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A Californian tradition

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#HTE

A Californian tradition

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#HTE

Bad website user interfaces are perhaps the worst part of the internet: spammy pop-ups designed to trick you, dark patterns that are intentionally misleading, and just plain obtuse design decisions that make filling out a form virtual hell.

But don’t take my word for it: let “User Inyerface,” a web app from design firm Bagaar, show you in an intentionally nightmarish take that tries to build the single worst online form of all time. And boy, it is infuriating. (Spotted by Michael Lopp on Twitter.)

Basically every aspect of the “game” is designed to induce rage: mislabeled buttons, complicated password rules, nearly impossible to close pop-up windows, slowly scrolling terms and conditions, and annoying CAPTCHA forms. Even…

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#HTE

Bad website user interfaces are perhaps the worst part of the internet: spammy pop-ups designed to trick you, dark patterns that are intentionally misleading, and just plain obtuse design decisions that make filling out a form virtual hell.

But don’t take my word for it: let “User Inyerface,” a web app from design firm Bagaar, show you in an intentionally nightmarish take that tries to build the single worst online form of all time. And boy, it is infuriating. (Spotted by Michael Lopp on Twitter.)

Basically every aspect of the “game” is designed to induce rage: mislabeled buttons, complicated password rules, nearly impossible to close pop-up windows, slowly scrolling terms and conditions, and annoying CAPTCHA forms. Even…

Continue reading…

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Apple CEO Tim Cook has fired back at a recent Wall Street Journal article that reported on tensions between departing chief design officer Jony Ive and the company, calling the story “absurd” and claiming that “the conclusions just don’t match with reality” in an email sent to NBC News reporter Dylan Byers.

The WSJ report alleged that Ive’s departure from the company had been a long time coming, claiming that Ive has been slowly drifting away from the company in recent years, leaving the design team at Apple rudderless and without leadership. A similar report was published at Bloomberg last week in the wake of Ive’s announcement, although Cook has yet to offer a rebuttal there.

Cook’s email instead notes that the design team at Apple is…

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#HTE

Apple CEO Tim Cook has fired back at a recent Wall Street Journal article that reported on tensions between departing chief design officer Jony Ive and the company, calling the story “absurd” and claiming that “the conclusions just don’t match with reality” in an email sent to NBC News reporter Dylan Byers.

The WSJ report alleged that Ive’s departure from the company had been a long time coming, claiming that Ive has been slowly drifting away from the company in recent years, leaving the design team at Apple rudderless and without leadership. A similar report was published at Bloomberg last week in the wake of Ive’s announcement, although Cook has yet to offer a rebuttal there.

Cook’s email instead notes that the design team at Apple is…

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Ikea has released a free font called Soffa Sans, inspired by all the memes born from its online ‘Design your own sofa’ planner. The tool allows for customers to design the layouts and configurations of Ikea’s couches, from the Vimle sectionals to the Vallentuna modular sofa series. Once it was discovered that the planner allowed for basically any configuration with no limit to the cost, it inspired some Sims-like creativity from users.

Acknowledging the planner’s full potential, Ikea worked with digital agency Proximity London to create the Soffa Sans font. Calling itself the “the world’s comfiest font”, Soffa Sans creates a typeface out of the Vallentuna couch in both isometric and birds-eye view versions.

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#HTE

Ikea has released a free font called Soffa Sans, inspired by all the memes born from its online ‘Design your own sofa’ planner. The tool allows for customers to design the layouts and configurations of Ikea’s couches, from the Vimle sectionals to the Vallentuna modular sofa series. Once it was discovered that the planner allowed for basically any configuration with no limit to the cost, it inspired some Sims-like creativity from users.

Acknowledging the planner’s full potential, Ikea worked with digital agency Proximity London to create the Soffa Sans font. Calling itself the “the world’s comfiest font”, Soffa Sans creates a typeface out of the Vallentuna couch in both isometric and birds-eye view versions.

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Synthesizers are mysterious and intimidating boxes to me, but electronic music company Ableton is setting out to explain and demystify the instrument. The company has created an interactive browser game called Learning Synths that teaches users the basics of synthesizers. The friendly tool is thoughtfully designed with fun illustrations and widgets that make it perfect for beginners to tinker around with.

Learning Synths starts out with a lesson on amplitude and pitch, but if you want to skip ahead to synth concepts, you can click on the hamburger menu on the top left corner to learn about envelopes, LFOs, and oscillators. The lessons culminate in the Playground, seen above, where users can play with presets and sequences. The site works…

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Phone-based augmented reality has started regularly showing up on apps like Snapchat, YouTube, and, of course, Pokémon Go. And virtual reality has found a reliable niche in gaming, film festivals, and arcades. Augmented reality glasses, meanwhile, are a rare sight in everyday life, but they hold an outsized place in our imagination. And in many ways, they’re the most exciting and scary of these three technologies.

AR glasses promise to untether us from our increasingly hated phones. Google co-founder Sergey Brin once claimed that smartphones were an “emasculating” and isolating “nervous habit,” while products like Google’s Glass headset offered the promise of freedom and connection. The “everyday smart glasses” startup North calls them a…

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