Writing on design, AI and everything in between.
Thoughts on product design, AI, leadership and the occasional life reflection — collected here as I figure things out.
Introducing Human Standards: an open design library with an MCP server
Introducing Human Standards—an open design library with an MCP server that gives Claude real-time access to usability heuristics and human factors research.
AI ate the design process. What's left is taste.
AI commoditised design execution. The double diamond, wireframes, even research synthesis are now warm-up exercises. What remains valuable? The human judgment to know what's worth making. That's taste, and it's more expensive than ever.
Hostile and effusive tones boost LLM creativity
A study on whether being polite to LLMs improves their output.
RUX: Fighting fake UX with real UX (and what it actually takes)
Real UX doesn't come from better methodologies. It comes from enforcement mechanisms that make user research non-negotiable. Here's how organisations actually escaped FaUX.
FaUX: The rise of fake UX (and how to know if you're practicing it)
Workshops that go nowhere. Research that's ignored. Designers with no influence. It's called FaUX — Fake UX — and it's costing more than you think.
Design for grammar, not layout
The future of interface design is not about making more beautiful screens. It is about defining the grammar from which infinite appropriate interfaces can emerge and knowing when to let the system generate, and when to hold firm to what humans have designed.
Why talking to your future self can craft your hero's journey
Talk to your imagined future self to set goals, learn from regrets, and gain confidence for your own ever-evolving hero's journey. Embrace the unknown and actively shape your destiny through this powerful self-discovery tool.
Reducing cognitive load for usability
Types of cognitive load, and solutions to reduce it, including chunking & progressive disclosure.
On design variations
A 7-step framework for systematically exploring design alternatives, escaping the trap of the "obvious" solution, and arriving at decisions you can genuinely defend.
Clarity over cleverness
Prefer clarity over cleverness. Clever makes things clean, seamless and tidy, but there is a cost involved. Keep cleverness for power users instead.
Users are fickle, their whys are not
Users change their mind. Don’t take users literally. Try and get the why behind their comments and feedback.
Flexibility: Product vs Service Design — With a 2024 Addendum on AI
Product design vs service design: where should flexibility live? Exploring the flexibility-usability tradeoff, with a 2024 addendum on how AI changes complexity distribution in UX and system design.