The hottest Design Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Design Topics

Please let your readers read?

Disaffected Newsletter • 779 implied HN points • 13 Jan 23
🪑 Design Readability Visual Design User Experience Color Theory Blogging
  1. Use high-contrast colors for your text and background to make reading easier. Low contrast can make it hard to read and push people away from your content.
  2. Many readers won't tell you your text is hard to read, and they might leave without saying anything. It's better to get feedback than to lose potential readers.
  3. Remember that your main goal is to share words that people want to read. Avoid trendy designs that harm readability, as they can hurt your audience and support.

What is a good designer?

Elizabeth Laraki • 219 implied HN points • 04 Dec 23
🪑 Design Product Design User Experience Visual Design Collaboration Design process
  1. A good designer focuses on understanding the product's goals, audience, and use cases. They clarify what the product should achieve and for whom it’s meant.
  2. User experience is key for a designer, ensuring the product is easy and natural to use. They organize content and tasks logically, making navigation simple for everyone.
  3. Visual design is about making the product look polished and high quality. Good designers pay attention to details like colors, fonts, and alignment to connect with users effectively.

Elegant Solutions

David Friedman’s Substack • 404 implied HN points • 22 Dec 24
🪑 Design Product Design Industrial Design User Experience Graphic design Systems Design
  1. Using both words and numbers when writing a check helps reduce mistakes, making it much harder to misread the amount. It's a clever way to prevent errors and fraud.
  2. The design of everyday items, like rubber spatulas and manhole covers, often has simple solutions to practical problems. These designs make them more useful in various situations.
  3. When faced with a decision or a problem, looking for the simplest and most practical solution is key. Sometimes, the best way to find a solution is to observe how things are naturally done.

Democratization of Design

The Intersection • 138 implied HN points • 31 Jan 24
🪑 Design Digital Design AI Tools Design tools Design process Accessibility
  1. Design tools like Canva have democratized design, making it accessible to everyone, but the quality of design produced may not always meet professional standards.
  2. AI-powered design tools aim to streamline design processes, but they require a fundamental understanding of design to be used effectively.
  3. While tools like Canva have made design accessible to non-designers, the quality of work ultimately depends on the skills and capabilities of the individuals using the tools.
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The fastest, cheapest way to transform your city

Urben Field Notes • 172 implied HN points • 06 Jun 25
🪑 Design Urban planning Public spaces Infrastructure Transportation
  1. Cities have a lot of unused land that can be quickly turned into parks or plazas with minimal cost. All it takes is some creativity and determination.
  2. Making streets car-free can transform them into vibrant public spaces. This change can help businesses and improve community life.
  3. Successful pedestrian streets need to be designed carefully. They should be narrow and surrounded by lots of people and businesses to create a lively atmosphere.

UX Roundup: 2025 Predictions Revisited | AI Paradigm Shifts | AI and Doctor Burnout | Useful AI Sells

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 23 implied HN points • 22 Dec 25
🪑 Design UX Product Design AI Design Design Strategy Design tools
  1. AI automated much of the hand-crafted UX production, shifting value toward senior designers who guide strategy and causing many entry-level production roles to vanish.
  2. AI works best as a co-pilot: it boosts productivity and automates routine work but still needs human judgment and core usability principles to keep interfaces usable and trustworthy.
  3. Practical AI services scaled fast because they deliver clear economic value — for example, ambient scribes cut doctors' paperwork and burnout — so continuous learning and business-focused design skills are now essential.

Jony Ive: The Complete Objectified Interview

Chance Operations • 515 implied HN points • 15 May 23
🪑 Design Product Design Interview
  1. Jonathan Ive's design work at Apple has been highly influential, shaping products like the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and more.
  2. After leaving Apple in 2019, Ive co-founded LoveFrom, a creative collective that has worked with companies like Ferrari and Apple.
  3. The full transcript of the interview with Jony Ive is split into two parts and provides insight into his creative process and collaborations.

The origins of human-centered design

Can We Still Govern? • 151 implied HN points • 11 Jun 25
🪑 Design User Experience Product Design Service Design Technology Civic Tech
  1. Human-centered design started in the military during World War II. It focused on understanding how people interacted with equipment to prevent crashes and improve safety.
  2. John Arnold formalized human-centered design processes in the 1950s, laying the groundwork for its use in technology and public services.
  3. In recent years, human-centered design has gained attention in government to enhance services. It's about putting people's needs first to build trust and engagement.

Feeling the Design

UX Psychology • 238 implied HN points • 05 Jun 23
🪑 Design Emotion Attention Product Design User Experience Aesthetics
  1. Emotions significantly impact user attention and decision-making. We can design products that resonate with users by considering their emotional states.
  2. Balancing functionality and aesthetics is crucial in design. Negative emotions may lead users to focus on functionality, while positive emotions may draw them to aesthetics.
  3. Design strategies that consider emotional mapping, create emotional peaks, and provide feedback can enhance user experience and engagement.

Who Designs the Future When Everyone Can?

New World Same Humans • 12 implied HN points • 11 Jan 26
🪑 Design Product Design UX AI Design Service Design Design Strategy Design tools
  1. AI makes it easy for anyone to create products and experiences, so standing out will depend on clear intent, a strong mission, and high product quality.
  2. The design of AI output is its own challenge — you must decide if AI is the product or a feature and intentionally design for differentiation, trust, and taste.
  3. Putting humans at the centre matters more than ever, because genuine stories, authenticity, and human delight will command a premium in AI-driven experiences.

#131 Get some perspective!

Design Lobster • 299 implied HN points • 17 Apr 23
🪑 Design Fashion Perspective
  1. Canonical perspective is the specific angle from which we imagine objects, making them easiest to identify; designers can use this angle to make icons and illustrations more recognizable.
  2. Optical illusions in design, like the bowknot sweater, can add playful and intriguing elements; considering optical illusions can enhance the visual appeal of a design.
  3. Changing perspectives can lead to fresh insights and better approaches in design problem-solving; seeing things from a new angle can transform the design process.

#3 Industrial Design

Mountain Labs Newsletter • 59 implied HN points • 17 Apr 24
🪑 Design Industrial Design Product Development User Experience Prototyping
  1. When developing a hardware product, focus on three key areas: energy, communication, and form factor. Energy determines if your device runs on batteries or needs to be plugged in.
  2. For B2B products, start with communication needs since they often integrate with other systems. But for B2C products, prioritize the look and feel of the device first.
  3. Always check the costs and manufacturability of your components. If it’s too expensive or hard to make, revisit your choices before moving forward with the design.

how are those design studies going?

vrk loves paper • 219 implied HN points • 06 Sep 23
🪑 Design Graphic design Fashion Art User Experience Creative Process
  1. Recognizing a fear of judgment is important when learning something new, like fashion or design. It's okay to need time to learn and grow without worrying about how you look to others.
  2. Instead of focusing solely on perfection in design, aim to create joyfully and embrace mistakes. It's about the process, not just the final product.
  3. Learning takes time and comes with feelings of being behind, but having supportive friends and a clear vision of your goals can help you stay motivated.

Designing Digital Products for Older Adults

UX Psychology • 218 implied HN points • 21 Sep 23
🪑 Design User Experience Aging
  1. Designing digital products for older adults is crucial as their population grows and technology becomes more integrated into daily life.
  2. Age-related changes in vision, hearing, dexterity, processing speed, working memory, attention, and executive function must be considered when designing inclusive digital experiences for older adults.
  3. To create more inclusive digital experiences for older adults, simplify interfaces, support recognition over recall, offer clear wayfinding cues, minimize required steps, and provide feedback and error recovery options.

Quiz Answers: What Happened in UX & AI in 2025?

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 13 implied HN points • 08 Jan 26
🪑 Design UX Usability UI Interaction Design Product Design Service Design AI Design UX Research
  1. AI is shifting value away from routine craft toward human skills like agency, judgment, and persuasion; tools like vibe coding and generative UIs let people state intent while AI handles implementation.
  2. UX practice must evolve with new interaction patterns for AI: design for long-running "Slow AI" tasks (return recaps, conceptual breadcrumbs, tiered notifications), use prompt-augmentation interfaces (prompt builders, parametrization), and optimize content for AI citation (GEO).
  3. AI will reshape organizations and the economy by lowering transaction costs and flattening firms, displacing many routine knowledge jobs while creating new roles (super-users, auditors, FDEs) and exposing gaps in how we measure value and ROI.

the first one's the bad one!

vrk loves paper • 199 implied HN points • 05 Oct 23
🪑 Design Graphic design Product Design User Experience Illustration Creative Process
  1. When working on goals, it's better to focus on whether the problems that come with them are interesting and fulfilling for you. Every goal has challenges, so choose the ones you want to tackle.
  2. In design, it's important to sketch many different ideas, even if they seem odd or wrong at first. Your first attempt is usually not your best, so keep exploring different options.
  3. Using references that resonate with you can make the design process easier and more enjoyable. It's fine to start with things you're familiar with before branching out to more complex inspirations.

#127 Sick of design 🤢

Design Lobster • 339 implied HN points • 06 Feb 23
🪑 Design Architecture Product Design Quotes
  1. Good design can promote health: Architectural design, like in sanatoriums, can aid in patient recovery by providing optimal conditions like sunlight and fresh air.
  2. Design for comfort: SEETROËN glasses use innovative design to combat travel sickness, but the attention-grabbing appearance can deter people from using them.
  3. Design as a solution: Better design can be the answer to various problems, bringing functionality and aesthetics together.

I HAVE IMPROVED AT DESIGN 😤

vrk loves paper • 159 implied HN points • 08 Nov 23
🪑 Design Graphic design Product Design Fashion & Design Interior design Web Design
  1. Design skills can improve over time with practice. The recent work showed noticeable growth compared to earlier projects.
  2. A recent event, the Receipt Printer Meetup, was a success with many attendees enjoying the chaos and fun of printing stickers together.
  3. New creative projects, like the 'Dogs of Fate,' are exciting and can be made quickly, inspiring continued exploration and development of ideas.

#129 Luxury design

Design Lobster • 279 implied HN points • 06 Mar 23
🪑 Design Luxury Typography Watches Fashion Creativity
  1. Didone typefaces like Didot bring a sense of luxury and sophistication to design with their high contrast and vertical emphasis.
  2. Consider pushing your design to the extreme and exploring the most extravagant version, like the Jacob & Co Astronomia Solar watch, to challenge yourself and think creatively.
  3. Luxury in design can come from simplicity and refinement, as Coco Chanel pointed out, emphasizing the absence of vulgarity over excessive opulence.

#130 Put your feet up

Design Lobster • 239 implied HN points • 03 Apr 23
🪑 Design Product Design Interaction Design
  1. Early experiments explored foot-controlled computer interfaces in the 1980s, but they weren't widely adopted due to a steep learning curve compared to hand-controlled interfaces.
  2. Engaging more of the user's body in design could enhance interaction, especially in augmented and virtual reality applications.
  3. Small design changes, like adding whimsical elements such as unique feet to furniture, can bring lightness and freshness to the overall aesthetic.

#122 Finding Patterns 🧩

Design Lobster • 379 implied HN points • 14 Nov 22
🪑 Design Architecture Software Privacy Facial Recognition
  1. Understanding the concept of design patterns and their importance in architecture and software design.
  2. Exploring the use of CV Dazzle makeup to elude facial recognition algorithms by disrupting key facial features.
  3. Seeking to understand deeper patterns in situations and contexts before designing solutions, as highlighted by Fritjof Capra's quote.

UX Roundup: AI Empathy | Transparency About Compute Limits | UI Modes | Seedream 4.5 | AI In/Out of Silicon Valley | Kling Speaks

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 17 implied HN points • 08 Dec 25
🪑 Design UX UI Interaction Product Design AI Design Research
  1. Patients tend to rate AI as more empathetic than human clinicians, and newer models are likely even better; however, empathy measures need stronger, more detailed instruments.
  2. AI inference is scarce and costly, so product interfaces must be transparently show limits and trade-offs with quota meters, graceful fallbacks, and realistic wait estimates.
  3. UI modes (like separate “AI mode”) usually reduce usability, so AI features should be integrated into workflows and avoid forcing users to switch modes.

☞ Creating a Typeface: Humanist Computer

Cabinet of Wonders • 231 implied HN points • 11 Dec 24
🪑 Design Graphic design Visual Arts User Experience Typography
  1. Designing your own typeface can be a fun and creative hobby. It's a way to express yourself and combine art with practical use.
  2. Creating a monospaced typeface for coding can make programming feel more magical, like working with ancient texts.
  3. Working on a typeface is an ongoing process. Even if it's not perfect, seeing your progress can be really rewarding and inspiring.

#116 Sh*t design

Design Lobster • 419 implied HN points • 22 Aug 22
🪑 Design Product Design Typography
  1. Design choices can have long-lasting effects, leading to path dependency that constrains future options.
  2. Simple design changes, like a square-cored toilet roll, can lead to clever outcomes by encouraging efficiency and mindful usage.
  3. Questioning design briefs and challenging the necessity of elements can be a mark of a great designer.

#117 It's a blow out

Design Lobster • 399 implied HN points • 05 Sep 22
🪑 Design Product Design Graphic design
  1. Designing with air can lead to innovative products like the Dyson Airwrap that uses the Coanda Effect to create curls without excessive heat, showcasing the importance of understanding and utilizing physics in design.
  2. Consider emotional and symbolic factors in design, as seen in the case of the IKEA inflatable furniture series from the 1990s that faced practical issues and failed to provide a comfortable user experience.
  3. Whitespace, like air, is essential for design to breathe. Remember the significance of negative space in layouts and compositions when things feel cluttered.

Welcome to Full Moon

New World Same Humans • 15 implied HN points • 04 Dec 25
🪑 Design Strategy UX Product Service Brand Research Trends Technology
  1. Full Moon is a new space for deep thinking at the intersection of humans, technology, and business, aimed at designers, marketers, strategists, founders and other creative knowledge workers.
  2. It will publish a monthly deep-dive essay on each full moon and offers paid benefits like a monthly podcast, video Q&As, shorter Ideas, and early access to in-person events.
  3. The launch focuses on the future of design in an AI age, arguing that feeling, relevance, and human consequence matter, and members can gift a free year to someone aged 28 or under to bring younger voices into the conversation.

#123 Design fiction 📖

Design Lobster • 279 implied HN points • 28 Nov 22
🪑 Design Fiction Future Art Creativity
  1. Design fiction involves creating functional objects from potential futures to spark debate and engagement about those futures.
  2. Fictional artifacts can evoke deeper emotions and engagement compared to traditional concept videos, making them a powerful tool for future envisioning.
  3. Imaginative design can transport people into envisioned futures and help reveal truths that reality might obscure, fostering progress and innovation.

#119 A creature of design

Design Lobster • 319 implied HN points • 03 Oct 22
🪑 Design Product Quote
  1. Design can be inspired by animal qualities, leading to creative and functional designs like kinetic sculptures and supportive chairs for pets.
  2. Consider how movement can enhance your design - like Theo Jansen's sculptures that stride gracefully due to specific joint lengths.
  3. DIY design solutions, like the Bailey chair for dogs with megaesophagus, can have a big impact and inspire supportive communities.

#110 Paying attention

Design Lobster • 439 implied HN points • 30 May 22
🪑 Design Interaction Design
  1. Visual hierarchy is crucial in design to guide the viewer's attention.
  2. Controlling the salience of elements in design can impact how users interact with content.
  3. Utilizing subtler interactions in design can help reduce the need for constant phone notifications and create a more calming user experience.