The Daily Index — Monday, October 30, 2023 · TLDR Index

NEWS & TRENDS

TLDR Design

TLDR Design

NEW MAPS UPDATES: IMMERSIVE VIEW FOR ROUTES AND OTHER AI FEATURES

A significant update to Google Maps added features that make the app even more powerful. The new Immersive View for Routes now uses AI to provide detailed previews of planned journeys. You can also get directions to a new destination with Lens in Maps, which uses AI and augmented reality. There are now more detailed navigation maps for a smoother ride and additional charging station info for drivers of electric vehicles.

blog.google · 6 min

TLDR Design

A NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE FOR SLACK

Designers at Slack initiated a major evolution of its user interface, aiming to make the platform more personal, approachable, and easier to use without sacrificing its iconic look or information density. This included a two-week design sprint where a team proposed updates to the visual language, customization options, and new information preview paradigms.

slack.design · 7 min

TLDR Design

APPLE’S JOURNAL APP IS KIND OF SMART — AND KIND OF BASIC

The Apple Journal app is a simple one-screen journaling tool with basic features. It allows users to create entries with text, photos, videos, voice memos, and location data. The app uses machine learning to recognize and suggest essential moments in a user's life.

theverge.com · 3 min

TLDR Design

THE TOP 10 TALKS ON THE FUTURE OF AI AND DESIGN FROM 2023

When AI is harnessed correctly, it can elevate creativity at a rate unmatched by any other tool. Ten experts discuss how to use AI in the development of creative technologies and to shape more human-centered experiences.

designerfund.com · 15 min

TLDR Design

DESIGN TOOLS — THE ART OF MAKING APPS FOR THE SMALL SCREEN

Various genres of movies and TV shows have been featuring imaginary interfaces for fake apps for quite some time now. Five pioneers in the industry reveal how these fictional products operate as part of the plot and what they say about our technological habits.

wepresent.wetransfer.com · 33 min

TLDR Design

AI AS A UX ASSISTANT

The Nielsen Norman Group conducted a large-scale survey with more than 800 respondents to understand how UX professionals use generative AI in their day-to-day work. 92% of the respondents claimed they had used at least one generative AI tool. Among those who used these bots for work, 63% used them at least several times per week (if not daily). The most common type of activity is text content generation and editing.

nngroup.com · 21 min

TLDR Design

PROCREATE DREAMS: A FIRST LOOK AT THE ALL-NEW ANIMATION APP

2D animation is made simple with Procreate Dreams, which contains lots of innovative features and tools that simplify the entire process of creating animations.

designshack.net · 5 min

TLDR Design

MIDJOURNEY WINS BATTLE OF THE IMAGE UPSCALERS, BUT WITH A CATCH

German stock photographer Robert Kneschke wanted to put Midjourney’s new upscaler to the test so he generated an AI picture on Midjourney in the standard 1024x1024 resolution and then ran it through Midjourney’s 4x upscaler. He was impressed with the results. However, the problem with Midjourney’s upscaler is that the user can only run AI images generated on Midjourney through it so users can’t upload their low-resolution photos to the platform. There are other drawbacks too: Namely, the price.

petapixel.com · 3 min

TLDR Design

BURN YOUR TOAST

Toast components are easy to miss, stay near the end of the DOM, and make users anxious. Does it make sense to use them?

erikkroes.nl · 3 min

TLDR Design

WINDOWS 11 NOW LETS YOU WRITE ANYWHERE YOU CAN TYPE

Microsoft is introducing new changes to Windows Ink in Windows 11, allowing users to write anywhere they can type. This includes handwriting-to-text conversion in search boxes and other input fields. The update is currently available as a preview through Windows Update, with improved handwriting recognition and new gestures for editing text.

theverge.com · 2 min

TLDR Design

SELECT ELEMENT: NOW WITH HORIZONTAL RULES

The select element gets a small upgrade in Chrome 119, with a feature that also landed in Safari 17. Now, you can add horizontal rule elements to the list of select options. They will appear as separators to help visually break up the options for a better user experience.

developer.chrome.com · 1 min