#UXDesign is not dead. But our stakeholders have retreated from it, informing business decisions with carefully groomed metrics rather than by listening to user needs. Here's how designers fight back.

We've tried renaming design. We've tried learning how to code. We've tried yelling at people. Now let's try something that actually works.

To start fixing what's broken, we have to get out of Figma and build influence, trust, and - most importantly - relational power.

https://productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/steering-a-design-career-why-design-goes-wrong-and-how-to-set-it-right-part-2

I teach undergrads at a prestigious programme in a research university. Most of my students don't know how to copy a file from a folder to another on their computer. I teach computer-based skills and it's often a source of grief and self doubt to these able, confident, well off young people. On a few occasions, of tears.

My mother, disabled and with a mental health condition, has dropped out from her #cancer treatment because she wasn't able to get through the ticketing system at the reception of the hospital. She lived in the capital, had a caring daughter available on the phone, and a network of support.

I just got a glimpse of the #autism treatment in the #Netherlands, a progressive country with high digital literacy. Autism diagnosis requires a referral from a GP, but the GP does not necessarily know much about autism and autism treatment centers are extremely specific about what needs to be mentioned in the referral. I am told that many autistic people have difficulty making phone calls. The autism diagnosis and treatment facility can only be contacted by phone. The waiting time for appointment is 30 weeks and, when the appointment takes place and your case turns out to differ in any way from what your uninformed GP has written in the referral, your case gets rejected and you have to get a new referral and start again. The GP could get instructions from the treatment center via a dedicated system called zorgmail, but neither side knows how to use it. If you manage to log into the online appointment system that is, which does not work and has no contact information to any support. I, a numerate computer nerd who enjoys puzzles, needed three days to crack it.

What is this micro-blog about?

#uxdesign saves lives

#uxdesign should be obligatory in the process of #patient intake and journey

Digital medical services should be accessible to teenagers with confidence issues and elderly people terrified by a terminal diagnosis.

#UXDesign is in disarray. The idea of design-for-use has been replaced with design-for-sales, and its incentives (make more features so that you have more shit to sell) don't align with user-centered work and #UserResearch.

In this issue, I investigate the ground-level view of how this happened and how to stop it.

https://productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/why-design-goes-wrong-and-how-to-set-it-right-part-1

A PM once told me to “not let perfect be the enemy of good enough”, and their appending of “enough” to the end of that well-known proverb is the reason companies need UX designers.

There is an ocean of difference between “good” and “good enough”.

I started 2025 unemployed and have been looking for work since Jan 1. Figured it couldn't hurt to see if anyone here might know of something.

I am a UX/UI designer with a passion for crafting easy-to-use interfaces and user-centered digital experiences that help people work better. Committed to delivering impactful visuals that align with brand guidelines and drive business goals.
Open to in-person/hybrid roles in the #Seattle metro area, or to remote roles in the US. W2 only.
I value work/life balance, cross-functional collaboration (I play well with engineers!), and projects that drive meaningful and positive impact.

This week's newsletter is inspired by the first female winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, for debunking the ecofascist "tragedy of the commons" theory.

Elinor Ostrom's understanding of the social system that manages a common resource is critical for making trade-offs in our own work, which can build - rather than burn - trust.

#ProductManagement #UX #UXDesign

https://productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/the-bounty-of-the-commons

#Design #Approaches
Truth, lies, and progress bars · Alternatives to deceptive progress indicators https://ilo.im/162n20

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#Indicators #ProgressBar #Perception #DesignPattern #DeceptiveDesign #ProductDesign #UxDesign #UiDesign #WebDesign

Hello Mastodon. I have a problem. The course I’m studying which is information design and front end development has a semester beginning in end of march that involves a work placement for a month. I’m looking to find somewhere to do my practical. Is anyone in the #uxdesign #ux #informationdesign spheres could help a girl out? It’s four weeks, full time, doesn’t need to be a project, can just be busy body work.

Mastodon! Save me!

UI designers: please please please please please please please please please please please please give us a way to enter a number exactly instead of only a slider that can't be precise.

I know a difference of one seems unimportant to you, but I literally have to hold my breath unable to even breath right until I get it right. I know I'm not the only one out there. I don't want a value that is "close enough."

Just make the value text a box instead of a label.

This might be an #ActuallyAutistic thing, I don't know. Regardless, it's super simple to just make it a box I can manually edit.

This is even worse on mobile where taking your finger off the screen can move the bar.

And I KNOW I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Everything is SEO now. The perverse incentives created by software eating the world turn everything we see into shit: what rises through the mire is optimized for the algorithm rather than for human interest and enrichment.

In this issue of Product Picnic, I look at some ways of pushing back. #UX #UXDesign #ProductManagement

https://productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/the-algorithm-is-not-an-excuse-to-stop-systems-thinking

Next week at work is "Fix, Hack, Learn" week, where we get a whole week to pretty much work on whatever we want.

So, I'm thinking of using my week to do two things:

1) Create a set of posters to promote @Mastodon

2) Contribute in some way to @Tusky - either creating a set of Figma files and making some suggestions to tidy up the design of the app, or see if i can suggest solutions to some open tickets on GitHub.

You ever wonder how the people responsible for the software you use haven't been fired a dozen times over? Measureship is to blame. By carefully picking their metrics, managers can make the biggest, stinkiest turd look like a rose on C-suite dashboards.

Read more in the latest issue of my #UXDesign & #productManagement newsletter:

https://productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/verschlimmbessern

Put up the Open to Work flag on the blue website. To summarize it here: I'm looking for #UXDesign roles in the New York area. If you want someone who drives clarity, aligns stakeholders, and helps make design decisions faster - let's chat! #getfedihired #fedihired

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7292211800618528768/

New year, new sletter. I'm going to be taking some of my my posting about UX design and product management directly to the inbox.

Always free, always written entirely by humans. The focus will be on drawing threads across content rather than just summarizing other people's work into "digestible" bullet points.

Thinking about taking things a bit less seriously - there are no seats at the table here, because there are no tables.

https://productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/a-good-day-for-a-picnic #UX #UXDesign #productmanagement

it's an honor to contribute to the pixelfed redesign, huge thanks to @dansup and @pixelfed for their trust and support !

https://mastodon.social/@pixelfed/113828234980174208