Config 2024: The Biggest Takeaways

📰 3 ARTICLES 

⭐ Config 2024 in Review ⭐

• Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma, provides an in-depth wrap-up of the biggest news coming out of Figma's Config 2024, where a suite of innovative features designed to enhance design efficiency and creativity was unveiled.
  
• Highlights included Figma AI for rapid idea-to-product transformation, Visual Search for easy asset discovery, UI redesigns for a more immersive experience, and Figma Slides for improved collaboration and presentation, amongst other exciting updates.
  
• In a world where AI will be able to output fully-functioning interfaces from a simple prompt, design is more important than ever. In fact, design is what will differentiate great products from the obvious solutions, and Figma’s job is to help you explore the option space of possibilities.”

Why Users Are Ignoring Your Features

• Using the banking app Monzo as an example, UX consultant Peter Ramsey dissects why users often ignore features in software products, highlighting how design aspects such as unfocused value props and bloated feature sets can harm retention.
  
• By creating specific environments for users through dynamically changing content or hiding irrelevant features, however, a more enjoyable and less overwhelming UX landscape can be cultivated.
  
• “Let's assume that you have genuinely valuable features… the role of UX is to learn about your customer, and as quickly as possible explain how you solve their specific problem, better than anybody else can. The power of reframing and prioritizing is how small companies win.”

Loom Feature Study: A Shockingly Easy Cancellation Flow

• Using Loom as an example, the benefits of having a cancellation flow with straightforward, accessible UX are championed, contrasting with the common confusing or guilt-inducing tactics often used by companies.
  
• Through clear UI and UX writing, minimal steps, and no hidden buttons or spammy emails, this ethical approach respects the user and potentially increases future reactivation and retention rates by maintaining a positive relationship with the brand.
  
• “When you create negative emotion in an offboarding flow (like shame, anxiety, or guilt) you significantly reduce the chance that the customer will come back later. Instead, you want to build trust in your brand and leave the door open… maintaining a good relationship is key.”

💜 PORTFOLIO INSPIRATION

Kennedy Brown, a UX Academy graduate, brings a background in graphic design to her portfolio, combining strong visual skills with a passion for empathetic UX practices. In app Citiescape, clean UI is paired with in-depth research to create a platform to help users find the right location when moving to a new city. In Soleus, AI is integrated in an end-to-end fitness app to help users holistically track their health and wellness.

Got a portfolio you love that you’d like to share with our audience? Email your suggestions to hello@designlab.com.

💡 INTERESTING STUFF...

• Asking Config Attendees What They Love About Design. Plus Advice
• The Best Things About Working in UX
• The Only Eight Fonts You’ll Ever Need
• Inspirational Portfolios from Working Designers
• Podcast: The Value of Design Downtime

What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts. — Ray Eames, designer

🧪 FROM THE LAB

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