CURIOSITY
Issue 109: Google's Year in Search 2024: The Breakout searches of the year
From record-breaking Olympians and the global resurgence of country music, to the rise of an irresistibly charming baby hippo, 2024 was a year full of surprises no one saw coming. Google looks back at 2024 through the lens of “Breakout searches” — terms that saw a whopping +5,000% increase in search interest this year.
withgoogle.com
CRITICAL THINKING
Issue 113: DebunkBot - Test your beliefs against an AI
Evidence + arguments CAN change beliefs about conspiracy theories. Needs + motives do not totally blind you once you've gone down the rabbit hole - it just requires detailed, tailored evidence to help pull you back. Test your beliefs against an AI by trying this conspiracy debunking bot and get personalized feedback.
debunkbot.com
EMPATHY
Issue 104: Home Depot Plans to Make Every Employee, Including Executives, Work in Stores. It's an Absolutely Brilliant Move
Home Depot announced that all employees—including executives—will have to work a full eight-hour shift in a store once per quarter. This is brilliant, and how all businesses should operate when the core functions of the business differ substantially from the corporate office.
inc.com
TRANSPARENCY
Issue 123: An AI-generated band got 1m plays on Spotify. Now music insiders say listeners should be warned
The Velvet Sundown released two albums before admitting their music, images and backstory were created by AI. People enjoyed the music, but felt tricked when this came out. Transparency is key in AI.
theguardian.com
VISUAL COMMUNICATION
Issue 114: Visualizing How Far $1 Million Gets You in Retirement, by U.S State
This visualization illustrates how long $1 million, combined with Social Security benefits, would last in each U.S. state. The analysis includes groceries, healthcare, housing, utilities, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses. Did you look for your state first, or for the state where it lasts longest - almost heaven, West Virginia...
visualcapitalist.com
COLLABORATE
Issue 115: Product, Design and AI
A co-authored post by Marty Cagan and Bob Baxley discussing the necessary and distinct contributions of Product & Design, so that product teams can focus on the important work, and not waste time naval gazing, or worse, assume their colleague is unnecessary.
svpg.com
EXPERIMENT
Issue 116: Cracking the code of vibe coding
The author explains vibe coding - how we imagine, build, and grow products and companies going forward. He also makes the case for embracing vibe coding without losing your soul, including four frameworks to optimize your success with the good vibes from creating genuinely helpful, well-crafted software and apps.
uxdesign.cc
CREATIVITY
Issue 118: The Creativity Hack No One Told You About: Read the Obits
Reading obituaries can boost creativity by exposing you to distant ideas, fueling the associations that lead to unexpected breakthroughs. First, start by reading them slowly, without searching for a big idea. Let the details wash over you — the places lived, the professions practiced, the odd hobbies pursued. Notice what sticks. It’s not just about learning new facts, of course — it’s about asking questions. Even if you don’t find all the answers, just posing the questions helps you flex the creative muscle that thrives on curiosity and connection. What you’re doing is filling up your brain with a range of very different cognitive material.
mit.edu
UX
Issue 108: The Top 1% E-Commerce UX Awards 2024
Baymard awarded the companies with the top 1% UX performance across 18 industries, as well as the top 1% for theme and platform (e.g. Top 1% Cart & Checkout UX performance, etc.). Each of the 400+ e-commerce websites considered for a UX Award has been manually rated using 500+ UX guidelines; to be clear - some of the top 1% in some industries have mediocre ratings...
baymard.com
INCLUSIVE
Issue 111: Designing for Older Audiences: Checklist + Best Practices
The rapid pace of population aging means we — designers, developers, product managers — must be ready to serve a demographic with unique needs. Designing for age-related challenges like vision, hearing, and mobility improves usability for everyone, not just older adults.
uxdesign.cc
