The five best design links, every weekday

Category: Psychology

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jackmaguire.org

AI job grief

AI-driven displacement is producing an emotional category that most closely resembles grief, and the institutions causing it have no language for it.

pscanf.com

The user is visibly frustrated

Agents behave enough like helpful colleagues to trigger our social instincts, but they don’t learn, adapt, or take responsibility the way people do.

feel.ifsart.com

Emotion Explorer

Explore emotions on the valence-arousal space.

cognitivebiasindex.com

Cognitive Biases

A tool for identifying and mitagating the systematic errors in thinking that affect the decisions and judgments that humans make.

shreyasdoshi.substack.com

10 ideas for 2026

Thinking is the foundation of everything we do and, for most of us that foundation has many cracks.

smashingmagazine.com

Designing for stress and emergency

Practical guidelines on designing time-critical products that prevent errors and improve accuracy.

youtube.com

Why movies just don't feel "real" anymore

A deep dive into the first principles of movie immersion: perceptual realism, indexicality, haptic visuality, and cinematic qualia.

zehfernandes.com

Interfaces that augment or replace

Just like living a healthy life means paying attention to what we eat and how we move, we'll need to be more mindful of when we decide to use AI.

socialproofexamples.com

191 social proof examples

Real-world examples of social proof strategies used by various brands to build trust.

intertwingled.org

Natural information architecture

On the neocortex, mental models, and tacit knowledge.

kyleshevlin.com

What ADHD feels like to me

While we have made great progress in understanding ADHD, it can still be difficult for some to grasp the impact it has on those who struggle with it.

lawsofux.com

Familiar vs Novel

A look into when it’s acceptable and perhaps even advantageous to design for novelty.

lawsofux.com

Tesler’s Law

A look at inherent complexity and insights on how designers can effectively manage it.

growth.design

Spotify Wrapped: 6 psychology principles that make it go viral every year

Learn how Spotify uses psychology to create one of the most anticipated yearly events in the music industry.

uxdesign.cc

Why are Western apps more minimalistic than Asian apps?

The digital behaviour traits of individualism and collectivism.

uxdesign.cc

The negative impact of persuasive design

Why the discussion around the detrimental impact on the user and the environment is non-existent.

growth.design

Framing Effect: Why context affects decisions

Learn what the Framing Effect is and how to apply it to improve user experience without relying on unethical dark patterns.

stephaniewalter.design

60 UX Cards to Discover Cognitive Biases

Download this free deck of 52 cognitive bias UX cards to learn how cognitive biases might influence user behaviour.

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

The Psychological Depths of Rock-Paper-Scissors

An excerpt from veteran game designer Greg Costikyan’s book “Uncertainty in Games.”

builtformars.com

Using dark patterns to overcharge for pizza

A study on how Dominos (and Pizza Hut) use dark patterns, UX tricks and design psychology to overcharge customers.