Design Details

This week, we talk about the real struggle of finding the time to do North Star design. It’s complicated! In The Sidebar, we try to find the digital equivalent of a Norman Door.Golden Ratio Supporter:A huge shoutout to Copilot, the best app for budgeting and tracking your personal finances. It’s our favorite tool for categorizing our spending, having our net worth available at a glance, and getting monthly (and yearly!) digests of all your spending.Get the app at copilot.money.Latest VIP Patrons:Ana MakJackie ChuiKyriakos SpiliotopoulosStacy HolmstedtChrisAislinn KellyEric StahlNathan LindahlTim von BischopinckJoshua McDonaldThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we try to decide what is the “Norman Door” of digital design.nosam7 asks: What, if anything, would you consider the "norman door" of the digital space?Wh

This week, we talk about “invisible design” – those products and experiences that go unnoticed when present, but would be immediately noticed if absent. In The Sidebar, we react to the new Tesla Model S refresh.Latest VIP Patrons:Ben PattonGrzegorzDanielle SchechterHavana NguyenJohn CafazzaThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we react to the latest Tesla Model S refresh.Follow up:Following up on last week’s conversation about phygital experiences:Harish Shivaraman DM’d us: Ledger's hardware crypto wallet has just 2 buttons that you can interact with and they've got Mac and iOS apps for buying, selling cryptocurrencies.NYT piece on lost passwords locking people out of Bitcoin fortunesDivya Tak tweeted: One other company which has a good phygital experience is Airbnb. Not sure if it fits the discussion but their e

This week, we talk about designing experiences that weave between meatspace and screens. In The Sidebar, Marshall gives a deep dive into using modifier keys to level up your Figma productivity.Latest VIP Patrons:SherriKevin FernandezVeronica JeffersonBrian MirelesJohn BradyJade TuckeyCathy GuarinoWillThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we dig into the power of modifier keys in Figma, sharing our tips and tricks for making the most use of ⌘, ⌥, and ⇧. PixelSnap 2xScope by The Iconfactory.Follow up:We declared bankruptcy on our GitHub issues. If you have a question or topic you’d like us to discuss on the show, open a new issue!Divya Tak tweeted: isn't the philosophy of just shipping but not focusing on details is what leads into lazy products which are feature clustered but soul less? In my experience we can't e

This week, we dive into scope creep: how to deal with it, how to avoid it, and how to build its inevitability into our workflow. In The Sidebar, Marshall shares some Smart Office tips for working at home.Latest VIP Patrons:Kyle ConradJulia Chuanyan WuEli HorneKjartan KennedyFirst Name Last NameTri NguyenAvni LevyKeliNatalie Krickpeng zhengMay ChenThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, Marshall outlines a smart home setup for people who are working at home with a significant other.Main Topic:Jessica Perelman asks: How do you deal with random and out of scope ideas from stakeholders?Cool Things:Brian shared:And Then There Were None, a wonderfully delightful mystery from Agatha Christie. If you read this, follow it immediately with the 2015 miniseries by the same name.WandVision is kicking off Phase 4 of the MCU. The

This week, we catch up with Priyanka Kodikal, a design manager leading consumer design at WhatsApp. We talk all about her journey as a designer, and what it's like building WhatsApp. In The Sidebar, we answer a simple question: should designers learn Figma in 2020?Latest VIP Patrons:Belinda HuiNuzi BarkatallyEugene FedorenkoMike GriffinUX VietnamSam CardenThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we answer a listener question from our Twitter DMs: Would it be a good idea to begin transitioning to Figma as my primary design tool, or do you think it matters as long as I'm producing quality work and shipping features at my current job? Would learning Figma help future-proof me? I just need to be sold on the idea and I figure you two would have good insights as Figma users.Follow up:Divya Tak tweeted: one of the things t

This week, we talk through our playbook for shipping personal projects. In The Sidebar, we weigh the tradeoffs of building an online persona. Should designers thought lead?Latest VIP Patrons:Adrian CorscaddenMartin MaričákPolina SogolovTereza KavinskaEric EngKuldarKelly HaganJameson BryantMaxym NesmashnyMatt KubotaAdam HaasZachary Schwartzyang shuoGavin NelsonHoodnunShaun SmylskiJai MitchellAlex LongAlona SanbiraHerculano CamposPip NguyenNatalie TongprasearthRay CanapiniBe LeBen EwingDamian BilskiThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, Karl asks: Where do you both land on the idea of having a web presence that is focused on showcasing your opinion versus showcasing your work?Follow up:We reflect on our 2020 goals, and think about the year ahead. Listen to our 2020 goals episode from a year ago.2020 goals:Marshall:

This week, we compiled all of our cold opens, stingers, and outtakes into a single 2020 Clipstravaganza! This is our final episode for 2020 – thank you everyone for listening and supporting us this year. We'll catch you in 2021!Design Details on the Web:

This week, we talk about the skills and tools that designers can learn to become future-proof. In The Sidebar, we share our impressions, tips, and best practices for using Figma Variants.Latest VIP Patrons:Jesper AndrellDavidNikita KhapankovKeyla RodriguezTanner WoodworthJoshMilesJason ZuritaJohn ThachilKatherine RRoss PWTimothyGrady CongdonJon WoodThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we do a deep dive into Figma's recent release of Variants. We talk about the interface itself, best practices, and tips for making the most of Variants.Followup: Gabe Valdivia's tweeted a thread with more points about how to think about job tenure in tech.Figma VariantsCartesian productNot yet live, but this preview of a Figma plugin to generate missing variants looks fantastic.Follow up:Katherine tweeted some solid praise for our

This week, we talk about tips and processes for shipping a high quality UI. In The Sidebar, we discuss the Silicon Valley trend of job hopping every few years.Latest VIP Patrons:Matt CrowleyYannickMegan LearnC. AndersonJohn TyrrellMatt MakaranJohn-George SampleJames BartlettKramer CanfieldJames SmetKatu MuadinohambaSophie BondGraham BushellRenata VenturiniAlex BinderJohnny TerlajeJason YooThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we answer a listener question: how long should you stay at a company before moving on? We weigh the tradeoffs of specializing in an industry, the downsides of Silicon Valley job-hopping culture, and more.Follow up:Sam Mason asked if we will ever see Apple introducing custom icon packs. Probably not!Priscilla Then asked if we would record the show on video. Probably not, but it's an interesti

This week, we talk about the tradeoffs and considerations of designing for consistency. In The Sidebar, we share tips and strategies for starting a podcast.Latest VIP Patrons:Ashish NegiAlyssa ZhangTiffany C YuAleksandra StrączekRichard PicotSam OlendiKamil LafereJackie CarrJoaquin KunkelFabian ValkenbergBelén LozanoRuobing ChenRyhan HassanJesse BoxThomas BishopOscar NewmanDavid BillThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we share tips and strategies for starting your own design podcast. We need more!Follow up:Jay Sowell brought up a great point on Patreon about the current shortcomings and limitations of widgets in the Apple ecosystem. We speculate about their future.Tobias Gärder tweeted: After an unexpectedly easy transition to android from forever iphones I actually tried to switch to PC a year ago, nooot as ea

This week, we discuss the future of designing on Macs. Are we moving to a PC-dominated future in the field? In The Sidebar we nit pick through the latest changes in Figma's Auto Layout v3.Latest VIP Patrons:Maxime DaraizeJamie RhodesVitaly OdemchukYuyang LuoYu ZhaoJaynish ShahShanbergAndy SantanaErica LesterChristopherMark GuillJørgen EidemThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we dig into everything new with Figma's Auto Layout v3: what we love, what we're hoping for, and other minor complaints about Figma's interface design.Main topic:Tamara Didenko asks: Is the Apple era going to be over eventually?MKBHD: Tiem to RecalibrateCool Things:Brian shared Design Theory, a YouTube channel that focuses on teaching the principles of great industrial design.Marshall shared the specs for his new gaming PC. Here's the key p

This week, we discuss the career paths and tradeoffs for someone who wants to do both design and development. In The Sidebar, we recap the Mac event and share our first impressions of the new iPhones.Latest VIP Patrons:Jordan IsipMatej HrescakFabiano SouzaDarren SoulsbyPriscillaOscar LingerGreg CorbyTamara DidenkoThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we recap the One More Thing Apple event, talking all about the new Macs and M1 chip. We also give an updated review on the iPhone 12s, now that ours have arrived.Follow up:Last week's episode has been turned into a blog post: Design to Save People from ThemselvesMain topic:dluft asks: I’m a Graphic Designer who wants to grow in his career. I want to change my job to either Product Design or Development (unsure if front or back end.) How should I decide which path to

This week, we brainstorm design patterns that help save people from themselves. From stopping the spread of misinformation, to saving eardrums, to screening spoilers, these design ideas are often clever and non-obvious. In the Sidebar, we discuss why radio and checkbox inputs are the way they are, and how to use them well in your designs.Latest VIP Patrons:JakeRichard SaseunHenningMelissa OhRichie PlanekJay SowellErin MayerThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we discuss why radio and checkbox inputs are different, and how to think about designing patterns to make form fields obvious to your users.Follow up:Jesse Box tweeted about a process that works for building a culture of excellence at their company:Include design quality tickets in each sprintQA lots of small tasks rather than one huge taskMichel van Heest

This week, we dig into practical steps for creating a culture of design excellence. In The Sidebar, we share strategies for designing adaptive interfaces that work well on any screen size.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float has been a lifeline for teams working remotely in 2020. With float you can send your team their work schedule (daily or weekly) via Slack or email, and keep them in the loop of any changes to their tasks and projects with live notifications. You can also let your team know where you're working from with Float's scheduled status. Working from the lake house next week? Add it in Float to let your team know, ahead of time! Learn more at float.com/designdetails.Latest VIP Patrons:Ivaylo HadzhievEsteban GarcíaAli DashtiMaddy PascoDanny ThunderMordechai HammerThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.In this week's Sidebar, we sh

This week, we discuss the tradeoffs and challenges of designing interfaces for one-handed use. In The Sidebar, we talk about strategies for collaborating effectively with brand and product design.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float has been a lifeline for teams working remotely in 2020. With float you can send your team their work schedule (daily or weekly) via Slack or email, and keep them in the loop of any changes to their tasks and projects with live notifications. You can also let your team know where you're working from with Float's scheduled status. Working from the lake house next week? Add it in Float to let your team know, ahead of time! Learn more at float.com/designdetails.CuriosityStreamLearn about any topic with CuriosityStream; the first on-demand documentary streaming service. There is always something new to learn about with thousands of award-winning documentaries on Technology, History, Nature, Food, Science, Travel, and more! Can’t decide what to watch? Try CuriosityStream’s new feature, ON N

This week, we talk about the shallow parts of design culture, where superficial work tends to generate far more attention and praise. We dig into potential solutions for this, too. In The Sidebar, we recap and share our spicy takes on the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and HomePod mini.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float has been a lifeline for teams working remotely in 2020. With float you can send your team their work schedule (daily or weekly) via Slack or email, and keep them in the loop of any changes to their tasks and projects with live notifications. You can also let your team know where you're working from with Float's scheduled status. Working from the lake house next week? Add it in Float to let your team know, ahead of time! Learn more at float.com/designdetails.CuriosityStreamLearn about any topic with CuriosityStream; the first on-demand documentary streaming service. There is always something new to learn about with thousands of award-winning documentaries on Technology, History, Nature, Food, Science,

This week, we discuss strategies for teaching design fundamentals and how to make the process engaging and fun for new designers. In The Sidebar, we discuss the pain of noticing problems right before you ship.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float has been a lifeline for teams working remotely in 2020. With float you can send your team their work schedule (daily or weekly) via Slack or email, and keep them in the loop of any changes to their tasks and projects with live notifications. You can also let your team know where you're working from with Float's scheduled status. Working from the lake house next week? Add it in Float to let your team know, ahead of time! Learn more at float.com/designdetails.CuriosityStreamLearn about any topic with CuriosityStream; the first on-demand documentary streaming service. There is always something new to learn about with thousands of award-winning documentaries on Technology, History, Nature, Food, Science, Travel, and more! Can’t decide what to watch? Try CuriosityStream’s new

This week, we talk about how to have effective brainstorms: what does good prep look like, and what should be done alone or with a group? In The Sidebar, we share our spicy takes about brutalism in interface design.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float has been a lifeline for teams working remotely in 2020. With float you can send your team their work schedule (daily or weekly) via Slack or email, and keep them in the loop of any changes to their tasks and projects with live notifications. You can also let your team know where you're working from with Float's scheduled status. Working from the lake house next week? Add it in Float to let your team know, ahead of time! Learn more at float.com/designdetails.CuriosityStreamLearn about any topic with CuriosityStream; the first on-demand documentary streaming service. There is always something new to learn about with thousands of award-winning documentaries on Technology, History, Nature, Food, Science, Travel, and more! Can’t decide what to watch? Try CuriosityStream’

This week, we discuss options for designers to close the gap to becoming a senior. In The Sidebar we try to identify what is the duct tape of design.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float has been a lifeline for teams working remotely in 2020. With float you can send your team their work schedule (daily or weekly) via Slack or email, and keep them in the loop of any changes to their tasks and projects with live notifications. You can also let your team know where you're working from with Float's scheduled status. Working from the lake house next week? Add it in Float to let your team know, ahead of time! Learn more at float.com/designdetails.Hover You don’t have a website yet? Are you even a designer? Today is the day - go get your domain name right this second. Hover has over 300 domain name extensions to choose from when building your brand online. No matter what area of the creative space you are in, there’s a domain name waiting for it - from .DESIGN, .ART to .INK, .PHOTO and so much more. Get 10% off your firs

This week, we sat down with Danae Holmes, a UX researcher at YouTube Gaming to talk about everything UX research. We dig into research methodologies, effective collaboration with design, tips to get better at user research, the future of the field, and so much more.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float has been a lifeline for teams working remotely in 2020. It lets you keep track of who's working on what and plan your team's time, from anywhere! Float gives you an accurate view of your team's availability and capacity., allowing you to set custom work days and hours and schedule a status to let your team know where you're working from. Learn more at float.com/designdetails.Hover Hover has over 300 domain name extensions to choose from when building your brand online. No matter what area of the creative space you are in, there’s a domain name waiting for it - from .DESIGN, .ART to .INK, .PHOTO and so much more. Get 10% off your first purchase when you sign up at hover.com/designdetails.Sponsors:This week we're supp