UX Collective

The 9th edition of The State of UX report is here: a critical look at our industry based on 761 articles published and shared with our 500k+ subscribers in 2022. In culture, as well as in design, things sometimes change at an accelerated pace, and a once-dominant social wavelength can suddenly start to feel dated. The year 2023 brings the culmination of various changes in the realms of technology, behavior, and society that have been underway since before COVID. As designers, instead of simply flocking from one new thing to the next, this is the time to think critically about the direction our industry is heading — and the path we want to walk ourselves. Topics covered: Industry: How after a few years of unrealistically fast growth, #layoffs are a specter haunting our industry. Business: When budgets are tight, the case for investing in design needs to be even tighter. Careers: How shrinking headcounts increase the demand for generalist designers and hands-on leaders. Collaboration: How too many circular conversations and not enough decision-making is undermining design work. Community: Social media influencers have replaced design researchers and authors—and now it’s the algorithm that’s driving the design discourse. Aesthetics: While web2 keeps trying to make technology look and feel more human, web3 tries to make technology look more… technological. Technology: Artificial intelligence is making its way to our design workflow faster than we’re ready to accept. Tools: Design tools are evolving to make us spend less time moving around boxes, and more time having the right conversations. Life: Pushing ourselves too hard is breaking us as individuals. It’s time to recalibrate our priorities if we want to be here for the long game. To read the report: trends.uxdesign.cc/2023 Written by Fabricio Teixeira and Caio Braga. Published by the UX Collective. Narrated by Laura Vandiver.

The past two years have felt like two decades — and the pandemic isn’t over yet. From rethinking remote work policies to acknowledging the unintended impact of the products we build, designers in 2022 have a unique opportunity to rebuild our practice with a new perspective, incorporating all we’ve learned since the start of the pandemic. Since we began publishing this yearly report eight years ago, we have challenged ourselves to discuss the design industry beyond visual and tech trends, taking an honest look at the things we need to improve as a field. After curating and sharing articles daily with more than 450k designers around the world, this year we wanted to focus on possibilities. This is the moment to recalibrate and reimagine what it means to be a designer, to design, and to be part of a design community. Are you ready to rebuild? Written by Fabricio Teixeira and Caio Braga. Published by the UX Collective. Narrated by Laura Vandiver.

Digital accessibility is the inclusive practice of ensuring that everyone has equal access to information, functionality, and experience on digital platforms. Many accessibility guides out there are either too prescriptive (making it seem like a checklist), too aspirational (painting a utopian picture that doesn’t drive action), or too charity-driven (driving the point that people with disabilities are to be pitied and painting the gaps as too enormous to ever be practically resolved). This handbook is a little different. To contribute to Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we at the UX Collective have partnered with our most prolific accessibility writer, Sheri Byrne-Haber, CPACC, to bring a more candid take on the topic. Inaccessible products are broken products. The first step to fix them is to give a damn. Thank you for doing that. Link to the guide: accessibility.uxdesign.cc

Much like late-stage capitalism, late-stage UX is characterized by its market saturation, heavy focus on financial growth, commoditization, automation, and increased financialization. Corporations exert significant influence over the economy and society, and designers can only push so far when advocating for user needs. How can we navigate this landscape as designers in 2024? Read the full report: trends.uxdesign.cc/2024 This is the 9th edition of The State of UX report by the UX Collective: a critical look at our industry based on more than 1k articles published and shared with our 500k+ subscribers in 2023. We dedicate this project to all the readers, authors, and friends of the UX Collective. Written by: Fabricio Teixeira, Caio Braga Illustrations by: Fabio Benê Edited by: Emily Curtin Narrated by: Laura Vandiver Published by: The UX Collective (ISSN: 2766-5267) is an independent publication built to help designers think more critically about their work. You can follow our content via Email, Medium, Essays, Twitter, Linkedin. For more in-depth pieces, check our new publication DOC.