Issue 81

2023 Design Rewind: Part II

Hello, dear readers! 👋

This time, at the end of the year I came up with collecting the best materials for the year. I carefully reviewed all the issues for the year, selected about 300 of the best materials. Something that is really worth seeing, reading and applying.

I randomly divided all this stuff into two parts. The second part is in front of you, the next issue will be released a week later, on January 13.

Enjoy reading and I wish you Happy New Year!

🗞 News and articles

The Cost of Craft

George Kedenburg talks about why it is difficult to maintain the quality of production in digital products as the company grows in size. He explains what is the advantage of small teams over large ones and why it is easier to hire a good specialist in small teams, why small products inevitably expand, how large companies fall into the trap of chasing metrics rather than improving the product, and why this leads to a conflict of interests between teams within the same company.

George's tips for improving product quality and team synchronization:

• Identify common values that can be referenced when discussing new ideas

• Build closer and more trusting relationships between teams

• As a measure of success, use not only metrics, but also the quality of the product

• Take time not only to create new features, but also to improve what has already been created.

• Establish a strong connection between the local and central teams

• Allow local teams to make decisions that benefit the entire system.

How to Do Great Work

A monumental article by Paul Graham, in which he talks about how to achieve great results in work. The article is based on the analysis of many books and materials about people who created outstanding projects, and the ideas that are set out in it can be applied to various fields. The article also contains recommendations for strengthening your skills, training and developing your projects.

Paul suggests and then examines the following recipe in great detail:

• Define the field of activity. It should arouse your natural deep interest, you should be initially talented in it, and this area should also have the potential to create something significant

• Get into the habit of working on your own projects that inspire you. It may be part of a larger project, but developed entirely by you

• Keep curious, because this is the key to completing the rest of the points, and therefore to achieving the result. Curiosity will help you choose the right field of activity, make you work harder, and also allow you to achieve real mastery and encourage you to explore new things

• Study your field deeply enough to become an expert in it. As soon as you learn enough, you will discover new gaps in knowledge that many people do not pay attention to. These are areas where you can do something new, make a breakthrough

• Develop unusual, and most importantly, ambitious ideas. Especially if they are ignored by others, and you have enough confidence that your idea is worthwhile

• Paul also notes that working on great things requires hard work, but as a reward you will get great satisfaction and the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution in your field of activity.

The constant tension between design tools and soft skills

Shumroze Bhat reflects on how to find a balance between learning tools and developing soft skills. He watched the discussion about this in the design community and decided to express his own thoughts.

The article also has a couple of tips on how designers can build their development strategy.

Main thoughts:

• If you are a beginner designer, then first focus on learning typography, color, composition, and other design basics. Also take the time to study standard tools such as Figma

• When you gain experience and move to intermediate or senior level positions, your need for soft skills will increase dramatically. You will have to present your work more often, collect feedback, or organize the work of other designers

• If you are working on a complex design system, then it makes sense to delve into the advanced features of tools such as Figma

• If you work for an agency, then most likely the speed of work is important to you. In this case, there is no point in getting too immersed in the new and complex functions of the tools

• The main principle: focus on those skills that are most valuable and relevant to your position and career goals

10 Reasons Why Grayscale Design Will Improve Your UX/UI Designs

Article by Tariq Shebl, in which he explained why it is necessary to add color to the interface at the final stage of design, and also gave logical arguments in favor of this approach.

Main thoughts:

• By creating a layout in gray tones, you will be able to better focus on design aspects such as structure, contrast, as well as the size of the elements and the distance between them

• The design in shades of gray is easier to edit, since there is no need to think about the combination of colors. This speeds up the design process.

• The color palette should not affect the functionality. A good design should work even in gray tones.

• When the color is not distracting, you can get more useful and constructive feedback from colleagues or a client.

• The design in gray tones is created faster, which means it allows you to save work resources

• The design should work in any color, because colors can change due to user settings, new corporate identity and other factors

Using Friction As A Feature In Machine Learning Algorithms

A large detailed article by Maximillian Piras, in which he discusses the concept of "friction" in UX design and its benefits in the context of learning recommendation algorithms. Friction in the interface can be called an intentional complication of the process, which helps to protect the user from accidental actions or helps to collect additional data about a person to make recommendations or adapt the interface.

Maximilian also talks about how applications read signals from the user to make recommendations, what is the secret of TikTok algorithms, why the interface form factor plays a key role in learning algorithms and how algorithms will adapt the product to the user in the age of AI.