Personalities That Push Design Forward

Personalities and roles within a team that are crucial in driving a great idea all the way to realization. By The Zurblog

When visual style gets in the way

"Voice Memo" for the iPhone is a cool little app that allows people to record short audio clips using the on-device microphone. While the visual elements themselves look quite good, they create a bad user experience. By The Zurblog

Why Yahoo is struggling

It seems that every time someone mentions Yahoo these days all you hear is that they are slowly rolling down hill. By The Zurblog

Sketch with a purpose

The real value of a sketch is not to look pretty, but to sell an idea. By The Zurblog

Usability: User expectations are important

Meeting user expectations throughout a site normally delivers good usability. Ways to make sure you meet expectations: user research, reviewing competitor sites and following usability guidelines. By Tim Fidgeon

Content strategy and UX: A modern love story

It's inherently impossible to design a great user experience for bad content. If you're passionate about creating better user experiences, you can't help but care about delivering useful, usable, engaging content. By Kristina Halvorson

Effice design documentation

Given all its moving parts, design can be a challenging thing to document properly. What advice would you give to design teams that are attempting to get proper Design Documentation injected into their organizations process? By Brad Nunnally

Design Strategies for brand landing pages on mobile devices

On the desktop Web, e-commerce landing pages get a bum rap—sometimes well deserved. By Greg Nudelman

Mobile design patters: interaction models

"A model describing the method of user interaction with a device and its UI. Mobile devices typically use one of two models—direct or indirect manipulation. More recently, devices have been designed which also respond to gestural interactions." By InfoDesign

The Solowheel

Remember the Enicycle? A company called Solowheel has taken the motorized unicycle idea one step further. By Core77

Crossing Australia in a kite-powered car

A pair of German "extreme sportsmen" recently crossed Australia in a lightweight car powered by a kite. By Core77

Killer DJ tables

Some pretty neat looking tables for DJ's. By Core77

Inflatable fairing

Rain, snow, and cold weather can be incredibly discouraging for even the most serious biking enthusiasts. By Yanko Design

Business in the front, party in the back

Mercedes and cute are two words that are rarely used in combination. By Yanko Design

Construction just got cozier

Crane operators spend countless hours in position with limited break time. By Yanko Design

Wii Robot?

Now that everybody and they momma are doing motion controls, what’s Nintendo to do next? By Yanko Design

Watch it: Solar-powered LED watch

Gone are the days of old boring cell watches. In the age of electronic boom, how can we still use the same old pattern in watches? By The Design Blog

This is Service Design Thinking

As service design and design thinking continue to evolve as buzzwords for management and business consulting This is Service Design Thinking unveils the practical meaning behind these terms in everyday use. By Notes on Design

Stuff that you stick on your iPhone

If you designed the perfect little rectangle, would you bristle if companies started designing little form-interrupting gewgaws to slap onto it? By Core77

Squishy designs from Dieter Volkers

We're loving Netherlands-based designer Dieter Volkers' incorporation of squishiness into his product designs.

His Door Claxon is both a doorknob and, oriented correctly, an amusing replacement for the doorbell. By Core77

Slush hydrogen-powered ‘Chase 2053’ vehicle

Visualizing the future of transportation, Norwegian designer Thomas Larsen Roed has created a vehicle concept dubbed the “Chase 2053” that runs on both the land and in the air to allow safe and brisk movement in urban environments. By The Design Blog

Biolamp streetlamp converts smog into fuel to power eco cars

Over the period, smog due to increasing number of vehicles and industries has becoming a major concern for the environment and health of people living in urbanities. By The Design Blog

FLOWLIGHT harnesses tidal power to illuminate docks with renewable energy

Tidal power, although not yet widely used, is one of the vast storehouses of energy that shows a great potential for future electricity generation. By The Design Blog

FiiL cellphone

Touchscreen interface offering great flexibility to mobile users has just brought about a revolution in the cellphone industry. By The Design Blog

Cultural Values That Will Make Your Office an Idea Factory

Jon Kolko shows how a change in corporate culture can lead to better design solutions. By Jon Kolko

A Mega-Portrait of Steve Jobs Depicts His Outsized Legacy

Call it the ultimate "get well soon" gesture: designer Charis Tsevis built a portrait of Jobs using hundreds of tiny photos of iStuff. By John Pavlus

In China, a Radical Proposal to Turn an Old City Green

Woods Bagot, HOK, and CW Group are about to turn Langfang, an old Chinese farming town, into a sort of Portland of the East. By Suzanne Labarre

A Simple Concrete Bridge That Could Save America's Wildlife

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates win a design competition for an animal crossing that could help solve our $8 billion roadkill problem. By Suzanne Labarre

A Magical Interface for Dragging Files Between Mobile Devices

A clever Microsoft Surface app makes iPads and Android phones behave like we wish they would: No different from real-life files. By John Pavlus

When Trying to Invent, Being Objective Can Cripple Your Process

Most fields pride themselves on objectivity. Designers need to have a point of view. By Jon Kolko

50 Famous Designers Share the Books That Inspire Them

Ever wondered what George Lois, Daniel Libeskind, and Margaret McCurry have on their nightstands? Wonder no more, thanks to Pentagram's new website. By John Pavlus

How Do You Create Hybrid Interfaces You Touch, Talk To, and Poke?

With so many ways to control our interfaces, from touch to voice, what's the key to designing for them all? By Rob Tannen

Beercamp: A Bold Experiment in Zoomable, 3-D Web Design

Moving the scrollbar zooms "into" the site instead of sliding down its surface. By John Pavlus

Grace E-Bike Proves Electric Transport Can Look Tough and Stylish

The ultralight Grace electric bicycle is greener than a car, less douchey than a Vespa, and looks amazing. By John Pavlus

Mobi, a Super Flexible Desk for Today's Shifting Workplaces

Andrea Ruggiero's Mobi is the ultimate desk for today's flexible working world. By Suzanne Labarre

The Untold Story of How My Dad Helped Invent the First Mac

The guiding principles laid out in those early days -- from "think small" to top-down control -- still run through Apple's DNA to this day. By Aza Raskin

Typography Captures the Essence of Four Great Cities

Commissioned by language-teaching company EF, these magical promos use kinetic typography to capture the pure beauty of speaking mother tongues in Paris, London, Beijing, and Barcelona. By John Pavlus

MIT's Recompose is a Touch Screen, Keyboard and 3-D Display

The experimental interface from MIT's Media Lab combines gestures, tactile feedback, and 3-D visuals into an intriguing tile-like display. By John Pavlus

A Rebranding Concept That Could Make Ladies Love Car Accessories

Vinh Pho's AutoZone packaging makes car accessories appealing to the fairer sex (and more accessible to everyone). By Suzanne Labarre

At Square, Jack Dorsey and Keith Rabois Are OCD About Design

Having just raised $28 million for their pay-by-iPhone technology, the company's founders are still maniacs for refining their product's design. By Austin Carr

User-Led Innovation Can't Create Breakthroughs; Just Ask Apple and Ikea

The user is king. It’s a phrase that’s repeated over and over again as a mantra: Companies must become user-centric. But there’s a problem: It doesn’t work. Here’s the truth: Great brands lead users, not the other way around. By Skibsted Ideation

Could Botswana Become a High Tech Hub?

Botswana hires the A-list New York architects to build a hub for a new knowledge economy. Will it work? By Suzanne Labarre