Design Details

In this week's episode, we riff on a listener question about the influence of the physical world on digital interfaces, and we end up covering everything from video game controllers to sliders and shiny buttons. And as always, we share a couple cool things like a fun dramedy and another sci-fi novel. Golden Ratio Patrons: Sisu is looking for a thoughtful and data-savvy designer to help build the next generation of analytics software. You can find out more at sisu.ai. (You might recognize Sisu from our interview with Michie Cao) Flywheel is a delightfully designed managed WordPress hosting platform, thoughtfully built for busy creatives. Streamline your workflow with their slick platform and sweet set of workflow tools perfectly made for designers! Get started at getflywheel.com/designdetails Latest VIP Patrons: Huge shoutouts to our latest members! William Goi Tobias Treppmann Richard Ed Johnson-Williams Jacqueline Nguyen Charlie Van Meter Shaun Whitworth Ali Salem Follow-up: Matt wondered about user-co

In this week's episode we dive into the murky waters of designing social proof in social networks. From upvotes to view counts, reputation to badges, there are a wide array of tools and patterns at a designer's disposal to communicate quality and popularity. But these patterns each have their own drawbacks, tradeoffs, and vectors for abuse. We dig into these, and more. Plus, as always, we share our cool finds for the week, this time featuring a Figma plugin and a beautiful indie video game. Golden Ratio Patrons: Sisu is looking for a thoughtful and data-savvy designer to help build the next generation of analytics software. You can find out more at sisu.ai. (You might recognize Sisu from our interview with Michie Cao) Flywheel is a delightfully designed managed WordPress hosting platform, thoughtfully built for busy creatives. Streamline your workflow with their slick platform and sweet set of workflow tools perfectly made for designers! Get started at getflywheel.com/designdetails Follow-up: New supporters

This week, we dive deep into the perils and triumphs of designing an onboarding experience for mobile. Strap in for a big brain dump as we discuss everything from App Store screenshots to sign-in methods to device permissions to user education. And as always, we share a couple cool things like a privacy-minded daily read and a post-post-apocalyptic streaming series. Sponsor: Flatiron School: Learn UX/UI design in 24 weeks and discover our global community on campus or online and go back to school with Flatiron School! Change careers with confidence with 1:1 support from our dedicated Career Coaches and a money back guarantee. Complete details at flatironschool.com/terms. See you in class! Golden Microphone Patrons: Sisu is looking for a thoughtful and data-savvy designer to help build the next generation of analytics software. You can find out more at sisu.ai. (You might recognize Sisu from our interview with Michie Cao) Flywheel is a delightfully designed managed WordPress hosting platform, thoughtfully bu

This week, we're joined by Meg Robichaud and Ryan Putnam—incredible illustrators working at Lyft and Messenger, respectively—to follow up on a topic from last week's episode. Meg and Ryan share some of their experiences working as illustrators on product teams, and they shed a little light on how free resources can sometimes have a negative impact on illustration as a valued discipline. And as always, we share some cool things like a collection of essays, some creepy VHS tapes, a couple radio plays, a new Netflix series, and another design podcast. Sponsor: Flatiron School: Learn UX/UI design in 24 weeks and discover our global community on campus or online and go back to school with Flatiron School! Change careers with confidence with 1:1 support from our dedicated Career Coaches and a money back guarantee. Complete details at flatironschool.com/terms. See you in class! Golden Microphone Patron: Sisu is looking for a thoughtful and data-savvy designer to help build the next generation of analytics software

This week, the prolific Pablo Stanley joins us to talk about his path following a wide range of interests (including but not limited to architecture, music, fashion, comics, illustration, and design), and he shares his thoughts about the controversy surrounding his Open Doodles project and Design Twitter's reaction to it. And as always, we share some cool things, like a new video game, a creative portfolio site, and a tearjerking doctor show. Sponsor: Flatiron School: Learn UX/UI design in 24 weeks and discover our global community on campus or online and go back to school with Flatiron School! Change careers with confidence with 1:1 support from our dedicated Career Coaches and a money back guarantee. Complete details at flatironschool.com/terms. See you in class! Golden Microphone Patron: Sisu is looking for a thoughtful and data-savvy designer to help build the next generation of analytics software. You can find out more at sisu.ai. (You might recognize Sisu from our interview with Michie Cao) Follow-up

In today's episode we sat down with Jonathon Colman, a Senior Design Manager at Intercom, to talk about all things content. We dig into Jonathon's background and path into design, the role of content in user experience design, how content strategy and product design should work together, the future of AI and machine learning in content strategy, and so much more. That, plus our cool things of the week, as always! Sponsor: Flatiron School: Learn UX/UI design in 24 weeks and discover our global community on campus or online and go back to school with Flatiron School! Change careers with confidence with 1:1 support from our dedicated Career Coaches and a money back guarantee. Complete details at flatironschool.com/terms. See you in class! Golden Microphone Patron: Sisu is looking for a thoughtful and data-savvy designer to help build the next generation of analytics software. You can find out more at sisu.ai. (You might recognize Sisu from our interview with Michie Cao) Follow-up: Shoutout to our newest patr

In this week's episode, we answer a listener question about why product teams aren't comprised of more "unicorns," and we discuss a Twitter thread that questions whether being a hands-off design leader makes you less of a designer. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including a strangely amazing band and an ultimate guide. Golden Microphone Patron: Sisu is looking for a thoughtful and data-savvy designer to help build the next generation of analytics software. You can find out more at sisu.ai. (You might recognize Sisu from our interview with Michie Cao) Follow-up: Shoutout to our newest patrons! Bob Weisbecker Bradford Ulrich Danny Haagen James Lyons Jing Zhang Melinda Yang Paul Dippold Ryan Parag Mike Hickman Listener Uhl Albert shared this video of PalmOS doing most of the gesture stuff iOS does now This reminded Marshall of the "General Magic" documentary Instagram launched their Dark Mode just to embarrass us Listener Questions: Brandon Weiss asks, "Why are

In this week's episode, we dive deep into the murky depths of Dark Mode, discussing everything from OLED smearing and halation to tinting and elevation. Plus we read the results of the Twitter poll in which we asked you about your preferred dark background color. And as always, we share a some cool things like a crazy creative talk, a painting app for iPad, and a ridiculous illustrator. Golden Microphone Patron: Sisu is looking for a thoughtful and data-savvy designer to help build the next generation of analytics software. You can find out more at sisu.ai. Follow-up: You might recognize Sisu from our interview with Michie Cao Shoutout to our newest patrons! Alec Sukoski Derek Graham John Wood (Day One Patron!) Justin Allen Lisa Pesok Manuel Solera Sam Bernhardt Brian updated designdetails.fm, and it's very nice. You should check it out :) Thanks to listener and patron Derek Graham for the kind and helpful email :) Keaton Taylor was also born too early for Pokemon and Spongebob Sahil loves the move to b

In this week's episode, we dive deep on Android 10's new gestural navigation and how it compares to iOS, finally get around to talking a bit about the September Apple Event, and answer a listener question about what it means to be more proactive. And as always, we share a couple cool things like a new reality TV and some ever-comfy t-shirts. Follow-up: FoR LeSs tHaN ThE pRiCe oF aN ArTiSaNaL pOuR-OvEr aT sAiNt fRaNk'S, you can support us on Patreon! Shoutouts to our Day One Patrons: Abhishek Warokar Adam Carroll Andrew Crandall Aurora Pleguezuelo Brandon Weiss Claudio Vallejo Cameron Campbell Christian Ruiz Karl Koch Doris Saturday Effy Zhang Essa Saulat Jeff Parsons Joseph Brueggen Kris Puckett Kyle Mitchell MannnnnnyX Max Stoiber Sam Mason We made our very first patron-only post Brian finally got his Logitech MX Keys keyboard, and it's not perfect, but it's not bad "Sixty percent of the time, it works every time" (clip) Listener Questions: Anonymous asks, "What does it mean to be more

In this week's episode, we discuss the next evolution of Design Details towards becoming a fully listener-supported podcast. We share some background on the decision, our goals, and what's in it for you dear listener, if you are able to support this podcast. All this, plus follow up, a bit of news, and our weekly cool things as always. Follow-up: We'll be digging into the Apple event + Android 10 later - we extra promise. News: Brian found a buck-wild product launch video for a product called Descript. The video reminded Marshall of Adam Lisagor from Sandwich Video. Adam replied in the comments. The video appears to have been made by Claude Zeins and Benjamin Lebeau. Overdub reminded us of Ctrl Shift Face, a crazy YouTube channel that deep fakes videos. Listener Question Followup: From our conversation in episode 313 about effective ways of finding a job, we received a follow-up comment about the value of cold applications. Nikita Voloboev followed up on their question from the same episode about d

This week, we catch up with Haraldur Thorleifsson, the founder, CEO, and social media intern at Ueno. In today's conversation, we cover everything from burnout to why designers should be thinking about solving more meaningful problems. We dig into the current and future plans for Ueno, the function of beauty in design, whether Halli wants to be famous, and finding catharsis on Twitter. And as always, we share some cool things like a TV show, a book, and yet-to-be-released physical products. Follow-up: Last week, Marshall incorrectly attributed the micro-LED displays to a 2020 iPhone rumor, when in fact, that rumor was meant for the 2020 Apple Watch A few listener tweets: Hannah Cunningham is focused on pushing through the last 10% David Afolayan's interests are aligned with ours (MX Master 3 and finger drumming) Uhl Albert wants us to weigh in on Android 10 (stay tuned!) Interview with Haraldur Thorleifsson: Halli is a good Twitter person. You should follow him. Halli has joined us twice before: &quo

This week, we answer a couple listener questions—which design automation tools we use and how to efficiently look for a job—and rattle off a few things we'd like to see announced at the September Apple Event. And as always, we share a couple cool things like a 64-button mashup and a state-of-the-art mouse. Follow-up: Rafa and Kevin are back from summer vacation with a new episode of Layout! Apple Event Preview: Whoops! Marshall goofed; the Micro LED screen was rumored for the 2020 Apple Watch, not the 2020 iPhone Pro We've known for a while the iPhone 11 Pro would have three cameras It'd be cool to see Apple's Tile equivalent Article: "You've Been Sherlocked" We know we won't see the 16" MacBook Pro at this event, but we're looking forward to it arriving eventually Apple's supposed to be dropping 3D Touch for Haptic Touch on the new iPhones Maybe we'll see Apple's over-the-ear headphones, but probably not You may remember the Apple iPod HiFi from many years ago Listener Questions:

In today's episode, Diana Mounter, who manages the design infrastructure at GitHub, helps us dive deep into a listener question about the role and expectations of a design systems manager. And we have a big round of cool things this week, including three books, an album, and a plugin. Follow-up: Keaton Taylor lolled pretty hard at our dumb 311 references. It was all worth it. Thanks for leaving questions for us at the Design Details repo! Interview: Diana Mounter manages the design infrastructure known as Primer at GitHub. You can listen to Diana's previous appearances on Design Details in the following episodes: 74: Itchy Feet (feat. Diana Mounter) 123: Live @ Github (feat. Carolyn Zhang, Heather Phillips, Mo Woods & Diana Mounter) 246: Cats & Design Systems (feat. Diana Mounter & Brent Jackson) agabrans asks, "What is the role of a Design Systems Manager, and what is expected of this individual?" Material Design Apple Human Interface Guidelines Article: The 8-Point Grid by

This week, we answer a few listener questions, including what constitutes a good visual design experience, when to put case studies on your site, and when to battle bureaucracy at the office. And as always, we share some cool things, like a couple interesting YouTube channels, one that reviews visual effects and one that makes gaming documentaries. Follow-up: Video: "311 - Amber" Frosted tips The show Marshall recommended last episode is actually called "Mindhunter", singular, not "Mindhunters," plural It stars Anna Torv (from Fringe), who is definitely not Donna from That 70s Show Check out our new Github Repo for asking and answering listener questions Manny asked us where the side projects segment went Listener Questions: Q: Sam Chang asks, "What are your thoughts on including project case studies on your website? Is it something you do only when you're actively looking for work? Article: "The Case Study Factory" Claudio Guglieri creates some amazing

In today's episode we catch up with Skyler Balbus, the Director of Product Design at Postlight. We dig into what it means to build products within the agency model, the decision to move from working in-house to working with clients, and how to build a culture where designers can experiment freely. Skyler also shares her ideas for how to build a strong design culture within an agency, tips for junior designers in the hiring process, and ways to build effective feedback loops within an organization. This, plus our weekly followup, news, and cool things! Follow-up: We're trying a new experiment: ask your questions for us on GitHub by opening a new issue. These issues will allow us to reply directly, keep a public backlog, and let the questions and answers be more readily searchable on Google! You can create a GitHub account for free, in just a few minutes, in case you want to make a fake account for an anonymous question. News: Brian made a Figma plugin, Responsify, to quickly test your designs across mu

This week, we look at how a product designer's career advances. We discuss the common themes and growth areas that companies use to measure progression, suggest questions you can ask yourself to assess your progress, read through some of your replies on the subject, and offer up several resources for diving deeper and learning more. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like a typeface designed for UI and an app to budget your money. Follow-up:

This week, we answer a couple listener questions, including how to get started learning design as a developer and how to reconcile icons on different platforms. In News, we discuss the launch of Figma Plugins, and as always, we share a couple cool things, like gourmet junk food and vaporwave jams. Follow-up: Pro Tip: Listen to Design Details at ~1.25x speed. It's more tolerable, we promise :) Divya Tak is Marshall's kindred internet spirit Jeff Cannata got his start on the Totally Rad Show on Revision 3 Turns out our questions about iOS 13 Beta 4 were premature because—wait for it—it's a damn beta Grouped TableViews on iOS6 vs iOS 12 vs iOS 13 Beta 4 and Beta 5 Screenshots: Safari Modes: Public/Private and Light/Dark Nick Dika told us about Nielsen Norman Group's line of It Depends merch Video: "Vanilla Ice denies ripping off Queen and David Bowie's Under 'Pressure'" News: Introducing Figma Plugins Featured Plugins, built by the Figma community Article: "Smart Distribute, Cloud d

This week, we take an early look at the fourth iOS 13 Developer Beta and discuss some of the new features, interactions, and patterns we've noticed. We also answer a few listener questions, including how big a prototype should be, when to expand your skillset, and how to intentionally grow as a designer. And as always, we a share a couple cool things, like a prolific Quora answerer and a novel series discovered through an online class. Followup "It Depends." merch might actually happen, so... Marshall suggested a slight change to the keyboard shortcuts for Truncat Michael Knepprath shared an alternative to Bartender called Vanilla, which lets you "hide menu bar icons on your Mac" Listener questions Q: "Do designers ever make prototypes of entire apps, or is the process more about chunking out the main areas and adding as the product develops?" A: "Once your app structure becomes sufficiently complex, building everything into one prototype becomes less and less tenable.

In today's episode we dig into two listener questions about when to use toggles versus checkboxes, and the current state of accessibility in product design. We also share a big milestone for the podcast, get caught up on some news, and as always, share our cool finds of the week. Followup We've crossed 5 million total downloads on Design Details! Thank you all for listening along with us for all these years

This week, we welcome to the show Michie Cao, formerly of Twitter and currently the sole designer at Sisu. Michie tells us all about her experience of working at both a large corporation and a small startup, and she shares some pros and cons of each situation along with some great advice for solo designers. And as always, we end the show with a few cool things, like a pair of music videos, the new coloring for adults, and a podcast about one breathtaking man. Sponsor: >> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email brian@spec.fm or sarah@spec.fm to get started :) This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to abstract.com. Interview Michie Cao is an interaction designer who likes to "