375: Reconsidering Consistency

375: Reconsidering Consistency

Author: Brian Lovin, Marshall Bock December 2, 2020 Duration: 38:56

This week, we talk about the tradeoffs and considerations of designing for consistency. In The Sidebar, we share tips and strategies for starting a podcast.


Latest VIP Patrons:

  • Ashish Negi
  • Alyssa Zhang
  • Tiffany C Yu
  • Aleksandra Strączek
  • Richard Picot
  • Sam Olendi
  • Kamil Lafere
  • Jackie Carr
  • Joaquin Kunkel
  • Fabian Valkenberg
  • Belén Lozano
  • Ruobing Chen
  • Ryhan Hassan
  • Jesse Box
  • Thomas Bishop
  • Oscar Newman
  • David Bill

The Sidebar:

The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.

In this week's Sidebar, we share tips and strategies for starting your own design podcast. We need more!


Follow up:

  • Jay Sowell brought up a great point on Patreon about the current shortcomings and limitations of widgets in the Apple ecosystem. We speculate about their future.
  • Tobias Gärder tweeted: After an unexpectedly easy transition to android from forever iphones I actually tried to switch to PC a year ago, nooot as easy, but been on it since. First hard to find hardware that felt good enough (went for Surface Laptop 13") but Windows.. yikes.
  • We have more design tricks to save people from themselves:
    • Divya Tak mentioned a pattern where users have to confirm the name of the thing they are deleting, like when you delete a repository on GitHub.
    • Havana Nguyen mentioned three:
      • "Don't show me posts like this" tips on content sites.
      • "Did you mean today or tomorrow?" helpers for when you set an alarm near midnight.
      • The simplified "driving mode" players on apps like Audible and Spotify.
    • Jordan Morgan showed an example of a confirmation toast after a drag and drop interaction. It reminded us of the new iOS 14 pasteboard toast.

Main topic:

This week we talk about the tradeoffs and considerations when designing for consistency. Specifically, we talk about Google's recent icons redesign and the new Big Sur rounded square shape for app icons.


Cool Things:

  • Brian shared Omniverse II, a buck-wild Line Rider track that David Lu created over 11 years.
  • Marshall shared Good Sudoku, a beautiful and simple sudoku app for iOS and iPadOS.

Design Details on the Web:


Bye bye!


Every week, Brian Lovin and Marshall Bock settle in for a thoughtful, often meandering chat that pulls back the curtain on how things are made. Their Design Details podcast lives in the rich space where technology and the arts intersect, focusing less on polished case studies and more on the real, sometimes messy, work of design. You’ll hear them dissect the nuances of product decisions, debate the evolving culture of creative teams, and share personal stories from their own experiences in the industry. It feels less like a lecture and more like eavesdropping on a conversation between two deeply knowledgeable friends. The discussions regularly venture into the philosophical side of craft, examining why certain choices resonate and how design shapes our daily interactions with the world. For anyone curious about the thinking behind the pixels and interfaces, this show offers a consistent, grounded perspective. Tuning in provides a sense of community and a candid look at the process, making it a staple for designers and creators who appreciate substance over flash.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Design Details
Podcast Episodes
373: Designer or Developer? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:38
This week, we discuss the career paths and tradeoffs for someone who wants to do both design and development. In The Sidebar, we recap the Mac event and share our first impressions of the new iPhones.Latest VIP Patrons:J…
372: Saving People from Themselves [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:40
This week, we brainstorm design patterns that help save people from themselves. From stopping the spread of misinformation, to saving eardrums, to screening spoilers, these design ideas are often clever and non-obvious.…
371: A Culture of Excellence [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:31
This week, we dig into practical steps for creating a culture of design excellence. In The Sidebar, we share strategies for designing adaptive interfaces that work well on any screen size.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float…
370: Designing for One Hand [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:06
This week, we discuss the tradeoffs and challenges of designing interfaces for one-handed use. In The Sidebar, we talk about strategies for collaborating effectively with brand and product design.Golden Ratio Patrons:Flo…
369: Shallow Design Culture [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:53
This week, we talk about the shallow parts of design culture, where superficial work tends to generate far more attention and praise. We dig into potential solutions for this, too. In The Sidebar, we recap and share our…
368: Teaching Design Fundamentals [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:23
This week, we discuss strategies for teaching design fundamentals and how to make the process engaging and fun for new designers. In The Sidebar, we discuss the pain of noticing problems right before you ship.Golden Rati…
367: Effective Brainstorming [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:03
This week, we talk about how to have effective brainstorms: what does good prep look like, and what should be done alone or with a group? In The Sidebar, we share our spicy takes about brutalism in interface design.Golde…
366: Closing the Gap to Senior [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:02
This week, we discuss options for designers to close the gap to becoming a senior. In The Sidebar we try to identify what is the duct tape of design.Golden Ratio Patrons:Float Float has been a lifeline for teams working…
365: UX Research ft. Danae Holmes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:31
This week, we sat down with Danae Holmes, a UX researcher at YouTube Gaming to talk about everything UX research. We dig into research methodologies, effective collaboration with design, tips to get better at user resear…

«1...678910