Interface Café

Setting up a Bluesky account just for Interface Café posts, separate from the rest of my personal posts :) Give it a follow if you only want design opinions from me! – @iamli.am

Staying creative with a design system means knowing when and how to break it. interfacecafe.com/doubleshot-g... #DesignSystems

“Taste” and “craft” are often discussed as a shield (or a strawman) in conversations about AI. But debates on taste vs. automation are meaningless until we actually define our terms. Here is the definition we need: interfacecafe.com/craft-in-the... #designsky

"Nature can only be fenced in so much." Can the same be said for design? A meditation on gardening, the limits of information, and why knowing facts about an object might feel unfulfilling. interfacecafe.com/meditation-o... #designsky

Untangling some of the abstract and ambiguous possibilities of designing with AI. interfacecafe.com/doubleshot-d... #AI #Design #FutureOfDesign

Should an expand arrow point up or down? Components often struggle with the distinction between state and function. Find out why the answer might actually be in the button's shape. 👇 interfacecafe.com/the-state-of... #designsky

In a world obsessed with novelty, David Reinfurt reminds us that in design, 'it's more important to be true than new.' interfacecafe.com/doubleshot-t... #Design

“The goal of foreseeing an unknowable future leads to misunderstandings of the present.” A quote from Tom Boellstorff that feels more relevant than ever.

The features in our design tools imply something about which tasks should be possible and how they should be carried out. interfacecafe.com/doubleshot-l... #DesignTools #CreativeProcess #Design

In a 🆕 Doubleshot newsletter, I break down my recent @design-notes.show conversation with Rachel Been, SVP of Design for Expedia Group. interfacecafe.com/doubleshot-h... #designsky

How type design made me see all the “fixed” logos on social media in a new, dimmer light. interfacecafe.com/letting-go-o... #GraphicDesign #Logos #Typography

New Design Notes and Doubleshot coming this week :)

A special ep with PM Aneesha Kommineni, UX Researcher Michael Gilbert, and Creative Director Andy Stewart, going over the M3 Expressive updates. interfacecafe.com/design-notes... #MaterialDesign #DesignSystems #Podcast

📣 Calling all Design Notes listeners: What other design or creative podcasts do you listen to regularly? Let me know in the replies! #designsky

It’s freeing to think about returning to a site built in Notepad as a more direct expression. Jarrett Fuller unpacks simple tools in this essay. interfacecafe.com/read-this-ja... #WebDesign #IndieWeb #Simplicity

A post from Nico Thornley, Brenton Simpson, Julia Feldman, and Michael Gilbert about research the team did to determine how users perceive Material 3. interfacecafe.com/read-this-wh... #MaterialDesign #UserResearch #UIUX

In a brand new issue of Doubleshot, I reflect on the importance of careful and intentional abstraction, and the aesthetic impact that can be created by mystery. interfacecafe.com/levels-of-ab... #designsky

Can technical expertise be a creative trap? In a new Design Notes, Fabian Bircher explains how to break free of what's technically possible to make a greater creative impact.

A new issue of the Doubleshot is set to go out next Wednesday! Sign up now so you don't miss it, and catch up on previous design tips, tools, and theory. interfacecafe.com/tag/doublesh...

At the height of Google+, many Android dev, customization, and fan community members were hanging out there. Here’s what I think it got right: interfacecafe.com/one-thing-go... #GooglePlus #SocialMedia #TBT

The way metaphor permeates the interface points to a continued struggle with the complexity introduced by the things we’ve created. interfacecafe.com/metaphor-and... #Design #UX #Metaphor

The most interesting explorations are those that show something unexpected: the importance of creating a slight unbalance or a new focal point in the composition. interfacecafe.com/doubleshot-0... #DesignThinking #CreativeProcess #DesignSystems

On an infinitely scrolling, algorithmic list, scrolling past something is about the least intentional thing one could do. interfacecafe.com/view-counts-... #SocialMedia #Design #UserExperience

Connecting historic conceptions of adaptable design with contemporary visions, looking toward a truly adaptive future. interfacecafe.com/the-future-o... #AdaptiveDesign #FutureofDesign #SpeculativeDesign

If Googling doesn’t give you the numbers you need, or you just want to show off your math skills, here’s a relatively easy way to determine the relevant metrics for your designs. interfacecafe.com/how-to-find-... #Design #AndroidDev #UIUX

Tomorrow, a new Doubleshot newsletter goes out, pondering the primacy of the “problem” in the design process. Sign up to get it directly in your inbox 💌

From Le Corbusier to Figma, “design is, at its core, a permanently subject-oriented discipline.” To realize the potential of this coming era of design, we must reconsider the nature of the objects we create.

Adaptability to the individual is a persistent vision that’s engaged a long line of thinkers and practitioners in computing since day one. Trace its history (and predict its future) in this summer reading list 📚 interfacecafe.com/adaptive-ind... #designsky

In a new Doubleshot, some thoughts (and resources) on the irreplaceable creativity of the mind and how individual subjectivity, on a fundamental level, can’t be generated. ☕️ interfacecafe.com/mindmade-ai-... #designsky

Tomorrow, a new Doubleshot newsletter will go out centered on what distinguishes generation and creation. Sign up to get it directly to your inbox, or on Interface Café ☕️ interfacecafe.com/tag/doublesh... #designsky

The interface subtly evokes and communicates possibility. For an example, look no further than the chair you’re probably sitting on right now. 🪑 interfacecafe.com/chair-as-int...

If you like Design Notes, consider helping the show by leaving a rating on your favorite podcast platform! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you leave a review, you’ll get a shoutout on the next episode 💌 Find the show on your favorite app: design-notes.show

In a new episode—Rob Giampietro returns to the show for a case study on @Notion.com Faces. Rob and I cover: • The irreplaceable joy in hand-drawn assets • The role of expression in #UX • How to ship ambitious design projects 📻 Tune in:

To go along with this week’s Doubleshot newsletter, take some time to revisit this @design-notes.show episode with Cameron Koczon, in which Koczon explains the importance of designing tools—products that simply facilitate user intent.

In a 🆕 Doubleshot newsletter: Is software like Figma or Sketch actually a tool? How should we think about these platforms in relation to our work? Plus, some curated practical tips for the week ☕️

From ideation to creating and running the interface, I broke down—in a previous Doubleshot—the spectrum of possible landing places I see for generative AI in the process of creating UI.

A new issue of the Doubleshot newsletter is coming out next week, and it’s all about the relationship designers have to their tools. Sign up to get resources, prompts for thought, and a little theory on the tools we use in our everyday practice. interfacecafe.com/tag/doublesh... #designsky

🆕 on Interface Café, I had to take a minute to break down a subtle typographic detail hiding in the new Goodreads logo. interfacecafe.com/the-subtle-t... #designsky

Liquid Glass stands in a long line of interface systems that seek to demonstrate technical sophistication and newness. Read more:

I continue to have too much fun drawing weird little coffee cups for my blog. interfacecafe.com/tag/doublesh...

After the launch of M3 Expressive, it’s a good time to revisit this piece about what kind of emotions a design update can evoke:

A new Doubleshot will be out next week! Check out the most recent issue and sign up so you get the next one ☕

“We share. We make. It’s about as democratic as it gets ... basically what I’m saying is we’re creating a jazz solo out of the creative process.” Creative Director Mitch Paone describes design as a musical composition in this ep of @design-notes.show

Design is neither an object nor a process. Design is a system. In this post from last summer, I took some time to try and unpack what really makes designers irreplaceable, as the field grapples with questions over generative AI.

This week’s @design-notes.show episode with David Reinfurt is a follow-up to our 2020 conversation about his book A *New* Program for Graphic Design. Catch up on the previous episode:

Today, there’s a new issue of Doubleshot. I’m trying out a new format and want some feedback, so I’ve published it to the main site simultaneously. If you’re interested, give it a look and let me know what you think! interfacecafe.com/doubleshot-true-is-better-than-new/