Speaking recently with current and former colleagues about the constant push by thought leaders to “empathize with the business” and I felt the need to illustrate how this feels very counter to the intent of UX.
Hi everyone!
We are a group of college students currently conducting a usability study on Quizlet for our Ux design course.
We want to know what frustrates you (or what you love) about the platform to help us suggest improvements. The survey is completely anonymous and should only take about 3 minutes.
Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NY7CJGRsxJTM7eoTY7E6QWSLyCX26KUPtF_jyctJAB8/edit
I’m looking for senior service design roles and trying to go beyond the usual places. Right now I mostly use:
- Company websites
- Sometimes Google Jobs
Glassdoor hasn’t been very useful.
Where do you usually find good opportunities?
Any job boards, recruiters, or communities you’d recommend? Feels like I might be missing something. (Also I’m avoiding the public sector, I’m coming from it)
Hi everyone :) I’m a graphic designer transitioning into UX/UI and currently reworking my portfolio with fictional case studies (contests, hackathons, personal projects).
Right now I’m refining my Designflows 2025 project—using the winners’ work as a benchmark to improve my own.
I’d really appreciate feedback, especially on the high-fidelity screens (I’m still struggling with the visual design and color palette), but also on the user flow and wireframes. I’d also appreciate any recommendations for specific platforms or resources where I can get feedback on my portfolio projects.
PDF files on my Google Drive:
High-Fidelity Screens
User Flow
Thanks in advance!
Lately, I’ve been noticing how much small UX decisions change how I feel about a product, not just how I use it.
Like, two apps can technically do the same thing, but one just feels smoother, calmer… less annoying. And it’s not always obvious why. Sometimes it’s the way errors are handled, sometimes it’s how fast something responds, sometimes it’s just the wording.
What’s weird is that I rarely remember the “good” experiences in detail, but I definitely remember the frustrating ones.
Makes me wonder how much of UX is about removing friction vs actually adding delight.
Curious how others think about this. Do you focus more on eliminating pain points or intentionally designing moments that feel good?
Everyone talks about how revolutionary AI chat interfaces are. But the more I use them, the more I think the chat interaction model itself may be one of the darkest UX patterns we’ve normalized.
Here’s why:
Most software behaves like a tool. It has visible boundaries.
AI chat interfaces break that mental model completely.
They present themselves as conversation. And conversation is something humans are deeply wired for. We naturally associate chat with another mind on the other side — someone intelligent, responsive, socially aware, and capable of understanding intent.
That creates a powerful illusion:
You’re not “using software.”
You feel like you’re talking to someone highly competent, infinitely patient, and ready to help with anything.
That shift matters more than people realize.
Because unlike traditional tools, chat-based AI rarely responds with hard boundaries. It doesn’t often say:
Instead, it tends to generate an answer. Maybe useful. Maybe wrong. Maybe fabricated. Maybe confident nonsense.
And since it arrives in polished conversational form, many users interpret fluency as truth.
So the dark pattern isn’t just anthropomorphism. It’s the combination of:
That combination can weaken skepticism in ways traditional interfaces never could.
A calculator that gives a wrong answer feels broken.
A chatbot that gives a wrong answer can feel persuasive.
To be clear: AI tools are incredibly useful. This isn’t anti-AI.
It’s a UX critique.
We may have adopted chat because it’s the easiest wrapper for language models—not because it’s the healthiest interface for human judgment.
Maybe future AI interfaces should behave less like people and more like tools:
Right now, many AI products optimize for feeling helpful, not being legible.
And that may be one of the most consequential design decisions of this era.
Curious if others feel this tension, or if chat is simply the best bridge we currently have.
I’m currently working at a large consultancy and want to leave as soon as possible.
So far, most of my experience has been in public sector projects as a product designer. I’ve now got an offer from a smaller consultancy that specialises in public sector work. That’s not really where I want to stay long-term, but I’m considering taking it as a stepping stone to eventually move into the private sector.
One thing I’m unsure about is the job title — the role is “Interaction Designer” rather than “Product Designer.”
Will having “Interaction Designer” as my title make it harder for me to move into a Product Designer role later on? Or does it not matter as much as the actual work and experience?
Long term, I definitely want to position myself as a Product Designer, so I don’t want to accidentally limit my options.
Would appreciate any advice or experiences from people who’ve made a similar move.
Title: Interaction Designer vs UX Designer roles — which matters more for long-term direction?
Post:
I’m currently trying to move on from a large consultancy and have two offers on the table, both paying roughly the same.
One is an Interaction Designer role with Opencast, and the other is a UX Designer role with Methods. Both are in the public sector space, which I’m not hugely passionate about long term, but I see either as a potential stepping stone.
The thing is — I’m not particularly set on becoming a “Product Designer” or any specific “X Designer” title in the future. I’m more focused on doing good work and keeping my options open.
So right now, it feels less about the title and more about things like company culture, the type of projects, and overall which place would be better to work at day-to-day.
Has anyone had experience with either company, or been in a similar position choosing between roles like this? How much weight would you put on title vs culture/work environment at this stage?
Any insight would be really appreciated!
I am having issues with the custom poster editor. Most people tend to bounce, and the add-to-cart rate is very low. Is this a UI or UX issue, or something completely different?
I initially thought the UI/UX was quite good, but now I’m doubtful.
Hi there,
I'm researching stakeholder override prevalence in UX practice for my Master's in Design.
Please can you help me in understand your perspectives.
⏰ 3-min survey
✅ 100% Anonymous ✓ 1 page ✓ Mobile-friendly
Help build governance tools for evidence-based design!
Please feel free to share with designers who might be interested, much appreciated.
Thank you for your time! 🙏
Title: Interaction Designer vs UX Designer roles — which matters more for long-term direction?
Post:
I’m currently trying to move on from a large consultancy and have two offers on the table, both paying roughly the same.
One is an Interaction Designer role with Opencast, and the other is a UX Designer role with Methods. Both are in the public sector space, which I’m not hugely passionate about long term, but I see either as a potential stepping stone.
The thing is — I’m not particularly set on becoming a “Product Designer” or any specific “X Designer” title in the future. I’m more focused on doing good work and keeping my options open.
So right now, it feels less about the title and more about things like company culture, the type of projects, and overall which place would be better to work at day-to-day.
Has anyone had experience with either company, or been in a similar position choosing between roles like this? How much weight would you put on title vs culture/work environment at this stage?
Any insight would be really appreciated!
I’m working on a UX project about stress and burnout in tech, something that affects more people than we talk about.If you have 3–5 minutes, your experience would really help me understand it better 🙏https://forms.gle/bhFM1QwqGwtFgt2k7
Is there anyone who has pivoted from product design to product management? Looking to understand why you made that move and how you went about it? Also, are you happy with the move and why?
This is my UI/UX design for one of those "aesthetic macbook apps" to show scores on ur notch
Is there anything I could improve, do you think it's too big, what should I change about it to make it more convenient (like add shortcuts?)
I'm a first-year B.Des student and I've been trying to find a solid UX problem to work on for my college design project not a redesign of an existing app, but an actual problem rooted in real user frustration or an underserved need.
The issue is, every time I come up with something, it either feels too vague ("people waste time"), too niche to be relatable, or already solved a hundred times over. I've tried:
- Observing everyday friction points around me
- Going through Reddit threads of complaints
- Thinking about communities I'm part of (students, small-town users in India, etc.)
But I always hit a wall when trying to validate whether the problem is *actually* worth designing for.
For those of you who've been through this — how did you find the problem that led to your best portfolio work? Was it through structured research, personal experience, or just stumbling into it?
Would love to hear how you approach problem discovery, especially early in your career. Any frameworks, habits, or mindset shifts that helped?
Thanks in advance 🙏
Hey everyone,
I’m doing a quick UX research project on the visa application process (any country).
If you’ve applied for a visa before, I’d love to hear about your experience — what was confusing, stressful, or took the most time.
It’s a short 2-minute survey:
👉 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzOcJuV3clCLzfB7_cT_1aqHenHi8zurbTBDujqrK0Jm-YKw/viewform?usp=header
Really appreciate your help 🙏
Hey there! I created this product a while ago and sold it on Amazon, truth is I understand less and less people are using their credit cards physically. But I still thought it was a good idea. I believe older people want to keep their information safe.
Can you take a look and tell me your thoughts? Also how to make it better
Not here to spam, just sharing something that might genuinely help.
I’ve got a pretty large collection of high-quality design assets — Figma, Framer, and Webflow templates across basically every use case. Portfolios (personal, photography, architecture), SaaS, fintech, edtech, landing pages, UI kits, full design systems, apps — the works.
The difference from the random free stuff you find online? These actually look and function like something a senior designer spent weeks on. Real components, real systems, not just pretty screenshots that fall apart when you start editing.
Drop a comment or message me what you’re working on and I’ll let you know what I’ve got. Happy to help
Hey folks,
I have around 3 years of experience in design and I’m looking to upskill with a course that actually adds value to my resume.
I’m specifically looking for something that:
* covers AI in design workflows
* includes design systems
* is relevant for the Indian market
Not looking for something too basic, more hands-on and practical would be ideal.
Any recommendations or personal experiences would really help.
Thanks in advance :)
