Interactivity

Four rules for how design influences technology

Early products tend to have a technical focus. But technologies mature and can become commodified. This is where design becomes the key differentiator.I’ve been a designer for more than 3 decades. I believe in the power of design. There are a lot of posts on Medium these days about the challenges in UX design. The reasons vary: layoffs in tech, failure to clearly demonstrate the ROI of design, the challenges of agile, and the emerging creative threat of AI. I share these concerns but history sug

Building and calibrating trust in AI

How to manage the inherent uncertainty of AI.Figure 1: The trust continuum: No trust is harmful, but overtrust is dangerous. You need to pull your users into the golden middle of “calibrated” trust.Trust makes relationships go round — whether it is between people, businesses, or the products we rely on. It’s built on a mix of qualities like consistency, reliability, and integrity. When any one of these breaks, the relationship cracks with it. A friend who disappears for a year, a car that won’t

Cursor, “vibe coding,” and Manus: the UX revolution that AI needs

It’s time to move past the command-line era of AI.Photo by Brett Jordan on UnsplashWe keep hearing that AI is for everyone. “No coding required.” “Your new coworker.” “An assistant for the masses.” And yet, to get consistently useful results from today’s best models, you still need to know the secret handshakes: the right phrases, the magic tags, the unspoken etiquette of LLMs.The power is there. The intelligence is real. But the interface? Still stuck in the past.And that disconnect became pain

Designing for conversion sounds ugly-you should learn it anyways

Your designs might be having a real impact. You just may be unaware of itContinue reading on UX Collective »

Adobe Announces Monthly Subscription for the Undo Button

Adobe’s decision to lock unlimited undos behind a paid subscription has sparked outrage, leading to mass protests outside its headquarters with designers chanting "Ctrl+Z is a human right.” As frustration mounts, creatives threaten to make their biggest undo yet—ditching Adobe for good.

How GenAIs build diverging color schemes

Gemini and Copilot suggestions for Pantone Mocha Mousse divergence.Continue reading on UX Collective »

AI in automotive design simulations: breaking the barriers to adoption

Key challenges slowing AI adoption — and how to overcome themOptimizing vehicle design — image designed by FreepikImagine an automotive engineer optimizing a new vehicle design by running high-fidelity (detailed and realistic) simulations. Typically, running such simulations (also referred to as virtual-prototyping) for crash tests, aerodynamics, and structural integrity, takes days. Now, imagine an AI-enhanced system that cuts that time by half, while improving usability and providing better in

Why don’t they spend (enough) on research?

The illusion and the curse of knowledge behind the scene.When I ask you to think about a close relative and tell me about them, you can easily do it and make more or less accurate statements about them. But when I ask you to think about your users… that’s an impossible task. It’s simply not feasible to know hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people well. In such cases, you have two options. Either you pick one well-known customer from the crowd and think about them, or — and this is what m

Blossoms, Flowers, And The Magic Of Spring (April 2025 Wallpapers Edition)

Starting the new month with a little inspiration boost — that’s the idea behind our monthly wallpapers series which has been going on for more than fourteen years already. Each month, the wallpapers are created by the community for the community, and everyone who has an idea for a design is welcome to join in — experienced designers just like aspiring artists. Of course, it wasn’t any different this time around.For this edition, creative folks from all across the globe once again got their ideas

Do Ugly Websites Sell Better? A Contrarian Look at Web Design and Conversion Rates

The idea that ugly websites can sell better challenges traditional design principles, suggesting that authenticity and imperfection sometimes drive higher conversions.

No research is (often) better than “some” research

Not anyone can just do research, but they can learn toContinue reading on UX Collective »

UX or PX, the problem with research, semantic tokens, 5 tips for vibe coders

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.“The UX design community erupted when Duolingo’s head of design declared that product experience (PX) is their new name. Normally, impact is not really felt when it’s a branding exercise, but this one felt personal due to the rejection of the word user experience.”UX or PX? Why naming matters →By Darren YeoOffload tedious research tasks and go straight to insights →[Sponsored] Speed up your UX workflow by over 80% with Marvin’s AI-powe

Don’t just add AI on top: Rethinking mobile email UX for all workflows

We redesigned mobile email replies with a UI for inserting local responses while reading, optionally with AI. Image by the author.Many UI designers are currently tasked with extending existing interfaces with AI features, such as “copilots” and chatbots. On desktops, these are often added in sidebars — but on mobile devices, where screen space is limited, AI is typically layered on top of existing UIs as popups.In this article, we explore the drawbacks of this design pattern and discuss a better

SXSW 2025: AI doesn’t give a damn about UI; Futurists are the hottest job on the market

Access the most impactful trends and unlisted video sessions from the iconic Austin conferenceContinue reading on UX Collective »

Pixels of the Week – March 30, 2025

👉🏻 Curated weekly UX Research, Design & Tech resources: a comprehensive summary to help you understand the European Accessibility Act, text labels with icons, the PACT research framework, a guide to food around the world, the German ultimate nutcracker, futuristic UI kit, generative fonts & scripts, design inspiration, design assets, wide emoji maker, skip links for accessibility, CSS inline background overlap problem, how navigation should work for keyboard users.

Individualism, pop bands & workplace collaboration

How many of you remember the Spices Girls or Backstreet Boys?The late ’90s and early 2000s were dominated by iconic girl and boy bands. We couldn’t get enough of them. I remember those teenage years, locked in my bedroom, belting out their tunes and perfecting their dance moves (or at least trying to). But where have all the pop bands gone?90s pop bands collage — SourceThe number of bands in the Top 100 chart has shrunk since the last decade, and most of the top artists in the chart are solo pro

Duolingo’s 6-step reactivation experience

It’s not just about getting users back — it’s about what happens next.Continue reading on UX Collective »

Mastering typography in design systems with semantic tokens and responsive scaling

Creating efficient, consistent, and flexible typography for digital platforms using modern design system principles.When designers no longer have to reinvent the wheel for every project, the entire process becomes much smoother and more efficient. This is the beauty of a design system, it makes the whole process smoother and faster. As weibel explains, beyond just saving time, it’s about working more effectively, keeping all the parts consistent, and making sure users have a clear and organized

Extraordinary Things: Where AI Meets Surreal Design

"Extraordinary Things" is a creative project by Yashas Mitta that blends AI-generated surreal designs with human collaboration to turn wild digital concepts into reality. With a sleek website and a focus on creativity, it invites artists and makers to bring these futuristic, mind-bending objects to life.

How To Argue Against AI-First Research

With AI upon us, companies have recently been turning their attention to “synthetic” user testing — AI-driven research that replaces UX research. There, questions are answered by AI-generated “customers,” human tasks “performed” by AI agents.However, it’s not just for desk research or discovery that AI is used for; it’s an actual usability testing with “AI personas” that mimic human behavior of actual customers within the actual product. It’s like UX research, just… well, without the users.If th