Welcome back. It’s Config week, I’m flying out today, and we’re deep in party planning mode for Detach. But I had to hit send on this. Friday’s leak of Inflight was one of our most opened issues of the year. So today, we’re going deeper - not just on the tool, but the problem it’s trying to solve: Feedback still sucks in 2025. Even for good teams. Even for my team, working on the UX Tools redesign and survey right now. Here’s what we’re learning, and why Ridd’s Inflight is onto something...
14 days ago • 4 min read
Welcome back. Recently, I've noticed a shift. It started as a gut feeling: the apps I remember most aren’t the smartest. They’re the strangest. The most emotionally tuned. The ones that feel handcrafted when everything else starts to blur. These interfaces aren’t just challenging best practices, they’re often rebelling against them. While most teams optimize for speed and scale, a few are quietly chasing something else: depth. They’re not adding features, they’re adding weight. And it’s not...
20 days ago • 4 min read
Welcome back. There is so much soul in the design community if you go looking for it. Tom Johnson’s unicorn studio workflow felt early-YouTube and straight from a pro Marisa Chentakul’s shared journey building her own app SuprOrdinary’s viral series debut about rediscovering creativity And each of these pockets of creation has sparked its own design community. Worthwhile design communities aren’t about size. They’re about connections. Utility. Career growth through mutual interest (like...
27 days ago • 6 min read
Welcome back. Last week belonged to ChatGPT 4o and the ripples it sent through the design community: Wild creations from Ghibli-inspired media to logo attempts to app UI Sam Altman reported "melting GPUs" as usage skyrocketed More "AI will replace us" vs. "just another tool" debates Even I created a Solo Leveling-style clip from our podcast (tutorial here) My head is still spinning, not just from that, but from an intense week-long brand sprint I wrapped up with Nick Pattison for the upcoming...
about 2 months ago • 8 min read
Welcome back. We're getting pretty technical over here at UX Tools. The reason for this is two-fold: Tools are breaking down more technical barriers for designers The number of tools heading this direction are increasing dramatically I can understand designers who push back against this. But I've gotten a few angry comments from designers for simply exploring these tools at all. The work we do here at UX Tools, from our interviews to our annual surveys, is in service of helping you decide...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
Welcome back. It's been a dizzying week in design: Dribbble Policy Changes: The design community is losing its mind over Dribbble's new policy of walled payments. Many are saying goodbye. Felix Lee and ADP List Drama: Design mentorship platform ADP List and its founder are being hit hard by design theft and content accusations. Config Speaker Lineup Dropped: Figma released their conference linup. I'm stoked for Inga Hampton sharing her chaotic Figma process, Steve Sewell's talk on coding...
2 months ago • 5 min read
Welcome back. Last week, 40,000 people watched live as we pitted a Webflow pro against an AI design tool in the most ridiculous design battle I've ever hosted. What started as Henrik declaring "Webflow is officially dead" turned into a spectacle that's now been viewed over 200k times. The whole thing was planned in 7 days, judged by myself, Hunter, and Tom Johnson, and apparently had $200k in side bets (seriously, don't do that). Brett from DesignJoy took the W using Webflow, winning...
3 months ago • 7 min read
Welcome back. Some tea from Design Twitter: Henrik from Lovable.dev declared "Webflow is officially dead" after launching their AI tool's visual editor. Brett from DesignJoy (known for popularizing subscription agencies) wasn't having it. He challenged Henrik to a live duel: Henrik using Lovable.dev Brett using Webflow Surprise design prompt 45 minutes to compete Henrik accepted, and I'm hosting the Build Wars this Friday at 11am PT: Being extremely extra in the intro today Register to watch...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Welcome back. A few days ago, Pietro Schirano sat at his computer and typed, "there is legitimately no reason to use Figma anymore," and Design Twitter got a little rowdy. And while I see both sides, in hindsight this will seem like a very 2025 argument punctuating the end of the 2-dimensional design stack. From research to production, I'm having convos with design tool companies, and everyone is thinking about how to support new ways of working. Even motion design tools. —Tommy...
3 months ago • 3 min read