Defining craft, response to Jakob Nielsen, font finds, GenAI UX

You might have heard or said before: “I’m not really strong at craft, I’m more of a strategic designer.” Our industry tends to put craft and strategic thinking on opposite sides of a spectrum, sometimes in an attempt to diminish the value of craft. Be careful not to fall into that trap. One can be strategic and deliver work that is well-crafted, polished, and thoughtful?—?in fact, isn’t that what everyone should strive for?

On craft →

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Editor picks

• In response to Jakob Nielsen → We should challenge fragmentation rather than foster it.
• Navigating the DesignOps wilderness → How to define a compelling roadmap and build the trust you’ll need.
• 90% of designers are un-hirable? → Why your cookie-cutter portfolio doesn’t cut it and how to fix it.

Framer components inspired by Dieter Rams’ design principles →

Make me?think

• The rebalancing of design management → “In the design profession, this swing made a ton of sense when it started. I’ve experienced first-hand the negative culture and work-quality impact a dictatorial, micromanaging Creative Director can have. And I’ve hired many designers who were trying to escape a toxic management culture.”
• A dozen thoughts about AI → “Am I bad at prompt engineering? Is that why I don’t “get it”? I can never quite craft the right query to match what I see in my imagination. Am I asking the wrong questions or getting the wrong answers? Am I creating too high of a standard? Weird I’d even consider putting the blame on myself.”
• Why the Tokyo Metro plays bird whistles → “Based on these guidelines, station ticket gates and above-ground entrances and exits of subways will emit “ pin-pon ” or similar non-audio sounds, while platform stairs will produce non-audio sounds resembling bird whistles.”

Little gems this?week

Creating unsafe driver experiences →

Font finds: bold, elegant, and not just for memes →

The research “impact” problem →

Tools and resources

• Emerging UX patterns in Gen AI → Looking back at history to help us design for the future.
• ChatGPT + Pantone → Suggestions for a contrasting data color scheme.
• Designing limit tests → How to ensure your designs work if you can’t access sample data.

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