417: The Side Project Prophecy

417: The Side Project Prophecy

Author: Brian Lovin, Marshall Bock October 27, 2021 Duration: 37:09

This week, we reflect on why it is that talking about building a side project can often reduce your motivation to actually finish the project. We dig into our latest side project progress and share tips for maintaining momentum. In The Sidebar, we recap Google’s Pixel 6 event and share our hot takes on the latest phones and software announcements.

Golden Ratio Supporters:

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Plume empowers a billion smart devices in homes and small businesses through a suite of adaptive WiFi, AI security, and parental control. They're hiring product designers to build the future of smart home services. They're hiring product designers with 2-5 years of experience shipping products — learn more at designdetails.fm/plume. Oh, and they just raised a $270m series E, so now's the time!

Sympli builds design version control and developer handoff tools to help teams collaborate on screen designs. Check out their design-to-development plugins for all major design tools, including a version control app for Sketch, Sympli.io.

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The Sidebar:

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Follow up:

We’ve declared issue bankruptcy on our GitHub repository. If you have a question or topic you’d like to hear us talk about on the show, please open an issue!

Main Topic:

This week, we reflect on why it is that talking about building a side project can often reduce your motivation to actually finish the project. We dig into our latest side project progress and share tips for maintaining momentum.

Cool Things:

  • Brian shared Next.js, a React framework for building websites. This week they released version 12 and things are getting so so good. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about React and build a new website in the process, take a look at their step-by-step guide.
  • Marshall shared Far Cry 6, the latest release in the Far Cry series where there is something new and interesting to discover every 30 seconds or less — guaranteed!

Design Details on the Web:

Byeee!


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
424: The Art of Unsolicited Redesigns [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:39
This week, we talk about the art of creating unsolicited redesigns at work — how to approach them, how to wrangle complexity and rabbit holes, and what to do when you have something worth sharing. In the Sidebar, we shar…
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422: The Complainisode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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421: The Future of Remote Design Teams [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:34
This week, we talk about the pros and cons of working on a remote design team, and what we think the future of design organizations will look like in a post-pandemic world. In The Sidebar, we talk about how to weigh comp…
420: The Pointer Cursor Debate [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:49
This week, we discuss the humble cursor and its role in affording interactivity in software design. In The Sidebar, we talk about the long term impact of the features we build, the importance of smart defaults, and the v…
419: Teaching Design at Work [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:48
This week, we share our strategies and motivations for teaching design at work. In The Sidebar, we talk about the shape of software, how we visualize the tools we build, and what it means for software to feel like someth…
418: Fictional User Interfaces [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:59
This week, we talk about the weird and beautiful world of fictional user interfaces: why do futuristic UIs look so cool? And why aren't they usable? Is the future really going to look like this? In The Sidebar, we share…
416: UI Reviews and QA [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:33
This week, we talk about our processes for reviewing UI and making sure that things are shipping as close to spec as possible. In The Sidebar, we recap Apple’s Unleashed event, sharing our favorite moments and spicy take…
415: News Desk, Vol. 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:18
This week, we talk about the new Stripe Press website, pasting behavior in Figma, the latest tvOS UI, and the importance of using fake data in placeholder copy. In The Sidebar, we share our tools and strategies for remem…
414: Memorable Software Moments [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:30
This week, we recall our most recent “wow” moments with the products in our lives. What are yours? In The Sidebar, we talk about different loading state strategies and their impact on the user experience.Golden Ratio Sup…