Issue #731: The new design process
Life after Figma is coming, Design principles for future AI, Build something silly, The CSS selection, The Creative Act, and more.
Highlights of the week
- The new design process - I think I figured out my new design process. - Tom Johnson
- Life after Figma is coming - As code becomes source of truth, design tools become interfaces on code, not the other way round. - Jonny Burch
Read all week, picked once. The best design links — every Tuesday.
Product design, UX/UI and PM
- Build something silly - Build something. It doesn’t have to be good. It doesn’t have to be useful to anyone but you. Just build it. - Anton Sten
- Design principles for future AI - The central question is no longer whether a system can perform a task, but how that performance affects human agency and cognition. - Dan Saffer
Design engineering
- The CSS selection - The state of real-world CSS usage, 2026 edition. - Bart Veneman
Artificial intelligence
- Designing for agentic AI - Practical UX patterns for control, consent, and accountability. - Victor Yocco
- What design leaders must unlearn to lead in an AI-first world - The path to designing for AI is in questioning the fundamentals of what design stands for. - Arin Bhowmick
Tools and resources
- This is Figma's "Make" or break moment - Figma's AI offering Make has gotten substantially better, but is it enough to keep up with other innovative AI-native design workflows? - Chad Johnson
- Design systems checklist - A step-by-step checklist for building design systems. - Tyler Coderre
Inspiration and creativity
- The Creative Act - I loved reading The Creative Act: A Way of Being by music producer Rick Rubin. - Justin Jay Wang
Last but not least
- 14 more lessons from 14 years at Google - I hope a few of them save you a scar or two. - Addy Osmani