Michael Gaigg

hitchhikersguidetodesign.com

VERY excited to announce the release of my latest book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Design" - a witty field guide to the world of #UX methaphors. It's part reference, part survival guide, a LOT of FUN, and a must-have for designers and product folks. #Design #books #DontPanic

09 • Dark Forest UX - Hitchhikers Guide to Design Dark Forest UX describes a user experience that feels inscrutable, unpredictable, or even threatening, much like wandering through a dark forest. For users, ...

Dark Forest UX = users don’t complain… because they’ve already left.
#DarkForestUX #UX #Design #UI #UXDesign #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #books #humor #DontPanic #UXFails
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com/book/dark-fo...

08 • Empty Fridge Syndrome - Hitchhikers Guide to Design Empty Fridge Syndrome describes the disappointing experience users have when they first open a newly installed app or sign in to a new product, only to find…...

First impressions matter. Fill your UI with quality content.
#UX #Design #UI #UXDesign #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #books #humor #DontPanic #FirstImpressions
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com/book/empty-f...

07 • Lorem Ipsum Trap - Hitchhikers Guide to Design The Lorem Ipsum Trap refers to the mistake of designing and evaluating interfaces with placeholder text, like the classic “lorem ipsum” filler, instead of re...

Don't fall into the placeholder trap, read this first before doing lorem ipsum.
#UX #Design #UI #UXDesign #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #books #humor #DontPanic #loremipsum
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com/book/lorem-i...

06 • Frankenstein Design - Hitchhikers Guide to Design Frankenstein design refers to a user interface or experience that feels stitched together from mismatched parts, often inconsistent in style, behavior, and p...

Are you a Frankenstein designer? Learn how to survive the monster.
#UX #Design #UI #UXDesign #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #books #humor #DontPanic #Frankenstein #FrankensteinDesign
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com/book/franken...

05 • Pixel Peeping - Hitchhikers Guide to Design Pixel peeping refers to the obsessive examination of a design at an extreme level of detail, scrutinizing every pixel, alignment, or color value, sometimes t...

Don't get stuck fussing over tiny visual details.
#UX #Design #UI #UXDesign #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #books #humor #DontPanic
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com/book/pixel-p...

04 • Cargo Cult UX - Hitchhikers Guide to Design Cargo cult UX describes the practice of copying design patterns, UI elements, or user flows from other products, often popular or “successful” ones, without ...

Copy less. Understand more. Escape the cult.
#UXDesign #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #UX #Design #UI #books #humor #DontPanic
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com/book/cargo-c...

03 • Dribbblization - Hitchhikers Guide to Design Dribbblization describes a design trend where interfaces prioritize aesthetic polish and flashy visuals over usability, clarity, and real-world context, ofte...

Stop designing for likes. Start designing for users.
#UXDesign #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #UX #Design #UI #books #humor #DontPanic
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com/book/dribbbl...

02 • Mullet UI - Hitchhikers Guide to Design Mullet UI refers to an interface that’s all “flash and show” up front, but clunky, outdated, or neglected in the back. In other words: “Business in the front...

Slick landing page but messy settings panel? Read this before the mullet grows out!
#UXDesign #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #UX #Design #UI #books #humor #DontPanic
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com/book/mullet-...

01 • Lipstick on a Pig - Hitchhikers Guide to Design Lipstick on a pig describes the act of superficially improving the visual appearance of a product or feature, without addressing its deeper flaws or usabilit...

Lipstick on a Pig is a cry for help. Here is how to avoid it
#UXDesign #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #DontPanic #UX #Design #UI #DesignBooks
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com/book/lipstic...

I’m surprised no one has made fun of see thru tech in sci fi movies. (I mean parody is a genre out of vogue these days) but it has zero practical purpose. Here are two sides of the same sign #film #scifi #designfail

4 Tips to make a good onboarding. Good onboarding can make or break your game. If players don’t quickly understand your mechanics, they’ll quit or refund. Keep tutorials short, clear, and optional. Learn from classics like Super Mario...

Onboarding: make it quick, clear, and memorable.

Don’t lose players before they even start. Learn from Super Mario, avoid Driver.

New article live! Read it here: www.uxerlabs.com/post/game-on...

#gamedevelopment #IndieDevs #UXDesign #gamedesign #UXerLogs

Breaking News in Austria: Special forces were able to stop a woman armed with a step ladder to run havoc in a subway station. - that's it.

Exciting updates to #ArcGISExperienceBuilder theming coming: use Google fonts and clearer primary/secondary color settings. #esri #arcgis #ExperienceBuilder

Proud to announce my latest book: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Design 🚀 A funny field guide to UX’s oddities. Let me know what you think
#design #ux #guide #book #fun
hitchhikersguidetodesign.com

Stay tuned for something very exciting to come soon...

Very cool! Do you synchronize the map extends across the pages? This seems to be one of the pain points, that users change the map on one page (zoom, pan, but also other things) and then change the page and having to do the same again

Hi @bobruediger.com - this is a great way to consolidate multiple products into one app. Are the tabs created by using the Menu widget or the Views Navigation?

Version 1.18 of ArcGIS Experience Builder Developer Edition is Now Available Version 1.18 of ArcGIS Experience Builder developer edition is now available for download. This version includes support for Arcade expressions, new widgets that connect to Autodesk Construction Cloud...

Version 1.18 of ArcGIS Experience Builder Developer Edition is Now Available #ArcGIS #ExperienceBuilder #Esri #esridev
community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-ex...

We need more of these #signs - "in this place kisses are obligatory"

Is Figma Make ready for dev-handoff? Design-to-code tools that generate clean code.

Isn't code "clean" if it works? Good take on #Figma #dev tools.
uxdesign.cc/is-figma-mak...

Thanks! Exciting!

Thanks Dave, enjoy!

Recording of my talk "ArcGIS Experience Builder: Best Practices for Building Exciting Apps" from #EsriUC2025 #EsriUC #ArcGIS #ExperienceBuilder #GIS #Esri uc2025.esri.com/flow/esri/25...

Had a blast playing pick up soccer at #EsriUC2025 - cheers to all my new friends! #EsriUC

Meet the authors and get your book signed today at 11:30am at the #EsriPress booth #EsriUC2025 #EsriUC

Good morning #EsriUC - want to learn how to build exciting apps in #ArcGISExperienceBuilder? Join me at 10am in Hall F
#EsriUC2025

Super excited to hold my latest book for the first time #ArcGISExperienceBuilder #EariUC #EsriUC2024

Impressions from Day 1 of #EsriUC #EariUC2025