Being Designerly - Issue 4

WELCOME

Looking Back

A Designerly behavior is being a reflective practitioner - taking the time to look back at what worked and what did not, and why. These reflections are then applied to our future work. As the year winds down, Decembers are a good time to look back on the year that has been, and look forward to the upcoming year.

Let's look at some of 2020's design-related predictions. Given the turn that 2020 took, no one will blame any incorrect 2020 predictions, but as we'll see below, there have been quite a few correct predictions.

The next issue, and the last one of 2020 will look forward to design and user experience predictions in 2021. Stay Tuned!

UX

Adobe XD 2020 Trends

Back in Jan 2020 (seems like a decade ago, doesn't it?), the Adobe XD Blog posted 5 UX Trends for 2020, including: inclusive design, motion sense technology, product ops, UX audits, and voice technology.

While you read the linked article, think about which ones you've seen more of this past year... personally, I've seen a lot of the first (inclusive design) and the last (voice technology) this year.

What about you?

Why brands are embracing inclusive design

One of the trends mentioned above in the Adobe XD 2020 predictions was inclusive design and that one has seen momentum.

Apart from big accessibility related lawsuits over the past few years, it is the right thing to do, because designing to make things better for some, makes it better for all.

VISUAL

Graphic Design Trends in 2020 You Need To Look Out For

Minimalism, vibrant colors, and line arts were some projected graphic design trends - and methinks we saw some of those this year... not too much of the other trends.

Did you notice the same?

MOBILE

Apple’s 15 best apps of 2020

Earlier this month, Apple recognized 15 apps and games that "...proved to be essential for making life easier, healthier, and more connected this year. Notable for their high quality, creative design, usability, and innovative technology, these apps and games are equally celebrated for their positive cultural impact, helpfulness, and importance."

Read the press announcement to learn about how these apps have the theme of helpfulness, be it for self-care, collaboration, strengthening family connections, at-home experiences, or helping others.

Twitter shuts down its prototype app twttr

Back in Feb 2019, Twitter used twttr, a prototype app, to get user feedback on new features.

"Want to help us build some new Twitter features? We want it to be easier to read, understand, and join conversations — and we’d love to know what you think."

Big companies conduct Design and UX experiments all the time: Amazon conducts their experiments on their live website and expose it to a subset of users; Twitter went the route of a prototype app...

TOPICAL

How the pandemic led PepsiCo to create Cheetos Mac ’n Cheese

Design thinking and studying how people were reacting to the pandemic led to this comfort food mashup of Cheetos and Mac & Cheese....

I grabbed this off the grocery shelf anticipating how my kids would react to it. They were ecstatic when they were unloading groceries, and volunteered to "make dinner" that evening.

NEWS

Key messages from "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh, ex-CEO of Zappos

Tony Hsieh, who retired as CEO of Zappos in August 2020, died Thanksgiving weekend, a life ended early. While he was known for many things, my word association for him: good customer experience, something he brought to life during his time at Zappos.

The article is a Blinkist summary of his book, Delivering Happiness

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Until Next Time

I hope you enjoyed this issue! The next issue will be the last one of 2020 and will focus on 2021 trends.

I'm looking for feedback, of the brutally honest kind, so this can improve over time. You can reach me at lycerejo (at) gmail.com - thank you!

Look for another issue just before Christmas...