Design Details

This week, we answer more listener questions, including what software the industry uses, how to get involved in open-source projects, and how to curate a large portfolio. In News, we compare our scores on a design-based spot-the-difference quiz. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like another Netflix Original and some awesome designer directories. Intro: Wampas are a species of powerful, furred bipeds that dwell in the snowy wastes of the ice world Hoth Tauntauns are a species of snow lizard found roaming the windswept snow plains of Hoth Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of American Indians Sponsor: This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. An

This week, we answer a couple listener questions, including how to reliably align text to a baseline grid, and how to use data to learn from the features you ship. In News, Marshall extols the virtues of a little feature in the recently-released Sketch 53 update. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like a mind-bending Netflix show and an accessibility-focused pull request. Sponsor: This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @designdetailsfm, with the phrase “improve my design workflow” you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan. >> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email brian@spec.fm or sa

This week, we look to Twitter for answers to the eternal question: "How do I find time to design despite tons of meetings, context shifting, and an open office layout?" In News, we detail some exciting ideas in an iOS 13 design concept. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like a spiritual successor to MySpace and a rollable television. Sponsor: This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @designdetailsfm, with the phrase “improve my design workflow” you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan. >> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email brian@spec.fm or sarah@spec.fm to get started :

This week, we review a listener side project called Steady Habit, an iPhone app made by Sandor Gyuris. And as always, we share a couple cool things like painful mouth plastic and some future geographical plans. Sponsor: This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @designdetailsfm, with the phrase “improve my design workflow” you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan. >> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email brian@spec.fm or sarah@spec.fm to get started :) Side Project Review: Steady Habit is a simple way to create impactful routines, brought to you by Sandor Gyuris Learn more at steady-habit.com

This week, we discuss your tweets on how to git gud (and stay gud) at visual design. And as always, we share a couple Cool Things, including a hilarious pop culture reviewer. Sponsors: This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract and Readymag Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @designdetailsfm, with the phrase “improve my design workflow” you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan. Readymag is a design tool in your browser that lets you draw up any web publication and publish it online without a single line of code. Use it for free as long as you want, with a library of 1500+ free fonts, advanced animation, and unlimited projects or upgrade to one of the paid p

This week, we discuss performance reviews and promotions, including how to prepare, what to spotlight, and when to self-nominate (along with a few tips and tricks). In News, we talk about Chloe Condon's recent ordeal and how technology affects truth—heavy, sorry—and we look at Twitter's latest threaded replies experiment. And as always, we share a couple cool things like a movie conspiracy theory and a legendary brainstorm transcript. Sponsor This week's episode is brought to you by Readymag Readymag is a design tool in your browser that lets you draw up any web publication and publish it online without a single line of code. Use it for free as long as you want, with a library of 1500+ free fonts, advanced animation, and unlimited projects or upgrade to one of the paid plans to enjoy advanced features like custom domains and uploading custom fonts. The first 50 users to apply the promo code DESIGNDETAILS will get 40% off their first payment. Get started over at readymag.com >> Want to become a sponsor

In this first episode of 2019, Brian explains online security to Marshall as though he is a five-year-old, covering everything from DNSs to VPNs. In Follow-up, we read a few listener tweets, and as always, we share a couple Cool Things, including a misused city simulator and a social network for movie buffs. Sponsor Readymag is a design tool in your browser that lets you draw up any web publication and publish it online without a single line of code. Use it for free as long as you want, with a library of 1500+ free fonts, advanced animation, and unlimited projects or upgrade to one of the paid plans to enjoy advanced features like custom domains and uploading custom fonts. The first 50 users to apply the promo code DESIGNDETAILS will get 40% off their first payment. Get started over at readymag.com >> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email brian@spec.fm or sarah@spec.fm to get started :) Follow-up Design Details - 1: "How Nerdy of an Answer Do You Want? (feat. Sam Soffes)&quo

In this final episode of 2018, we speak with Zack Onisko, CEO of Dribbble, about our speculation regarding signup walls and the future of the platform. In News, we dissect Dark Mode triggering methods. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including a personalized music recap and a YouTube channel that rewrites superhero movies. Follow-up Michael Knepprath asks: "What challenges have you faced due to there being multiple people and a dog that can all trigger your devices?" Video: "Seinfeld Transitions Compilation" More shortcuts: On the iOS homescreen, 3D Touch a folder to see all apps with notification badges in that folder On the iOS homescreen, drag down to enter Spotlight and easily search apps (or anything else) Luca Orio mentioned: On macOS, press Cmd+Shift+4 then Space to screenshot specific windows, including their shadow on a transparent background Silas Sao mentioned: On the iOS homescreen, when dragging an app in "Wiggle Mode," tap other apps to rearrange

This week, we answer three listener questions: one about hidden shortcuts, one about the line between designer and developer, and one about the necessity of a design degree. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like a trailer a few people have seen and a channel that make videos about speedrun progressions. Listener Questions Race Swisher says: "You guys should talk about hidden shortcuts that can be super confusing for users." Article: "This iOS 12 Keyboard Trick for Non-3D Touch iPhone Users is Going Viral" iOS: In the keyboard, 3D Touch anywhere on the keys to move your cursor freely Gboard for iOS has a phenomenal swipe-typing feature, in addition to many other nice little time-savers In the keyboard, drag from the 123 button to a key in the alternate keyboard, then release to return to the ABC keyboard In the keyboard, long-press on keys for additional character options In the iPad keyboard, drag the Dismiss Keyboard button to split and reposition the keys In the keybo

This week, Marshall explains his smart home setup to Brian in great detail. In News, Brian reveals an exciting development with Spectrum. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including an Advent calendar for programming puzzles and a thing everybody already knows about. Sponsor: This week's episode was brought to you by DuckDuckGo DuckDuckGo helps you take back your privacy with their private search engine, mobile apps, and browser extensions. And right now they're hiring remote positions for Senior Product Designers! Make the internet a safer place, designing new products at DuckDuckGo. Follow-up: Samsung One UI's floating keyboard is a feature in need of a use case Tonal is a home gym that mounts on your wall News: Spectrum is joining Github! Explain Like I'm Five ELI5 Marshall wrote up a hefty Google doc that includes links and descriptions for all this smart home stuff, so check it out for details on pretty much everything mentioned in the episode Note: That Homekit bug seems to only aff

This week, we discuss sign-in walls and the design patterns behind offering free-ish content on the Internet. In News, we praise Samsung's new One UI for its strict adherence to Fitts' Law. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including a video game competition and a major update to a podcast app. Sponsor: This week's episode was brought to you by DuckDuckGo DuckDuckGo helps you take back your privacy with their private search engine, mobile apps, and browser extensions. And right now they're hiring remote positions for Senior Product Designers! Make the internet a safer place, designing new products at DuckDuckGo. Follow-up: Green Bean Casserole makes Thanksgiving Thanksgiving, as far as Marshall's concerned Our sincere apologies to Kevin Gutowski for the public shaming last episode. He replied with a link to the plugin pretty much immediately. Get Kevin's Toggle Layers plugin if you want to set a different shortcut for Show/Hide ## Layers in Sketch News: Samsung One UI is designed to help you

This week, we talk about the uncanny sameness of the web and debate uniqueness in site design. In News, we discuss the pros and cons of sharing your early, in-progress work with non-designer colleagues. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including an immersive gaming experience and a new feature proposal for React. Self-sponsor: This week's episode was brought to you by the Spec Job Board If you're a designer or a developer, or if you're looking to hire one, check out the Job Board on Spec.fm. With listings at $100/month, it's super affordable to find your next hire through Spec. Follow-up: The Dunning-Kruger Effect features "Mount Stupid and the Valley of Despair," not "Stupid Mountain and the Valley of Doubt." Pretty close, though. Video: Apple October Event 2018 (1:10:00) - A very precarious grip method on the new iPad The new Smart Keyboard for iPad, when in tablet mode, doesn't feel so great with the keys on the back Kevin Gutowski might have a workaround for the Cmd-

This week, we debate the use of the term "junior" and look back on Stupid Mountain from the Valley of Doubt. In News, we discuss the announcements from the latest Apple event, including the new iPad Pro product page. And in Cool Things, Brian shares a thorough article on Apple's Maps improvements, and Marshall rants about keyboard shortcuts. Follow-up: The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias in which people of low ability have illusory superiority and mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is. Here's a graph of the effect, featuring Stupid Mountain (aka Mt. Stupid) and the Valley of Doubt (aka Valley of Despair) Event Recap: Watch the full Apple Event or a 9-minute edited version Check out the new products: iPad Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and Apple Pencil You should play with the iPad Pro product page on your phone in landscape orientation to know what we're talking about for most of this segment Sycophant, n. - a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite r/

This week, we dive deep on several design principles that will help you make better decisions when creating interfaces and interactions. In Follow-up, we discuss the etiquette of responding to recruiter emails, and in News, we cover Twitter's latest exploration into presence and status. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including an innovative basketball shoe and an updated personal site. Self-sponsor: This week's episode was brought to you by the Spec Job Board If you're a designer or a developer, or if you're looking to hire one, check out the Job Board on Spec.fm. With listings at $100/month, it's super affordable to find your next hire through Spec. Follow-up: Here's Morgan Knutson’s tweetstorm again, for reference News: MG Seigler tweeted: "As redundant as it may sound at first, I love the Twitter “status” idea. A throwback to OG Twitter too! (Still don’t love the idea of presence though.)" Article: "Twitter tests new profile features, including presence indicators and ‘i

This week, we discuss the tradeoffs of sensor-laden home devices and the future of personalized advertising. We also follow up on Morgan's tweetstorm with a chat about "dream jobs" and navigating workplace politics. In cool things, Brian shares a workout tracking app and Marshall is bullish on shoes. Self-sponsor: This week's episode was brought to you by the Spec Job Board If you're a designer or a developer, or if you're looking to hire one, check out the Job Board on Spec.fm. With listings at $100/month, it's super affordable to find your next hire through Spec. Follow-up: Thanks to @tomato_glue and @divya_tak for tweeting the nice tweets :) Charlie Deets is just one man Here's Morgan Knutson’s tweetstorm for reference Video: "With great power comes great responsibility" Video: “Be water, my friend” News: Site: Facebook's Portal is a smart hands-free calling device Article: "Facebook Portal’s claims to protect user privacy are falling apart" Discussion: Image: Mark Zu

This week, we discuss Morgan Knutson's tweetstorm regarding his time working on the sunsetting Google+, and we extract some nuggets of wisdom worth exploring, especially negotiating one's starting compensation at a new job. Then we share a couple cool things, including another little Mac productivity utility and a beautifully useful camera app for iOS. Follow-up: Check out the Spec.fm Job Board if you're looking to hire or get hired VSCO is hiring a senior product designer Game Maker’s Toolkit's latest entry in his Designing for Disability series is about "Making Games Better for Players with Motor Disabilities" Time Travel (introduced in watchOS 2) was removed in watchOS 5 Thanks, UXOrigami! And you too can leave us an iTunes review :) News: "Google is shutting down Google+ for consumers following security lapse" Morgan Knutson aired some "dirty laundry" in a tweetstorm about his experiences working on Google+ Discussion: Buffer has a transparent salary system Tyler Galp

This week, we discuss user preferences and whether a lot is too much. In News, we talk about Sketch's new site, recap the Figma contest fallout, and conduct a requiem for Path. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including a wireless mesh network and tchotchkes in plastic bubbles. Sponsors: This week's episode was brought to you in part by ProtoPie: ProtoPie is a tool that makes prototyping as easy as pie, and they have a special offer for Design Details listeners. Use the code DESIGNDETAILS by October 30, 2018 to get a 17-free day trial and a 30% discount. This week's episode was also brought to you in part by Asana: Asana is growing, and they’re looking to hire 6 new product designers and design managers via a few days of interviews in Chicago and Austin. Find out more by clicking on the links at the top of https://asana.design. Follow-up: Photo: Podcasting is serious bizznizz We got some new iTunes Reviews from some wonderfully kind folks! Feel free to leave your own :) We tweeted out a couple

This week, we look at a few different concepts of what a car could be if you didn't need to drive it. In News, we discuss the new Mailchimp redesign and shout out Design+Code for Framer X. And we share a couple Cool Things, including a few Google app features that are great for travelers and some fancy lights that go behind your television. Sponsors: This week's episode was brought to you in part by ProtoPie: ProtoPie is a tool that makes prototyping as easy as pie, and they have a special offer for Design Details listeners. Use the code DESIGNDETAILS by October 30, 2018 to get a 17-free day trial and a 30% discount. This week's episode was also brought to you in part by Asana: Asana is growing, and they’re looking to hire 6 new product designers and design managers via a few days of interviews in Chicago and Austin. Find out more by clicking on the links at the top of https://asana.design. Follow-up: "Seven days" We talked about Sketch 52 Beta on the previous episode Kyle Mitchell tweeted that h

This week, we debate the line between constructive and malevolent criticism, discuss some sunsetting news, and briefly preview the new Sketch beta. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including a Reddit app alternative and a logistical nightmare. Follow-up: "Guidance on the Use of Tactile Paving Surfaces" Here's a great rundown on the experience of eating at Ichiran Ramen (now with two locations in NYC!) Respect to @chrisd008 for beating us at the Helvarial Quiz "Stay warm out there, Tauntaun" 1-star 5-star "Richard is a nice guy, but y'know" (NSFW Language) The Infograph watch face Infograph face with Digital Clock sub-dial 23:37 - Marshall says "phone" here, but he meant "watch." His apologies. He blames jetlag. News: "Inbox is signing off: find your favorite features in the new Gmail" "Gaming gets a new home on YouTube" ColorBox by Lyft Design Tool Review: Download Sketch 52 Beta Sketch 52 Beta release notes Here's a sc

This week, we're both trotting the globe, so we discuss some interesting accessibility features we've encountered during our travels. And Apple had a event announcing new iPhones and a new Watch, so (of course) we talk about that stuff. Follow-up: Brian owes Marshall a Coca-Cola for losing a bet made at the very end of the previous episode Event Recap: Apple launched new iPhones and a new Apple Watch in their latest event Apple's event invite had Marshall thinking it was a reference to the coil in the AirPower wireless charging mat "Apple’s AirPower wireless charging mat reportedly plagued by overheating issues" John Gruber's shares his "Thoughts and Observations on Apple’s iPhone XS/XR and Series 4 Apple Watch Introductory Event" Steve Jobs on the Apple product matrix LifeCall (not Life Alert) commercial: "I've fallen, and I can't get up!" Apple's new GiveBack program Travelogue: Note: After doing a little research, it's clear the story Marshall told about the origin of