The snake that eats its tail
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
“What is the effect of constant exposure to information on our attention? Who benefits from a dramatic change in our attention, and when and why has this happened?
One hypothesis is that companies have created an ecosystem to encourage continual consumption of information, and they profit from our addiction to information consumption and change in values and behaviors around attention and engagement.
Designers contribute to this system by tacitly encouraging people to accept the wholesale convenience of connectivity through deceptive intentions. We have long lived in what Herbert Simon called the ‘Attention Economy’ (according to the Berkeley Economic Review). That economy has been reinforced by a complex technical infrastructure and tech solutionism to keep the infrastructure growing.”
The snake that eats its tail →
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Editor picks
Design in the era of conspiratorial mirror worlds →
The way we design in a divisive society.UX leadership is failing (and what we can do about it) →
Our inability to drive real impact.Beyond numbers: Proving the value of design(ers) →
How data is overshadowing emotion.Why can’t the Government get tech right? →
And why it doesn’t have to be this way.The controversial role of proxies in product design →
Following a map vs. experiencing the journey firsthand.
The UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about their work.
The mystery of the Dune font →
Make me think
A generation of design leaders grapple with their future →
“In their State of UX 2024, the folks at UX Collective summed it up perfectly: ‘Ongoing layoffs and market instability have reduced the bargaining power that many designers wielded in the previous decade—and have cast a light on the transactional aspect of our work.’”Browsers are weird right now →
“It was fun trying Arc for a year, but I think I’m going back to Firefox for now. I’m worried about it, but it’s the only big cross-platform option that maintains its own rendering engine.”Design Ah! Learning the fun of design →
“What drew me to Design Ah! is how it is both entertaining and inspiring, much like a great documentary such as Rams. The five to ten minute duration of each episode makes it just long enough to convey a message, yet short enough to not lose its viewers’ interest.”
Little gems this week
Can you design a masterpiece with AI? →
Why is the Univers Font all over China? →
UX for safety: the real impact of design →
Tools and resources
Portfolio advice →
To get interviewers to engage with your work, tell a story.My design system journey →
Building the plane while flying.Making of true multi-brand design system →
Full control over colours, typography and visual styles.
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