Better Designed

Better Designed Explains: How to do contextual inquiry

Contextual inquiry should not be confused with user interviewing, another very valuable user research method.

Sep 22 • 

Patrick Thornton

1

10 thoughts on Meta's new Ray-Ban Display smart glasses

Meta’s new Ray-Ban smart glasses/AR glasses are impressive.

Sep 19 • 

Patrick Thornton

iPhone Air sets the stage for the future

It's a cool phone today, but it's really about what's next

Sep 18 • 

Patrick Thornton

March 2025

The five areas of UX

There are many different specific areas of user experience, but there are five core overarching areas that we talk about and design for

Mar 14 • 

Patrick Thornton

October 2024

Designer and PM portfolios are all wrong

Portfolios are a sales and marketing job

Oct 22, 2024 • 

Patrick Thornton

September 2024

Apple should rename Apple TV+

Apple TV and Apple TV+ are not in the same product family

Sep 26, 2024 • 

Patrick Thornton

Reviewing products doesn't teach you how to build them

Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) is one of the most popular tech reviewers in the world, and people have been suggesting he knows so much about products from…

Sep 24, 2024 • 

Patrick Thornton

March 2023

Apple's new HomePods still don't go far enough

There is no there there with this product line

Mar 1, 2023 • 

Patrick Thornton

1

February 2023

Paper prototyping: A primer

Many great designs, products, websites, and projects begin with paper.

Feb 27, 2023 • 

Patrick Thornton

1

Nothing survives first contact with users

Users can find many ways to use a product as you don't intend. Research, observation, and testing can help prevent this. But no idea or product survives…

Feb 24, 2023 • 

Patrick Thornton

2

Better Designed Explains: How to conduct user interviews

User interviews are a core user experience method.

Feb 22, 2023 • 

Patrick Thornton

1

When will phone camera bumps stop growing?

Welcome to the first weekly Better Design roundup, where we look at the most interesting stuff in design, product development, tech, and policy over the…

Feb 18, 2023 • 

Patrick Thornton

2