ARE WE TOO PEDANTIC WITH SEMANTIC?
Figma now supports scoping, so it might be best to skip semantic colors altogether.
2024.04.03
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11,719 matchesFOUR MUST-SEE FEATURES IN ZOOM’S BIG NEW REDESIGN
Zoom's most significant redesign comes with a new platform called Zoom Workplace, which uses AI to compete with Slack and Teams. The new features address anxieties around screen sharing, stuffiness in online meetings, and getting work done. Zoom is also improving UI by updating its gradient backdrops, adding color to everyone's windows, and redesigning its bottom bar of icons to express more personality, softness, and value of care.
2024.04.02
FUTURE APPLE VISION PRO MAY GET BOB ROSS-STYLE VIRTUAL PAINTING TOOLS
A recent patent application by Apple describes techniques for enabling drawing in a computer-generated reality environment. It illustrates how the company plans to track users' hands and allow them to draw without additional devices on Vision Pro. The technology lets users pinch their fingers like a paintbrush to make an object appear over their hand. When the user switches tools, Apple Vision Pro changes the virtual object in the user's hand.
2024.04.02
INTERVIEW: JULIE ZHUO
Julie Zhuo, a renowned Silicon Valley executive and management author, rose from an intern to the VP of Product Design at Facebook through her unique strength in bridging engineering and design disciplines. Now a co-founder of Sundial, she uses her management expertise to foster a strong employee culture and continues to embrace the learning journey, sharing insights with over 70,000 newsletter subscribers.
2024.04.02
HOLD ON, BUT SHOULD DESIGN MANAGERS DESIGN…?
Design management encompasses various roles, from those heavily involved in hands-on design to leaders focusing exclusively on strategy and guiding their teams. The kind of leader one becomes is primarily dictated by business context, organizational structure, and team dynamics. The actual test of leadership is where team members turn to their problems, identifying the de facto leader beyond titles.
2024.04.02
THE DEATH OF CRAFT
The rise of AI in the creative industry is a return to the past, as AI can only combine existing ideas and not create genuinely new ones. Becoming overly proficient in a single tool can be limiting, as tools can become irrelevant over time. The future may see a shift towards a more adaptable, generalized skillset due to the changing landscape of the creative industry.
2024.04.02
WHY UX DESIGNERS SHOULD CREATE OBJECT MAPS
An aligned mental model between what users perceive and how products perform makes completing tasks easy. When mental models are not aligned, it can make using the product so difficult that users give up using it. You can facilitate and enhance the design of workflows, mock-ups, and prototypes by creating a map of the objects users create, edit, and use within a product.
2024.04.02
PRODUCT DESIGN TOOLS DATABASE
Free database of 700 curated product design resources, covering topics ranging from research and analysis to delivery and metrics tracking, that will improve your product design workflow.
2024.04.02
USER ONBOARDING FROM THE BEST SAAS PRODUCTS
Discover 220+ onboarding examples and learn 100+ powerful onboarding tactics from the best SaaS products.
2024.04.02
AI-POWERED PRODUCT DESIGN TOOL
Creatie relies on AI to enhance the product design process with image enhancement, asset generation, automatic style guides, design auditing, and more.
2024.04.02
THE INVESTMENT VALUE OF DESIGN
Companies that prioritize design enhance their products or services and achieve better financial outcomes. Investing in design results in higher revenue growth and stock performance, so design should be considered a strategic asset that can generate substantial returns for businesses willing to invest in it.
2024.04.02
IN/TENSION MODELING AS A UX RESEARCH AND STRATEGY TOOL
The concept of tension modeling is a valuable tool in UX research and strategy as it helps understand users' conflicting desires and motivations. It helps identify user needs, prioritize features, and ultimately enhance the user experience by addressing underlying tensions.
2024.04.02
HOW TO DESIGN CLIMATE-FORWARD AI COMPANIES
Despite the immense benefits AI promises, it substantially impacts the environment. The gravity of this footprint makes it crucial that every AI company is a climate company, and thoughtful design is critical to achieving that goal. We should design for AI with decarbonization in mind, preferring more sustainable hardware and infrastructure, aiming for simpler yet powerful user interfaces, and be able to define where AI makes an actual difference.
2024.04.02
HOW&HOW BRAND “FUTURE OF ZERO CARBON CONCRETE” BIOZEROC WITH ENGAGING ARCHITECTURAL FORMS
Biozeroc is a bio concrete alternative to the high-polluting and high-co-emitting traditional concrete. How&How created a new brand for the company based on the brand idea of a ‘House of hard things.’
2024.04.02
CREATIVES REVEALED WHEN THEY MADE A FOOL OF THEMSELVES AND THE LESSONS THEY LEARNED
The top mistakes that creatives make are overcommitting themselves, ignoring the brief, neglecting self-promotion, skipping the contract, shying away from feedback, and neglecting continued learning.
2024.04.02
DESIGN IS A PROCESS OF GETTING STUCK
Whiteboard is a tool for getting unstuck — although it won’t solve every problem, it will certainly soothe the most painful ones.
2024.04.02
WHATSAPP CONFIRMS NEW NAVIGATION BAR AT BOTTOM OF SCREEN FOR ANDROID USERS
WhatsApp’s new swipeable bottom bar navigation is designed to be closer to users' thumbs and, therefore, easier to reach. This makes it easier to switch between tabs without moving the thumb to the top of the device when users want to switch between chats, calls, and other options.
2024.04.01
VIZCOM SECURES $20M SERIES A TO REDEFINE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN WITH AI
Vizcom has closed a $20 million Series A round of financing to continue expanding its AI-powered industrial design platform and growing its team. Through the platform, designers can transform sketches into photorealistic renderings and explore countless design variations while collaborating with other team members in real time. Rather than replacing designers, Vizcom's user-centric approach empowers them with an intuitive user interface that allows them to import sketches, draw directly within the application, and refine designs using natural language commands.
2024.04.01
LAMBORGHINI REDESIGNS BULL AND SHIELD LOGO AFTER TWENTY YEARS
Lamborghini has rebranded for the first time in two decades as part of a broader shift towards sustainability and decarbonization. The Italian automaker followed the trend of flat, simplified logos but kept the iconic bull logo at the center of a shield and introduced a broader, thinner typeface.
2024.04.01
DESIGN IS POLITICS
The design process is more than hiding in isolation and revealing your masterpiece after some time. You are usually expected to work with others while producing your work, communicating effectively, de-escalating arguments, making and explaining decisions, organizing projects, etc. In reality, refusing to "participate in the organization's politics" will likely hurt your odds of being successful.
2024.04.01
ON CANVA'S SURPRISE AFFINITY ACQUISITION — WHAT EVEN IS AN APP ANYMORE?
Canva acquired the Affinity suite to compete with Adobe's Creative Suite, potentially leveraging its payment model as a strategic advantage. Unlike Adobe's subscription-based model, the Affinity suite distinguishes itself with its excellent mobile compatibility and the option to download apps for free, with a one-time payment for ownership.
2024.04.01
DIARY STUDIES: UNDERSTANDING LONG-TERM USER BEHAVIOR AND EXPERIENCES
Diary studies yield extensive qualitative data over time. Before delving into insights, designers should reassess their research questions to examine behavior evolution and influences. They should also analyze the entire customer journey if their study focuses on a product or service relationship.
2024.04.01
STACKBLITZ
Improve developer experience, drive design system adoption, and remove the barriers to contribution.
2024.04.01
SPECTRUM (FIGMA PLUGIN)
Generate beautiful color palettes and apply them instantly to illustrations, images, interfaces, and anything on the canvas with a click.
2024.04.01
figma.comTLDR Design
BEZI AI
Design 3D apps and games faster than ever.
2024.04.01
LEVEL UP: EXPLORING THE ARTISTIC SIDE OF VIDEO GAME DESIGN
Video games are increasingly using illustration and painterly art to make mesmerizing and charming visual experiences, elevating them to the status of art, as evidenced by museum exhibits in places like the V&A and MoMA. Artistry in game design usually comes from independent productions that push the medium's creative limits. These edgy approaches have inspired bigger studios and publishers to move away from photorealism and towards unique art styles.
2024.04.01
ADOBE SHARES SNEAK PEEKS OF WHAT ITS FUTURE GENERATIVE AI PRODUCTS COULD LOOK LIKE
Adobe gave a sneak peek of its latest experiments during the latest Adobe Summit. Two of them were particularly impressive. By leveraging AI, Project Brand Slam ensures that all branding materials adhere to the brand's guidelines, including logos, images, text, and formatting. In Project Infograph, users enter a dataset and short text descriptions of the main messages they want to convey, and the tool returns color palettes, graphics, and charts.
2024.04.01
THE FUTURE OF USER RESEARCH: EXPERT INSIGHTS AND KEY TRENDS
Based on responses from over 1,200 product professionals, Maze’s Future of User Research Report uncovers how product teams research to inform decision-making and build successful products. The top three trends identified are: the demand for user research is growing, research democratization empowers more robust decision-making, and AI allows product teams to scale research significantly.
2024.04.01
REDESIGNING NAVIGATION WITH A USER-CENTRIC APPROACH
A case study on redesigning complex navigation by using iterative feedback loops, continuously gathering user input, and implementing improvements to create a navigation system that was more intuitive and efficient.
2024.04.01
THE ARTIST BEHIND AN ICONIC BEATLES ALBUM COVER MADE THIS NEW BUDWEISER CAN
Peter Blake, the artist behind the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, designed a new limited-edition Budweiser can.
2024.04.01
STOP, LOOK & THINK: GET “DRAWN” INTO CRAIG FRAZIER’S ILLUSTRATIONS
Craig Frazier's illustration career started in 1978 with a design philosophy emphasizing approachability, simplicity, and the importance of narrative elements in his work.
2024.04.01
AMAZON’S PALM-SCANNING SERVICE NOW LETS YOU SIGN UP FROM YOUR PHONE
Amazon has introduced a new iOS and Android app that allows users to register for its palm recognition service, Amazon One, by uploading a photo of their palm, eliminating the need to enroll at physical locations. The technology encrypts and securely stores palm prints in the cloud. The added security layers may only alleviate privacy concerns for some users.
2024.03.29
FORMER YAHOO CEO MARISSA MAYER’S NEW PHOTO-SHARING APP HAS A DESIGN FROM THE STONE AGE
A new app from Marissa Mayer, former Yahoo CEO, aims to make it easy for users to create and share photos of trips, parties, or hangouts with friends. However, its (lack of) design, looking like something from the early 2010s, is very clunky-looking and not at all like the apps we’re used to today.
2024.03.29
AMAZON FINED IN POLAND FOR DARK PATTERN DESIGN TRICKS
Poland's consumer and competition watchdog has fined Amazon nearly $8 million for deceptive practices that included misleading consumers about contract conclusions and employing 'dark design patterns' to create urgency in purchases. The e-commerce giant, accused of not honoring stated delivery dates and availability, plans to appeal the sanction.
2024.03.29
LISTEN HEAR: HOW DESIGNERS CREATE SOUNDS FOR PIXEL
Sound design can alleviate visual overload and communicate more information to users. The Google Pixel sound design team believes sound can be used to convey emotion and create urgency. The team aims to create a sonic experience that is playful, human, and simple.
2024.03.29
DEFINING EXPERIENCE QUALITY IN LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS
Adobe is adding two new Generative AI features to Acrobat and Acrobat Reader to unlock information in PDFs. “AI Assistant” answers questions about documents to help people understand information, get insights quickly, and instantly generate content for deliverables. It is supported by “Generative summary,” an AI Assistant capability that builds one-click summaries of documents' key sections.
2024.03.29
A DESIGN RESET - PART I
Design debt accumulates incrementally but should be addressed comprehensively, contrary to the conventional engineering practice of avoiding complete code rewrites. Unlike engineering changes, which can go unnoticed, the product experience is visual and holistic, necessitating a different approach.
2024.03.29
IOS APP ICON TEMPLATE (FIGMA FILE)
App icon template for iOS 17 that allows designers to see their apps in context. The mockup comes in light and dark modes.
2024.03.29
figma.comTLDR Design
AI-GENERATED BACKGROUNDS
Browse a collection of breathtaking AI-generated backgrounds, download them in 6K, and view their corresponding Midjourney prompts.
2024.03.29
BUILD FORMS FASTER
Weavely generates pixel-perfect web forms out of your Figma designs.
2024.03.29
GETTING OUT OF MEETINGS AND INTO FOCUSED WORK
It's common for creatives to spend their entire day in meetings with little time for creativity or thought. Don't feel bad about declining meetings - just remember they do not work. Consider their value to customers. Schedule meetings for your goals and build your social connections beyond meetings.
2024.03.29
ON DEDICATION AND LOVE FOR THE INVISIBLE WORK
Craft and strategic thinking are often seen as opposites in the industry, but you can be strategic and still deliver well-crafted, polished, and thoughtful work. Craft usually best suits focused groups with the same vision who care about what's being made. However, if viewed as a critical value by the company's executives, craft can scale and be integrated into team structure and processes.
2024.03.29
ARE YOU STOPPING ONE STEP SHORT OF DRIVING CHANGE THROUGH USER INSIGHTS?
Presenting information involves sharing raw data or fundamental analysis while communicating insights, providing a more profound understanding by interpreting the data, offering context, and suggesting actionable next steps. This helps persuade teams to make meaningful changes and how designers should use data to design meaningful changes and stop constantly “putting out fires.”
2024.03.29
THE CASE FOR DESIGN ENGINEERS, PT. III
Design engineers are required to design and build something great.
2024.03.29
NEW IKEA CAMPAIGN FINDS AN ORIGINAL WAY TO TALK ABOUT ITS LOW PRICES
A new series of commercials created for the United Arab Emirates, entitled 'Don't Worry, You Can Afford It', puts pets and the havoc they create squarely in the spotlight, showing various IKEA products, including planters, mugs, cushions, and vases, being knocked over by adorable cats and dogs.
2024.03.29
AN OPEN SOURCE LIBRARY OF WEB COMPONENTS
You can drop Web Awesome components anywhere on the web and they'll work - no JavaScript framework is necessary.
2024.03.29
GOOGLE WILL LET YOU SWIPE RIGHT OR LEFT ON CLOTHES TO GET BETTER FASHION RECOMMENDATIONS
Google has introduced a new feature that allows users to personalize shopping experiences by rating products with Tinder-style swipe gestures to compete with Amazon and Walmart's AI shopping tools. The tool, available on mobile browsers and the Google app, will show style recommendations based on user ratings, with options to adjust preferences for further personalized results.
2024.03.28
BANKSY: LONDON TREE MURAL COVERED IN PLASTIC AND BOARDS
A Banksy mural in Finsbury Park, London, has been covered up with plastic and wooden boards by the building's owner after being vandalized with white paint. This has caused visibility issues and resident concerns. Islington Council is now managing the site, aiming to allow public enjoyment while considering local disruptions.
2024.03.28
GOOGLE MAPS GETTING ‘CLEANER HOME SCREEN’ WITH SIMPLIFIED BOTTOM BAR
Google Maps is streamlining its mobile interface with a cleaner home screen and a simplified bottom bar, the specifics of which are yet to be unveiled. The app will feature new pin colors to enhance map readability, complementing previous updates like map color revisions, improved directions interface, and expanded Street View coverage.
2024.03.28
REDEFINING INTERFACES: THE ICON EVOLUTION
PARC's Xerox Star system introduced desktop icons in the early 1970s, launching the GUI paradigm. Those primitive, pixelated icons ushered in a new era of user interface design. This article covers everything from the early days of icons in user interfaces to spatial design icons that add depth and motion using specular highlights and shadows.
2024.03.28