Design

🪴 Design System Maturity Model (SVG) (https://lnkd.in/efJhPs2C), a neat little tool for design teams to evaluate a design system, where you are and where you want to be to create an actionable roadmap — with frequent areas to consider as strongly covered, partially covered, or not covered at all. Neatly put together by Farid Sabitov. When we work on a design system, we never start with a comprehensive list of UI components or design system features to work through. Instead, we explore areas which could significantly benefit from reuse and team alignment. Typically it’s quite similar but slightly different workflows. Never-ending design discussions about the “right” way to do something. Conversations about the right UI components to choose. Naming conventions. Do’s and don’ts for specific UI patterns. Defaults, presets, templates. We start with something along the lines of a “minimum valuable design system” — some alignment around our decisions that benefits our workflows, ways of working, stakeholders and user’s most frequent tasks in the product. It then trickles down into necessary UI components and UI flows to design and decide upon — with accessibility guides, design tokens, usage examples from our products, UI decision trees and (eventually) magical workarounds for legacy systems. One thing to keep in mind is that a good design system is the one that’s actually useful for your organization. It isn’t a checklist to tick off boxes from, and it doesn’t have to be incredibly robust or comprehensive. It must be useful, and reflect decisions made. Thanks to Farid for putting it all together, although personally I wouldn’t start with the UI kit, but rather a small, tiny library of frequent troubles and slowdowns that we decide upon and start reusing. But it’s an interesting conversation starter to align with your team. How does the model fit with the work you are currently doing in your design system? And what do you use to assess how efficient your design system work is? Leave your insights in the comments! -- ✤ Useful resources: Design System Worksheet PDF, by Nathan Curtis Article: https://lnkd.in/eTUusGcw PDF: https://lnkd.in/e4D5qjx3 Design System in 90 Days Canvas (FigJam template), by Dan Mall https://lnkd.in/eJRwNi4v Design System Canvas (PDF, FigJam), by Paavan Buddhdev https://lnkd.in/e8Tq9rJG #ux #DesignSystems

The first strategic decision for any startup isn't pricing or positioning. It's whether you're chasing rabbits (thousands of small customers) or hunting whales (few large enterprises). Most founders get this wrong because they copy what worked for someone else. But it's your product's inherent characteristics that determine the right path, not your peers’. Here's how to decide what path is best for your company: 1. Start with how value gets created If users can experience meaningful value alone in under 10 minutes, you're built for rabbits. Think Figma, Notion, or Gamma - single-player mode works before anyone else joins. But if value only emerges after integration across an organization, you need whales. Workday and Palantir require company-wide commitment to deliver any ROI. 2. Let physics drive your tactics Choose rabbits and you need transparent pricing, growth engineers, and universal messaging. Your north stars are activation rate (percentage who reach their first success) and K-factor (how many new users each user brings). Choose whales and you need enterprise sales, custom pricing, and ROI calculators. Your north stars are pipeline coverage and contract values. The tactics aren't interchangeable. 3. Know when to expand According to a16z research, successful rabbit companies typically add enterprise sales around $20-30M ARR. That's when organic pull from multiple Fortune 500 domains justifies the investment. Whale companies rarely add successful self-serve unless they discover a true single-player use case. Timing matters more than most realize. 4. Understand the hidden risks Rabbits can destroy unit economics if support scales linearly with users. We've seen companies lose money on every customer while growing rapidly. From a user growth perspective, they're succeeding - but each milestone only tightens the noose. Whales create concentration risk - when one customer is 30% of revenue, they effectively own your roadmap. Both paths have failure modes many founders don't see coming. 5. Commit fully or fail Companies that try to serve both segments from day one almost always fail. You can't optimize for velocity and enterprise procurement simultaneously. Pick your path based on your product's nature, then build everything - team, metrics, culture - around that choice. The irony is that total commitment to one path is what eventually lets you transcend it. Slack went all-in on rabbits first, then eventually served everyone. Atlassian built through self-service before adding sales. Figma reached $34B through rabbits. Salesforce built an empire on whales. The path mattered immensely for each of them. Startups fail far more often from trying to serve everyone than from picking the wrong path.

Introducing the web's first market map of the Product Analytics Market: I was floored when I couldn't find one of these online. Surely, Gartner or CBInsights or A16Z would have created one? It turns out not. So I spent the past 3 months: • Talking with 25 buyers • Researching the space myself • Interviewing 5 product leaders at key players This is what I learned about the most significant players in each space: (that PMs and product people need to know) 1. Core Product Analytics Platforms     The foundational tools for tracking user behavior and product performance Amplitude : The leader, an all-in-one platform for PMs to master their data Mixpanel : The leader in easy UX and pioneer in event-based analytics Heap | by Contentsquare: The automatic event tracking and real-time insights leader 2. A/B Testing & Experimentation     Platforms for analysis Optimizely : The premier tool for sophisticated A/B and multivariate testing VWO : The best for combining A/B testing with heatmaps and session recordings AB Tasty: The all-in-one solution for testing, personalization, and AI-driven insights 3. Feedback & Session Recording     Capture qualitative insights and visualize user interactions Medallia: The top choice for comprehensive experience management Hotjar | by Contentsquare: The go-to for visual feedback and user behavior insights Fullstory: The best for detailed session replay and user interaction analysis 4. Open-Source Solutions     Customizable, free analytics platforms for data sovereignty Matomo: The robust, privacy-focused open-source analytics platform Plausible Analytics: The lightweight, privacy-first analytics solution PostHog: The versatile, open source product analytics tool 5. Mobile & App Analytics     Specialized tools for mobile and app performance analysis UXCam: The best for in-depth mobile user interaction insights Localytics: The leader in user engagement and lifecycle management Flurry Analytics: The comprehensive, free mobile analytics platform 6. Data Collection & Integration     Gather and unify data across platforms Segment: The top choice for effortless customer data unification Informatica: The enterprise-grade solution for data integration and governance Talend: The flexible, open-source data integration tool 7. General BI & Data Viz     Non-product specific tools for data analysis and visualization Tableau: The leader in interactive, rich data visualization Power BI: The best for deep integration with Microsoft tools Looker: The modern BI tool for customizable, real-time insights 8. Decision Automation & AI     Systems for automated insights and decisions Databricks: The unified platform for data and AI collaboration DataRobot: The leader in automated machine learning and AI Alteryx: The comprehensive solution for analytics automation Check out the full infographic to see where your favorite tools fit and discover new platforms to enhance your product analytics stack.

Smart materials in this futuristic design shift color and texture based on temperature, motion, or light — turning fashion into adaptive tech. Would you wear it? 🧬 This isn’t sci-fi. + Smart textiles are forecast to grow into a $17.6 billion industry by 2030, driven by innovations in nanomaterials, thermal sensors, and electrochromic coatings. + AeroSkin’s concept shows what happens when AI, material science, and design collide — and it raises the question: What happens when your clothes start thinking for you... 🎯 Imagine soldiers with adaptive camouflage. ⚡ Athletes wearing gear that adjusts cooling zones dynamically. 🌆 Or professionals using color-shifting jackets as expressive, data-driven fashion statements. We’ve made phones smart, homes smart, even cars autonomous… yet most of us still wear “dumb fabric.” Maybe the next frontier of computing isn’t a screen — it’s the skin you wear. #WearableTech #SmartMaterials #Innovation #FutureOfFashion #AI #ChameleonJacket #AeroSkin #TechDesign #MaterialScience #AdaptiveClothing

AI will drive 2x growth in data centre power capacity in 5 years. This means data centres must evolve. This week, I visited Barcelona to see how Schneider Electric assembles its prefabricated and containerised data centres at its factory. Also had the chance to attend briefings by senior members of its data centre division. Here are my thoughts. 𝟭/ 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀 AI is here to stay. There are no pathways that don't include AI in some shape or form. But compute systems with lower power demands won't disappear either. This means our current way of designing data centres - often carving out a separate section for AI while non-AI workloads reside elsewhere, won't work. We need a new approach to cooling for maximum flexibility and sustainability for supporting both AI and non-AI workloads. - A new end-to-end design approach. - Partnerships for an AI-inclusive ecosystem. - New systems suited for this new paradigm. 𝟮/ 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 Unsurprisingly, the new AI-centric data centres of the future must support liquid cooling. < 𝟰𝟬/𝗸𝗪 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 - Liquid cooling offers better efficiency. ~ 𝟱𝟬/𝗸𝗪 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 - Air cooling still possible, but barely. > 𝟱𝟬/𝗸𝗪 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 - Liquid cooling is a must-have. I just wrote a post about why liquid cooling is the future of data centres yesterday. (Read: https://lnkd.in/g5jhCNcX) 𝟯/ 𝗡𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸 But liquid cooling isn't trivial. - Local sustainability standards differ. - Not all liquid cooling solutions scale well. - Efficiency might come at the expense of other areas. Throw in the need for continued need for air-cooling, and it just gets... complicated. 𝟰/ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 What will the data centres of the future look like? The industry must come for a new generation of more sustainable, flexible, data centres. We need: - New data centre design and modeling software. - New high-capacity power trains, systems for AI. - Easy way to determine data centre efficiency. - Greater innovation across the ecosystem. And yes, Schneider Electric says it has developed a reference design for an AI-centric data centre with Nvidia - I'll share more about it in another post. 👉 Would love to hear your thoughts about how data centres must evolve. 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼: Schneider Electric's Sant Boi factory in Barcelona. --- My name is Paul Mah and I write about tech that matters in #EverydayTechStories 📆 Get weekly updates: www.techstories.co/updates 👀 See my other posts: www.techstories.co 🙋 Follow me on LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gu5EMKQg #datacentre

McKinsey & Company 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝟭𝟱𝟬+ 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗔𝗜 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱: ⬇️ One-off solutions don’t scale. The most successful projects take a different path: They use open, modular architectures that enable speed, reuse, and control. → Designed for reuse → Able to plug in best-in-class capabilities → Free from vendor lock-in This is the reference architecture McKinsey now recommends — optimized to scale what works while staying compliant. It consists of five core components: ⬇️ 𝟭. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹: → A secure, compliant “pane of glass” where teams can launch, monitor, and manage GenAI apps. → Preapproved patterns, validated capabilities, shared libraries. → Observability and cost controls built-in. 𝟮. 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 → Services are modular, reusable, and provider-agnostic. → Core functions like RAG, chunking, or prompt routing are shared across apps. → Infra and policy as code, built to evolve fast. 𝟯. 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 → Every prompt and response is logged, audited, and cost-attributed. → Hallucination detection, PII filters, bias audits — enforced by default. → LLMs accessed only through a centralized AI gateway. 4. 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 → Centralized logging, analytics, and monitoring across all solutions → Built-in lifecycle governance, FinOps, and Responsible AI enforcement → Secure onboarding of use cases and private data controls → Enables policy adherence across infrastructure, models, and apps 5. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 → Modular setup for user interface, business logic, and orchestration → Integrated agents, prompt engineering, and model APIs → Guardrails, feedback systems, and observability built into the solution → Delivered through the AI Gateway for consistent compliance and scale The message is clear: If your GenAI program is stuck, don’t look at the LLM. Look at your platform. 𝗜 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 — 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲: https://lnkd.in/dbf74Y9E

Did you know there’s a font designed just for accessibility? Meet Atkinson Hyperlegible, it was created by the Braille Institute of America to help people with low vision read more easily. It’s not a braille font (doesn’t include raised dots), but a print typeface. It even won the Fast Company Innovation Design Award in 2019! Molly Burke recently worked with her publisher to use the font for her memoir, Unseen. What makes it different? ⤵️ Hyperlegible exaggerates letter shapes so you can tell the difference between the letter “o” and the number zero (0), capital “i” vs. lowercase “l”, and the capital letter “b” vs. the number “8”. Other design features include: - Big open shapes - Clear spaces inside letters (known as open counters) - Distinct forms for commonly confused characters But who benefits? People who are blind or low vision, and people with dyslexia or visual processing differences. Clearer text equals easier reading! And the best part? It’s totally free 🎉 You can download it via Google Fonts or from the Braille Institute website. It also happens to be the same font this graphic post is written in. Accessibility isn’t always about doing more. It’s about doing things so that everyone benefits! This font is a small design choice with a big impact. Next time you design something: Try Atkinson Hyperlegible. Because readability is inclusion. Did you know about this font?  Share your thoughts or tag a designer friend in the comments! 👇 Image Description: Document with 9 slides. Each slide has a lime green border. The Blindish Latina logo with bold graphic black outline of an eye is at bottom of all slides. There is a white background behind all of the text on all slides. The text is in black and some emphasized phrases are purple. On the bottom of slides 1 and 7 is an image of Catarina, a light-skinned, Latiné woman with medium length wavy brown hair. She’s wearing a black jumpsuit with a V neck and her hands are on her hips. Slide 1 is the title slide that reads: “Did you know there’s a font designed just for accessibility?” On slide 1 there is clip art of a book with a red cover and a brain inside a light bulb. Slide 2 has clip art of an award ribbon. Slide 3 has a screenshot of advocate & content creator Molly Burke speaking at an event from one of her TikTok videos inside the outline of an iPhone. Slide 5 has a dark purple check mark inside a circle. Slide 6 has clip art of a computer outline in black with a wrench and gear in the center. All text on the slides is in the caption and alt text. #Disability #Accessibility #UniversalDesign

Nature's Hacks for Success. Biomimicry might sound complex, but it's simply about learning from nature to enhance our designs. It's like learning from the best teacher, Mother Nature herself. Defined by the Biomimicry Institute, this approach guides us toward sustainable solutions by mimicking perfected patterns and strategies found in nature. Nature has already solved many of our challenges. So, why not apply its genius to our packaging designs? It offers patterns and relationships that inspire better, eco-friendly packaging designs. Whether in structure or materials, designers can draw from nature's beauty, texture, and flow. We discover materials that are waterproof, breathable, flexible, and more. It's as if nature has already completed the heavy lifting of innovation, evolution, and adaptation for us. Think of the honeycomb structure in beehives, not only sturdy but also space-efficient. A great example of biomimicry in packaging design is the SIS bottle by Backbone Branding. Their designers draw inspiration from a flower's pistil to shape a two-litre juice bottle. The design not only stands out with its natural juice colour but also resolves many stacking, storage, and merchandising challenges through its interlocking form. Rooted in geometry with equilateral triangles, these bottles fit snugly together, saving space. Every aspect of the bottle, from its size and proportions to its lines and curves, has been carefully considered. Even the label has been specially designed to adhere to the bottle's irregular surface, eliminating the need for glue. Consider adding nature's strategy into your design process. It will help you close the loop and build a solution that resonates with the ecosystem we breathe in. Biomimicry enables us to develop sustainable systems rather than short-lived, isolated solutions that may soon become outdated. One thing's for sure, we stand at a crucial juncture in human history. The challenges ahead demand designers and innovators capable of creating resilient, adaptable solutions. Our path forward must consider the well-being of future generations across the planet. We must continually draw inspiration from nature and reciprocate by nurturing and preserving it. In doing so, we'll not only enrich our designs but also contribute to the greater ecosystem. Let nature continue to inspire us, and in return, let's contribute to its well-being A cycle of respect and reciprocity where our designs and actions reflect a deep reverence for the natural world. Ready to take a cue from nature's playbook for your next packaging design? 📷Backbone Branding

🪄 3D printing just broke free from gravity — and it happened at Disneyland Paris. Coperni, in collaboration with Disney Research, showcased a revolutionary technique called Rapid Liquid Printing (RLP) — a gel-based 3D printing process that allows objects to form freely in liquid space. The innovation: Instead of building layer by layer, RLP prints directly inside a gel bath. The gel supports the structure as it forms, meaning objects can be “drawn” in mid-air with smooth, continuous motion. What’s new: • No gravity constraints — objects print in all directions. • No supports or post-processing needed — a simple rinse finishes the product. • Compatible with soft materials like silicone and rubber, enabling flexibility and realism. Why it matters: This breakthrough eliminates one of 3D printing’s biggest limitations — the need for support structures. It drastically speeds up production, reduces waste, and enables designs that were previously impossible. → Fashion and luxury design — complex, fluid shapes in textiles and accessories → Architecture and furniture — organic, continuous forms without assembly → Healthcare and robotics — flexible components mimicking natural motion To me, this represents the next era of creation — where 3D printing stops stacking layers and starts shaping ideas in real time. Could this be the moment 3D printing becomes as intuitive as sketching in air? #3DPrinting #Design #Manufacturing #Creativity #FutureOfWork #Engineering #ArtAndTech

After spending three decades in the aerospace industry, I’ve seen firsthand how crucial it is for different sectors to learn from each other. We no longer can afford to stay stuck in our own bubbles. Take the aerospace industry, for example. They’ve been looking at how car manufacturers automate their factories to improve their own processes. And those racing teams? Their ability to prototype quickly and develop at a breakneck pace is something we can all learn from to speed up our product development. It’s all about breaking down those silos and embracing new ideas from wherever we can find them. When I was leading the Scorpion Jet program, our rapid development – less than two years to develop a new aircraft – caught the attention of a company known for razors and electric shavers. They reached out to us, intrigued by our ability to iterate so quickly, telling me "you developed a new jet faster than we can develop new razors..." They wanted to learn how we managed to streamline our processes. It was quite an unexpected and fascinating experience that underscored the value of looking beyond one’s own industry can lead to significant improvements and efficiencies, even in fields as seemingly unrelated as aerospace and consumer electronics. In today’s fast-paced world, it’s more important than ever for industries to break out of their silos and look to other sectors for fresh ideas and processes. This kind of cross-industry learning not only fosters innovation but also helps stay competitive in a rapidly changing market. For instance, the aerospace industry has been taking cues from car manufacturers to improve factory automation. And the automotive companies are adopting aerospace processes for systems engineering. Meanwhile, both sectors are picking up tips from tech giants like Apple and Google to boost their electronics and software development. And at Siemens, we partner with racing teams. Why? Because their knack for rapid prototyping and fast-paced development is something we can all learn from to speed up our product development cycles. This cross-pollination of ideas is crucial as industries evolve and integrate more advanced technologies. By exploring best practices from other industries, companies can find innovative new ways to improve their processes and products. After all, how can someone think outside the box, if they are only looking in the box? If you are interested in learning more, I suggest checking out this article by my colleagues Todd Tuthill and Nand Kochhar where they take a closer look at how cross-industry learning are key to developing advanced air mobility solutions. https://lnkd.in/dK3U6pJf