The five best design links, every weekday

Friday04/03

1

uxdesign.cc

The ground is shaking: Why designers must flip the script on AI

Something has shifted in the way the design field operates, and we haven’t yet found the words or identified the exact schema for it.

2

design-tokens-visualizer.vercel.app

Design tokens visualizer

Interactive visualization tool for exploring design tokens and their relationships across design systems.

3

nngroup.com

The 3 C’s of informational microcopy

Well-written informational microcopy should be clear, concise, and have character.

4

tombh.co.uk

The longest line of sight

How massive data processing and high-performance code can solve a singular, poetic curiosity.

5

smashingmagazine.com

A practical guide to Design Principles

Design principles with references, examples, and methods for quick look-up.

The Sidebar Newsletter

5 Design Links in Your Inbox Every Weekday

Thursday04/02

1

seangoedecke.com

Working on products people hate

Why building hated tools is often more impactful than building ignored ones.

2

huegrid.app

HueGrid

Create stunning gradients with 22+ modes — noise, dither, aurora, mesh, cosmic, liquid chrome, and more. Export as 5K images or code.

3

howmuch.tax

HowMuch.Tax

Calculate, visualize, and compare taxes across countries. See how your income is taxed with interactive charts and insights.

4

lesswrong.com

A mirror test for LLMs

In which we propose a new measure of LLM self-awareness but ultimately decide they fall short.

5

bradfrost.com

The creative infinite

How value moves from execution to curation and intent.

Wednesday04/01

1

dheer.co

Your ticket is a prompt

The instinct to break work into atomic tickets was right for human teams. For agents, it reproduces the same fragmentation disease at machine speed.

2

banray.eu

Ban Ray: Your face is not inventory

Meta sold seven million pairs of camera glasses. The people being filmed never consented. Ban them.

3

report.zeroheight.com

Design Systems Report 2026

Buy-in is down. Adoption is stalling. But AI is changing the game.

4

edkf.fyi

Portfolio Tips

Tips from designer friends on what they like to see in portfolios.

5

lzon.ca

The first 40 months of the AI era

Accumulated thoughts and ideas about AI since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022.

Tuesday03/31

1

doc.cc

Perspective

On rational thinking, taking action, and the courage to choose.

2

gameaccessibilityguidelines.com

Game Accessibility Guidelines

A straightforward reference for inclusive game design, supporting the industry since 2012.

3

johnjwang.com

Why are executives enamored with AI but ICs aren’t?

Executives have always had to deal with non-determinism, while individual contributors are evaluated by their execution on deterministic tasks.

4

eztree.dev

Procedural Tree Generator

EZ-Tree is a procedural tree generator that allows you to create realistic 3D tree models with ease.

5

gjlondon.com

AI agents could make free software matter again

Free software once mattered deeply, but faded when SaaS made those freedoms feel irrelevant.

Monday03/30

1

bit.ly

AI Coding for Product Designers (New Cohort)Sponsored

Start building with intention and control. Learn the architecture and systems required to build and ship functional products with AI.

2

jlzych.com

Take my job, AI!

The idea of AI replacing product designers isn’t scaring me. It’s actually having the opposite effect: I’m embracing it.

3

aeris.edbn.me

Aeris

Track live flights in stunning 3D over the world’s busiest airspaces. Free and open source.

4

mass-driver.com

MD UI: a Typeface for Interfacing

A neo-grotesque fine-tuned for maximum performance at every scale.

5

anildash.com

Endgame for the Open Web

You must imagine Sam Altman holding a knife to Tim Berners-Lee's throat.

Friday03/27

1

carlsz.dev

The evolution of craft

A new medium is here, or perhaps something more akin to a new fundamental force of nature.

2

ui.shadcn.com

Shadcn/ui: the foundation for your design system

A set of beautifully designed open-source components that you can customize, extend, and build on.

3

uxdesign.cc

The three thirds

An entire generation of designers climbed the ladder. A third say it got better. A third say it got worse. A third aren’t sure.

4

anythingconverter.com

Anything Counter

The hidden price of digital life in real time with real data.

5

unsung.aresluna.org

The curse of the cursor

How direct interaction is being replaced by hidden automation and why tactile control matters.

Thursday03/26

1

answer.ai

So where are all the AI apps?

If AI users are becoming 10x more productive, skeptics might reasonably ask: where are all the apps?

2

typeflow.tools

Typeflow.tools

A free online tool that demonstrates how Cavalry can be used to build branded creative tools.

3

a16z.com

There are only two paths left for software

Grow 10% or earn 40%, no middle path is left.

4

emilysneddon.com

Fran Sans Essay

An interpretation of the destination displays found on some of the light rail vehicles that service the city of San Francisco.

5

anthropic.com

What 81,000 people want from AI

How they use AI, what they dream it could make possible, and what they fear it might do.

Browse Archives