Lessons on Sustainability, Emerging Technologies, and Cultural Richness

In October, I had the privilege of attending Singapore Design Week, representing Design Matters as we co-hosted the Emerging Technologies segment of the Design Futures Forum 2024. Our segment was held in the historic Old Parliament House of Singapore, providing a symbolic setting for exploring the future of design. For many of the local speakers, sitting in the very chair once occupied by Singapore’s former Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, was a surreal experience!

This vibrant event brought together leading minds in design and technology from across the globe, particularly from Asia, and provided invaluable insights into sustainability, inclusivity, and the intersection of nature and technology in design. Being in Singapore, a city that harmonizes its tropical greenery with cutting-edge architecture, proving how design can shape and support urban life in remarkable ways.

In this piece, I’m going to highlight what stood out the most for me during my stay in Singapore.

Sustainability at its Core

Singapore has become a global leader in sustainable urban design, and its efforts were clearly reflected in the talks of the Design Futures Forum 2024. One standout presentation was given by Zac Toh, a local designer focused on integrating nature with city life. He shared his work designing bird nests that blend seamlessly into Singapore’s urban landscape and flora, creating habitats for native bird species amidst the city’s skyline. To me, this approach really demonstrated Singapore’s commitment to creating a livable, ecologically sensitive city that respects and preserves its natural surroundings.

Another inspiring speaker, Boonserm Premthada from Thailand, shared his work from Bangkok Project Studio, where he designs spaces that celebrate the relationship between humanity and nature. Premthada, who grew up in a Bangkok slum and now designs sanctuaries for elephants and humans alike, offered a unique perspective on how structures can coexist with and respect the natural world. His work — like a museum for both elephants and humans — embodies the harmonious relationship he envisions between people and the environment. Hearing from voices like his was particularly impactful, as it emphasized the diversity of design perspectives across Asia and the profound commitment to sustainability.

The Power and Potential of AI in Design

Artificial Intelligence remains a hot topic, with designers from around the world sharing new approaches to AI-powered design tools. Our Emerging Technologies segment saw insightful presentations from Megan Bednarczyk, Senior Design Manager at Duolingo, who showed how her team integrated AI into Duolingo Max, their premium language-learning experience. Megan’s talk truly showed the ways in which AI can provide personalized learning experiences, enhancing accessibility and adaptability within educational design.

Tobias Ahlin from GitHub was another highlight, as he shared his predictions for AI and tech-driven futures, sparking reflection among attendees. He discussed the potential for AI to redefine not only design processes but also how we experience products on a personal and societal level. These sessions left no doubt that AI is a priority for designers in Singapore and beyond, as they navigate both its possibilities and ethical considerations.

Singapore’s Digitalization and Commitment to Citizen-Centric Design

Two standout speakers in our Emerging Tech segment, Samantha Lee and Ben Bowes from Open Government Products, brought focus on Singapore’s remarkable level of digitalization and security. Their talk covered how the government integrates design into its digital services, reflecting a commitment to creating user-friendly, secure experiences for citizens and residents alike. Together, they painted a compelling picture of how Singapore’s government leverages design not just as a tool but as an ethos, demonstrating Singapore’s dedication to ensuring accessible and efficient public services — a model that many nations might aspire to.

Redefining Inclusivity in Design

Inclusivity and the future of care were central themes in the Care segment of Design Futures Forum 2024. Claudia Poh, founder of Weareble, shared her journey in designing adaptive clothing for people with disabilities and reduced mobility. Her recent trip to the Paralympic Games in Paris allowed her to connect directly with athletes, gaining invaluable feedback for creating garments that prioritize functionality, dignity, and comfort. Her work is reshaping how we think about inclusivity in fashion and how design can serve everyone.

A Symbiosis of Nature and Architecture

Singapore itself was an embodiment of the design principles we discussed at the event. The city’s skyline seamlessly blends lush greenery with architectural marvels like the Jewel at Changi Airport, Marina Bay Sands, and the conservatories at Gardens by the Bay. These structures represent Singapore’s commitment to a “city in a garden” ethos (also the slogan of the city), where concrete and greenery coexist harmoniously. Walking through the city, I was struck by its cleanliness and design-centered approach to urban living — a quality that makes it one of the most livable cities I’ve visited.

Beyond the modern buildings, Singapore also maintains its historic architecture. In areas like Chinatown, you’ll find eclectic colored heritage houses; this architectural style, called Peranakan, incorporates elements of both Chinese and Portuguese architectural styles. I thought this balance between past and present architecture adds depth to the city, reflecting Singapore’s rich multicultural heritage and commitment to preserving its history amid rapid development.

Cultural Fusion and Safety

Singapore’s cultural diversity was apparent in every experience, from the temples dotting the cityscape to the language spoken by locals. One moment you’re admiring a Buddhist temple, and the next, just steps away, you’re walking past a Hindu temple. I felt like multiple religions and cultures could coexist peacefully, something that is quite rare to see in the main European cities. This unique cultural blend even extends to language, as I discovered when I heard people speak Singlish, an English-based creole that’s both charmingly efficient and distinctly Singaporean. As a person with a background in linguistics, this place was heaven for my ears!

Moreover, Singapore felt incredibly safe, which I deeply appreciated, especially as a female traveler. Even at night, wandering through the city’s alleys felt safe. No harassing, no catcalling. Another thing that caught my attention was the high standard of respect and trust in public spaces. I noticed there are quite a few restrictions and regulations, some being stricter than others; consuming food and drinks is prohibited on public transport (that probably explains why public transport is so clean), feeding pigeons is fined, durians are not allowed (I’m guessing because of the smell), and chewing gum is banned to maintain the city’s cleanliness. I also discovered that Singapore also has the death penalty for crimes like murder, terrorism, and drug trafficking.

A Refreshing Approach to Communication

Collaborating with the organizing team of Singapore Design Week highlighted another notable aspect: the direct and efficient communication style. Unlike other high-context cultures, such as Japan, where meaning can be deeply nuanced and implied, the Singaporean team was refreshingly straightforward. I found this approach to be a positive surprise, allowing us to work seamlessly and achieve clarity quickly. It truly represents Singapore’s unique position as a fast-paced, multicultural hub that bridges East and West, with a communication style that’s adaptable to a diverse array of backgrounds.

Wrapping up

Reflecting on my experience, Singapore has undoubtedly become one of my top destinations for both work and inspiration. The city’s commitment to sustainability, safety, and cultural inclusivity left a lasting impression, as did the designers and innovators the team and I had the opportunity to meet — such as Wendy Chua, Design-anthropologist and Programme Leader at Lasalle College of the Arts, Eason Yang, Designer, Speaker, Educator, who founded Not Entirely Dead and is a Board Member of AIGA New York, and Carl Constantin Press, Director at dmg events, who runs FIND Design Fair Asia, Asia’s largest event for furniture, interiors and design.

This journey, albeit hot and humid, was rich with ideas and connections that I’ll carry forward. I look forward to any opportunity to return to Singapore — whether for leisure or work — as it continues to inspire and lead in the world of design.

Insights from Singapore’s Cutting Edge Design Landscape was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

By: Joy Richu for DeMagSign

Exploring how the richness of everyday stories, cultural diversity, and authentic representation can shape meaningful and impactful design.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories

By: Joy Richu for DeMagSign

Exploring how the richness of everyday stories, cultural diversity, and authentic representation can shape meaningful and impactful design.

As a female African illustrator, one of the things I am most passionate about is representation. Growing up, the stories I heard weren’t about mythical heroes or legends. They were about ordinary people — people like you and me — who went through extraordinary experiences. These stories, deeply rooted in my culture, have shaped how I approach storytelling, illustration, and design. My work celebrates the richness and complexity of our lived experiences, bringing them to life with a depth that lets their full beauty shine — especially in a world that often overlooks or simplifies diverse perspectives.

Let me start by telling you a story.

A Hyena Who Babysat

Once upon a time, a woman lived alone in the forest with her child. Every day, she cooked bone soup for her baby, until one day a hyena appeared at her door. The hyena, drawn by the scent of her soup, asked, “Where do you get these succulent bones?”

Let me start by telling you a story.

The woman, wise and resourceful, replied, “If you agree to look after my baby while I’m in the fields, I will give you bones. But you must never eat while carrying the baby on your back.”

The hyena agreed. Every day, the woman went to fetch firewood, leaving the baby in the hyena’s care. But one day, the hyena grew impatient. While the baby slept on his back, the hyena forgot the woman’s warning and began to eat. In his greed, he dropped a bone on the baby’s head, killing him. Fearing the woman’s wrath, the hyena hid the truth, washing the baby and pretending he was asleep.

When the woman discovered the truth, she ordered the hyena to throw the baby’s body far away. He did, but before he left, he devoured the baby himself. Time passed, but the woman never forgot. One day, she tied the hyena to a tree outside the hut and began boiling sharp needles, preparing her revenge. The hyena begged his friends who passed by for help, tricking one of them into taking his place by lying that he was tied up because he refused to drink soup with a fly in it.

His friend, believing the lie, took the hyena’s place and tied himself to the tree, allowing the original hyena to go free. When the woman returned, thinking it was the same hyena who had killed her baby, she threw the boiling needles at him and beat him until he was dead.

The Power of Ordinary Stories in Design

In African storytelling, the protagonists are often ordinary people who experience something extraordinary. This teaches us that the extraordinary doesn’t always need to come from grand, larger-than-life concepts. Sometimes, it’s the simplest moments — those everyday experiences — that hold the most meaning and depth. When applied to design, the same principle holds: the ordinary, when thoughtfully explored, can become profound.

For us as illustrators and designers:

• Highlighting ordinary experiences in your work makes it relatable while still allowing for complexity. Stories rooted in everyday life resonate more deeply with audiences because they reflect shared human experiences.
• Layering depth into simple stories allows your work to grow richer the more someone engages with it. The casual observer may appreciate the surface, but those who spend time with the design will find more meaning hidden within.

Reclaiming Representation Through Your Work

Representation is about telling full, authentic stories that celebrate the beauty, complexity, and richness of all people and cultures. Through design, we have the opportunity to highlight the unique nuances that make each culture special. In this way, representation becomes more than just visibility — it becomes a celebration of diversity and an invitation to explore the layers of human experience.

For designers working with diverse cultures, this means:

• Reclaiming narratives with intention: Consider how your designs can bring attention to stories that have yet to be fully told. Whether it’s through branding, editorial, or illustration, there is always an opportunity to offer something more thoughtful and authentic. What untold or underrepresented narratives can your work illuminate for a wider audience?
• Designing with empathy and depth: Representation goes beyond showcasing diversity for diversity’s sake. It’s about designing with empathy — truly considering the perspectives and experiences of the people and cultures you are representing. The richness of your work comes from capturing these human stories with care, ensuring that they resonate deeply with anyone who engages with them.

Designing with Depth and Metaphor

In African storytelling, metaphor is a powerful tool. It allows us to tackle complex themes — trust, betrayal, life, death — in ways that feel accessible and relatable. Metaphor turns the abstract into something we can grasp, making difficult topics easier to understand and, ultimately, more impactful.

As designers, we can harness this same power:

• Use metaphor to add layers to your work: Just as in storytelling, metaphor can enrich your designs, allowing them to communicate more than what’s immediately visible. By embedding metaphor into your visuals, you open up opportunities for deeper meaning and interpretation.
• Create space for multi-level engagement: The best designs offer something for everyone, from the casual viewer to the more invested observer. Metaphor invites your audience to explore your work on different levels, revealing new layers the longer they engage with it.

Lessons from the Story:

The story of the hyena offers meaningful insights that we, as illustrators and designers, can apply to our work:

1. Small decisions can lead to big impacts: The woman’s choice to trust the hyena with her child may seem like a simple decision, but it has significant consequences. Similarly, in design, even the smallest creative choices — like the color palette, composition, or subtle details — can influence the overall impact of a piece. By paying attention to these seemingly small decisions, you allow your work to grow in unexpected and meaningful ways.
2. Appearances versus Reality: The hyena hides the truth by cleaning the child and pretending everything is fine. This reminds us that in design, true impact comes from depth and substance, not just polished aesthetics. A design that looks good on the surface but also carries thoughtful meaning will resonate more deeply with audiences, creating a lasting impression.
3. Metaphor brings richness and depth: The story is a metaphor for trust, deception, and consequences, allowing us to explore deeper ideas. In the same way, using metaphor in design can add richness to your work, inviting viewers to engage on multiple levels. This layered approach encourages deeper reflection and connection.

As illustrators and designers, we have the unique ability to tell stories that celebrate the richness of ordinary life while bringing depth and nuance to our work. By drawing from the everyday, embracing authenticity in the stories we share, and using metaphor to add layers of meaning, we can create designs that resonate long after they’re seen.

In the end, our designs have the power to reflect the interconnectedness of life and reveal the truths that lie beneath the surface. By doing so, we don’t just create visually compelling pieces — we craft work that invites others to look deeper, think critically, and engage with the world in new, meaningful ways.

* * *

Do you want to hear more from Joy? She will be speaking at the digital design conference Design Matters 24. Connect with Joy via:

Website: www.joyrichu.com

LinkedIn: /joyrichu

X: @madebyjoyrichu

Instagram: @joyrichu

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A quick interview with one of the most talented designers around

Ben is a Taiwanese designer based in Amsterdam. He graduated with a degree in Computer Science and holds a double master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction. He loves design but enjoys building products, that can make the world just a bit better, even more. He first got into design and development when he built a diet tracker app called FoodyLife, where he designed and developed the app from scratch, growing it to 50k users within just six months. Since then, he has built more apps independently and in collaboration with governments and startups, to develop apps that impact people’s daily lives.

In the past few years, he has spent the majority of his time working as a founding designer for AI startups, helping them discover user problems, creating the best possible user experience, and bringing them to market. Now he’s fully focused on leveraging his background in data, design, and engineering to help good-products drive growth and adoption and to help more users find value in these products.

He is currently leading design for Growth at Lokalise and co-organizing one of the largest design communities in Taiwan, UX EastMeetsWest.

1. What design trends do you think will take off this year and more in the future?

I believe designers will be able to spend more time focusing on our actual job — crafting amazing experiences for people. In the past few years, there have been far too many tasks on designers’ plates. While work like writing design specs, preparing workshops, and reporting design work is important in our day-to-day processes and driving team alignment, these tasks sometimes distract us from focusing on what we should truly prioritize — solving problems for people.

With the support of AI, I believe a lot of the work can be automated, and designers will be able to concentrate more on creating better experiences for people.

As a startup person, another near-future trend I’m hopeful for: is seeing more designers founding companies and building products. As Noah Levin, VP of Design at Figma, mentioned at Config 2023, AI will not only lower the barrier for non-designers to enter the design world more easily, but also allow designers to break the ceiling between design and development. This makes it easier for designers to bring our creativity into the development world. Therefore, I am really looking forward to seeing how designers will further impact the world with the help of AI and continue to prove to the world that design matters.

2. When it comes to making design and the design industry more diverse, equal, and inclusive, what changes are needed or would you like to see?

As designers, we always want to take care of every single user’s needs and make sure our designs are solving all the problems. However, especially in smaller teams where you might not have enough resources, our desire often conflicts with business needs, as pushing for a more inclusive design can sometimes be regarded as high-investment/low-return work for businesses.

Now with the support of AI, I do believe a lot of the work can be automated, and designers will be able to push for accessibility and inclusive design more easily within their own organizations. For this purpose, I would like to see more designers embracing AI in their workflows and exploring opportunities to make an impact by using all the tools around us.

I am also looking forward to seeing the New European Accessibility Act (EAA) implemented in 2025. With the tools available and government initiatives pushing for better accessibility, I believe there will soon be a big wave in the tech world that will motivate more businesses to build not only a diverse, equal, and inclusive environment but also products that reflect these values.

3. What are 2 things you were not taught in school (if you were formally trained in design) that you wished you had been taught?

First is teaching in general terms. One of the books that have inspired me the most is “Invent to Learn” by Sylvia Libow Martinez. The book does not talk about design, but more about how teachers can leverage tools, materials, and environments to turn children into makers.

Some good examples are things such as, turning a corner of a classroom into a LEGO zone. A place where children can have a safe space to be creative. While this might not seem directly related to design, I believe such facilitations, which turns everyone into creatives, are incredibly important in our day-to-day. I often quote Tim Brown from IDEO, who says, “Everyone is a designer,” because I believe this is true. Everyone can be a designer, and our job as designers is sometimes to ignite the designer spirit in everyone, transforming teams into collaborative units that build better products together.

Second is storytelling. Humans love stories. That’s how we grew up, and that’s how we make sense of the world. One thing I learned while advancing in my career is that my work is almost entirely about meetings and presenting work to stakeholders. One unfortunate thing I have learned from this, is that even if you have the best design in the world, if you present the story badly, the design can be negatively perceived. This can trigger a lot of chaos that you don’t want to deal with. Therefore, I think mastering storytelling is one of the most important skills for designers to acquire. Simply because how you craft your story determines how your design is perceived, treated, and implemented.

4. What are the biggest challenges you’ve had to face as a designer? Did you overcome them? How?

One challenge I encountered as I advanced to a more senior position, was managing all the stakeholders around me. When I started my career, the only stakeholders I interacted with were the PM and engineers. However, as I became more senior, I found myself surrounded by marketing managers, branding managers, sales, CSM, researchers, writers, and others. At some point, it became overwhelming to communicate and receive feedback from so many stakeholders while trying to keep everyone happy.

One thing I have learned over the past few years, is that the best way to navigate through this is by leveraging the “trust battery theory” from Shopify’s CEO Tobi Lütke to build the foundation of your stakeholder relationships. This theory suggests that every relationship starts at 50% trust, and the more you trust each other, the higher the percentage becomes. If there’s conflict or mistrust between each other, then the percentage becomes lower.

What I often do is, every quarter, I map out all the important stakeholders around me and visualize their ‘battery’ level. If I feel like the battery is lower than 50%, then I will proactively reach out to them for a coffee chat or organize different activities to increase the battery level. By increasing the battery, you also build a tighter relationship with each stakeholder, which really helps when you are communicating designs and vision to them, as they trust you to deliver your work. By managing the batteries with different stakeholders well enough, you create trust with each other, making it easier to convince and sell your design to others.

5. Why do you think Design Matters?

Design matters because it helps us solve problems, think creatively, understand the world around us, develop empathy, and be critical. Just as you would hire an architect when building a house, design plays an important role in creating functional, beautiful, and meaningful solutions in all aspects of life.

Do you want to hear more from Ben? He will give a talk at the digital design conference Design Matters 24. Connect with Ben on X @hbshih or @_benshih on Threads & Instagram

Don’t forget to check out Ben’s …

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hbshih/

Medium (Update monthly): https://medium.com/@hbshih

Website: https://benshih.design/

5 Questions With Fantastic Designers — with Ben Shih was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How product experimentation taught me what “good design” looks like

By Erin Weigel
Author of “Design for Impact: Your Guide to Designing Effective Product Experiments”

Sometimes I think that my job as a designer would be so much easier if I’d just proclaim myself an expert and just push my ideas through. But I was raised in the designer school of “hard knocks.” I learned too much over too many years about how painfully wrong many things I believed in were. Those things were “best practices” and “design patterns.”

That school of hard knocks was taught by near constant product experimentation for the better part of eight years. Every design change I made was released in an A/B test when I worked as Principal Designer at Booking.com. At that school of “hard knocks” I had to actually prove the value of the designs I delivered — day in and day out.

I couldn’t just say I’d made something better. I had to show strong evidence to prove that I had. And oh what a ride that was!

Most designers operate on the bottom two rungs of the hierarchy of evidence as shown in Figure 1.

The hierarchy of evidence is a scientific model. It compares how reliable vs. how available different types of evidence are.

The bottom two rungs of the hierarchy are “expert opinion” and “observational studies.” Though both of these forms of evidence are a good place to start, they’re very prone to bias. A less biased form of evidence, which is higher on the hierarchy, are randomized controlled experiments. The most common type of randomized controlled experiment is an A/B test. Well-designed and properly analyzed A/B tests are the gold-standard of high-quality evidence.

Learning from the evidence

During my years at Booking.com I put my “expert opinion” and observational studies to the test. The main thing I learned from that experience is that good design is highly contextual.

It’s virtually impossible to generalize and predict when a design change is measurably better or not. Even if an idea is based on sound logic, how people use things is mostly irrational. All thought and logic go out the window when designing valuable solutions for people that are unpredictable.

What’s “in” then? The humble act of service, discovery, and value creation. All of which can be achieved by combining the practice of design with science and business in Conversion Design (Figure 2).

In this article, I share two of my most embarrassing fuck-ups. These “oh shit” moments taught me that design is an act of humble discovery in service of others. Analyzing data uncovers impactful moments of learning that I’d never discover had I taken the “easy” path and just assumed that my expert opinion was right.

When logic led me astray

One morning I noticed a “non-inferiority bug fix” performing horribly. I made a simple change in the order of the “Favorite” and the “Add to cart” buttons as shown in Figure 3.

My designer logic was that main calls-to-action should be presented before secondary calls-to-action. But when I looked at how my “logical” change was doing, it was a straight red line down.

I assumed this “bug fix” would have no significant impact. But I’d never seen an experiment look that bad before. It had been running for less than 24 hours, so I shrugged it off and chalked it up to randomness. Surely it would even out in a few hours. But it got worse. So, I tested it on a few different devices and browsers to see if there was a bug in my “bug fix.” Everything seemed fine. At this point, I cried out to my coworkers for help: “Does anyone know why this bug fix looks so bad?”

A few minutes later, my boss, Stuart, stopped by my desk. “That’s not a bug,” he said. “Andrew (another designer) put that button there in a very positive experiment. Moving it changes something that matters.”

I ran to Andrew’s desk where he confirmed Stuart’s suspicion.

“Oh yeah,” he confirmed. “Don’t move that button — not even a little. I tested it in a few different spots. Every time it’s moved, conversion tanks.”

I looked through Andrew’s experiment data to learn the hypothesis behind what I considered “illogical” placement. What I thought was a bug was a useful feature that I could never imagine. When I realized that the effect was real, and more importantly — that it wasn’t a bug — I turned the experiment off.

“Well, that decision just passed another round of validation!” I exclaimed.

I now realize that good UX and the concept of “UX bugs” are relative to who experiences them. And things that seem “logical” may in fact be illogical based on how people actually use your product.

After many surprising experiments like this, I’ve been humbled. The point is: Never assume a “quick bug fix” is a “no-brainer.” People use things in unimaginable ways.

Luckily, I tested my “bug fix.” I had lots of reliable evidence to reverse course and make a better decision than had I not tested it.

When crystal clear images led to a sharp decline

My first job at Booking.com was to design and develop the company’s tablet website. One day during a usability test, I noticed a man zoom in on an image. He wanted to see more detail — but what he got was an eye full of pixels. He looked disappointed when he zoomed back out. Then, he just kept scrolling down the page.

That seemingly insignificant flick of his fingers could easily have been ignored. But his behavior and body language told me exactly what I needed to know: make the photos better.

When I went back to my desk, I looked at the code to see how the photos were chosen, cropped, and served from the website’s backend. Then, I dug around the database to see what other photo dimensions, resolutions, and crop options I had to work with. Luckily, a number of options were available. When I understood how the original design was built and what I had to work with — I could find ways to improve it.

Developing the test variant

Figure 4 shows how the photos were presented in the original version.

I noticed these issues with the current implementation:

• They were low resolution. The images were 150 pixels by 150 pixels wide, and they were displayed at that same size. This means they had low pixel density, which is what caused the pixelation upon zooming.
• They wasted space. Search result pages are typically information-dense screens where every pixel matters. The photos had 20px of white space around them. In some cases, because the photos were a static size, but the content to the right of it could grow, white space expanded beneath it.
• They were poorly cropped. A lot of important visual information was cut off in a place where first impressions got made.

This was around the time when screen quality on mobile devices made major gains. Retina-screens, which are known for their high pixel density and sharp images, were becoming popular. I was excited about the possibilities that come with hardware improvements. To future-proof the website for high-quality screens, I decided to increase the photo resolution. This would not only keep photos from getting pixelated when zoomed, but it would also dazzle customers when they upgraded their devices.

Design tip 💡

Provide your designers and engineers with at least two external monitors. One should be large and super high-res and the other should be cheap and common. Same for mobile devices — give them access to a range of devices with varying degrees of quality. When you design, code, and test on devices that are the best and the worst, the middle ground sorts itself out between the extremes.

My options to increase the resolution (shown in Figure 5), were 200 pixel by 200 pixel cropped square photos, photos that had a maximum width of 300 pixels, and photos with a maximum width of 500 pixels.

The heights of the max-width images varied minimally, so they were mostly rectangles. This meant I could crop them however I wanted. As I coded, I played around with the max-width images, I tried various ways of cropping them. It was the early 2010’s, and CSS3 was all the rage — especially a CSS3 property called “background-size: cover.”

At that point, the property had a decade to get the kinks worked out. It rendered reliably on modern tablets, smartphones, and browsers. That meant I had an alternative to the old-fashioned “background-size: contain.”

Figure 6 illustrates how the two properties behave differently.

Using “cover” meant that the image would grow to fit the size of its container, regardless of its shape. “Contain” kept the whole image in view but that excess space could grow around it. I coded it up so that the size of the photo container would grow in proportion to the card that contained it as shown in Figure 7.

It was the perfect solution to the wasted-space problem. Then, I took the new design for a test ride and popped in the max-300px wide pictures. At first glance, they looked brilliant. Because the images were 300px wide, but they were shrunk down to be 170px wide, they were higher resolution than the original. But, when you zoomed in, they got grainy. “Meh,” I thought to myself.

Then, I popped in the pictures that were max-500px wide. They were stunning. Not only were they sharp at first glance, but they also showed detail when you zoomed in. “Eureka!” I thought. This would be my test version. The final design is compared to the original in Figure 8.

After thorough quality assurance (QA), I started the experiment and waited for the results. To my surprise, the data was flatter than my singing attempts on karaoke night. How could something I thought was so much better be so unimpactful? I dug into the data to find out.

Design tip 💡

Learn the basics of data analysis. As the designer of an experiment, you might make a connection between a design decision you made and an impact on a metric that others miss. Quantitative A/B test data is just another form of user feedback. And because of this, it’s just a different way of listening to what customers have to tell you.

Quickly, I found some impact in the result. And it was not good. The variant had a huge increase in page load time. It took a whopping second or two longer to load than the original. It was a face-palm moment. I hadn’t noticed the speed issue because my internet connection was lightning fast and my device was brand new.

Then, I thought to myself, “Wait a second — this result is flat, but it’s done a ton of damage to load time. This should be incredibly negative!”

I saw that even though more people bounced because it took too long to load, the people that stayed finished their purchase at a much higher rate. If I could improve the load time to decrease the bounces, the other benefits might then increase sales overall as I had intended.

To do this, I simply swallowed my designer pride. I personally thought the 500-pixel wide images looked better than the 300-pixel wide ones. But privileged preference excluded many people from enjoying the improved photo-viewing experience. I swapped out the 500-pixel wide photos for the 300-pixel wide ones and restarted the experience. “Here goes nothing…” I thought to myself.

When I analyzed the results this time, it was clear — -I’d made the photos better. I decreased the page load time increase to decrease bounces, yet I made the image-viewing experience measurably better. Excitedly, I raced over to my coworkers on mobile web and apps.

“Hey y’all! Check this out… wanna try this out on your search results page, too?” Excitedly the designers and engineers on those teams picked up the idea and ran with it. The concept succeeded on iOS and Android apps, but it failed on mobile web.

“What in the world? How can that be?” I thought. I went over to the person who coded it, and I asked to see what they tested. They showed me their implementation. Though it was much better in terms of how the image was cropped, they used a slightly different CSS property for how they handled the background-size. The image didn’t grow with the size of its container in the same way as I’d coded it.

“Ughhhhhhh. That’s why it failed,” I thought in dismay to myself. When I asked the person to fix the code to my implementation method, they said they were too busy.

Being the impatient, curious person I am — I hacked my way into their experiment, made the fix, and I restarted it. (With their permission of course!)

Sure enough, when I analyzed the result, the experiment showed a similar positive result to what we saw on tablet, iOS, and Android.

I learned two things from this experiment:

1. Designers have a different idea of what “quality” is than the typical user. What’s actually better is usually somewhere between what’s there already and what designers is the ideal solution.
2. There are far more ways to fail at making something better than there are to succeed. How an experiment is coded can be the difference between success and failure.

From embarrassing stories to effective experiments

If you found either of these stories interesting, you might like my new book, “Design for Impact: Your Guide to Designing Effective Product Experiments.”

It’s published by the amazing folks over at Rosenfeld Media, and you can buy it online wherever awesome design books are sold.

If you live in Europe 🇪🇺
Buy the paperback version of Design for Impact directly from me, Erin, at www.ErinDoesThings.com and get a FREE “Make things better not just different” sticker.

If you live anywhere else in the world 🌎
Order “Design for Impact” directly through Rosenfeld Media. Each paperback purchase comes with the FREE ebook version.

Get “Design for Impact” on Rosenfeld Media here.

If you’d like to make Jeff Bezos even more rich 👹
Jeff Bezos said, “success at Amazon is a function of how many experiments we do per year, per month, per week, per day.”

And although Bezos is too rich for anyone’s good, Amazon does provide a very easy ordering experience — precisely because they experiment so much!

You can get “Design for Impact” on Amazon.com here

Happy experimenting!

Do you want to hear more from Erin? She will give a talk at the digital design conference Design Matters 24, which will take place in Copenhagen & Online, on Oct 23–25, 2024. Get your ticket here! Connect with Erin Weigel on LinkedIn.

When “good design” isn’t actually better was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Discover how Singapore is changing the world through design

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), established in 2004, aims to foster cooperation among cities that recognize creativity as a key driver for sustainable urban development. In 2015, Singapore joined this network as a City of Design. As a result, Singapore has paved their way to being one of the most design oriented cities in the world. Then it brings up a question: How can Singapore become an influential example in the world through environmental and societal advances?

Democratized approach to designers

Whether it is the appreciation of well-designed solutions, or the spaces Singaporeans live in, design can be seen to elevate daily life of the locals. As a result, Singapore has taken the approach of introducing design as part of different professions and encouraging professionals to take a broader perspective when making decisions in their work. DesignSingapore Council has launched a campaign called “People of Design” that credits people that focus on designing a better society and environment. Oh Chu Xian is one of the prime examples of Singaporeans who has introduced design to a completely unique field- construction. Throughout her journey, Oh has leveraged creative thinking to challenge conventions and transform post-plastic material innovation into a sustainable business model. Reflecting on her experience, she says, “I’ve had to be creative almost every single day of being a startup founder because everything is new.” Beyond this, she has realized the importance of reimagining established processes, even collaborating with her partners to design plastic waste recovery systems.

As seen from this example, enabling people to tap into design theory, methods or simply the creativity of it can have a big impact on the surroundings. What if business leaders, innovators and other professionals opened up to the idea of learning more about design? Could that be the catalyst for global change and innovation on multiple levels?

Designing for architecture

Singapore has established itself as a global leader in incorporating sustainable architecture into its urban landscape, achieving significant reductions in environmental impact while improving the quality of life and satisfaction for its residents.

Since the 1960s, Singapore has pursued the vision of becoming a “Garden City,” championed by its founder, Lee Kuan Yew. This initiative has led to extensive urban greening projects across the city-state that integrate nature into the city’s dense urban environment. As a result, green cover has increased significantly, now encompassing around 50% of the city-state. Central to these greening efforts is the concept of biophilic design, which seeks to enhance Singaporeans’ connection to the natural environment through architecture and the design efforts.

A prime example of this approach is Jewel Changi Airport, a pioneering structure that features the world’s tallest indoor waterfall and lush gardens within an airport mall. This centerpiece of Singapore’s world-class airport alleviates traveler and shopper fatigue with its innovative design. Despite being open for just two years, Jewel Changi Airport has become a major tourist attraction, redefining the traditional definition of an airport and establishing itself as a must-see destination.

Gardens by the Bay is a prime example of biophilia, featuring a futuristic nature park adorned with “supertrees” — steel-framed structures reaching up to 50 meters high, covered with over 150,000 real plants. Since its opening in 2012, the park has become a major attraction for both domestic and international visitors, as well as an important platform for biodiversity conservation.

Another captivating building in Singapore is the Oasia Hotel Downtown by WOHA. The entire 27-floor exterior facade of Oasia Hotel Downtown is enveloped in a vine-covered natural sunscreen, offering shade and reducing the need for air conditioning which is a known energy consumer. The hotel also boasts of sky terraces, nearly 2000 large-scale planter boxes, and 4 structural cores that help to ensure excellent cross ventilation. This significantly contributes to lowering overall energy costs and consumption. Oasia Hotel Downtown seamlessly incorporates green architecture into its design by featuring over 30 different plant species and more than 20 types of climber plants and vines.

The ongoing dedication to a “green and clean” Singapore is largely sustained by the strong morale and discipline of its citizens. As Singapore continues to evolve, it will undoubtedly innovate in reimagining structures and spaces, placing nature at the core of its construction efforts and truly living up to its “garden city” title.

Scholarships that inspire

In order to support the consistent innovation through design, for a small city-state like Singapore, the government offers different scholarships. It is less common in the Western World to support a specific industry and its professional development but it is more the efforts and success that get the attention. Singapore and DesignSingapore Council have taken a new approach by offering design specific scholarships to make sure to continue the environment and future oriented approach.

Those scholarships nurture the next generation of talent, allowing it to contribute to the design industry in any Singapore based company. This initiative opens up pathways to rewarding careers and opportunities to contribute to the advancement of the nation’s design industry. Since its establishment in 2005, the annually awarded scholarship has supported around 70 scholars who have become design leaders, driving the industry towards new horizons. These scholars have significantly impacted Singapore and the design profession by transforming organizations to be future-ready, fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration to spur innovation, and enhancing the curiosity for creativity in the next generation.

It is evident that the initiatives and creativity present in Singapore have changed the way the locals live and have set an example for the planet. It’s not only the government that tries to make a change but also the Singaporeans have a firm belief in a greener future. Furthermore, the changes initiated by the government enable the less design-oriented professionals to tap into the creativity and reflect on glocal design.

Sources

UNESCO creative city

Singapore greening and biophilic design

Sustainability in Singapore architecture

DesignSingapore Council Stories

DesignSingapore Council Scholarship

EXPLORING THE SINGAPORE DESIGN SCENE was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Questions With Fantastic Designers — with Paula Madrid

A quick interview with one of the most talented designers around

Paula Madrid is a Spanish architect and graphic designer who has worked at BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) since 2017. After two years in architectural design, Paula shifted her focus towards graphic design and visual communication, which is ultimately her true passion. She currently serves as the Global Manager for Graphic Design and Exhibitions.

Among Paula’s accomplishments is her participation in the design of the FORMGIVING exhibition at the Danish Architecture Center in 2019, as well as the subsequent publication of the monograph of the same name. Additionally, she was part of the team responsible for the redesign of BIG’s new website. Paula also recently led the team responsible for crafting the visual identity for the 3daysofdesign Festival in its 2024 edition.

Besides her professional pursuits, she enjoys exploring the world of digital art and illustration, where she blends creativity with technology to bring new ideas to life.

1. What design trends do you think will take off this year and more in the future?

I believe we’ll see a growing movement towards design that challenges the dominance of AI, we could call it something of an “Analog Revival”. I hope to see designers focusing on what makes us uniquely human, emphasizing creativity and emotional depth that AI can’t replicate.

I think people are already exploring traditional techniques such as hand-drawing, letterpress printing, and handcrafted typography more and more for this same reason. There’s a growing appreciation for imperfections or unique textures that only analog methods can offer, creating a sense of authenticity and emotional connection in design and this could not only enrich visual storytelling but also reflect a cultural shift towards valuing craftsmanship in a digital age.

2. When it comes to making design and the design industry more diverse, equal, and inclusive, what changes are needed or would you like to see?

At BIG, where I work alongside talented people from over 30 countries, I’ve experienced firsthand how diversity enriches the design process. I can confirm that this diversity is more than just an impressive statistic — it’s our creative catalyst. Embracing diversity not only brings different perspectives and cultural insights to the table but also fosters innovation and creativity. I think it’s crucial for the design industry to continue prioritizing inclusivity by actively hiring people from diverse backgrounds, even if they don’t speak the local language initially (as it happened to me here in Denmark!) … and maybe some free language classes or other cultural programs could also improve collaboration!

3. What are 2 things you were not taught in school (if you were formally trained in design) that you wished you had been taught?

I really wish we had been taught more about client communication in school. Early in my career, I realized how crucial it is to convey ideas clearly and listen to feedback effectively. It’s one thing to have a great design concept, but being able to articulate it to clients and incorporate their input is another skill entirely. Unfortunately, it is quite often that clients do not know what they want — and you need to find out for them.

Also, the business side of design, such as project management and budgeting, would have been incredibly useful to learn early on. It’s the boring part of design but skills like these are essential for running successful projects. I had to learn them on the job, often through trial and error and looking back, having a foundation in these areas would have made my life much easier.

4. What are the biggest challenges you’ve had to face as a designer? Did you overcome them? How?

One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a designer is learning to accept constructive criticism. In an era where likes and positive comments inflate our egos, it was tough for me to separate my personal attachment to my work from the feedback I received.

When I started working as a graphic designer, I struggled with this because I put so much of myself into my designs. Over time, though, I realized that being open to other people’s perspectives is essential for growth. I learned to view it as an opportunity to improve rather than a critique, and by actively seeking feedback, my work quality improved, and I built stronger relationships with my colleagues, who by the way also love being asked for their opinions — sometimes a little too much!

5. Why do you think Design Matters?

Design matters to me because it shapes how we experience the world. Good design makes our lives better — often without us even realizing it — through improving functionality and making things more beautiful, both at the same time. It’s not just about making things pretty, it’s about solving problems while making you forget you had problems in the first place.

Whether it’s a website that doesn’t make me want to throw my computer out the window, or a chair that doesn’t turn my back into a pancake after an hour, design shapes our world. For me, design is like being a superhero, but instead of fighting crime, you’re battling ugly stuff one project at a time.

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Do you want to hear more from Paula? She will give a talk at the digital design conference Design Matters 24, which will take place in Copenhagen & Online, on Oct 23–25, 2024. Her talk, titled “Crafting Clarity: the power of visual storytelling”, will explore storytelling, graphic design in relation to architecture. Get your ticket here! Connect with Paula Madrid on LinkedIn.

5 Questions With Fantastic Designers — with Paula Madrid was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Questions With Fantastic Designers — with Alastair Simpson

Alastair Simpson is a leader and mentor, serving as VP of Design at Dropbox. In this role, he leads the talented and diverse Design team at Dropbox across Brand, Product Design, Writing, and Research.

He loves working with multi-disciplinary teams to solve complex business and customer challenges. His passion — turning human-centered design inward, to create the future of work. Which was a catalyst behind Dropbox’s innovative Virtual First approach to remote work. It also inspired the Virtual First Toolkit, developed to capture Dropbox lessons to help businesses navigate the dramatic shift in office work, since the invention of the 40-hour work week.

Prior to Dropbox, Alastair was Head of Design at Atlassian for six years. Where he helped scale the design team from 20 to over 250 employees, and the company from 900–5000 employees, as well as through a successful IPO. He has also worked with other large brands, start-ups, and scale-ups across the U.S., UK, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia.

Alastair earned an honors degree from Brunel University, London. Obtaining knowledge within consumer behavior, psychology, business studies, marketing, and sport sciences. Alastair is a father, and currently living in the Bay Area with his wife and two kids, Frankie and Buddy, ages 9 and 7, who are a daily source of inspiration, pride, and learning. He’s also quite proud of his ever-growing tee-shirt collection.

1. What design trends do you think will take off this year and more in the future?

I think we’ll see a strong return of focus on the craft of design, and building quality products. For me, quality is a way of working. At the heart of that way of working is a focus on the foundational skills of the craft of design. For the last two decades, design as a discipline has sprawled -and the focus has been on scaling teams, turning design into a factory-like operation (in tandem, removing judgment, and taste from the process), and letting metrics alone define what we think great products look like. We lost our focus on the foundational aspects of our craft. And the result is that many products work just okay, and everything looks and feels very homogenous.

From this shift, I believe we’ve lost our way and no longer build products with a high degree of care or craft. We no longer build teams around a strong ethos of craft, which is needed to deliver quality products. And as we’ve scaled so fast, we’ve lost the true skills around the craft needed to deliver great products.

When you think about a physical or digital product that you truly love, you probably have that connection due to the designer who built it. They understood the skills underpinning their craft, and cared enough to make it special. They understood that they had a responsibility to make something that worked and mattered for their customer. We want more of this. I, therefore, think we’ll see the return of that strong focus on the craft of design and building quality products.

2. When it comes to making design and the design industry more diverse, equal, and inclusive, what changes are needed or would you like to see?

If companies haven’t explored the benefits of remote and distributed work yet, it’s time. At Dropbox, we have our remote-first operating model called Virtual First which I helped bring to life in 2020. Through this model and the move to remote work, we’re able to unlock pools of talent that were previously only found in the traditional tech hubs. Now we can tap into a more global, diverse talent base who really spark innovation, bring creativity to the table, and make us a better team. Our employees love the model because it combines the best of remote work with real in-person connection, which we know there is no substitute for. Our model also allows employees to design their workdays in a way that works best for them, and we have guidelines around when there is time for collaborating live with our colleagues, and other times can be used for deep, solo work. Because of the blend of remote and in-person, and our focus on true flexibility, we’ve found 90% of employees are satisfied with their ability to choose both when and where they work. They also report feeling more impactful, balanced, and productive, and that Virtual First helps them work more effectively than they would in an office.

Thinking of the design industry overall, it’s important to prioritize how we proactively grow the next generation of design leaders. Not only should we focus on growing representation in early career designers and monitoring our team makeup to ensure it’s representative across levels, but early career mentorship is key. Personally, mentorship has always been important to me, as I benefited from this greatly early on in my design career. I can recall just starting out in the industry, making tons of mistakes and learning as I was doing. At the time, I built my own usability testing lab in our office, but I got a great deal of advice and direction from a local Australian researcher who had her own company and was generous enough to let me ask her questions, absorb and learn from her. Even now as a VP of Design, I’m a part of a small group of peer design leaders from other large tech companies who offer support and guidance to one another, which has been so valuable. And as much as possible, I try to give back to the design community by running events like bi-quarterly external mentoring circles with URM designers — get in touch if you’d like to be added!

3. What are 2 things you were not taught in school (if you were formally trained in design) that you wished you had been taught?

Firstly, communication: I talk a lot about communication as a discipline with anyone that I coach or mentor. Communication is an art that I don’t believe we’re truly taught in school. Understanding the psychology behind how people communicate is incredibly important to our work, as well as understanding that communication and listening go hand in hand. When building for our customers, we have to listen and ask ourselves, why are we listening — are we listening to learn, to win, or are we listening to fix? We must be curious in this phase and truly listen to learn, and then apply those insights to our design.

Also, creating the best design doesn’t mean it will actually ship. However, effective communication and networking can positively impact this. Strong relationships with your peers in all areas of the business, like engineering, product, marketing, and other cross-functional teams, are just as powerful when it comes to actually shipping amazing design solutions.

Secondly, trust and teamwork: Closely linked to the importance of communication is the ability to build trust with peers and teams that you work with. Throughout my career, I’ve often been asked how to build trust with colleagues or with different teams. We don’t generally talk about how to build trust, and I find that it has taken on the form of some mythical and hard-to-define concept. When, in my honest opinion, the reality is very different.

I think about trust in three simple vectors: Credibility deals with our knowledge or expertise — is what we’re saying backed by data, or solid first-hand experience? Reliability deals with our actions and our ability to deliver on commitments — do we follow through as promised? And lastly, showing that you care deals with vulnerability, how well we are known by others and how much interest we take in our coworkers — do we ask genuine questions about our co-workers to better know and understand them? If you can get all of these things right, then you will be on your way to building trust with your teammates and within your organization.

4. What are the biggest challenges you’ve had to face as a designer? Did you overcome them? How?

The biggest realization I’ve had thus far is as you get further into your career journey, the hard skills are mostly the same. The real challenge becomes more around managing and developing yourself as a person, not just as a professional. This includes a variety of things, like dealing with stress in a positive way, staying healthy in both body and mind -and creating necessary boundaries. The more senior your position, the bigger the impact is from the decisions you have to make. As a senior leader, I probably only make three to five key decisions per year, but those decisions have multi-year impacts. Frankly, I need to be getting them right more often than getting them wrong, which naturally is quite stressful.

Learning to manage yourself at any level is critical, to avoid burnout and show up as your best self, but the further you grow in your career, the more critical this becomes. Earlier on, I used to think that senior folks just had it “figured out” and mastered all of these things effortlessly. Now through experience, I’ve learned having it “figured out” actually takes intention and effort. I have the notion of having “Team Alastair” around me, including a therapist, executive coach, personal trainer, mentors, and a partner who all help me maintain balance so that I can maintain peak-level performance. It’s analogous to a professional sports team that has these people around them to help give them the extra 1%. But regardless if you have a team around you, it’s integral to figure out what makes you tick, whether that be exercise, meditation, hobbies, or community, and you have to make time in your schedule for that.

5. Why do you think Design Matters?

To quote the great Robert L. Peters, “Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.”

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Do you want to hear more from Alastair? He will give a talk at the digital design conference Design Matters 24, taking place in October 2024. Get your ticket to the event here. Connect with Alastair on X @alanstairs or via LinkedIn.

Don’t forget to check out the new spring release by the Dropbox Team.

Discover all the design events and conferences by Design Matters! Seize the opportunity to learn from an amazing cast of international designers in a series of events — in June in Tokyo & Online, and in October in Copenhagen & Online.

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5 Questions With Fantastic Designers — with Alastair Simpson was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How creative minds manage stress and thrive in the creative industry

In 2024, a report on creative wellbeing was published by Emmi Salonen from Studio Emmi, creator of the Creative Ecosystem — a model designed to nurture and sustain creative wellbeing. She conducted research and published a report that presents findings from a survey gathering perspectives from people working in the creative industry. Below you can find the summary of her report and with some unique and relevant insights.

The challenges of creative minds

Creative hurdles

The study establishes that designers face challenges in 4 main areas which are: motivation, management, innovation time and pay. The most prominent issue among the creatives turned out to be the lack of motivation which can be opposed either by external challenges of facing the difficulty of staying inspired in self-initiated endeavours. As many designers in one shape or form act as freelancers, it can be extremely difficult to find or create projects that can be initiated and completed efficiently. Working solo on projects can often put a restraint on innovation, pushing boundaries and exploring ideas. This is also paired with the lack of time and resources to start projects over in case of unsuccessful explorations.

“What I find most challenging is the competition present in the industry and the complexity of defining myself as a creative professional in a field in constant flux.”

The pressure to create on demand, coupled with unclear briefs, poor communication, irregular work hours, and project management issues, makes managing creative projects complex. Added to this, there’s often a lack of appreciation for creative work.

Negative stories

The research dives into how creatives perceive themselves in the work-creative environment. As found out, the large majority struggle with feelings of inadequacy. Many shared their personal experiences with self-doubt, fearing they were too slow, lacking creativity, or feeling out of touch.

Despite these overwhelming feelings, some individuals have found solace in positive affirmations, transforming negativity by understanding its roots. For instance, what was once perceived as laziness was recognised as valuable thinking, resting, and daydreaming. Adopting such positive mantras has helped some to combat debilitating self-doubt and could be a small change and piece of encouragement that can help to build workplace confidence.

It’s essential to become comfortable with challenging thoughts and feelings, acknowledging that most of us face similar internal conflicts. Finding a way to accept the doubt and feelings is what takes designers one step closer to finding the confidence and comfort in discomfort.

Finding the remedies to challenges

• Define success

We yearn to be recognized for our efforts, and ultimately, we need to feel connected to others, our work and our selves, to be happy — and therefore successful. As long as our work supports us, and we feel happy and inspired in what we do, we can say we are succeeding.

• Stay connected

Maintaining relationships and connections is vital for creativity as it exposes us to diverse perspectives and ideas, fosters collaboration, and provides emotional support, all of which are essential for stimulating creative thinking and generating innovative solutions.

• Maintain inspiration

In order to grow and get inspired it’s vital to keep an open mind, continually learn, and share your thoughts, inspirations, and influences with others.

• Create habits

Bringing awareness to oneself and making deliberate choices through reframing, changing, adding or stopping habits can have a profound impact on your happiness and contentment. Whether it’s swimming, spending time in nature, or even taking a brief moment to acknowledge the clouds above, these moments can bring balance, mindfulness, and rejuvenation.

***

To read more examples of other creatives and to find out all the ways to feel better and more comfortable among the creative industry, read the entire report by Emmi here!

Creative Wellbeing Insights was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How this design philosophy can improve your products, processes, and employee relationships

Three short words haunt every founder’s dreams: product-market fit. Product-market fit means that a company has created a widget or service that a segment of consumers are willing, or even eager, to pay for because it solves a significant problem in their lives. If the founder is seeking investment, it’s even better if the company can demonstrate how it will scale — i.e., if enough people are willing to pay enough money for the company’s growth to be exponential.

Product-market fit may be a simple concept, but it can be incredibly difficult to achieve. Founders often start companies and build technology to address one of their own problems. They make an educated guess about what customers need based on their personal experiences. While this is a good starting place for designing and building, the team must validate the hypothesis to truly understand why and how customers use their products.

Additionally, the company needs to recruit the right members to the team. The company needs a balance of skill sets, backgrounds, and experience to design, build, test, market, and sell a product and keep the operational gears of the organization running smoothly.

So, what do building a product and building a team have in common? They are composed of many processes. Each process must be designed, and each can create learning and efficiency or cause a breakdown in development or culture.

Native uses human-centered design for every aspect of our business, from hiring to running meetings to building products. We use this design strategy because Native’s leadership team (Ben Lang, Camila Reyes, and Lukas Novak) has always been very close to design and uses these principles in every decision. What is human-centered design? Harvard Business School defines it as “a problem-solving technique that puts real people at the center of the development process, enabling you to create products and services that resonate and are tailored to your audience’s needs.” This article will share how we use human-centered design in our customer-facing and internal processes.

Human-Centered Design in Product Development

Native uses design principles in every step of the product design, creation, and iteration process. In the design phase, we gather stakeholders from within the company to provide input on what our customers might want to see. These meetings include leadership, engineering, design, sales, and customer service team members. Native creates multilingual, secure, and real-time messaging tools, and our team has all joined the company because we understand the challenges that language barriers can pose in the workplace. We have teammates in nine countries and speak more than ten languages; some of us don’t speak English. So, we are the best team to understand and solve the challenge of language barriers in the workplace. The design team listens to the discussion about our potential customers’ goals and creates a first draft of what a product or feature might look like. Then, we all return to the table to critique and refine the design. Sometimes, this refining process takes several rounds.

When we have a prototype ready to present to the world, we kick off a research process with two goals: 1) to better understand customers’ pain points and 2) to gather feedback on our initial prototypes.

We use surveys for the first part of our research. Surveys help us identify our target market by answering the questions: Who is facing the problem we are solving? What group has the highest pain point? Who is likely to use technology to address the issue? And what kinds of technology are they already using? We can gain some insights into the most commonly used communications tools in different industries and parts of the world.

Talking face-to-face with potential customers through interviews is the second way we conduct research. If surveys answer the question “What?” interviews answer “Why?” and “How?” We use interviews to answer the following questions: What do customers like about communications tools, and what frustrates them? What challenges do they face communicating with teammates and customers? What would make them more efficient and effective? And we also show them our prototypes. Interviews are a big “aha” moment for us because this is when we find out if our hypotheses are correct or need adjustment. Are our tools intuitive? What are customers thinking about as they navigate through a new product? What features would improve their experience?

After we document our research, the team meets again to iterate on prototypes, and then we start to build the actual product. But research doesn’t end there; we also conduct research while we develop and improve our product. And we continue this practice throughout the entire product lifecycle. Engagement with our customers is the best way to ensure we build products and stack them with features that our customers need.

Human-Centered Design for Teams and Operations

Most people think that human-centered design was created specifically for the customer:

• How to build products that speak to them.
• How to interact with customers in a way that enables their success.
• How we keep retention high.

But what about our “internal customers,” the team members building, testing, and selling our products? Employees are a company’s most valuable asset because their knowledge and productivity are essential to running a successful business. According to Mehdi Dadkhah, “All intangible assets such as patents, copyrights, intellectual property, brands, trademarks, and R&D are created by people. Therefore, people matter most to you and your business.”

We agree with this assessment! At Native, we are just as intentional about designing our internal processes and building relationships inside the company as we are about designing products.

An employee’s experience with a company starts with their application. We have a systematic process for our job applicants: we post a clear job description and ask candidates to submit their resumes. Those with applicable experience are then invited for an interview with the hiring manager. If that conversation goes well, the candidate has a week to complete an exercise or share a portfolio of work, depending on the role they are applying for. Final candidates meet with our leadership team. We follow up with candidates promptly at every stage of the process, such as acknowledging receiving their materials, informing them that we won’t be moving forward, or making an offer of employment.

Because of the clarity and timeliness of this process, we have received positive feedback from numerous candidates, whether they were hired or not. Here is one example:

“First, I wanted to thank you for your time and say that I am fascinated with the idea that you have. Surely it will be very successful. Also, you made the interview easy with smiles and a good time, since it is stressful for the candidate to introduce themselves and have a fluid conversation.” — Developer candidate

Internal processes are all interconnected: soliciting job applicants leads to interviews, and interviews lead to hiring and onboarding. We have structured our onboarding process to include:

A welcome message from leadership at the start of the employee’s first day. This note sets the tone that leadership is accessible and open to answering questions.

An onboarding document that explains the basics of the company:

• A list of current team members and their contact information so new employees know how to get in touch.
• Explanations of all the company’s terms and products so there is no confusion over terminology.
• Links to important documents, like the company’s brand book, policies, and one-on-one meeting notes
• A list of IT and tools the employee has access to. We also ask how knowledgeable the person is about each tool so we can provide in-depth onboarding when needed. Accounts are set up in advance so the employee can get to work immediately.
• Information on how we communicate internally. This is a big one! We are entirely remote and spread around the globe. We cannot succeed if we don’t know how and when to collaborate.
• A list of other resources, such as videos on leadership and how to reduce the number of meetings we hold each week. This also sets the tone for our company culture.

We have not always gotten the onboarding process right. For example, a new team member was once locked out of his email account, and as a result, it took a whole day for him to access onboarding messages and programs that required email to sign in. But like any good design, our onboarding process has gone through iterations. We created an onboarding template we review and update each time we hire a new team member. We also have an onboarding checklist with each task required, the order in which it needs to be completed, and the person responsible so that we don’t miss any steps when we’re welcoming someone new. We want to make the best first impression — that we are attentive and professional and expect two-way communication.

We are just as detail-oriented and professional in our communications with customers. We aim for them to have a seamless experience when buying from Native. This experience must be carefully designed and orchestrated when part of the process is manual. We have created internal documentation about how products are built and how we onboard customers to ensure everyone on the team understands their role when working with customers.

We recently launched a product that functions well to solve the customer’s pain point, but the onboarding process is not entirely automated. We could have emailed each customer to ask for the account holder’s name, subscription type, and payment information, but each touchpoint creates more friction and makes it more likely that we will lose the customer.

So, we designed a workflow that automatically directs the customer to input each necessary bit of data into secure platforms and then alerts our team to activate the subscription immediately. Once the subscription is activated, our development team alerts the customer success team, who then reaches out to the customer to welcome them, provides helpful hints on getting started, and offers an in-person tutorial on how to get the most out of the product. We have drafted and redrafted the email the customer receives to answer the most common questions about the product. We also direct them to a Help Center that answers questions we have received about the product and includes visual examples of how the product works.

Working in a startup environment can feel chaotic: we are running as fast as possible to build products and grow revenues. We, like most startups, face a learning curve on most days. Yes, we have expertise in product development, finance, and operations, but we are also building brand-new technology that our customers have never used before. So, we are building a culture of learning and iterative improvement within our team. We make guesses, and sometimes we make mistakes. But we learn from each experience. When we feel unsure about how to approach a new project, we work together, asking for advice and feedback. Little by little, we learn and improve the next time we step through the same process. This iterative approach to building our company through human-centered design translates into better internal communications, company policies, products, and more satisfied customers.

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If you want to find more about Native and what they are working with, make sure to check out their website!

Sources

What Is Human-Centered Design? | HBS Online

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/9-reasons-why-your-employees-companys-most-valuable-asset-dadkhah/

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Human-Centered Design at the Heart of Your Organization was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Getting users engaged with our services, content and features in a modern digital playfield

In an era where capturing the attention of users is vital, how do we effectively tell stories about companies, brands, or newly launched features while utilizing technological advancement? This article talks about a shift in effective storytelling in the digital world and gives a glimpse into how it can be implemented.

The digital storytelling landscape is undergoing a transformation, moving away from traditional linear narratives to immersive experiences that significantly enhance audience engagement. One of the most recent examples being the Spotify Wrapped, which was incorporated by many brands to their yearly recap content and digital campaigns in the end of 2023.

Whether for cinematic VR experiences, branding, or marketing, immersive storytelling leverages the latest technologies to foster a unique sense of presence in alternate environments. With a significant perceived decrease in the users attention span, as found by King’s College London professors, creating digital content, whether it is illustrations, videos or other forms of depicting a story, in more captivating formats.

Technologies empowering immersive storytelling

The integration of cutting-edge technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have revolutionized immersive storytelling. These technologies enable new ways to engage with narratives, creating experiences that were once difficult or impossible. Let’s delve into how each technology contributes to immersive storytelling.

VR immerses users in the narrative world, offering a 360-degree experience that places them at the heart of the story. This immersive quality allows users to interact directly with the environment and characters, ranging from moving objects to choosing narrative paths, therefore personalizing the storytelling experience. The sensation of being “inside” the story intensifies emotional connections, empathy for characters, and engagement with the story’s outcomes.

AR overlays digital information onto the real world, which can be used to add layers of story to everyday environments. This can transform a simple location into a stage for narrative events, with users’ surroundings becoming an integral part of the story. Similar to VR, AR enables users to interact with the story in a tangible way. AR’s blend of digital and real-world elements facilitates unique interactive experiences, like solving physical puzzles that affect the story. Its accessibility via smartphones and tablets broadens audience engagement, opening up new possibilities for storytelling in education and design.

AI offers dynamic story adaptation by responding to user choices or actions in real time, creating a deeply personalized storytelling experience. This includes modifying dialogue, story outcomes, or environments to suit user interactions. AI-powered characters can interact with users in a more natural way, thanks to advances in natural language processing, making the narrative more authentic. AI also supports content creation within stories, generating customized text, images, or music, ensuring each user’s experience is unique and tailored to their journey through the story.

Enhancing Engagement with Immersive Storytelling Elements

Scroll-based animation

Scroll animations provide many advantages, such as emphasizing key areas, acting as confirmation for user actions, introducing micro-interactions, triggering positive emotional responses, and enhancing the narratives on the website. Scroll based animations can also help carve out a distinct brand identity, elevating the overall accessibility and enjoyment of a site or application. However, the effective use of animations requires understanding their nuances and how they interact with different user actions like hovering, clicking, and scrolling. The diverse benefits and applications of scroll animations underscore their popularity in web design, showcasing their role in creating visually appealing and user-friendly websites.

Rich Media

With the increase of device and browsing power, the web content includes high-resolution media which is implemented through images and videos. Digital stories typically use rich media to make a powerful impact and initiate the commonly known shock effect, making the stories more captivating. This technique is more commonly used in marketing space, which can often be seen in social inequality, environment or abuse prevention commercials. The rich media can be seen in the use of transitions, media embeds as well as different effects such as glitching, that are often influenced by digital trends.

Responsiveness and intuitive actions

Known as a good practice in UX and UI, incorporating responsive design and intuitive actions is one of the key elements in creating a great story. When developing a Virtual Reality experience, interactivity must be thoughtfully designed to offer logical actions, enhancing user immersion within the narrative.

When the story is told through digital devices like a smartphone or computer, the story has to be responsive on all devices. If the story is responsive on desktop but not on smartphone, the designer is creating an unresponsive solution that likely will create more dissatisfaction than curiosity to engage in the content, refraining from increasing the user retention and satisfaction.

Font and layout optimization

Another element that helps increase the usability of a website/app and the attention span of the users is to make use of unique fonts that vary in different text parts. The fonts help to break up the layout of the content, making it easier for the user to focus on new pieces of information. Creating a layout that provides a different information structure can help to maintain the interest of the reader to continue interacting further. Garoa exemplifies a use of fascinating typography that captures the attention while incorporating moving elements and images that convey the message along with the text.

Immersive Storytelling in Action: Digital Design Examples

Here you can see 3 immersive stories. The first example is from a VR experience based exhibition that was screened in 2023 at the Museum of Moving Image in New York City. On the Morning You Wake leverages groundbreaking documentary storytelling and virtual production methods to convey the real-life experiences of individuals who, during a span of 38 minutes, faced the daunting challenge of making critical decisions amidst the threat of nuclear violence. The story takes advantage of various storytelling techniques and merges with the VR technology. You can have a look at the trailer of the documentary story here.

In 2019, Stuart A. Thompson and Charlie Warzel published an opinion article in the The New York Times called: “Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy.” The article quickly became known as One Nation, Tracked — The Privacy Project. The article focuses on diving deeper into the smartphone tracking and personal privacy in the United States, right at the critical era of reviewing privacy laws in Europe and the US. On the website you can see the data visualization of over 50 billion location pings from more than 12 million Americans’ phones during 2016 and 2017, tracking user movements in major cities. This form of immersive visualization has a significant impact on the perception of the importance of the issue and therefore proves to be a powerful tool for storytelling in digital space.

What is Missing website that serves as an educational hub, shedding light on the Earth’s sixth mass extinction, encompassing the loss of species, habitats, and more. In 2023, the solution was a Activism Webby Award Winner. Upon entry to the website, a captivating rendition of our planet, crafted from dots, greets the user. Within this virtual landscape, you can find a wide selection of categories to explore, each offering profound insights into the various facets of the natural world that have fallen victim to human activities. Throughout this immersive journey, the soundscapes featuring the calls of vanishing wildlife and the whispers of the wind serve as a mournful accompaniment to the unfolding narrative. This website stands as a powerful example of digital storytelling in raising awareness and fostering appreciation for the delicate beauty of the Earth.

Sources

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/are-attention-spans-really-collapsing-data-shows-uk-public-are-worried-but-also-see-benefits-from-technology
https://www.onthemorningyouwake.com
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html
https://www.halo-lab.com/blog/scroll-animations-for-your-website
https://www.whatismissing.org/
https://persepolis.getty.edu/

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Immersive Storytelling: Dimensions in Digital Narratives was originally published in DeMagSign on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.