Matthew Stephens

The Black Mirror Exercise: Building Better by Imagining Worse Why my design team writes Black Mirror episodes to sharpen our sense of ethics

I built a workshop that helps teams explore unintended consequences, define anti-goals, and design with more foresight by imagining your product as a Black Mirror episode.

Full write-up here: matthewlarn.medium.com/the-black-mi...

#UX #ProductDesign #Ethics #BlackMirror

Designing for Kids: Creating an Ethical Framework for Digital Play Designing digital experiences for kids means balancing creativity with responsibility. Here’s my proposal for a new standard in…

My son just turned one, and all his toys are safety tested. What about the apps he’ll use next? I wrote about designing ethical digital experiences for kids. Full post here: matthewlarn.medium.com/designing-fo... #ux #designforkids #designethics #design #uxdesign

Designing for Death: A UX Guide for End-of-Life Products Lessons from building a planning app for North America’s largest funeral provider.

10 years ago, while caring for my fiancé during the final months of her life, I was asked to help create an end-of-life planning tool. Here's what I learned.

medium.com/@matthewlarn...

#uxdesign #emotionaldesign #productdesign

What Competitive Sports Taught Me About Leading Design Teams Real lessons from the field that make creative teams faster, smarter, and stronger.

I played competitive sports for decades. Now I lead design teams and run them the same way sports organizations operate. Just dropped a piece on leadership, ego, burnout, and data—through the lens of high-level sports. #design #designleadership #management
matthewlarn.medium.com/what-competi...

Move Fast and Break Nothing: How AI Can Support Ethical Product Development A playbook and custom GPT for designing with speed, empathy, and trust in the era of AI.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to design responsibly in the age of AI. How do we move quickly without breaking the very people we’re building for?

matthewlarn.medium.com/move-fast-an...

#EthicalDesign #LeanUX #ProductDesign #AIethics #MoveFastBreakNothing #UXStrategy

Designing for Joy: How Play Sparks Creativity and Gets Better Results Practical ways to make design more fun for yourself, your team, and your clients

Great design doesn’t come from rigid processes—it comes from curiosity, collaboration, and fun. When teams embrace play, they unlock flow, fuel creativity, and actually boost productivity.

Read my latest piece: matthewlarn.medium.com/designing-fo...

#flow #design #joy #creativity

Reclaiming Trust: The 8 Principles of Privacy-First Design Practical strategies for designers to build trust and safeguard data in an increasingly invasive digital world.

Designing for privacy isn’t just about compliance—it’s about trust. It means collecting less, being transparent, and putting users in control.
#UX #DesignEthics #DataPrivacy #Trust #UserExperience #ProductDesign

Designing for Older Audiences: Checklist + Best Practices Simple Steps to Improve Usability for All Generations

Here’s a staggering stat: By 2030, 1 in 6 people worldwide will be over 60. But here’s the good news: accessible design isn’t just for older adults—it improves the experience for everyone.

matthewlarn.medium.com/designing-fo...

#accessibility #aging #inclusivedesign

Some more logos from last year.. #logos #branding

Some unused logos from 2024 #logos #branding

Harness AI to Make Smarter, Safer Decisions Using a Futures Wheel A simple prompt to reveal unintended consequences

Rethinking my old futures wheel idea for the AI era. I still love scribbling on a whiteboard, but now I always get a second opinion from ChatGPT. It’s pretty wild how many many new ideas it comes up with. Prompt included if you want to try. matthewlarn.medium.com/harness-ai-t...

Gamification Brainstorming Template | Miroverse Discover how Matthew Stephens does Gamification Brainstorming in Miro with Miroverse, the Miro Community Templates Gallery. View Matthew Stephens's Miro templates.

my gamification brainstorming template has been added to the miroverse!

check it out here: miro.com/miroverse/ga...

#Gamification #DesignThinking #UXDesign #ProductDesign #UserExperience #DesignProcess #Miroverse #Brainstorming

Adding Ethics to Design Sprints Introduce future thinking into your design process.

i love design sprints, but we need to consider the consequences of our work. add tools like evil 8’s, ethical heuristics, and black mirror episodes to think through what could go wrong? matthewlarn.medium.com/adding-ethic... #uxdesign #designsprints #ethicaldesign #productdesign

Why we need to have a change of HEART with UX metrics The HEART framework revolutionised UX design, but it’s time for an upgrade. With a small tweak, we can use the EARTH framework

measuring happiness in UX is great, but what about sustainability? EARTH swaps HEART’s priorities to design for a future that works for people and the planet. worth a read: uxdesign.cc/why-we-need-... #uxdesign #userexperience #designthinking #sustainability #designmetrics

The 10 Core Drives of Gamification & How to Utilize Them Responsibly I’m tired of feeling emotionally manipulated by everyone — corporations, politicians, nonprofits, you name it. As a designer (and a decent…

In my latest post, I break down the 10 core drives of gamification and how you can use them to create engaging, meaningful experiences that actually align with our values and enhance our lives in a meaningful way.
#Gamification #DesignEthics #DarkPatterns

matthewlarn.medium.com/the-10-core-...

The Power of Taste: Elevating Design to Create Emotional Connections “In a world of scarcity, we treasure tools. In a world of abundance, we treasure taste.” –Anu Atluru

“In a world of scarcity, we treasure tools. In a world of abundance, we treasure taste.” –Anu Atluru
It’s not just about functionality anymore—it’s about how our products emotionally resonate and connect with people’s personal tastes.

Exactly. I’ll rewrite this in a year when robots are doing everything.

The Future of Design Leadership in the Era of AI My attempt at creating a roadmap for the next generation of design leaders

My attempt at creating a roadmap for the next generation of design leaders.
#DesignLeadership #FutureOfDesign
matthewlarn.medium.com/the-future-o...

Explore Direct & Indirect Consequences Using a Futures Wheel A brainstorming exercise to consider the possible results of a particular decision, event, or trend.

I’m going to share some of my previous Medium posts here, especially the ones that talk about ethics in tech and design. matthewlarn.medium.com/explore-dire...

Fun bandana design for my wife’s event.

I’m gonna lean into @bsky.app and start posting some recent work. Here’s a cool brand sprint I ran for Vaughn Physics. #branding