How the UX of AI chat can hijack our brains to compromise learning in schools and beyond Unsplash image by Luis Villasmil. Modified the text on stickies with Nano Banana. Ask any instructor what helps students learn, and it’s unlikely any of them will answer “a really big wall of text”. It’s incredible to me, as both …
Year: 2025
Designing for signals: how intent & instrumentation shape AI-powered experiences
As AI mirrors how we design and learn, our role evolves from creating interfaces to defining the signals that shape intelligent experiences. A quick note before we dive in. This essay continues the thinking I introduced in From design to direction: bridging product design and AI thinking. While it is not required reading, it might …
What an accessibility conference taught me about designing for all
and how understanding human abilities can transform the way we build products and places. Continue reading on UX Collective » The least useful numbers we take the most seriously Florence Nightingale — image generated with ai People want numbers. Knowing what those numbers mean usually comes second to watching them move in the right direction. More users, more …
What designers can learn from Zohran Mamdani’s historical campaign
How user-centered design principles transformed a grassroots political movement into a viral phenomenon and what it means for design practice. Zohran Mamdani Logo designed by Aneesh Bhoopathy. The year is 2025, and New York City, “The Greatest City in The World” has a 34-year-old, democratic socialist and Muslim mayor! Mamdani’s campaign has inspired millions, many …
Shifting within: creating change inside a corrupt system without losing ourselves
This post explores living in the contradiction: working to change harmful systems while knowing that those same systems help pay our bills. I dream of a future where everyone has what they need and where design supports human and planetary flourishing. This vision fills me with hope while also making me acutely aware of the reality …
Building AI-driven workflows powered by Claude Code and other tools
How agentic CLI tools extend Figma MCP and turn wireframes into production-ready prototypes I set out to explore how designers can use agentic CLI tools like Claude Code and Codex CLI to build AI-driven workflows that turn rough wireframes into production-ready prototypes reflecting a real codebase, not generic mockups. After testing both tools, the results …
Purple
No matter what you tell them, LLMs somehow always use the same design choices. Purple–gradient–rounded buttons. Even when you feed them all the guidelines, PRDs, and rules, they still struggle to follow simple instructions consistently, especially when you give them multiple design guidelines at once. You can say plz, make it minimal, brutalist, sharp edges, monochrome, …
The illusion of alignment
How designers create true alignment with visual thinking I want to tell you about my favorite apple. It’s incredible. It’s hands down the most delicious apple of all time! When you see it hanging on a tree, its color invites you to come closer and take a bite. When it’s ripe, the flavor is amazing, complemented …
Nostalgia as product strategy
The emotional design behind the latest AI marketing campaigns. illustration by author If you haven’t seen them yet, OpenAI’s launched new ad campaign of short 30 seconds videos that embed AI into an idealised, warmly analog, version of the past. They’re quite visually pleasing, to be honest, with a slight VHS grain and muted colours, and …
Building a product that doesn’t exist
Designers, product, and engineers are all guided by the “Product Ideal.” The problem is, they’re all seeing a different one. Continue reading on UX Collective » All it takes is one creative spark to ignite a fire. source: DSRUPTR.com I recently wrote about the 5 powerful business insights that prove the value of design. While it’s incredible …