Analysing design research: What we uncovered, and what it means

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.

“In my own four decades on this earth, the start of this year, is, and remains, the exact opposite of the headline above. For the first time in my 25-year career as a Creative and Design Director, I am involuntarily unemployed, discouraged, and doubting more than just my vocational calling.

As the NASDAQ records historic profits, I have experienced losses at proportions usually reserved for a melodramatic opening chapter of a paperback self-help book you’d see in an airport bookstore, or a country western song. The details of which, I will reserve for the premium hourly rate of my therapist, and bury deep beneath my lustrous LinkedIn profile.

But instead of hiding the real things it has taught me, I am going to share them.”

When you start to doubt yourself, design from the inside out →
By T. Robert Roeth

Editor picks

• Don’t build trust with AI, calibrate it →
  Designing AI systems with the right level of trust.
  By Irina Nik
• The gender pay gap is designed into culture →
  Here’s how we can design it out.
  By Peter Waters
• AI in education →
  A savior or a threat?
  By Anggita Prameswara Putri
• The “why” lives in the deep →
  Using the laddering technique to find it.
  By Chris R Becker
• From user needs to user dreams →
  How to find the future of your product.
  By Arpy Dragffy

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.

Rebrand Gallery: a collection of stellar visual identity work →

Make me think

• Write about what you learn →
  “Writing about what you learn is more than just a method of documentation; it’s a powerful tool for deepening understanding and revealing the gaps in one’s knowledge. This practice pushes us to explore topics more thoroughly and to articulate their thoughts in a coherent and precise manner.”
• Outcome indicators of leadership →
  “Areas that have kept coming up in my countless discussions with peers and my boss(es), on varying topics ranging from leading the team to scrutinising a leader’s journey within the organisation. This list has continually helped me channel my inputs and energy to the right areas in order to make progress along these indicators.”
• Proof you can do hard things →
  “The ability to do hard things is perhaps the most useful ability you can foster in yourself or your children. And proof that you are someone who can do them is one of the most useful assets you can have on your life resume.”

Little gems this week

Passions in design: which phase are you in right now? →
By Rafael Frota

Biases in design: hiding in plain sight in a world full of visuals →
By Ida Persson

A case for gestural interactions in spatial computing →
By Davide Zhang

Tools and resources

• AI color schemes →
  Using Adobe Firefly to generate sequential color schemes.
  By Theresa-Marie Rhyne
• Cognitive bias cards →
  60 UX cards to discover cognitive biases.
  By Stéphanie Walter
• Tiny brief →
  A quick-start approach to generating project briefs.
  By Jess Eddy

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Doubting yourself, passions in design, AI color schemes, gender pay gap was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.