Amazon’s palm-scanning service now lets you sign up from your phone (1 minute read)
Amazon has introduced a new iOS and Android app that allows users to register for its palm recognition service, Amazon One, by uploading a photo of their palm, eliminating the need to enroll at physical locations. The technology encrypts and securely stores palm prints in the cloud. The added security layers may only alleviate privacy concerns for some users.
Amazon Fined in Poland for Dark Pattern Design Tricks (5 minute read)
Poland's consumer and competition watchdog has fined Amazon nearly $8 million for deceptive practices that included misleading consumers about contract conclusions and employing 'dark design patterns' to create urgency in purchases. The e-commerce giant, accused of not honoring stated delivery dates and availability, plans to appeal the sanction.
A design reset - part I (6 minute read)
Design debt accumulates incrementally but should be addressed comprehensively, contrary to the conventional engineering practice of avoiding complete code rewrites. Unlike engineering changes, which can go unnoticed, the product experience is visual and holistic, necessitating a different approach.
Listen Hear: How Designers Create Sounds for Pixel (6 minute read)
Sound design can alleviate visual overload and communicate more information to users. The Google Pixel sound design team believes sound can be used to convey emotion and create urgency. The team aims to create a sonic experience that is playful, human, and simple.
Defining experience quality in large language models (7 minute read)
Adobe is adding two new Generative AI features to Acrobat and Acrobat Reader to unlock information in PDFs. “AI Assistant” answers questions about documents to help people understand information, get insights quickly, and instantly generate content for deliverables. It is supported by “Generative summary,” an AI Assistant capability that builds one-click summaries of documents' key sections.
Getting Out of Meetings and Into Focused Work (3 minute read)
It's common for creatives to spend their entire day in meetings with little time for creativity or thought. Don't feel bad about declining meetings - just remember they do not work. Consider their value to customers. Schedule meetings for your goals and build your social connections beyond meetings.
Are you stopping one step short of driving change through user insights? (8 minute read)
Presenting information involves sharing raw data or fundamental analysis while communicating insights, providing a more profound understanding by interpreting the data, offering context, and suggesting actionable next steps. This helps persuade teams to make meaningful changes and how designers should use data to design meaningful changes and stop constantly “putting out fires.”
On Dedication and Love for the Invisible Work (5 minute read)
Craft and strategic thinking are often seen as opposites in the industry, but you can be strategic and still deliver well-crafted, polished, and thoughtful work. Craft usually best suits focused groups with the same vision who care about what's being made. However, if viewed as a critical value by the company's executives, craft can scale and be integrated into team structure and processes.