low-fuss social media platform that offers… Continue reading BeReal: the social network that wants to change the world
What if Apple waited to release the iPhone?
Why done is better than perfect and how to effectively make decisions Continue reading on UX Collective »
Exploring the Free Font Index (and showing typefaces some love)
Book cover jackets for all three Free Font Indexes (re-colourised). Image credits: Hans Lijklema. On this issue of Type Founds, I venture into a decade-plus-old series of catalogues featuring free fonts that you too can get your hands on. Let’s discuss the ethics of free fonts, and take a look at some sweet typefaces in… Continue reading Exploring the Free Font Index (and showing typefaces some love)
Digital death, neurodesign, Notion AI, Figma automated UI builder
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “We live in a hyper-connected world where things don’t seem to have happened unless you post about them. An emotion hardly seems validated until it’s been shared with others online. On average, we spend a quarter of our lives online. For people we never met in person, all they know… Continue reading Digital death, neurodesign, Notion AI, Figma automated UI builder
What is service design and why it matters
Service design is such a vague concept that I often struggle to explain it. Even though service design is taught in some of the most prominent universities there are many misconceptions about the discipline. I started my studies in strategic design a couple of years ago but I had no idea what I was getting… Continue reading What is service design and why it matters
How does your team measure UX quality?
This year on my team, we had a moment where we realized that our UX quality was slipping. It started with a few surprising feedback tickets, then we noticed some patterns in our dovetail user research sessions, then got some rather harsh NPS scores, until finally we realized we needed to quantify our UX quality… Continue reading How does your team measure UX quality?
What comes after Twitter?
Twitter’s “town square” — Image by Midjourney, directed by the author. In the last month, everyone who writes about tech has had a hot take on the trash-fire that is the situation with Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. While I have thoughts, at this point I feel like the lesson of ‘’how not to lay… Continue reading What comes after Twitter?
What a robbery taught me about validating assumptions in UX
A reminder to test assumptions when building or designing. At 2am, on Thursday, 10th November 2022, armed men broke down the door to my apartment and then the door to my bathroom where I was hiding. They carted away with my laptop, iPhone, and half my sanity. I wouldn’t say I saw the robbery coming, but… Continue reading What a robbery taught me about validating assumptions in UX
The UX of design leadership: winners & losers
Image by Author The other day a senior design colleague reached out to me looking for advice. He was part of one of the unfortunate rounds of layoffs affecting big tech companies across the globe. I was trying to help him find his next fit, but when I started to go through how he had… Continue reading The UX of design leadership: winners & losers
Twitter layoffs, meeting fatigue, Taylor Swift’s AI, Apple accessibility
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “Any of us could face what our colleagues at Twitter faced yesterday. Some of us already have, and some of us will in the future, especially if you stick around the profession long enough. It’s a good reminder that, whether we realize it or not, we’re in this together. We… Continue reading Twitter layoffs, meeting fatigue, Taylor Swift’s AI, Apple accessibility
Badge notifications: why everyone wants to get rid of them
The psychology of badge notifications and why they can be overwhelming. When I Googled “badge notifications” a few days ago, the majority of the results were about how to remove them from your phone. People are becoming more self-aware of how they use their phones, and removing badge notifications is apparently a step in the… Continue reading Badge notifications: why everyone wants to get rid of them
How playing improvised music can train the ability to synthesize in design
Improv form #1. Drawing by Alexander Pryshyvalka (Instagram) My experience with Minsk Improvisers Orchestra I was always certain that only those who are trained in understanding musical notation and playing music instrument, are allowed to create music — only these special kinds of people are eligible to be called musicians. I’m not one of this special kind… Continue reading How playing improvised music can train the ability to synthesize in design
Twitter UX nightmare: verification immolation
Image via MidJourney prompt After pausing the release to avoid disrupting the U.S. midterm elections, Twitter launched their new verification system on Wednesday: Anyone willing to pay 8 bucks a month for Twitter Blue would now receive the long coveted (by some) “blue check mark,” which, of course, is actually a white check mark against… Continue reading Twitter UX nightmare: verification immolation
Goodreads’s new book page design: a UX analysis
Goodreads are implementing a new design for their book page on the website — a look at the user experience Continue reading on UX Collective »
Becoming a customer-centric product leader
Investing in a culture of research and design gives a clearer direction, accelerates you as a product leader, and has a great proven ROI. Product Management teams all too often focus on delivery over customer outcome. This is a cycle that leads to poor financial results. Companies that invest in research and design are proven… Continue reading Becoming a customer-centric product leader