📰 3 THINGS TO CHECK OUT
Introducing Vibe Coding Camp: Bring Your Designs to Life
- ICYMI: Earlier this week we opened enrollment for our newest program: Vibe Coding Camp. In four live workshops across four weeks, product designers, PMs, and builders will learn how to transform designs into fully functional, deployed web apps using modern tools like Cursor, Vercel, GitHub, and Supabase—no coding background required.
- Whether you’re stepping into technical workflows for the first time or leveling up your existing skills, Vibe Coding Camp will give you the confidence and the tools to build and ship in a modern, AI-accelerated environment.
- The program launches February 24, and students who join the first cohort can take $100 off tuition. Join our live info session on Tuesday, December 16th at 1pm ET to learn more and get your questions answered.
The Three Lenses That Define UX Design
- UX veteran Oliver West argues that UX isn’t one discipline but three distinct lenses—creative, scientific, and strategic—and that understanding which one you naturally lead with can change how you work, collaborate, and grow.
- Instead of chasing a “unicorn designer,” West explains why great UX relies on different kinds of minds working together, each bringing clarity, evidence, or business impact to the problem at hand.
- The takeaway: you don’t need to be great at everything. You need to know your strengths, recognize your gaps, and surround yourself with teammates who see through different lenses.
Is AI Eliminating Navigation or Just Hiding It?
- Product designer Francisco Nunes challenges the idea that AI removes the need for navigation in digital products. Instead, he argues that AI shifts who navigates, moving agency from the user to the system.
- Drawing from philosophy, design theory, and real workflow observations, Nunes explores how this shift may create “cognitive debt,” reducing our ability to make sense of systems, discover paths, and maintain the navigational skills that shape our critical thinking.
- “If navigation doesn’t disappear but merely becomes hidden, we must ask: Who benefits from the erasure of this process?”
💜 PORTFOLIO INSPIRATION
UX Academy grad Kyla Anderson blends visual storytelling, education experience, and user empathy to design systems that genuinely support the people using them. In her Empowering Writers redesign, Kyla turned a confusing, content-heavy site into a clear, teacher-friendly experience, using interviews, competitive analysis, and a reworked information architecture to help educators quickly find resources while reducing support requests for the internal team. In her client capstone with Enabled Talent, Kyla co-designed an accessible job platform for candidates with diverse needs, especially those with vision impairments. She focused on WCAG-aware UI, clear flows, privacy controls, and match experiences that respect both user agency and accommodations. Across her portfolio, Kyla’s work combines thoughtful research, strong structure, and warm, inclusive interfaces that make complex experiences feel approachable and humane.
Got a portfolio you love that you’d like to share with our audience? Email your suggestions to hello@designlab.com.
💡 INTERESTING STUFF...
- The Battle Between Illustration and AI
- Lovable Now Lets You Chat Before You Build
- Stocksy Releases 2026 Visual Insights Report
- Honoring the Work of Frank Gehry
"Design is where science and art break even." — Robin Mathew, poet and professor
🧪 FROM THE LAB
Join Our Upcoming UI Mastery Certification Info Session
Our second cohort of the UI Mastery Certification (launching January 9, 2026) is less than a month away, and we’re still accepting applications. Want more info before you apply? Join us for a live informational webinar on Thursday, December 18th at 12pm ET to learn how this studio-style, critique-driven experience helps designers sharpen their visual precision, system thinking, and the judgment that separates good and great UI. Can’t join live? Sign up to receive a recording after the session.
Last Call: Share Your Thoughts on the State of AI in UX and Product Design
We’re collecting input for our second annual AI in UX and Product Design survey! If you’re a UI/UX or product designer we invite you to share your perspective and experience onAI tools and workflows. As a thank you for sharing your experience, you’ll get priority access to the final report and be entered to win a $200 Amazon gift card. Take the survey.
