📰 3 THINGS TO CHECK OUT
- Hardik Pandya, SVP of Design, Research & Taste at Pocket FM and former design leader at Google and Atlassian, reflects on nearly two decades in design and the realities that make the profession uniquely challenging — not complaints, but honest observations from years of practice.
- Pandya argues that designers navigate exhausting challenges few other disciplines face, like working from an unbounded set of references and defending decisions against countless opinions and reviews. Unlike code, there's no test suite to define "done" or catch mediocre work before it ships — the responsibility for quality ultimately rests with the designer.
- "Design doesn’t hand you a moment where you’re allowed to call something finished...the trained eye doesn’t come with an off switch."
The Room Test: Where Hiring Gets Decided in 2026
- Vlad Derdeicea, a design leader and former agency founder, shares how portfolios can no longer demonstrate expertise on their own because polished case studies are easier than ever to generate.
- Instead, the defense is the real test, and Derdeicea encourages designers to hone this skill. He says hiring decisions increasingly hinge on whether designers can explain their judgment, defend tradeoffs, and respond thoughtfully to unexpected follow-up questions (a test that he himself has failed in the past).
- "The artifact is now the cheapest thing in the hiring pipeline, and the conversation is the expensive one."
The Fastest Way to Upskill in the Age of AI
- Phil Morton, a product design and research leader whose clients have included PlayStation, Adobe, HSBC, and Shell, believes that the fastest way to upskill in AI is by building a real product from start to finish.
- AI has dramatically lowered the barriers to building software, making side projects more accessible than ever. But Morton cautions against relying entirely on tools that generate finished products for you. Instead, he recommends using AI as a collaborator: asking questions, exploring technical concepts, and learning how products are actually built along the way.
- Morton's advice reflects the philosophy behind the AI Product Design Certification, a comprehensive program that teaches designers end-to-end AI product design skills through hands-on projects, culminating in a capstone where they apply those skills to a real-world challenge.
💜 PORTFOLIO SPOTLIGHT
UX Academy graduate Jules Liu brings a systems mindset and a storyteller's curiosity to product design. Her portfolio stands out for tackling complex, AI-enabled experiences with clarity — like reimagining an educator dashboard around decision-making instead of data display. Her project Lumi, an AI reading companion, helps non-native readers stay immersed in culturally rich literature through contextual explanations and visual grounding. Throughout her work, Jules demonstrates thoughtful product strategy, rigorous user research, and a strong point of view on designing AI that supports people without interrupting their flow.
💡 INTERESTING STUFF...
- The Screens Are Getting Demoted
- Play as a Way of Being
- Five to Nine: Portraits of Digital Designers After Hours
- "AI is a forklift for the mind"
The hand can never consistently produce better than the eye can discern. — Julie Zhuo, Co-founder, Sundial.ai
🧪 FROM THE LAB
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