Ask any designer and on their list of really hard things, making their own portfolio is likely at the top. Sometimes, all it takes is to go lean and ship an MVP. This first iteration is conceptually simple, but it was really hard for me to get here: https://t.co/dpZX2KlTo1 :)
Getting to great design isn’t about narrowing your focus onto one tiny problem or building yet another “purpose‑built” tool. It’s about learning to see through the surface and recognize the truths underneath everything we do – the same patterns, the same flows, the same ideas repeated across different tools and teams.
For years, our tools have siloed us. Each one arrives with a strong opinion about how work “should” be done. “This is a project, so it must go through these stages.” “This is design, so it must be framed and canvas.” “This is engineering, so it must be elusive.” The tools became selfish. They stopped being mirrors for how we think and started dictating how we’re allowed to think. You have your way of working, your way of seeing, but you’re forced to pick one box, one stack, one workflow.
Craft is not just animation, motion, or detail. Craft is the coherence of the entire system – how ideas move from a note to a sketch to a prototype to a running product, how teams move from chaos to clarity without feeling like they need to change who they are just to fit into a tool.
Great tools should unify, not fragment. They should connect the designer’s canvas with the builder’s editor, connect the writer’s outline with the team’s roadmap, and let patterns repeat and evolve across everything instead of trapping them in separate silos.
Designers can build. Builders can design. The old line between “design tools” and “dev tools” is an artifact of the software we had, not the people we are.
Let the dreamers build. Let the builders dream. Give people systems that get out of the way, that adapt to how they think, that make it feel natural to go from idea to reality without asking for permission at every step.
That’s the future that matters – not more purpose‑built boxes, but one coherent universe where all the pieces finally talk to each other, and you get to be your whole self while you work.
@Abmankendrick What's the context? What are you trying to do? For touch most of them could be potentially bad UX as the thumb could be positioned above the numerical value you're trying to display. If you need precision the slider might need some haptic feedback. Buttons might be slower.
The result of an amazing pairing session here at @feedly. We wanted to share our love for craft and the principles that drive us.
We're hiring for a Senior or Staff Product Designer that wants to join our team and have an impact.
The real reason Dribbble died? Because design died.
The early 2010s were a golden age—the best era of design in human history. It was chaos, creativity, and pure, unfiltered exploration.
Remember the Daily UI challenge? We all got the same prompt—music player, login screen, whatever—and flooded Dribbble with our wildest ideas. I did that for 100 days straight. Then I did it again. And again. And I loved every second of it.
Back then, designers actually pushed boundaries. We explored ideas without worrying if they could be built. We experimented with wild, unconventional patterns and posted them without hesitation.
No rules. No restrictions. Just raw creativity. If we could dream it, we designed it—and we shared it.
Then minimalism took over. We stripped every bit of emotion out of design, followed it up with design systems, tokens, variables, and variables nested within variables.
Now? Most of us don’t even know what era we’re in. Do we even have one anymore?
Design has been sanitized. Systematized. The fun stripped away. Creativity is no longer the priority.
So yeah, maybe I have a little resentment toward design systems, tokens, variables, and all the things that turned design into a rigid machine.
Maybe it’s because some of us were lucky enough to experience design before it became a system. And maybe—just maybe—we carry a chip on our shoulder, hoping for even a spark of that magic to return.
@DPietrasiak I cycled very intensely for over 8 years and I agree with @beastydesign . My dream at the time would have been some form of AR glasses so I don't have to look down. I'd also focus on less information. Make it timely and smart. Am I in the middle of a HITT effort? Just navigating?
@maryamato88 Both are great! I love the simplicity of the 2022 style though, it feels a bit more organic / sketch like, there's some movement to the way the lines were drawn that catches my eyes.
We’re #hiring a talented #SeniorProductDesigner at @feedly . We're a self-funded, high-growth, remote-first profitable startup.
You've read well. The job is fully #remote, there is no VC money, and it's the best time to join the company.
https://t.co/wHy9TbdIsH
As you become an adult, you realize that things around you weren't just always there; people made them happen. But only recently have I started to internalize how much tenacity *everything* requires. That hotel, that park, that railway. The world is a museum of passion projects.
@DannPetty "Design is the greatest job in the world. Especially when you're allowed to be creative with it." so true! That's when the 🔥 starts burning warmer :)