What to do when your manager is not around
Dealing with an absent manager as an IC3 Product DesignerContinue reading on UX Planet »
UI & UX
No 44. Vibe Coding Workflow for Non-Programmers
✨ Lately, I’ve found myself completely hooked on something called vibe coding.It’s a way of building software using AI + intuition — where coding feels less like wrestling with syntax and more like having a creative conversation. Instead of staring at documentation and edge cases, I describe what I want to feel, and the product begins to take shape.As a designer, this cracked open an entirely new
Complex
Throughout my career I had the privilege to work on many complex products. At times I had to learn commercial banking processes for onboarding international corporations, or I was expected to have a deep understanding of medical claim adjudication, chemical reactions, or even seismic mapping of the subsurface.One constant throughout my work on these diverse products was the opportunity to meet man
Turn Your Design Dreams into Reality in 10x
A Designer’s Guide to Figma Make → GitHub + CodeHey there, fellow creator! 👋You know that feeling when you have this amazing app idea in your head, but the journey from “cool concept” to “actual working thing” feels like climbing Mount Everest in flip-flops? Yeah, I’ve been there. Multiple times.Let me introduce myself real quick, I’m Vivek (Vivi). I started as a machine learning developer, but my
Progressive Disclosure in AI-Powered Product Design
Progressive disclosure is a well-known principle in UX design. This principle is about showing users only what they need right now, and…Continue reading on UX Planet »
UX in board game design
I treated my board game like a product. How UX practices and “killing my darlings” improved its UI, simplified the game, and maxed the fun!Continue reading on UX Collective »
Figma Make prompts, with real examples
What actually goes into a good prompt, and why most advice skips thisIf you’re trying to learn how to write good Figma Make prompts, you’ve probably hit the same wall I did.Most advice stays abstract.Be clear. Add context. Explain intent.None of that helps when you’re staring at an empty prompt box wondering what actually needs to go in there.What’s missing in the industry right now isn’t more fra
Penpot Is Experimenting With MCP Servers For AI-Powered Design Workflows
[Penpot](https://penpot.app/?utm_source=SmashingMagazine&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=MCPserver) is experimenting with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, which could lead to designers and developers being able to perform tasks in Penpot using AI that’s able to understand and interact with Penpot design files. Daniel Schwarz explains how [Penpot MCP](https://github.com/penpot/penpot-m
Post‑COVID user research needs a revised safeguarding plan
A story from the field: the day safeguarding became realLaptop, phone and book chained together, symbolising safeguarding and data security in user research fieldwork. Source: Pexels.During a discovery project, I was visiting education settings across England to run in‑person research. That meant working inside real-world constraints: safeguarding processes, visitor protocols, staff availability,
When your best work gets tossed
We have decades of data proving design’s business value. So why do we still lose every budget fight?Generated using MidjourneyI’ve watched it happen too many times. You spend weeks researching, prototyping, testing. The users love it. The data backs it. Then someone in the room says “I don’t like blue” or “my wife thinks this is confusing” and suddenly everything’s back on the table. Design decisi
Future CSS: :drag (and Maybe ::dragged-image?)
Have you ever struggled to style an element while it's being dragged? Sunkanmi explains some ways it could become easier in the future. Future CSS: :drag (and Maybe ::dragged-image?) originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.
Same, but new: UX Research in the age of LLMs
How researchers can define quality, guide prompts, and shape the value of AI outputs.AI agents, synthetic users, deep research, staying relevant as a UX researcher can feel like a challenge that resets every week. Teams across product, design, and engineering are moving faster than ever, often powered by the same underlying AI technologies. Prompt engineering and system design have quickly become
Pivoting Your Career Without Starting From Scratch
Most developers spend their days fixing bugs, shipping features, and jumping into the next sprint without even thinking about it. After a while, you begin to ask yourself, “Is this still what I want to be doing?” This article looks at how you can move into a new direction in your career without starting from scratch, and how the skills you already use, like problem-solving, communication, and empa
If your confidence is at an all-time low in design, try this
How writing can help tackle self-confidence issues in designContinue reading on UX Collective »
Beyond conversations: natural language as interaction influencer
From chat to canvas to control panel: Understanding natural language interaction patternsFor much of the history of software, users had to build a mental model of the system before they could use it effectively. You learned where things lived like which menu contained which action, which screen held which information, how different parts of the interface connected to each other.Interaction followe
Why you can’t fix your iPhone, and how the entire tech industry learned to profit from it
What General Motors figured out in 1924, Apple perfected it with your smartphoneContinue reading on UX Collective »
What good writing looks like
The essential (micro) copy rules I used at Google.Continue reading on UX Collective »
The Apple-Sony special relationship
Getting to the bottom of why Apple products pair so naturally with SonyContinue reading on UX Collective »
Product Design Process Powered by AI
Dos and Don’ts for using AI tools in the design processContinue reading on UX Planet »
What’s !important #2: Conditional View Transitions, CSS/SVG Text Effects, the Best of CSS Bluesky, and More
2026 is almost upon us. I know we’re all itching to see the clock strike midnight (cue The Final Countdown by Europe), but not without recapping the best CSS-related things that happened over the last two weeks! What’s !important #2: Conditional View Transitions, CSS/SVG Text Effects, the Best of CSS Bluesky, and More originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. Y