The hottest Interface Design Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

UI is hell: four-function calculators

lcamtuf’s thing • 8570 implied HN points • 23 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Interface Design User Experience History
  1. Basic calculators seem simple, but designing their interface is really tricky. Many small rules affect how they operate.
  2. Users often expect calculators to follow straightforward rules, but calculators can behave unexpectedly based on their design. This can lead to confusion when doing simple calculations.
  3. Calculator design has evolved over time, but some quirks and confusing features remain. Understanding these can help users use them more effectively.

Sundry complaints

Disaffected Newsletter • 1518 implied HN points • 14 Aug 24
🕹 Technology User Experience Interface Design Digital Literacy Social Trends Communication
  1. User interfaces have become harder to understand. Instead of getting better, they are now filled with confusing icons without clear labels.
  2. Each company has its own symbols, making it tough for users to know what actions to take. There's no common language for things like saving or moving to the next step.
  3. People are using softer words for tough topics, avoiding direct terms like 'money.' This change makes conversations about real issues less clear.

Gmail: Designed to be joyfully simple

Elizabeth Laraki • 199 implied HN points • 03 Sep 24
🕹 Technology UX Design Product Development Software Engineering User Research Interface Design
  1. Gmail was built to be fast and user-friendly. The designers wanted everyone to enjoy using email instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.
  2. Key features like conversation threading changed how we view email. Instead of treating each email as a separate message, Gmail groups related messages together for easier tracking.
  3. Designing for joy means creating a simple and pleasant user experience. The goal was to make Gmail so easy to use that it felt natural and enjoyable for everyone.

Beautiful ugly websites

Product Identity • 931 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🪑 Design Graphic design Web Design User Experience Interface Design Visual communication
  1. Function is often more important than form in design. A good example of this is Craigslist, which proves that a simple and effective website can succeed despite being visually plain.
  2. Some websites that are considered 'ugly' actually have a unique charm and authenticity. They focus on heavy text and straightforward layouts, showing that simplicity can be powerful.
  3. While aesthetics matter, there is a shift towards appreciating simple designs that prioritize usability over flashy elements. This challenges the trend of over-designed websites.

Rebuilding Google Maps

Elizabeth Laraki • 659 implied HN points • 23 Feb 24
🕹 Technology User Experience Product Design Web Development Interface Design Software Engineering
  1. Google Maps had to change a lot because it was getting too complicated with too many features. The team decided to redesign it so users could find what they needed easily.
  2. The redesign focused on making the map easier to use by creating one main search box instead of many tabs for different tasks. This helped simplify the user experience.
  3. It's important for products to keep evolving. By regularly checking how users interact with the product and making improvements, it can grow and stay relevant.
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Simplify your product design — borrow familiar patterns

amivora • 9 implied HN points • 30 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Product Design User Experience Software Development Interface Design Tech Innovation
  1. Making product design simple helps users feel comfortable and familiar, just like using everyday items. This means users can start using your product without needing to learn it first.
  2. Using familiar patterns in your design, like placing buttons where users expect them, makes the product easier to navigate. This creates a predictable experience, so users know what to do without guessing.
  3. Borrowing well-known interfaces can help new technologies become popular quickly. When users see something they already understand, they’re more likely to try it out without feeling overwhelmed.

Forgotten bodies in a headspace world

Creative Destruction • 26 implied HN points • 13 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Digital Culture Interface Design Body awareness Mental health Tech Impact
  1. We're often disconnected from our bodies because of technology. Many of our daily activities can be done without moving much, making physical movement feel optional.
  2. The mind and body are deeply connected, but our current world mostly focuses on the mind. This creates a gap where our physical self feels neglected.
  3. We need to rethink how we design our technology and systems to better connect with our bodies. The goal is to create a balanced world that cares for both mind and body.

UX Roundup: AI-UX One-Day Conference | AI Format Remixing | UXR Prompt Cheatsheet | Research Report Renaissance | Worst UI Ever | Flexible Displays | Scaling Law for Physical AI | Podcast | Le Chat

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 25 implied HN points • 25 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI UX Design Conferences User Research Interface Design
  1. There is an online conference on December 4 that focuses on using AI in UX design. It's a great chance to learn about best practices and improve your skills.
  2. AI can help repurpose content into different formats, like turning articles into videos or podcasts. This makes sharing ideas easier and more engaging.
  3. Keeping a research repository is important because AI can quickly pull insights from past studies to answer new questions. This saves time and improves the impact of user research.

Are we crazy? From digital adoption to user assistance

CommandBlogue • 0 implied HN points • 28 May 24
🕹 Technology Software User Experience Digital marketing Interface Design Product Development
  1. Pop-ups are annoying and most users have developed 'pop-up fatigue', which makes them ignore these interruptions. It's frustrating when software we pay for still uses this old tactic.
  2. The concept of a 'user assistant' would replace annoying pop-ups. It would help users based on their needs and intentions, making software easier and more pleasant to use.
  3. As users expect better experiences, companies need to change how they design software. Innovations are needed to improve interactions between users and technology.

The State of LLM Based Application Development

Iceberg • 0 implied HN points • 19 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Interface Design Data handling Natural Language Processing Application development
  1. LLMs are gaining popularity in the tech world, especially through chat interfaces like Chat GPT models.
  2. Developers face challenges when transitioning human-to-machine interfaces to machine-to-machine interactions with LLMs.
  3. Tools like adjusting temperature parameters and utilizing frameworks can help overcome issues like hallucinations, context size limitations, and arbitrary output in LLM applications.