UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
August//2//2024
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Deleting Oldest Social Media Posts. This is indeed an unexpected article to be highlighted on this newsletter, but it’s symptomatic of product design solutions that have withstood the test of time (and Long Lasting is one of the Design Principles as listed by Mr. Dieter Rams). For those of you who want to delete older posts, you may not even remember anymore, this article provides instructions on how to do so. David Nield, the author, focuses specifically on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And while those who still use Twitter may have other issues to contend with, this article is a healthy reminder that dark ux patterns do exist, and that thoughtfully constructed product solutions should place the user in the driving seat of the experience they choose to embark on. Highlight of the article includes:
“Facebook is closing in on 20 years of being available to anyone with an email address, so let’s start there. If you were around when Facebook first arrived, you’ll remember personal status updates were much more common than they are now — people even used to write on each other’s profiles, MySpace-style.”
2.
The Numerous Tanglings of Cyber Espionage. Another unexpected article this week, this one comes courtesy of Andrea Hak for The Next Web. It has become widely perceived that Fraud Detection, addressing Hacking situations, and generally speaking, issues related to privacy of data, are all topics that has everyone heavily concerned, and are fields that professionals are flocking to, since the issues and opportunities in that field are substantial. This article sheds light on different types of malware, including situations where there’s an insidious strategy in motion, which includes maintaining a suspicion of reasonableness and good operational standards from software, while still getting access to the data that is being stored or created. It’s a fascinating article on topics that should be on top of mind for us all. Highlight of the article includes:
“Today anyone can be a hacker with a few standard tools you can download off the internet, and many use quick and dirty rudimentary tactics. State actors, on the other hand, have a higher level of expertise and at times have unlimited resources backing their activities. They create their own programs and even conduct anti-forensics, all so they can avoid detection. In stark contrast to ransomware attackers, who aim to create maximum disruption, state actors go to great lengths to keep operations running. “There have been numerous instances where the attacker took steps to ensure the system kept running smoothly,” Zeeman notes. “They made necessary amendments to prevent detection or system failure, rather than allowing errors or bugs to trigger a response that could expose their presence.””
3.
What is Good Design in the Age of AI. Interesting article from Figma’s Blog, and author Noah Levin, addressing how “Good Design” can exist at the time of AI. This article is akin to a poisoned apple in disguise, in a lot of different ways. Because while it creates a veil/banner of “Good Design” to blanket its statements, it also doesn’t really address the question that many Designers, Product Owners, and Development/Engineering Teams have in their minds: is AI going to cannibalize the work Designers have been doing until now. My thoughts on that are part of an article that I’m publishing soon, but for companies as Figma who are integrating AI components into their solutions, the question should be: “are we serving the professionals who are our bread and butter well enough, or are we pushing them out of job market?” I’d say yes and no, because part of the narrative involves Designers themselves, their abilities/skillset and their propensity for evolving. However, Designers don’t live and work in idyllic bubbles, and therefore companies such as Figma should position what they do, as part of an empowerment narrative for the clients they serve (Designers themselves), as opposed to passing the veiled message to Business Leaders that “AI can Design everything” (which isn’t even true). Well worth reading through, but more importantly, reflecting on this journey. Highlight of the article includes:
“This brought me back to my days teaching design. When you have to teach, you’re forced to deconstruct your own intuitive understanding into a few clear principles someone else can run with. The real challenge lies in finding rules that are clear, concrete, and instructive, while also being reliably true given any use case. These two criteria are often at odds with each other, which is why this deconstruction process is so difficult. Instructions like “always place the primary action at the bottom of a screen” or “always measure in 8px increments” strike this balance — they’re specific enough to be practically applicable, yet universal enough to be helpful for nearly any UI someone might want to create. By focusing on communicating these highest-leverage design truths to the AI, we were able to significantly increase the quality of Figma AI’s outputs within just a few weeks.”
