Design trends like Glassmorphism use translucent backgrounds to create a specific visual effect, resulting in underlying background colors or elements shimmering through the background of the overlaying element. That may be visually appealing, but it can distract some people and impair legibility. Operating systems like macOS and Windows offer options to reduce transparency in the… Continue reading Day 103: the prefers-reduced-transparency media feature
Tag: words
What Makes a Logo Memorable? (Psychology + Examples)
Every brand needs a logo, but not every logo gets remembered. You have probably seen thousands of logos, on packaging, apps, storefronts, social media, and most of them left no impression at all. That is not because the designers were careless. It is because designing a logo that actually sticks in someone’s memory is harder… Continue reading What Makes a Logo Memorable? (Psychology + Examples)
What’s an interactive element?
Two years ago, I wrote an article about the dialog element. I tested where focus goes when you open a modal dialog via the showModal() method. I tried different combinations of elements and attributes to see what happens because back in 2023, the behaviour was very inconsistent. In one of my tests, I put the… Continue reading What’s an interactive element?
Filmora AI Video Generator App: Create AI Videos on Mobile Easily
Making videos used to be very hard for many regular people. You need a big computer and many hours to learn every tool. Now, everyone wants to share great stories on social media every single day. Using a Filmora AI video generator helps you create amazing videos directly on your phone. This smart tool turns… Continue reading Filmora AI Video Generator App: Create AI Videos on Mobile Easily
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
Beyond the Primary User: 3 Types of Smart-Home Users
Summary: Smart-home devices often serve multiple users with different needs and preferences. Designing for shared use can reduce unnecessary friction and dependency. Smart-home devices, such as smart cameras, thermostats, and lights, are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, with Horowitz Research and Aviva reporting that nearly half of American households and about 80% of adults in the UK… Continue reading Beyond the Primary User: 3 Types of Smart-Home Users
Good from Afar, But Far from Good: AI Prototyping in Real Design Contexts
Summary: AI prototyping tools follow general directions but lack the judgment and nuance of an experienced designer. Over the past few months, the UX design field has been flooded with AI-powered prototyping tools that generate interfaces instantly from natural-language prompts. Despite the massive marketing hype, our evaluation with real design scenarios revealed that these tools… Continue reading Good from Afar, But Far from Good: AI Prototyping in Real Design Contexts
Conversational UX: Importance, Examples, Tips, and Challenges
Key takeaways 🔀 Conversational UX transforms design into a natural and intuitive conversation between the interface and the user. 🔎 Conversational UX is different from traditional UX mainly because it focuses on dialogue rather than navigation. 💁♀️ Conversational UX emerged from social habits and technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence and natural language processing. 🤖… Continue reading Conversational UX: Importance, Examples, Tips, and Challenges
12 heuristics for content design
[unable to retrieve full-text content] What they are, why they matter and how to evaluate them. Content designers follow best practices. Image by Kit Overview In this article I’ll cover the following: Introduction to design heuristics Critique of existing content heuristics Summary of new heuristics for content design Guide to each content heuristic — including why it matters, how to… Continue reading 12 heuristics for content design
“Powered By AI” Is Not a Value Proposition
Summary: Achieving product-market fit and practicing user-centered design become difficult when AI is presented as a product’s main value. A Clear Value Proposition Helps Both Users and Product Teams To help make decisions throughout the product lifecycle, designers create principles at the beginning of a project. The value proposition is the foremost of those principles… Continue reading “Powered By AI” Is Not a Value Proposition
10 Clever Instagram Caption Ideas That Spark Emotion and Drive Meaningful Interactions
Instagram caption ideas can help you form deeper connections with your Instagram followers. The right caption doesn’t just sit under your photo—it speaks directly to the person reading. It can make someone pause, reflect, or even feel seen. When used well, captions drive meaningful engagement, encourage conversation, and bring authenticity to your presence online. If… Continue reading 10 Clever Instagram Caption Ideas That Spark Emotion and Drive Meaningful Interactions
UX Leads Adoption of AI Chat
Summary: UX ranks among top fields adopting AI, mostly in writing, design, and coding tasks — though complex or human-centric UX activities remain largely AI-free An analysis of one million conversations with Claude.ai indicates that, while UX professionals represent less than 0.01% of the US workforce, they generate a remarkable number of AI conversations (7.5%… Continue reading UX Leads Adoption of AI Chat
Testing Visual Design: A Comprehensive Guide
Summary: Use methods like 5-second testing, first-click testing, and preference testing to gain insights into how users perceive your visual design. Visual design is the first thing users notice when they encounter a digital product like a website or app. It plays a large role in capturing users’ attention, defining brand identity, and creating an… Continue reading Testing Visual Design: A Comprehensive Guide
Accessible Images For When They Matter Most
<div class=”logo”> <a href=”/” title=”Back to the homepage”> <picture> <source media=”(min-width: 1350px)” srcset=”…/images/logo-full.svg”> <img src=”…/images/logo/logo.svg” alt=”Smashing Magazine”> </picture> </a> </div> Hearing both the phrase “back to the homepage” and “Smashing Magazine” in one feature is OK since each phrase is unique and connected to a different purpose. For more complex alternative text phrases, conduct the… Continue reading Accessible Images For When They Matter Most
The software development war
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Fantasy characters face each other in terrible combat. Just how typical stakeholders on a project fight about how best to build their software product. Credit: Me. Turning product managers and engineers from frustrating foes into advocating allies DESIGNERS! TO ARMS!!! Each and every one of our UX compatriots on every software production… Continue reading The software development war
From Figma to Functional App Without Writing a Single Line of Code
[unable to retrieve full-text content] How I Created a Design Tokens Converter in Minutes Using Claude Product designers don’t have to code, but knowing HTML and CSS will help us communicate with developers. In addition, a designer who knows JavaScript, Python, or another language, is a plus because they can explain the logic to the developer.… Continue reading From Figma to Functional App Without Writing a Single Line of Code
Are you a Consumption Designer?
[unable to retrieve full-text content] As we are edging towards an unlivable planet one fast fashion haul at a time, it is overdue to recon with the impact of Consumption Design. Everyday life has become one big consumerism fever dream. We are constantly tempted and pushed to buy stuff we don’t need or even want,… Continue reading Are you a Consumption Designer?
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 rise of Generative AI-driven design patterns
[unable to retrieve full-text content] How Generative AI advances are helping shape the future of feature design, from enhancing content interaction to more informed decision-making Order among chaos (Credit: Dall-E) The ChatGPT revolution has been unfolding for over a year now. While the specific chatbot may not represent a seismic technical shift, the profound change in… Continue reading The rise of Generative AI-driven design patterns
The Art of Engineering AI Prompts
AI By Louise North 3 days ago In the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence, the ability to communicate effectively with AI tools has become an indispensable skill. Whether you’re generating content, solving complex data problems, or creating stunning digital art, the quality of the outcomes you receive is directly influenced by the prompts you… Continue reading The Art of Engineering AI Prompts
Crafting an effective design system strategy
How to build a strategy, not a roadmap A design system is a product. A product that solves concrete tasks: ensuring consistency reducing development time and much more Most often, the main reason to create a new product is that you want it to be different from the existing ones on the market. After all, why waste time… Continue reading Crafting an effective design system strategy
Test smart: How to validate product on a business-facing level?
It took a long time since my story How to Select Testing Techniques for an Agile Team was published (if you ask me what happened in between, the short answer will be: a war in Ukraine and a career pivot). The mentioned story focused on Agile Testing Quadrants, a method presented by Lisa Crispin and… Continue reading Test smart: How to validate product on a business-facing level?
Johan Cruyff’s influence on adaptive role switching in Product Design
Johan Cruyff's influence on adaptive role switching in Product Design A product design philosophy inspired by the brilliance of Total Football, as orchestrated by Johan Cruyff and the 1970s Dutch masters. Switching Product Roles: Created via Midjourney 2023. NB. The product design theme of this article should still strike a chord, even if you aren't a football fanatic.… Continue reading Johan Cruyff’s influence on adaptive role switching in Product Design
3 Common Color Accessibility Issues One Can Easily Avoid
Color is often used to evoke emotions and emphasis. That’s one of the reasons why designers see color as an important element in their work. Colors communicate messages on both psychological and visual level. The importance of color is undeniable, but is basing the message solely on color the right thing to do? This post… Continue reading 3 Common Color Accessibility Issues One Can Easily Avoid