Ideas and Discoveries
Personal and professional notes about our craft, technique, and the role of design in the world.
sentient design
Say Hello to Sentient Design
Sentient Design is the already-here future of intelligent interfaces and AI-mediated experiences. Discover this framework and philosophy for working with AI as a design material.
ai
AI and Design Systems
The new crop of AI tools are already supercharging design system efforts across many categories, and we’re helping our clients use AI to do exactly that. Big Medium’s Brad Frost, Kevin Coyle, and Ian Frost show how.
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What we’re reading
A Protopian Frontier
Jenny Johnston offers a provocation to think beyond what you’re pushing for right now—and reorient to the future you’re pulling toward instead.
WWDC 2024: Apple Intelligence
John Gruber shares an under-reported tidbit from Apple’s many “Apple Intelligence” reveals.
A Unified Theory of F*cks
Mandy Brown reminds that work won’t love you back. Give your heart to the living, not to institutions.
Illuminate
This Google project uses AI to generate NPR-style podcast conversations from academic papers.
I Will F***ing Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again
Has breathless AI mania primed you for a ragey rant about overhyped technology and huckster pitchmen? Nikhil Suresh has you covered.
We Need To Talk About Our AI Fetish
In a powerful and historically grounded essay, Jeremy Wagstaff asks that we not abdicate the vision for AI solely to the companies who stand to gain from it.
Recent Writing
future
The Future is Built on Solid Foundations
Stability and innovation can sometimes seem to be in tension, but they are more complementary than competitive. Consider AI and design systems.
design system
The Art of Design System Recipes
Recipes take a design system’s components and make delicious, product-specific compositions out of them. Brad Frost breaks down the art of wielding recipes for digital UI success.
process
Ship Faster by Building Design Systems Slower
Successful design systems can and should move more slowly than the products they support—but a deliberate pace doesn’t have to create bottlenecks. Josh Clark shows how to reconcile the needs and speeds of product versus design system.
sentient design
A.I., Snake Oil, and Miracle-Cure Expectations
Be distrustful when AI is hyped as a cure-all—but don’t assume it’s useless just because it doesn’t live up to outlandish promises.
design system
Don't Put Crap in the Design System
Crap is rushed work, shortcuts, experiments, and other unvetted/unverified work. While crap is an unavoidable part of product design and development, it has no place in a design system.
design system
What's Next for a Global Design System
Since proposing a Global Design System, Big Medium’s Brad Frost has received a flood of responses—from positive to skeptical to scathing. Here’s a rundown and what’s next.
design system
A Global Design System
Big Medium’s Brad Frost issues a call to action to create a Global Design System of common UI components. What would this look like, and what would it mean for you?
design system
The Design System Ecosystem
Brad Frost explores the landscape of a mature, end-to-end design system for big, complex organizations. Discover all the moving pieces and how they hang together.
process
Only One Deliverable Matters
Too much design effort goes into artifacts that are not part of the working software. There’s a better way to work.
design system
The Most Exciting Design Systems Are Boring
Design systems should solve problems that designers confront over and over again, so that they can turn to more interesting challenges.
sentient design
You’re Not Late to Machine Learning
If you’re worried that you’re behind in getting in on machine learning, never fear: AI has not so much come of age as reached an awkward adolescence. You’re right on time.
sentient design
Why Machine Learning and AI Matter for Design Teams
There’s a critical role for design in the era of the algorithm—and your organization almost certainly has what it needs to jump in today.