How my dream design job turned into a nightmare

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.

Mar 03, 2024

“Just like so many times lately, I had turned my camera off, even though it was the department meeting with all my design peers and leaders. It was unusual for someone to turn off their camera during this call but I was burned out, had developed a social anxiety, and just couldn’t bring myself to show my face, let alone speak.

‘Where did it all go so wrong?’, I was thinking.”

How my dream design job turned into a nightmare →

Dive into the world of user research with The Optimal Path Podcast →
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Editor picks

I reviewed the Terms & Conditions of popular gen AI tools →
The ethical and legal implications.
The power of patterns and playbooks in content design →
Building a content design system.
Privacy, politics, and porn →
Shining a light in the darkest corners of the internet.

The UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about their work.

The most minimal sites on the web, curated in one place →

Make me think

There are no original ideas. But... →
“Mark Twain is believed to have said ‘There is no such thing as an original idea.’ The implication is that, as a species, we are constantly building on what came before us: inspired and driven by what we've seen and experienced. Personally, I like to phrase a similar sentiment as ‘There are no original ideas. But there are original executions.”
How we make sense of time →
“Ask English speakers about the difference between yesterday and tomorrow, and they might thrust a hand over the shoulder when referring to the past and then forward when referring to the future. Such unreflective movements reveal a fundamental way of thinking in which the past is at our backs, something that we ‘leave behind,’ and the future is in front of us, something to ‘look forward’ to.”
All parasites have value →
“We judge our own productivity, our hustle, and even our ambition as if they indicate our value to society. We try to keep making at all costs for fear that we might be mistaken for taking.”

Little gems this week

Makeup, body paint, tattoos, and your Instagram filters →

Creativity lies in the paradoxes →

Age diversity in design: lessons from Thor to Masako and beyond →

Tools and resources

Advanced Figma tips & tricks →
The little gems we love.
The 3 capabilities designers need for AI →
The reverse reckoning of UX design.
How to save your product UX when the AI goes wrong →
Managing prediction errors in AI products.