TLDR Design 2024-03-28

Google Maps is streamlining its mobile interface with a cleaner home screen and a simplified bottom bar, the specifics of which are yet to be unveiled. The app will feature new pin colors to enhance map readability, complementing previous updates like map color revisions, improved directions interface, and expanded Street View coverage.

Google has introduced a new feature that allows users to personalize shopping experiences by rating products with Tinder-style swipe gestures to compete with Amazon and Walmart's AI shopping tools. The tool, available on mobile browsers and the Google app, will show style recommendations based on user ratings, with options to adjust preferences for further personalized results.

A Banksy mural in Finsbury Park, London, has been covered up with plastic and wooden boards by the building's owner after being vandalized with white paint. This has caused visibility issues and resident concerns. Islington Council is now managing the site, aiming to allow public enjoyment while considering local disruptions.

PARC's Xerox Star system introduced desktop icons in the early 1970s, launching the GUI paradigm. Those primitive, pixelated icons ushered in a new era of user interface design. This article covers everything from the early days of icons in user interfaces to spatial design icons that add depth and motion using specular highlights and shadows.

There are four options for consolidating design systems: 1. Keep them separate, which may lead to redundancy in research and development, 2. Systems start sharing subsystems, which leads to efficiency gains but challenges in alignment, 3. Systems retire, and a new one emerges, and 4. One system stays and others retire, streamlining operations but may only meet some unique market segment needs.

Adobe has shown that socially responsible tech doesn't have to come at the expense of profits. The bulk of Firefly's training data comes from Adobe's library of stock photos, which has an explicit license for AI training. Adobe has partnered with IBM, Mattel, NVIDIA, and NASCAR to explore how its intellectual property can be used to generate copyrighted content.

Design in Figma using accurate, meaningful data faster and easier than ever. The Data Populator plugin connects a JSON data source and quickly populates text and images.

Generate linear, radial, and conic gradients interpolated in various color spaces, yielding richer, more brilliant gradients. Live updating so you can easily view and tweak the results.

There's a strong argument that chatbots are a mostly one-sided revolution, increasing business efficiency while generally irritating consumers. There are exceptions, but broadly, virtual agents, decision trees, and ChatGPT-powered conversations are different from the future of customer service that we were promised.

Apple will finally let iOS users place app icons wherever they like instead of forcing them into a strict grid. Users will now be able to create groups of icons, which will vastly improve accessibility through spatial memory. This will also be a large boon for anyone with low vision — it's easier to spot the right icon to tap if it is surrounded by empty space and contrasts strongly with the background.

Google is rolling out updates to alleviate trip planning stress, including AI-generated itineraries in Search and personalized place recommendations in Maps for over 40 cities in the US and Canada. A new translation feature in the Circle to Search tool will be available soon on more Android devices to translate content directly on the screen.

With the latest CSS techniques, vertical rhythm can be adapted for right-to-left reading texts and even vertical texts.

AI platforms will aid in quickly identifying winning ideas, while humans remain essential for creativity, monitoring, and decision-making, allowing for more hands-off management and increased freedom to envision the future.

Designers can learn much from Pixar's commitment to storytelling excellence to create experiences that connect with users' emotions, ambitions, and values.