WELCOME
This issue of Being Designerly contains curated articles about SuperAgers' secret, smartphone reducing creativity, testing your observation skills, 2022 research tools, accessibility, visualization awards, best iOS apps and games, and the 100 greatest innovations of 2022. And ChatGPT - wouldn't be complete without that AI chatbot... All these lists - is it the end of the year already?
FEATURE
The No. 1 thing that sets 'SuperAgers' apart from people with 'weak memory skills'
There is a group of people that longevity researchers call “SuperAgers,” who are in their 80s and beyond, but have the cognitive function of those decades younger.
What sets SuperAgers apart from people who have weak memory skills? According to a 2021 study that followed SuperAgers over the course of 18 months, one key differentiator was that they kept learning new things throughout their life.
Always Be Learning - a designerly behavior!
cnbc.com
CREATIVITY
Neuroimaging study suggests smartphone addiction may reduce the capacity for creativity
Researchers in China investigated the consequences of smartphone addiction on creativity. Using brain imaging technology, they measured cortical responses to creative tasks. The results indicate that smartphone addiction negatively influences the brain’s creative capacity - the brain’s prefrontal cortex and temporal areas were not as active when asked to think creatively. This was in contrast to participants who did not have a smartphone addiction. Now put that glowing rectangle down... well maybe after reading this...
psypost.org
OBSERVATION
Semblance: A Frontend Design Quiz — Kapwing
How observant are you? Try this fun, online quiz to test your ability to notice pixel perfect changes in web design. Earn a point for each correct answer on the first try. 12 questions... how did you do?
kapwing.com
VISUAL
Information is Beautiful Awards 2022: The Winners
After a two-year pause in the Information is Beautiful Awards, the Data Visualization Society (DVS) worked with the Information is Beautiful team to continue the spirit of celebrating excellence across the field of data visualization.
informationisbeautifulawards.com
UX
2022 UX Research Tools Map | User Interviews
A fantastical guide to the user research software landscape, with 230+ tools for recruiting, usability testing, surveys, moderated sessions, analysis, and more.
userinterviews.com
INCLUSIVE
The Greatest (Audio Descriptions) - Apple
On its YouTube channel, Apple posted The Greatest ad with Siri giving an audio description of everything happening in the video. The ad highlights many accessibility features Apple has been offering over the past few years.
youtube.com
MOBILE
App Store Awards celebrate the best apps and games of 2022
The 2022 App Store Awards spotlights 16 apps and games that inspired users to engage more deeply with the world, expand their imaginations, and stay connected to friends and loved ones. This year’s winners represent a diverse community of developers from around the world whose apps and games were selected by Apple’s global App Store editorial team for delivering exceptional experiences and making a profound cultural impact.
apple.com
TOPICAL
Five creative ways people are using ChatGPT
The AI is helping Twitter users plot movies, design meal plans, and more.
On November 30, OpenAI — the research lab behind the groundbreaking text-to-image AI DALL-E 2 — unveiled its latest creation: ChatGPT, an AI chatbot capable of providing detailed responses to text prompts. In less than a week, over a million people had signed up to test it and their prompts and the AI’s responses are now flooding Twitter feeds as people marvel at the bot’s mastery of language.
Note: that’s “mastery of language” and not “mastery of facts” — the bot is trained specifically to generate human-like text, so while its responses sound correct, and often are, they can contain basic factual errors.
freethink.com
INSPIRATION
The 100 greatest innovations of 2022
Every year since 1988, Popular Science has highlighted the innovations that make living on Earth even a tiny bit better. And this year—their 35th—the James Webb Space Telescope earned their highest honor as the Innovation of the Year. But it’s just one item out of the 100 stellar technological accomplishments their editors have selected to recognize.
popsci.com
