Getting the wrong answer helps you innovate (and find the real problem faster)
We’ve all been told the same story: be efficient, be lean, get to the “right” solution fast. The trouble is, that mindset can quietly box you in. Here’s the another way: the fastest way to better design might be through deliberately bad ideas. Sounds wrong, doesn’t it?
Inclusive Design for Social Impact
Social impact organisations are realising that good intentions alone aren’t enough. To win hearts, funding, and volunteers, they need stories that feel real, campaigns that include everyone, and platforms that work for all. By blending empathy-driven storytelling with inclusive design principles.
From Code to Conscience: Why Edinburgh’s AI Boom Must Put People First
The tech scene is buzzing with AI innovation, but speed alone won’t win the race. As start-ups push the boundaries of what’s possible, they face a bigger question: can they build AI that’s not just clever, but also transparent, inclusive, and ethical? This isn’t a side quest — it’s the main storyline.
Scaling Up: User-Centric Design for Tech Start-ups in Manchester
Start-ups are rewriting the rulebook on how to launch products that matter. Tight budgets and impossible timelines might sound like a recipe for compromise. Yet, these ventures are proving that bold design thinking, rapid prototyping, and a relentless focus on users can turn constraints into a competitive edge.
Navigating the Digital Landscape: Inclusive UX for Healthcare
Designing Healthcare for Everyone: From Legacy Systems to Human-Centred Digital Care. A Design Thinking approach proves invaluable. It begins with Empathise: conducting in-depth user research, perhaps through ethnographic studies.
Navigating 2025: AI‑Driven Design, Evolving Product Ownership and Strategic Marketing
The pace of change in the digital world can feel overwhelming. Your product launch, which should have taken a month, has evolved into a three-month saga because our processes hadn’t kept pace with the tools. Sound familiar? In 2025, there’s an exciting convergence of artificial intelligence, user‑experience design, product ownership and marketing. Understanding how these threads weave together will help you avoid those late‑night rushes and build products people love.
AI-Powered Card Design: Speed, Customisation and Inclusion
Designing the perfect payment card has always been a delicate balancing act between quality, compliance, and brand expression. Today, artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules.
A lesson on how AI, design and personalisation are a win for brand loyalty.
Apple’s New Liquid Glass Design: Practical Guidance for Designers
The Liquid Glass language introduces a translucent, adaptive UI material across Apple’s 2025 OS releases and now ships in Figma’s latest effect update. When used thoughtfully, it can enrich hierarchy, but it carries real performance and accessibility costs if over-applied. The sections below summarise the design’s strengths and pitfalls, show how to recreate it in Figma, and outline best-practice patterns to keep products inclusive.
The European Accessibility Act: A Strategic Opportunity for UK Businesses
The EAA, which came into force on 28 June 2025, mandates that digital products and services offered in the EU must meet specific accessibility standards. Despite Brexit, UK businesses selling products or services to EU consumers must comply with the EAA regardless of where they are headquartered. This affects companies with more than 10 employees and annual turnover exceeding €2 million.
UX isn’t a department, it’s a culture
When scaling a product, it's easy to treat UX as a design step, something to layer in once the roadmap is set and the screens are ready to be polished.
In the most successful start-ups we work with, UX isn't a phase or a team. It's a way of thinking that cuts across product, engineering, comms and leadership. It’s a culture of curiosity, clarity, and co-creation, from the first idea to the final release.
AI Needs a Better Interface, and Fast
Remember When Search Was Simple?
Back when Google ruled the digital world, the interface was brilliantly simple: a single box, a blinking cursor, and instant results. It felt easy. Fast forward to today, and many so-called innovative tools have kept that same box, but the experience feels anything but simple.
Why so many start-ups struggle with simple - and how to get it right
When you're building your first product or gearing up for launch, one piece of advice is always relevant: “Just make it simple.”
Sounds easy, right? But in reality, simplicity is one of the hardest things to design, especially when you’re a start-up trying to prove value, ship fast, and impress investors. Find out how Designed for Humans helps start-ups to simplify their product.
When brand gets in the way: Rethinking consistency and clarity in UX
Two of the most commonly misunderstood design principles are consistency and cleverness. Ironically, both are often applied in the name of branding but they can quietly undermine the user experience when left unchecked.
Find out why it’s more important to focus on the user's best interest.
Innovating Digital Products for Real Humans
This article is for product managers, UX/UI designers, and innovation leaders who find their digital products aren't resonating with their intended audience. If you're noticing high churn rates or low engagement despite having advanced tech, this post is your guide.
From launch to lag: What happens when UX is treated as complete?
One of the most persistent misunderstandings about UX is the belief that it has a finish line. A sprint ends, a prototype gets signed off, the feature goes live—and it’s ticked off as “done”.
The illusion of “done” is comforting, but dangerous. Read more to find out why.
Why more data doesn’t always mean better UX
Product teams often rely heavily on analytics to drive UX decisions—bounce rates, click-throughs, session durations. These are all useful signals. But I’ve noticed a growing trend: we’re drowning in data and starving for insight.
Find out why more data doesn’t always mean better UX.
When UX crosses the line: The new face of dark patterns
The conversation around dark patterns hasn’t gone away it’s just evolved. What I’m seeing more frequently now is this: the most manipulative UX tactics no longer look obviously deceptive. Instead, they hide behind the language of personalisation, nudging, or even growth experimentation.
Good UX is persuasive, not manipulative. There’s a meaningful difference—and your users can feel it. The strongest products aren’t just optimised for clicks, they’re built for credibility.
From tooltip tours to true journeys: Rethinking product onboarding
Onboarding is one of the most misunderstood stages of the product journey. There’s a trend where teams equate onboarding with a series of pop-ups, hotspots, or a guided tour that’s more style than substance.
Find out why you need to design your onboarding as an evolving, embedded part of the user journey.
Clash of the UX Titans: Stitch vs Figma vs Penpot vs Webflow
Comparing modern UX tools. Which tool’s best for your workflow?
A look at Google’s new AI tool for UX, Stitch, Pen Pot, Figma and Webflow.
Accessibility isn’t just compliance - it’s good design
Accessibility isn't only about checking off legal boxes. It's about creating interfaces that are clear, usable, and respectful to everyone. If your product isn’t accessible, it’s not fully usable—and that’s a failure in user experience, not just a risk in regulation.