Our human habit of anthropomorphizing everything
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
“Gmail is acting finicky today.”
“I swear my cat threw up on the rug just to spite me.”
“Siri can be so dumb sometimes.”
Humans, as social animals, find it easy to interpret certain outputs as “behaviors.” Humanizing the tech we use makes it a little bit more understandable.
But anthropomorphizing things can go wrong. Rather than making complex systems like AI more understandable, anthropomorphizing tech can actually contribute to further mystification and misunderstanding.
Our human habit of anthropomorphizing everything →
What do Meta, Uber, Dropbox, and Okta have in common? →
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Editor picks
Solving human behavior is the toughest UX challenge →
Don Norman on gaps in human-centered design and more.Reviving the good ol’ days of just making things look pretty →
With AI, the appeal of simpler times grows stronger.Nvidia, AI, and graphics hardware →
The history of video games and the stratospheric rise of Nvidia.
The UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about their work.
Azulejo →
Make me think
Why we crave healthier computing →
“Looking through the history of computing, there is an unsettling trend. As the power and versatility of computing available to the user has improved, so too has the burden on the user to design their computing experience.”How AI reshapes vocabulary →
“As AI has seen a surge of interest and development in recent years, its influence extends beyond technology, shaping the language. With AI-related terms making their way into mainstream usage and earning spots as “words of the year” in various dictionaries, it’s clear that this field is rapidly influencing the language.”The goal of a “strategy” is to change our own team’s behavior →
“Creating a strategy doesn’t directly change anything for our customers. Customers don’t care about our strategies — they care about their experience with the product in their hands. So for a strategy to be useful, it actually has to change our behavior as a team to create better customer outcomes.”
Little gems this week
Convention over creativity? The ups and downs of UX design →
Do complex products need instruction manuals? →
Why the internet is full of “digital junk mail” →
Tools and resources
How to consolidate multiple design systems →
Options, strategies, benefits, and real-world examples.In/Tension modeling as a UX strategy tool →
How to visualize tensions between perspectives.Onboarding clients as a freelancer →
Initial contact, project discussion, and call summary.
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