📰 3 ARTICLES
7 Rules for Designing the Unexpected
- Pablo Sánchez, Principal Designer at Ableton, shares his key principles on digital design, highlighting a focus on fostering creativity and innovation through prioritizing exploration and challenging norms.
- Sánchez emphasizes the importance of trusting users' capabilities, pushing past obvious solutions, and viewing creativity as a remix of past and present ideas.
- “Great design springs from personal conviction, not just objective analysis. Instead of striving for objectivity—which can compromise your vision and potential—design something that inspires you. After all, you are the only user you truly know. That passion will resonate in the final product, making it feel authentic and relatable.”
Can AI Revolutionize Therapy?
- UX designer Zarina Majidova explores the potential of AI in mental health care, based on interviews with therapy users in California, finding optimism in accessibility and personalization, and concern regarding privacy and over-reliance.
- Overall, most individuals felt that AI can be a strong supportive tool, but that the preservation of true human connection stood out to be of the utmost importance in a therapist-patient relationship.
- “The goal is clear: to bridge the gap between patients and therapists, offering support that’s efficient, accessible, and empathetic. The journey ahead is exciting — and with thoughtful integration, AI can truly make a difference in mental health care.”
Creativity is the Only Thing
- UX designer Joe Alterio explores the role of creativity as a powerful, radical force in the face of systems that prioritize conformity and profit, arguing that creativity — unbound by external approval — is an act of resistance against dehumanizing forces.
- Highlighting the value of art, design, and introspective creation as essential to understanding humanity and fostering purpose, readers are encouraged to connect with creativity for its own sake, free from the constraints of external validation or market-driven goals.
- “In uncomplicated times, it is easy to dismiss creativity as unserious. In the hardest times, it’s everything there is.”
💜 PORTFOLIO INSPIRATION
Jose Rodriguez, a UX Academy graduate, couples an empathetic approach with playful UI to bring language-learning app Polytalk to life, where users can practice conversation skills. The AI-powered app creates a welcoming, judgment-free environment that also offers constructive feedback. With the end-to-end app TripHaven, which focuses on safety while traveling, Rodriguez uses strong research and usability testing to create an accessible and user-friendly experience.
Got a portfolio you love that you’d like to share with our audience? Email your suggestions to hello@designlab.com.
💡 INTERESTING STUFF...
- Jaguar's Big Rebrand Reveal
- A Visual Identity for Smells Rather than Sights
- Stunning Photos of the Northern Lights Sky
- Artist Looks to AI to Create Indian Sci-Fi Cinema
Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent. — Joe Sparano (designer)
🧪 FROM THE LAB
🚀 Last Chance at 50% off UX Academy Foundations
Missed out on our Black Friday sale? We have a few seats left for our December cohort of UX Academy Foundations and are bringing back our 50% off sale for our December cohort, launching this coming Monday, December 9th. This deal ends Sunday, December 8th at 11:59pm PT or when the cohort is full.
Enroll now and use code BFLASTCALL50 at checkout to secure your seat today.
🎤 Learn More About Upcoming Courses
We have several informational webinars next week where you can learn more about our courses. We’ll walk through the curriculum, mentorship, course structure, and offer a live Q&A at the end of each session. Sign up below—even if you can’t attend, we’ll send you a recording.
- Advanced Figma: Wednesday 12/11, 12pm ET
- Design 101: Wednesday 12/11, 1pm ET
- Strategic Business Acumen for Designers: Thursday 12/12, 12pm ET
- Advanced Usability & Accessibility: Thursday 12/12, 1pm ET
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