Dishonest fonts, sustainable design, how to be strategic, color with gen AI

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.

“So you’ve just got your hands on the latest iPhone. It’s sleek, it’s shiny, and it’s engineered to perfection. But then — bam! — you slap a case on it. It’s like buying a sports car and then driving it only in a school zone. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? If your phone is designed to be this perfect blend of form and function, are we messing up the recipe by adding the extra ingredient of a case? Are we turning a gourmet meal into fast food?”

Opinion: why you’re not supposed to put a case on your smartphone →By Elvis Hsiao

Better feedback = better websites →[Sponsored] Still using spreadsheets or email for website feedback? Might be time to switch to BugHerd to better manage web projects. It automatically captures a screenshot, plus the user’s browser, OS, and more, so you can pinpoint issues & resolve bugs fast.

Editor picks

Local communities, global stage →
Design insights from smaller design festivals.
By Darren Yeo
Sustainable email design →
How to design climate-friendly emails.
By Ted Goas
How to be a strategic UX partner →
Different levels of maturity require different approaches.
By Raquel Piqueras

The UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and illuminates the path to design mastery and critical thinking. Here’s how we’re boosting stories through our partnership with Medium.

RamenHaus: the home of rotating ramen →

Make me think

We’re all lurkers now →
“I couldn’t stop thinking about the thought process of turning to social media, emphasis on the social, and asking no one to talk to you. This idea — that we can safely expect to insulate ourselves from responses to our posts is indicative of how rapidly the social media environment has changed in the just three years.”
User stories aren’t the tale for discovery →
“A user story might encapsulate a single user’s immediate desire, but it often fails to reflect the collective needs and aspirations of the entire user base. Or the context and why behind the how. User needs aren’t really a single thing. They’re a complex patchwork.”
How to see beauty →
“Because there it was again, this familiar feeling that I have when I chance upon such moments of excessive beauty. I knew that this moment was special, yet I couldn’t really take it in, let alone enjoy it. Countless mundane thoughts and worries clouded my eyes.”

Little gems this week

How a font website dishonestly earns money →By Faux Icing

Are we doing UX Research right? →By Meltem Naz Kaso Coskun

What UX designers can learn from Sri Lanka’s premier architect →
By Nadeeka Athukorala

Tools and resources

Creating color with gen AI →
Using Adobe Firefly for diverging color scheme suggestions.
By Theresa-Marie Rhyne
How to spot gen AI images →
Insights and tips to identify generative imagery.
Naming things needn’t be hard →
Inspiration for naming CSS classes and other components.

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Dishonest fonts, sustainable design, how to be strategic, color with gen AI was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.