UI elements are not so elementary

To function, components require a specific structure. To appear visually — they don’t. This has been breaking handoff processes for years. Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table looks simple, it doesn’t strike as if the elements are, in fact, significantly different from one another. But when you dig in and understand that just a ‘seemingly insignificant’ property of the number… Continue reading UI elements are not so elementary

AI is the new UI

The future has arrived early. If you are reading this article, you have made a choice. A choice to evolve. AI isn’t coming for your job, but someone using AI is. Source: Author + AI Now, before you flame me on the design of the graphic, let me explain: I made this in literally one… Continue reading AI is the new UI

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Steam: the evolution of UI and UX in Gaming

Today, Steam stands as the largest digital distribution platform for PC gaming. The core function of Steam is to offer users a convenient means of purchasing both games and software through its online store. Upon purchasing a game, a software license is permanently associated with the user’s Steam account. This license grants them the ability… Continue reading Steam: the evolution of UI and UX in Gaming

What should be the contrast level of inactive buttons?

Using the APCA Readability Criterion to improve the accessibility of disabled controls Disabled buttons. They need to look non-interactable. But they also can’t be completely unreadable. How do I find the sweet spot? I spent a few hours in a deep dive going through a bunch of blogs and accessibility guidelines documentation in search for best approaches… Continue reading What should be the contrast level of inactive buttons?

How to create a color ramp used in design systems

Whether you’re a brand designer putting the finishing touches on a color palette or a product designer laying the foundational work for a design system, I will walk you through how to create color ramps utilized in design systems. If you’re new to creating color palettes for digital spaces, check out my previous article, Color for… Continue reading How to create a color ramp used in design systems

Analyzing Spotify’s new daylist feature: UI, UX, and great ML

Rosie Hoggmascall · Follow Published in UX Collective · 9 min read · 11 hours ago — Share In Q2 2023, TechCrunch reported that Spotify had passed the half a billion user mark. Now, with 515 million active users, Spotify is one of the most popular, most-loved apps worldwide. The tech giant generated €11.72 billion… Continue reading Analyzing Spotify’s new daylist feature: UI, UX, and great ML

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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)

Exciting New Tools for Designers, July 2023

In this month’s edition, you’ll find new ways of using AI, some excellent new services for streamlining your work, plus some great new UI kits. Enjoy! Cosmos Cosmos is a brand-new, beautifully realized Pinterest alternative for creatives. You can use it to create visual notes, record design inspiration, and curate your visual world via plugins on the… Continue reading Exciting New Tools for Designers, July 2023

WWDC 2023 Accessibility Goodies for Developers

This year, Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) was a big deal! Among the many announcements this year, Apple introduced the new Apple Vision Pro headset which has arguably and understandably stolen the show this year.  Although Vision Pro may be the big talk of the town post-WWDC, there was also a myriad of exciting… Continue reading WWDC 2023 Accessibility Goodies for Developers

Amazon lawsuit, tips for UX leaders, beating AI, all new things Figma

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. The FTC has slapped Amazon with a lawsuit, accusing the company of duping millions of customers into signing up for its Prime subscription service through deceptive user interface designs. But the lawsuit goes even deeper. Amazon allegedly made canceling subscriptions an odyssey, with a purposefully complicated labyrinthine process designed… Continue reading Amazon lawsuit, tips for UX leaders, beating AI, all new things Figma

Wikipedia redesign, UI spacing tips, copying TikTok’s UX, WE❤️NYC

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. In science fiction, one of the main indications that the characters are living in the high-tech future is an insanely smart, AI voice assistant. Star Trek’s Enterprise had the omnipresent Computer, and Tony Stark famously traded quips with JARVIS (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) before the AI became… Continue reading Wikipedia redesign, UI spacing tips, copying TikTok’s UX, WE❤️NYC

5 lesser-known tips on spacing for product designers

5 lesser-known spacing tips for product designers Your BAE might not give you space but after reading this article you will definitely give your UI objects some well-deserved space :p When we start out as designers, spacing is often the most neglected aspect of the design process. Various objects are spaced based on what we, at… Continue reading 5 lesser-known tips on spacing for product designers

Character creation UX

A guide to CCIs in game design. Walking dressed cyberpunk in a cyberpunk city by Paola Ascanio via MidJourney Character creation is an essential aspect of most video games, allowing players to customize their avatars and immerse themselves in the game world. As a user experience (UX) designer, your role in game design is to create… Continue reading Character creation UX

The way you make me feel — how to set up in-app feedback

The way you make me feel — how to set up in-app feedback The success and longevity of an application depend on positive user acceptance. In order to integrate the users’ problems, needs, and expectations, it is necessary to continuously collect and analyze their feedback. From the various possible feedback channels, I have mapped the best practices for… Continue reading The way you make me feel — how to set up in-app feedback

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

How to Create a Figma Design System

Let’s get creative using Figma. In this tutorial we’ll focus on the style elements needed to start building a functional design system.  How to Create a Design System in Figma Let’s get started! In this easy-to-follow tutorial we’ll learn how to create the basic structure and style elements for a design system in Figma.  This… Continue reading How to Create a Figma Design System

How To Make Your Designs Scannable (And Why You Should)

Jakob Nielsen’s How Users Read on the Web is 25 years old this week, and one glance at an eye-tracking study will tell you its key observations are still relevant today. Simply put, users don’t read a web page; they scan it for individual words and sentences. A typical pattern shown in eye-tracking reports is that… Continue reading How To Make Your Designs Scannable (And Why You Should)

Trends and Movements (isms) in Web Design You Should Know

In web design nowadays we’re quick to assign an “ism” to any passing trend. But no matter how arbitrary or fleeting they are, these isms can be important to understand.  “Isms” in the art and design world come from artistic movements; styles and philosophies practiced by a group of artists and designers, usually with a… Continue reading Trends and Movements (isms) in Web Design You Should Know

Designing for scalable Dynamic Type in iOS

Designing for scalable Dynamic Type in iOS for accessibility When we wanted to implement accessibility settings on our iOS mobile app, I had to figure out where to start. Looking online, I could only find engineering resources. It was all about code and how to implement it with UIKit or SwiftUI with plenty of great… Continue reading Designing for scalable Dynamic Type in iOS

Accessibility week, low-tech UI, how to ask for a promotion, dark mode

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “What do we even mean by web3? We have NFTs (non-fungible tokens), cryptocurrencies, the metaverse, blockchain and DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations). It’s not just one thing we don’t understand. It’s a lot of things we don’t understand. What’s in? What’s out? And how do all of these pieces fit… Continue reading Accessibility week, low-tech UI, how to ask for a promotion, dark mode

The humanity of Blockchain, Wordle UX, web3 painpoints, free UI loaders

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “In Agile, discovery is assumed. At a minimum, you need a rough spec and some goals to get started. But is the spec validated against business goals or user needs? Is this the best solution? If so, when does that discovery work happen? Not during Agile development.” Is Agile… Continue reading The humanity of Blockchain, Wordle UX, web3 painpoints, free UI loaders

UX fundamentals for web3, investing in design, automated UI variations

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “Crypto-natives have been living and breathing Web 3 for years. They populate an enormous echo chamber of people speaking a language that most tech people can’t even understand, to say nothing of the general public. The sense of wonder and empowerment that comes from knowing you are building the future… Continue reading UX fundamentals for web3, investing in design, automated UI variations

Visual forensics, impostor syndrome, UI color system, accessibility checklist

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “User feedback is always a valuable source of information. But if product designers aren’t careful, user feedback can quickly become a to-do list of features organized by whoever yells the loudest and most often. This not only runs the risk of pulling a product team in dozens of different… Continue reading Visual forensics, impostor syndrome, UI color system, accessibility checklist

Metaverse UX, designing with data, immature orgs, how to ask for gender

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers. “I’m sure that you or someone else you know have worked somewhere in the past where you felt that UX people were out of place. After all, UX is an emerging discipline and a lot of organizations want to hire people from our field because no organization wants to… Continue reading Metaverse UX, designing with data, immature orgs, how to ask for gender