02 ‣ The design we can and can't see
Hello design amig@s!
First things first, thank you all for the encouragement & sign-ups on the launch of DESIGN IN THE WILD – it really means a lot and I hope your summer/winter was the best one! 🫶
The theme of this edition came up rather sponteanously. In this era of intertwined automations, heavily publicised rebrands and oversaturated app-landscapes, we see the results of (in)visible design more and more. Creativity is booming, whether it's about AIs or the old-school design process. Both thoughtful conceptualization and pixel-perfection are key in the industry - so let's see what's out there!
🧭 Digital Ethics Compass "Ethics begin where the law ends." Yes, we can almost design everything we want - but should we? Get inspired by DDC's (Danish Design Center) awesomely extensive and interactive playbook consisting important principles, provoking questions and best/worst scenarios. Tech is never going to be without these dilemmas - so let's be strategic about them.
🏛️ Wellbeing Blueprint Governmental systems, for better or worse, are designed. Explore Full Frame Institute's resources to learn how designing grass-roots well-being initiatives can make the world a more fair place to live in.
🫶 lessons.design Fabricio Texeira's learnings and musings are so well written, it feels like a love letter to the product-building craft. Grab a coffee and read it before work and you'll look differently at your figmas/OKRs right away!
🇸🇪 Swedish Design Systems If you are currently in a UI component frenzy, this is a good hub to look for best practices. PS: Brazil, Finland and Belgium have pretty cool ones too!
🧊 uncut.wtf A rare gem of a collection, consisting 144 F-R-E-E contemporary typefaces. Perfect if you are looking to refresh a visual identity!
🫣 Can't Unsee An online mini-game where you have to select the "more correct" UI. Post this in your designers/frontenders groupchats for a fun challenge. Good training on consistency and accessibility! 👀
Vasil is a design-magician who knows the product-building process from A-Z and beyond. So often, design involves a lot of invisible processes and intangible synergies that can make or break the product. Almost like in a theater production, where everybody and everthing has to smoothy work together. So, let's look behind the scenes with Vasil!
What are your top 3 tips for helping a company be more UX mature?
Nothing will change after companies hear mine or anyone else’s 3 tips because after a minute, they’ll be back to their old ways which they feel most comfortable with. Somebody has to drive the change, UXifying the company in all of its departments.
I’d focus on getting the team work closer together, emphasise on what’s helping them take better decisions and limit (with the goal to completely eliminate) what has been slowing (and in some situations crippling) the team to do so.
It’s a tricky process which is not gonna happen overnight. It will require tons of patience, discipline, and iteration. It will be infuriating at times, especially for the people trying to get the rest of the team onboard. But it will be most definitely worth it.
One of your titles is "Process Coach" - what does that entail exactly?
In the beginning of my career I had a very strong opinion about what UX stood for. I wanted everybody to know what exactly it meant and what exactly I was doing. With the years, I’ve stopped worrying about terms and abbreviations, and started focusing on finding ways for my team to work better together, create exceptional products, while having internal processes everybody in the team is proud of.
There’s so much appreciation for simple products that just work, beautiful user interfaces people love to interact with. But behind all that, there is a chain of processes, carefully designed, continuously iterated, and essential for a product team to do exceptional work.
Where do you see the UX industry going in the next 10 years - especially considering the AI boom of the last year?
A strong common sense will aways be in demand (even if it’s supposed to be common) and that’s normally what UXers have an abundance of. So I am not worried about the industry at all.
On the contrary, I believe working with AI can define the careers of many UXers, as AI introduces a large new toolbox for tackling problems. On a different note: Regulations are something we need to care about so we do not repeat the Wild West of social media.
Wohoo, thanks for reading the newsletter all the way here! 😋 I'd love to hear what you thought of it – drop me a line and let's chat. Got a friend who you know would geek out on content like this? Consider forwarding this edition to them 💌
Best vibes,
Kinga ✻