Cybernetics might just be the most important body of knowledge in 2026 and beyond. But don’t take my word for it. Look at the evidence: from technical staff at Anthropic to a production engineering talk at Factory, and YC founders speaking at Stanford — a pattern keeps emerging. They’re all talking about cybernetics. And as far as… Continue reading The forgotten science behind self-improving companies
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The Four Design Jobs AI Created (So Far)
Summary: “AI design” is one label but has forked into four different types of work. What Does “AI Design” Mean? When someone says “AI design,” everyone in the room pictures something different. One person is thinking about using AI to generate component variations for a design system. Another is designing a chat interface. A third… Continue reading The Four Design Jobs AI Created (So Far)
Using RAS to Guide UX Research Resource Allocation and Strategy
Summary: RAS helps managers allocate resources based on actual impact, shifting focus from outputs to outcomes and enabling data-driven UX strategies. In articles 1 and 2 of this series, we defined research breakage, introduced the recommendation-adoption score (RAS) (see the template here), and showed how to calculate it. In this article, we turn to how leaders… Continue reading Using RAS to Guide UX Research Resource Allocation and Strategy
From faster pencil to AI Experience Architect: a designer’s path
You can get there, but it’s about making the effort. The next decade of user experience work is not about prompting better, it’s about owning the systems, the white space, and trade-offs nobody has mapped yet. Most designers I talk to already use AI every day. It makes them so much faster. Sketching faster. Doing research faster. Writing copy faster.… Continue reading From faster pencil to AI Experience Architect: a designer’s path
Boost Design Autonomy with an Information Pipeline
Summary: A four-step framework for building influence over product direction by closing the information gaps that large, complex organizations create. Let me tell you a story I recently heard. A lead designer at an online review platform kept hearing that businesses were cancelling their ads because the setup was too confusing. The setup experience was… Continue reading Boost Design Autonomy with an Information Pipeline
Less Chat, More Answer: Site AI Chatbots Need to Get to the Point
Summary: Users turn to site-specific chatbots for quick answers, not a conversation. Design responses that are direct, scannable, and easy to expand when needed. It’s easy to assume that a friendly, conversational AI chatbot might help build customer relationships or make a brand feel more approachable. However, the reality is that users who land on… Continue reading Less Chat, More Answer: Site AI Chatbots Need to Get to the Point
Handmade Designs: The New Trust Signal
Summary: In an era of AI-generated-everything, AI-fatigued users want designs that look like they were made by a person. People are buying vinyl, dusting off their wired headphones, shooting on film, and opting for things that are slower. Digital fatigue and AI fatigue are changing what resonates, and audiences are gravitating towards designs that look handmade. The Shift… Continue reading Handmade Designs: The New Trust Signal
Explainable AI in Chat Interfaces
Summary: Explanation text in AI chat interfaces is intended to help users understand AI outputs, but current practices fall short of that goal. As AI chat interfaces become more popular, users increasingly rely on AI outputs to make decisions. Without explanations, AI systems are black boxes. Explaining to people how an AI system has reached… Continue reading Explainable AI in Chat Interfaces
How to create a coloring book with AI
Creating coloring book pages has never been easier thanks to AI-powered design tools. In this tutorial, and transform text prompts into printable line art using Envato’s GraphicsGen—no drawing skills are required! Whether you’re targeting adults seeking intricate, therapeutic designs or children looking for fun, simple illustrations, this tutorial will help you master the process in just… Continue reading How to create a coloring book with AI
Four AI Superpowers: Where AI Improves Products
Summary: When using AI consider its four “superpowers”: content creation, summarization, basic data analysis, and perspective taking. At Pendo’s Pendomonium conference recently, I asked my audience who had AI features on their product’s roadmap. Almost every hand in the room went up. But, based on my experience, I’m guessing many of those AI-powered features are… Continue reading Four AI Superpowers: Where AI Improves Products
Less Effort, More Completion: The EAS Framework for Simplifying Forms
Summary: Use the EAS framework — Eliminate first, Automate where possible, and Simplify what remains — to minimize user effort and improve form completion rates. Filling out a form is rarely anyone’s idea of fun. Users are goal-oriented — they want to accomplish their goals quickly and efficiently. The more effort a form demands, the… Continue reading Less Effort, More Completion: The EAS Framework for Simplifying Forms
30 Best Startup WordPress Themes 2025
Startup WordPress themes are pre-designed templates tailored to meet the needs of new businesses. These themes are built with startups in mind, offering features like responsive design, easy customization, and integration with essential tools like email marketing services, analytics, and e-commerce platforms. Whether you’re launching a tech company, a creative agency, or an online store,… Continue reading 30 Best Startup WordPress Themes 2025
UX and CX Merge: The Shift from Products to Journeys
Summary: Organizations are starting to merge user experience and customer experience into a single function, setting the foundation for a journey-centric-experience practice. Organizational silos and product-centric design make it difficult to resolve friction for customers who use our products and services. User-centered design is applied to digital products, but many pain points in real customer… Continue reading UX and CX Merge: The Shift from Products to Journeys
The Four P’s of Service Design: People, Partners, Products, and Processes
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Photo by Frames For Your Heart on Unsplash We live in a world where everything seems complex yet simple. The realization of simplicity is built on our belief in recognizing the interactions between multiple systems of an environment. At first look, you might feel overwhelmed by seeing clutter of all types… Continue reading The Four P’s of Service Design: People, Partners, Products, and Processes
Website Redesign To Increase User Engagement
[unable to retrieve full-text content] While searching for a villa for a vacation with my friends, I stumbled upon the stunning Pekoe Villa, which boasts an incredible view. However, when I visited their website for more information, I realized it didn’t do the villa justice, so I decided to redesign it. Since this is a simple… Continue reading Website Redesign To Increase User Engagement
How To Create A Budget-Friendly Sensory Room For Kids
Creating a sensory room for children, especially those who are neurodivergent, can greatly enhance their learning, relaxation, and overall sensory experience. A sensory room is a space carefully designed to stimulate the senses and support sensory processing. Whether your child experiences sensory seeking or avoiding tendencies, a sensory room can help them regulate their environment… Continue reading How To Create A Budget-Friendly Sensory Room For Kids
Icon Usability: When and How to Evaluate Digital Icons
Summary: Effective icons depend on recognizability and interpretation. Evaluate them with methods appropriate for your specific research questions Icon Usability Effective icons can increase usability by helping users understand and interpret available functionality. However, when poorly implemented, they harm usability and introduce confusion. In Digital Icons That Work, I emphasize the importance of two variables… Continue reading Icon Usability: When and How to Evaluate Digital Icons
35+ Clever Negative Space Logos That Will Inspire You
Negative space logos are a unique and compelling design technique that uses the empty spaces within and around a logo to create a secondary image or visual effect. This approach not only adds depth and complexity to the design but also engages the viewer, encouraging them to look closer and discover hidden meanings. These logos… Continue reading 35+ Clever Negative Space Logos That Will Inspire You
The Humanization of ChatGPT and Its Impact on Trust
AI is the future, but we still know very little about it. We believe that understanding how people think about AI and how they use AI tools are key parts in being able to create proper AI-powered products and tools. This thought motivated us to do research on the topic. The research process itself was… Continue reading The Humanization of ChatGPT and Its Impact on Trust
The GenAI Compass: a UX framework to design generative AI experiences
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Patterns for implementing human-centric design thinking and UX to GenAI Generative AI is reshaping the landscape of design, ushering us into an era where deeply individualized user experiences become the norm. Personalization reaches beyond the tailored, transcending into the realm of the deeply individualized, fostering one-on-one connections at scale — true hyper-personalization. I’m… Continue reading The GenAI Compass: a UX framework to design generative AI experiences
The power of beauty in communicating complex ideas
Can we defend pursuing beauty when communicating science or innovation? When creating visuals to explain complex ideas, cutting edge innovations or new scientific research we often focus on the images’ ability to carry information. But data visualization, infographics or even schematics have a hidden power we rarely discuss: beauty. Obviously not all images are beautiful. As… Continue reading The power of beauty in communicating complex ideas
How to AI
Three approaches to deploying generative AI for brands and corporations. 11 out 12 are generated by AI. One is real. Which one? | Source: Imagenavi & Jimmy Fermin History rhymes This isn’t a trick question: 11 out of 12 in the image above are generated by AI. Which one is the real person? I posed this quiz… Continue reading How to AI
The Dangers of Deceptive Design Patterns (And How to Avoid Them)
UX By Louise North Today As web designers, our role in crafting user-friendly digital landscapes is critical. We are tasked with creating user experiences that make visitors feel comfortable and respected. This, in turn, creates benefits for our clients by improving repeat visits and achieves the site’s ultimate aims, whether that is sales revenue or… Continue reading The Dangers of Deceptive Design Patterns (And How to Avoid Them)
From toy to titan: the activations behind the Barbie effect
The marketing budget for Barbie was $150m, more than the $145m for the movie itself—and it shows. Barbie takes over the streets of Dubai. Credit Eye Studio. Operation Barbie Summer (the internal codename from Warner Bros) is in full swing. Since its release on July 21st, just two weeks ago, the Barbie movie has shattered 11 box… Continue reading From toy to titan: the activations behind the Barbie effect