On the Importance of Taking a Break
We work pretty consistently throughout most of our lives, particularly if we're fortunate to have regular work available to us. In most countries, it's...
On Delight in Interfaces
I was recently working on some blue sky ideas for a few areas across various product surfaces at DuckDuckGo. As a result of this, I was thinking a lot about...
Design Tools as a Means to an End
I sat nodding consistently as I read this article about how Figma often leads designers to avoid learning to code and wasting their hours instead on complex...
Interface as a Service
Agentic interfaces are set to revolutionise how we interact with digital systems, treating the interface as a service that interprets user input and delivers...
Force Multiplying Design
As a design engineer working on AI products at DuckDuckGo, I found this post by Karri Saarinen particularly resonant. I often reflect on how AI isn’t here to...
CSS Animated Borders… urgh
My kingdom for CSS borders that can actually be animated… There has to be a better way? I was working on setting up a new animation for the way the...
aiOS
The future of computing isn't just about faster processors or sleeker hardware—it's about fundamentally reimagining how we interact with technology. As...
Hodo Hodo No Dezain
In the world of product design, the concept of "just enough design," or "Hodo Hodo No Dezain" as the Japanese put it, offers a refreshing and pragmatic...
The Messy Middle
In product development, there’s this crucial part that can make or break a project: the space between coming up with an idea and actually making it happen....
The Problem with Design Engineering on Twitter
Design engineering has become a spectacle of visual pizzazz, but we're losing sight of what truly matters. Twitter has transformed our discipline into a...
Full Circle
Re-reading Andy Hertzfeld's account of Bill Atkinson's algorithm for rendering rounded rectangles on the Lisa brought me back to the foundational moments of...
Designing the Invisible
Privacy isn't just a feature, it's an invisible architecture that quietly protects people while delivering seamless experiences. Working at DuckDuckGo, I've...
Beauty Comes From Absence
In Shinto, the indigenous Japanese religion, there’s a belief that an elements beauty can be most admired in its absence. It’s known as Ma (間) which is a...
Thoughts on Liquid Glass
Liquid Glass is Apple’s new take on software design in iOS 26, distinguished by its translucent and reflective qualities that seamlessly adapt to the...
Siri vs. AI Chatbots
You might not believe it, but the original Siri demo was surprisingly close to the AI chatbots of today in reality. If you look back at the original 2011...
On having an opinion
User testing serves as a valuable tool to ensure that the product or service meets the needs and expectations of the target audience, but it’s also not the...
The Roadmap to Design Engineer
The intersection of design and engineering, particularly when coupled with the advent of AI and coding tools like Cursor and MCP, offers a transformative...
The Roadmap to Design Engineer
The intersection of design and engineering, particularly when coupled with the advent of AI and coding tools like Cursor and MCP, offers a transformative...
On having an opinion
User testing serves as a valuable tool to ensure that the product or service meets the needs and expectations of the target audience, but it’s also not the...
Designing the Invisible
Privacy isn't just a feature, it's an invisible architecture that quietly protects people while delivering seamless experiences. Working at DuckDuckGo, I've...
Siri vs. AI Chatbots
You might not believe it, but the original Siri demo was surprisingly close to the AI chatbots of today in reality. If you look back at the original 2011...
Beauty Comes From Absence
In Shinto, the indigenous Japanese religion, there’s a belief that an elements beauty can be most admired in its absence. It’s known as Ma (間) which is a...
Thoughts on Liquid Glass
Liquid Glass is a groundbreaking software design introduced by Apple for iOS 26, distinguished by its translucent and reflective qualities that seamlessly...
Full Circle
Re-reading Andy Hertzfeld's account of Bill Atkinson's algorithm for rendering rounded rectangles on the Lisa brought me back to the foundational moments of...
The Messy Middle
In product development, there’s this crucial part that can make or break a project: the space between coming up with an idea and actually making it happen....
The Problem with Design Engineering on Twitter
Design engineering has become a spectacle of visual pizzazz, but we're losing sight of what truly matters. Twitter has transformed our discipline into a...
aiOS
The future of computing isn't just about faster processors or sleeker hardware—it's about fundamentally reimagining how we interact with technology. As...
Hodo Hodo No Dezain
In the world of product design, the concept of "just enough design," or "Hodo Hodo No Dezain" as the Japanese put it, offers a refreshing and pragmatic...
CSS Animated Borders… urgh
My kingdom for CSS borders that can actually be animated… There has to be a better way? I was working on setting up a new animation for the way the...
Force Multiplying Design
As a design engineer working on AI products at DuckDuckGo, I found this post by Karri Saarinen particularly resonant. I often reflect on how AI isn’t here to...
Design Tools as a Means to an End
I sat nodding consistently as I read this article about how Figma often leads designers to avoid learning to code and wasting their hours instead on complex...
Interface as a Service
Agentic interfaces are set to revolutionise how we interact with digital systems, treating the interface as a service that interprets user input and delivers...
On the Importance of Taking a Break
We work pretty consistently throughout most of our lives, particularly if we're fortunate to have regular work available to us. In most countries, it's...
On Delight in Interfaces
I was recently working on some blue sky ideas for a few areas across various product surfaces at DuckDuckGo. As a result of this, I was thinking a lot about...
Disarming Conflict with “yes AND”
I’ve been using a cool technique lately to handle disagreements in the workplace. It’s called the “yes AND” approach, and it’s all about building on...
Ten Principles for Product Delight
It's common for companies to hunt for delight when they want to increase the amount of engagement a product has or improve retention through increased...
Managing Day Jobs and Side Projects
I’ve been asked by a lot of colleagues and friends about how I’m able to maintain a full time job whilst completing multiple side projects. Truthfully, I’d...
How to win arguments when data trumps intuition
Making decisions can be a daunting task, especially when data and intuition seem to be at odds. In today's world, data is king, and it's easy to get lost in...
Finding creative space in a constrained place
Design systems are an essential aspect of any designer's toolkit, as they help ensure consistency and coherence across all products and services. But I’ve...
You Aren’t That Important
As a designer or developer in the tech industry, it's easy to get immersed in our work to the point that we start considering it the axis on which the planet...
On Hiring
In a recent tweet, Sahil shared thoughts on applying for a highly competitive remote job at Gumroad. He suggests watching public board meetings on YouTube,...
Screw it, I’m also making a typeface
To create a blog post series similar to "Making a Typeface," you could follow a structure that chronicles your journey, including challenges and progress...
Am I the Pragmatist or the Optimist?
In this one, we’re going to learn the difference between being a pragmatist and an optimist in the context of design engineering. In order to understand why...
Become a Design Engineer
Are you interested in becoming a design engineer? Design engineers are the bridge between design and engineering teams, providing a crucial function in the...
The productivity trap
Here's a common predicament: being lured into the siren's song of the latest and greatest software tools, only to find yourself mastering that new...
Farm to table design: our growing distance from software creation
The consequences of a disconnection from Production Farm to Table Food In today's fast-paced world, we often forget to stop and think about the origins of...
On the commercialisation and commoditisation of design
Design has become an increasingly accessible field in recent years, with more and more designers entering the market every day thanks to approachable design...
Ditching State for searchParams: The Future of Next 13
This article was originally posted on the Cosmic.js Blog. Prerequisites In order to get the most out of this article, you'll need a few things: Using Next.js...
Design is Temporary
Product Design as artefact We need to get comfortable with the idea that product design is a temporary measure to get us from nothing to solution. I recently...
The Design Engineer
The unicorn is dead, long live the unicorn The role of a Design Engineer, formerly known as a Design Unicorn™, is still not fully understood by most...