Lisa Verheul

“The more you talk, the less people listen.”

— Meg White

“The role of the designer is that of a very good, thoughtful host, anticipating the needs of their guests.”

— Charles Eames

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

— Leonardo da Vinci

“Great customer experience is about maximising task completion and minimising time-on-task.”

— Gerry McGovern

Or as we like to say: “reduce time and effort”.

“If we want users to like our software, we should design it to behave like a likeable person: respectful, generous, and helpful.”

— Alan Cooper

“Thoroughness and precision are expressions of respect for the user.”

— Dieter Rams

Took some much-needed time off to rest up and plan for the new year.

Now we’re back and ready to put those plans into action.

Money markets, widgets, and plenty more to look forward to.

Going to be a good year for @balanceddefi.bsky.social. 💪

Delight is in the details.

The critic rushes through traffic, impatient with everything.

Distracted AF, no attention to spare.

They resent every moment wasted, so we find every opportunity to get them back to their life faster.

Design for the extremes and the middle will take care of itself.

bsky.app/profile/bala...

The design industry loves personas.

They invent characters to represent the “average user”, then keep them top of mind as they design.

But these people don’t exist: there’s no such thing as an average user.

We design for our biggest critic instead.

It’s not how long you spend in an app that matters.

Balanced optimises for how fast you can leave it.

Gain clarity. Act with confidence. Then get back to your life.

How to redesign Steam for maximum exploration A Steam Deck interface that invites players to immerse themselves in their games.

We've spent months getting this ready, but our Steam Deck redesign is finally finished!

#SteamDeck #Steam

blog.parrot9.com/steam-case-s...

@steampowered.com sales are calling your name, but how many of those games will you actually play?

We love our @steamdeck.com, but the interface makes it hard to play through our library.

After a mountain of effort, here’s a Steam redesign that makes it easy to fall in love with your games.

First part of your life you learn.

Second part of your life you earn.

Third part of your life you return.

The mark of an expert is restraint.

An error message on a request to enter the password for your Apple ID: Verification Failed Error while SRP initial authentication : Unexpected response from IDMS Server [OK]

An error message should tell you what the problem is and how to resolve it — in plain language.

Jargon without a clear resolution is not the solution. Especially when you’re nagged to take the action in the first place.

Shit like this is why developers shouldn’t write content.

A lot of people try to inject themselves into the design.

We do the opposite.

The only thing that should be left at the end of the process is the essence of the solution.

The problem with cryptocurrency is that most products suck, and decentralised committees are not the solution.

It's 2023, here is why your web design sucks. Exploring the reasons why we no longer have web designers.

So many businesses get design wrong, because they advocate for a structure that encourages poor design.

It’s great if you’re an entrepreneur looking to compete.

It's not so great if you’re a business just looking to survive.

The best designers are those who can check their ego at the door.

They understand that it’s the quality of the work that truly matters, not its source.

A team united by their quest for quality is an unstoppable force.

Hideo Kojima once stated that “there's a certain type of horror that only people who’re scared can create”.

The same powers work for design.

There’s a certain type of design that only people who’re impatient can create.

Sadly, this is far too common.

Businesses often hire those without experience in the hopes that they'll "pick it up on the job". After all, marketing is a "soft skill" isn't it?

It's not fair to them, your team, and most importantly, your business.

Demand better.

What's the fastest way to recognise a brand?

It's not the logo. It's colour.

Use the same colour ratio consistently, and you can increase business revenue by 33%. You're also 3.5x more likely to be remembered.

The best way to destroy brand recognition?

Do something totally different each time.

What's the best way to sell someone on Linux?

Make them use Windows.

Why “good” is not good enough “Good” decisions lead to average outcomes. Here’s why you should never settle.

Perfectionism gets a bad rap, but if you settle for “good enough”, your business is ripe for disruption.

“Good enough” may save you time and energy in the short term, but it won’t give you a competitive edge. As soon as someone cares enough to do it better, you’ll be pushed to the sideline.

It saddens me that software has increasingly focused on its own self interests at the expense of helping users actually complete their task.

Your taste is not defined by what you do, but by what you choose not to do.

Do you stamp your name across everything you create? Or are you content to stay in the background, knowing that to insert yourself would only taint the essence of the product?

Humans are apex predators as a species, not as individuals.

Should designers learn to code?
Should designers learn business?

It depends. Do you want to be an effective designer, or limit yourself to the safety of Figma?

If you don’t know how to code, you can’t control the implementation.

If you don’t understand business, you have no business advising one.

People view negativity as a bad thing.

But when it comes to design, the ability to see the worst in something is a superpower.

If you see the best in everything, there’s no motivation to improve. When the threshold to act is too high, the small things will slip past until it’s death by 1000 cuts.