Dangerous metaphors, Apple’s experiment, presenting negative UXR findings

“In technology, we use metaphors to simplify and relate ideas. They serve as stepping stones to explaining high-level concepts and popularizing AI.

We must be cautious about the metaphors we embrace and the narratives we construct when discussing AI’s future. They shape our perceptions, set expectations, and guide our actions. When people say ‘data is the new gold’ while comparing AI advancements to the Wild West, we must dig deeper into what they really mean.”

Dangerous metaphors in AI →

It’s like having your customer on speed dial → [Sponsored] Dovetail’s magic search allows you to query everything your organization knows about the customer. Pull from interviews, usability testing, industry reports, and user feedback?—?and get an instant, shareable insight. Available on our professional package?—?but UX Collective subscribers can try it free for 30 days.

Editor picks

• An ethical dilemma for innovation → Navigating risks in a rapidly changing world.
• Why designers need to be more like gardeners → To benefit both people and the planet.
• Hiring, lip service, and inclusion → What I have learned creating a more inclusive hiring process.

The UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about their work.

Visual history of the Latin Alphabet →

Make me?think

• The rise of emotional divestment → “Something radical has changed in the wake of the pandemic, and I’d argue that it’s accelerated in the past two years. The focus on facing dark realities through deep connection that blossomed briefly during Covid has been replaced by a divestment not just from communal experiences of sadness but from all external emotional sources.”
• A wasted life → “A life of contemplation and idle discourse is incompatible with the structures of contemporary capitalism, belonging to the domain of aristocratic frequenters of nineteenth-century salons and the rhetoricians of ancient Greece. The rest of us must work to survive; produce to consume. Even the most generous of arts patrons are wont to expect some form of return on their investment.”
• The artist and the inner retreat → “Creative people today are encouraged to incessantly self-promote on social media. Afterwards many of us feel empty after “shouting into the void” and posting our stuff without getting the response we hoped. We’re compelled to fill the void of the market rather than explore the void within, as artists are meant to do. No wonder we struggle.

Little gems this?week

Lessons from Apple’s search bar experiment →

UX lessons from Winnie the Pooh →

Blender: gamifying an unapproachable UI →

Tools and resources

• Breaking bad news → How to present negative UX research findings.
• Organizing your design system → Practical ideas for designers.
• Highlights from UXRConf 2024 → What’s stirring up the UX Research industry.

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