Design

Discover the best articles, videos, and resources on design in all its forms: from visual design and UX design to interior design and industrial design. Follow along on Refind to get the most relevant new links picked for you.
9 Best Articles in 2021
Vox
Dark patterns, the tricks websites use to make you say yes, explainedVox
10 min read · Apr 1st · How design can manipulate and coerce you into doing what websites want.
digital life
visual design
design
Most highlighted
The big pop-up window urging you to sign up for a website’s newsletter with a big red “Sign Me Up” button, while the opt-out button is much smaller and passive-aggressively implies that anyone who clicks is a bad person who doesn’t care about saving money or staying informed
“Regulation works,” Brignull said. “It can really turn the internet into somewhere that’s nice to be instead of like a complete Wild West environment. And we need it.”
ArchDaily
How Colors Change the Perception of Interior SpacesArchDaily
5 min read · 2020-03-09 · Some possibilities to change environments with colors or contrasts, confusing proportions.
design
architecture
interior design
nature
Adding is favoured over subtracting in problem solvingnature
4 min read · Apr 8th · People tend to solve problems by adding features.
design
science
visual design
Most highlighted
Adams et al. demonstrated that the reason their participants offered so few subtractive solutions is not because they didn’t recognize the value of those solutions, but because they failed to consider them.
people consistently consider changes that add components over those that subtract them
The Guardian
The empty promises of Marie Kondo and the craze for minimalismThe Guardian
~15 min read · 2020-01-03 · The long read: From the ‘KonMari method’ to Apple’s barely-there design philosophy, we are forever being urged to declutter and simplify our lives. But does minimalism really make us any happier?
design
mindfulness
longreads
designedbycave.co.uk
The UX of LEGO Interface Panelsdesignedbycave.co.uk
7 min read · 2020-08-03 · Piloting an ocean exploration ship or Martian research shuttle is serious business. Let’s hope the control panel is up to scratch. Two studs wide and angled at 45°, the ubiquitous “2x2 decorated…
ux
design
lego
UX Collective
Psychological principles every product designer should knowUX Collective
~11 min read · Mar 2nd · Psychology is a crucial element in designing the right kind of systems, interfaces and experiences for your users/customers.
product design
product management
design
Most highlighted
Anchoring bias has a huge impact on negotiations and the pricing of the products and influences how much the customer is willing to pay.
Focusing on only success stories results in “Survivorship Bias”. It distorts judgement and can lead to false conclusions because we tend to only focus on those who survived, overlooking those who did not.  One of the most famous examples of this bias are the damaged World War II planes. The United States Armed Forces were supposed to put protective armour on their planes. They decided to examine the planes that returned home to check where was the most damage incurred. They noticed that the tail, wings, and body were riddled with bullets and decided to protect that area. But Abraham Wald observed that they were only protecting the damaged parts as observed in the planes that returned home and not the ones that did not. The damage was done on the ones that didn’t return, the one on the engine wasn’t factored in. Later, taking that into account, many lives were saved.
Fast Company
I helped pioneer UX design. What I see today horrifies meFast Company
5 min read · Jun 3rd · Where did we go wrong?
visual design
design
Most highlighted
UX processes in many organizations these days amount to little more than UX theater
UX is struggling because all of the juicy problems have been solved
The Markup
Dark Patterns that Mislead Consumers Are All Over the InternetThe Markup
6 min read · Jun 3rd · Think you can tell a dark pattern from an ethically designed prompt? Take our quiz to find out
digital life
design
technology
Most highlighted
dark pattern—design choices that steer people into decisions they may not have made under normal conditions.
Dribbble
21 Must-Have Tools for Graphic Designers in 2020Dribbble
8 min read · 2020-04-08
design
creativity
New this week
The 25 Most Significant Works of Postwar Architecture
The New York Times
What design for the elderly gets horribly wrong
Fast Company
There are very solid engineering reasons why Jeff Bezos's rocket looks exactly like, you know, that.
Business Insider
The Olympic caldron is absolutely stunning. Meet the Japanese design firm behind it
Fast Company
Love robots + UI: The role of AI in the design industry
UX Collective
The vanishing designer
UX Collective
The best Olympic logos of all time, according to design experts
Fast Company
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UX Collective
The vanishing designerUX Collective
8 min read · Jul 22nd · UX design in the age of standardization.
visual design
design
ux
A List Apart
Designing for the UnexpectedA List Apart
~15 min read · Jul 15th · As devices continue to diversify in dizzying ways, how can we make sure our work on the web stays as relevant as ever for the long haul? Cathy Dutton shares how practitioners must design for the un…
design
Fast Company
‘Good taste’ is a mythFast Company
2 min read · Jul 21st · Tasteful design isn’t based on anything objective. It’s a construct that reinforces power and privilege, writes designer Leyden Lewis.
design
Most highlighted
Representation and taste go hand in hand.
All cultures have what I refer to as an “aesthetic gravity well”: codes, signs, and signifiers of what the culture designates as acceptable and beautiful. I take zero issue with any culture’s idiosyncrasies. However, I take issue when a dominant ideology becomes the only acceptable ideology; it represents mass hypnosis or coercion. No single aesthetic should be considered the “right” aesthetic.  The key for designers is to be culturally aware enough to realize when these codes define our creativity and dare to defy them. When we are honest enough with ourselves to brave the unfamiliar, unrecognizable, and, possibly, the ugly, that’s when we may find something truly original.
Smashing Magazine
Frustrating Design PatternsSmashing Magazine
~20 min read · Jul 14th · Too often dealing with filters can be frustrating. Let’s get them right. That means never freeze the UI on a single input, provide text input fallback and never auto-scroll users on a single input.…
design
baselinehq.com
From A Colourblind Designer To The World: Please Stop Using Red And Green Togetherbaselinehq.com
9 min read · Jul 20th · ❮ Blog Andrew WilshereFounder & Lead Coach20th July 2021 It has many forms, and can impact the perception of a wide range of different colours and colour combinations. However, the most common kind —…
design
McKinsey & Company
A design-led approach to embracing an ecosystem strategyMcKinsey & Company
Jul 22nd · Embedding design thinking, methods, and tools from the outset of ecosystem development will help companies produce integrated ecosystem offerings that delight customers, stave off threats, and create…
visual design
design
UX Collective
Love robots + UI: The role of AI in the design industryUX Collective
10 min read · Jul 27th · Having AI tools at hand boosts engagement, leads to more conversions, and provides an overall meaningful experience.
visual design
design
ux
Times Open
Product Design at the Pace of NewsTimes Open
~17 min read · Jul 16th · A Q&A with The New York Times Live design team.
product design
design
Fast Company
Why bad design can actually be goodFast Company
10 min read · Jul 15th · Ken Carbone, Ayse Birsel, and Allan Chochinov discuss how bad design can prompt creative breakthroughs—and what even constitutes ‘bad design’ in the first place.
design
The New York Times
The 25 Most Significant Works of Postwar ArchitectureThe New York Times
20+ min read · Aug 2nd · Three architects, three journalists and two designers gathered over Zoom to make a list of the most influential and lasting buildings that have been erected — or cleverly updated — since World War II.…
architecture
design
Design

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