Hidden By Design (Hidden By Design)

What do you really know about colours? That there is 3 primary colours, or do you know the colour wheel.. or who invented the colour wheel?

Well, we can promise you, that in this episode of Hidden by Design, we will teach you something that you did not know. If that is not the case, we will do a full refund ;)

We go through the theory of how the eye work, what warm and cold colours are.

In the end, we talk a bit about how you can apply all the things we talked about to the work that you. And a few fun facts at the end.

Sit down, and enjoy this episode of Hidden By Design

Is it possible to meassure how good your design is?

In this episiode we will be discussing Utility and Usability, how they are connected and talk about how this is part of understanding and creating userfriendly design.

There is 5 traits of good usability as described by Nielsen and Normann.
Learnability, Effeciency, Memorability, Errors and Satisfaction

We will go through each of these, and help you understand what they mean and how you can use this understanding to become a better designer.

We are referencing the episodes of Affordance and Conventions, which you should listen to as well as this episode.

Design thinking is not a new concept, in fact, some would claim that its more than 80 years old and in the making.

Design thinking is a method to address human needs and desires in a technologically feasible and strategically viable manner. But how does it connect with the famous three-step business plan of "1 collect underpants, 2 ....mumble mumble... 3 profit"? (Credits to South Park)

Design thinking takes business seriously, but shifts the focus from profits to people. It emphasizes divergent thinking—opening minds to new ideas—and convergent thinking—narrowing down possibilities.

We talk a bit about: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. The Empathize stage compels us to walk in the user's shoes, truly understanding their needs. The Define stage crystallizes the problem at hand, determining what needs solving. The Ideation stage, generating a bunch of solution suggestions. Prototyping brings the ideas to life, ready for testing on users, so that we can either build or refine.

Lastly, we talk about the "One Two Four Many" method? and the idea of solutions having to be "Viable, Feasible, Desirable." For a solution to succeed, it must meet these criteria.

A composer is a person that decides how you should feel, and then, makes you feel that. Sounds familiar? In this episode we are doing something that we dont do often, interview a person, and this person is Michael Coltham a composer whos box, is bigger than Martins!

Michael tells us all about how he works as a composer, what the process of creating a new composition is, which is not unlike Design Thinking, and how the itterative process of creating a new piece.

In this episode we get all around the topic from music to support your brand, music for film, Dynamic music for games and the list goes on. I promise that there is a lot of learning for you in this episode of Hidden By Design.

In this episode, you will learn

• What a composer is

• Why should you use music in your production
• Music in context of design

Resources

If you want to get a hold of Michael, here is how you do this

Black Lab Music - website: https://www.blacklabmusic.co.uk/

Here's his Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5T664fmEeBDgjy6BbfXYJd?si=c_0LzxN9T0eDOoXCjdXAcg

You can find and follow Michael Coltham on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcoltham/

Do you have good judgment? Are you able to reflect properly on available information, and come to a sensible conclusion?

What can affect your ability to come to this conclusion?

Get the answers to all of these question by listening to this episode of Hidden by Design, where we take you through some of the things that will influence your ability to make good decisions, and maintain a good judgement!

You will learn what an Anchor is, how Confirmation Bias affects your beliefs, self assesment bias can help you in your creative journey and how knowing all of this will make you more prone to the negative effects of them in the G.I Joe Bias!

Creativity is not just something someone is. Creativity is something that you can be, and train yourself to be.

How can I do this, you might ask yourself! Well, you can start by listening to this episode of Hidden By Design, were we will describe what creativity is, and secondly.. and maybe for some more importantly. The Hidden By Designs three step guide to being creative. (Poorly performed by Martin and Mr. T)

Step 1. Be curious. Find ways to be inspired, and map this out, so you have dots to connect.
Step 2. Connect the dots. Focus on the problem, while trying to find ways to connect the dots. This can take time.
Step 3. Express your thoughts. In writing, drawing, dancing, get feedback or any other way you prefere to express yourself. And then you repeat, you go back to step one.

Nudging is the art of "ever so gently" influencing someones behaviour. This could be as simple as a countdown counter to make someone make a choice faster, or in a more serious case, package pills in a way that lowers the suicide rate on a national scale.

The definition of a Nudge is, any aspect of the choice architecture that alters peoples behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentive. To count as a mere nudge the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid. Nudges are not mandates.

In this episode you will learn about

Choice architecture. 
Nudges, Sludges, Friction and Libertarian Paternalism
Suicide rates and Gym memberships

This episode is about the relationship between emotions and decisions. We discuss how emotions are the brains way of making decisions, where as an example "hot state" decisions are made at high emotional influence.

Think about your emotions like a cup with a tiny hole in the bottom, everytime something fules that emotion, you put a bit of "emotional water" in the cup, if the water fills into the cup faster than it empties, then at some point, the cup overflows. These hot state feelings anger, love, or happiness, which leads to unreflective actions. So, if its happiness, you will start laughing uncontrolably, and what you will see is all the funny things happening, that will keep filling the happy/funny cup.

Understanding emotions is crucial for designers that wants to create designs that resonate at a deeper level with users.

You will learn:

• The brain is a predictability machine
• Hot State - Cold state
• What is a body budget
• How we make decisions

References:

How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain - Lisa Feldman Barrett

"This is Dave's printers. I'm not here at the minute. Please phone me back, see you later."

If you want to hear Martin fail at making an example of a bad voiceover, this is the episode. Even trying to do a bad job, he does great!

In this episode, we are learning what voiceover is, and how it is VERY much design, the preperation, the understanding and the performance. In this episode, which is the first of a 3 part miniseries about Audio, we dive into voice over, what it is, and how it ties to Design.

A voice actor is designing the appropriate piece of voiceover for the context it will be used in, the audience that its for and the effect we want it to have.

Also, if you listen closely, you will hear, that I am not following Martins advice of drinking enough water, so my voice becomes more and more dry in the episode.

You will learn

• What voiceover is and genres of voiceover
• Why use voiceover / benefits
• VO in the context of design - how we get there
• Emotion

Resources

Emotional Design

How emotions makes you do

Identifying Bad Designs

What is bad design, and how do you identify it?

Sometimes you will look at something, and think.. bah, that is a really bad design, the experience is totally off. And often you know this instinctively, but what if it is just a matter of your not being the one this was designed for, or you simply being in a bad mood.

Fear not, Hidden by Design is here to help you. We have questions you can ask about the design, and then you can use this as a parmeter for finding out if the design is good or not.

It is not nessecary for all designs to live up to all of these, but if a design fail most of these

1. Predictable (past and future)
   Is the design predictable, can the user predict what is going to happen, and does to user understand why things happened?
2. Consistency (Both in experience and Aestetics)
   Is the experiecen consistendoes it work as you would expect something like this to work, and does it have a consistent look.
3. Instant Feedback
   When using the object, does it tell you want it happening, does it have feedback, and is it given at all time what is happening? When you click a button, you have to be told that the button is clicked.
4. Easy but Deep
   Is it easy to understand how to use the design, and does it offer different ways to combine and solve issues on? This is mostly applicable with games, but to be honest, in my opinion, this should be something that all designs should have.
5. Autonomy
   This is very much about the user being in control. I often ask myself, does the user controls the situation, or does the situation controls the user. In most cases we want the user to be free to control the situation. A good design should enable the user to do thing and set them free.
6. Does it solve my problem
   Often, a design or tool "almost" solves the problem, or is not really doing the thing that it is supposed to do.. its the "You had one job" situations, where the design does not do what you need it to do. You would be surprised how many designs does not live up to this one.
   

Bonus: In this Episode, both Martin and me falls prey to a very famous Bias, which bias is this?

The questions:

Understanding the difference between simple and simplistic, is fundamental to being able to do great design. The second thing you should learn is that users dont care about your design! Once you have these two things in place, then it becomes easier to focus on the right things when designing.

Anyways, I think you should just listen to this episode, which I believe is one of the best we made so far.

In this episode you will learn

• The difference between complex and complicated
• The difference between the amount of clicks and the value of clicks
• Why people do not care about your product or your features.

Resources:

Start with why - Simon Sinek

Living with Complexity - Don Norman

We dive into the topic of Deceptive Design (formerly referred to as “Dark Design”). We unravel it and tell you how to steer clear of its pitfalls.

Season two starts of with a bang of a quote, The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.

We explore a range of captivating topics, from Indulgences to marital infidelity and Amazon’s auto-subscription delivery service.

Throughout our discussions, we’ll peel back the layers of complexity surrounding deceptive design, using a hammer to illustrate that the tools themselves aren’t inherently bad; it’s all about how designers wield them that makes the difference. Join us on a as we talk about design ethics!

And if that’s not enough to pique your interest, stay tuned for a bonus segment where we grapple with the perplexing challenge of selecting our top three onions and imagine what we’d do if given the chance to redesign the onion itself. Intrigued?

Don’t miss out!

Welcome to our latest episode on Hidden by Design where we will be talking about 'Emotional Design,' we dive deep into the magical world of aesthetics and its impact on our creativity and problem-solving abilities.

As Don Norman famously stated, 'attractive things make people feel good, which in turn makes them think more creatively.' And who doesn't want a little more creativity in their lives?

To understand the nuances of emotional design, we embark on a journey through the depths of our mind (and Marins Guitars, hehe). We will cover the Viceral, Behavioural, and Reflective parts of our psyche, as these elements influence us and our actions as humans, often without us even realizing it.

We explore the different dimensions of design and Functional Design, Reliable Design, Usable Design, and finally Emotional Design. Each layer plays a vital role in creating products and experiences that captivate hearts and minds. But it's emotional design that adds that extra sprinkle of magic, the cherry on top of the design cake.

Why do we strive to create emotional design, you ask? It's because we're not just designers; we're sorcerers of delight, architects of joy. We understand that our creations have the power to elicit smiles, spark inspiration, and tug at heartstrings. And isn't that what life's all about? We want to craft experiences that make people feel something, that leave a lasting impression.

So, buckle up and join us as we unravel the concept of emotional design. Get ready to be enchanted by the fusion of aesthetics and functionality, and remember, as designers, we have the power to make the world a happier and more delightful place, one beautifully crafted experience at a time. Let's spread some design magic, shall we?"

Prototyping is the art of creating early models to test ideas, emotions, and processes. To make it easier we have split it into three main types:

1. Bassive prototypes (like mood boards or soundscapes),
2. Business prototypes (minimum viable products for market testing)
3. Interactive prototypes (hands-on user interactions).

On of the main benefits of Prototypes testing, is that you get earyl understanding and you can iterate and refine concepts before committing resources. Overall making the whole thing a bit cheaper to develop.

We also talk about seeking truth in feedback, where one easy method is asking what to change and why.

Data collected through prototyping becomes valuable only when analyzed and understood.

Prototypes save time, validate ideas, and turn creative concepts into polished, functional designs.

In this episode you will learn

• What a prototype is, and what different flavours they come in
• When and what to use prototypes on
• How to listen to feedback and understand
• How to collect and use data

Resources

The lean startup - Eric Ries (yep, I looked it up :) )

How to win friends and influence people - Dale Carnegie

George Miller, wrote a paper in 1965, called “The magical number seven, plus or minus two” which describes limits to our capacity for processing information.

This paper laid out the groundwork for “Miller’s Law”, which is “The average person can only keep 7 (plus or minus 2) items in their working memory.”

In this episode we talk about how this does not nessecarily a limit that means that you can only handle 7 items, but rather, that you have to be thoughtful about how you manage information, and as a designer, you think about how you chunk your data, and build hierarchies of information, for the user to comprehend information better.

Im not a businessman, I dont sell out, I am a designer!

I believe that this is a pretty common mindset, and also a really healthy one. But.. and yes, there is a but. If you do not make money, you are not free to create and share the good in this world. Further more, since everyone else in the world is also using the same concept of money, then when you are designing, this have a huge impact on the things that you do.

But, how can I use this as a designer you might ask? Well, I have some good news for you!

In this episode of Hidden By Desing we talk about the ways that business influence design, and how it is impacting the decisions you make as a designer. Amongst other things, we talk about the difference between "I make money so that I can create value to the user" and "I create value to the user, so that I can make money" and how the difference in this mindset can influence the way that you think and design.

You will learn

• How business influence design
• What should you think about when designing
• Why it's necessary to understand the business when designing
• How to apply business when designing

With this season finale we are answering questions that you, the listeners, have been asking. So, take a few minutes to sit down and listen to us funble around, trying to answer these excelent questions !

You will learn the following

• Why roofings have a pitch (And we will learn about "The Potatohole)
• Is there a rotation and trends in design that repeats itself over time?
• Is the "Decoy effect" only effective for marketing purposes? And how does it relate to bringing your ugly friend to the Disco?

Thank you for listening to our podcast, it have been a blast making it, and we learned so much :)

Shownotes Lego Mindstorm

Bermuda Roofing

The decoy effect
Wiki
Short explainer video
Longer video

If you want to get in contact, or just ask us questions, you can find us here Martin Whiskin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-whiskin-voiceover/

Thorbjørn Lynggaard Sørensen
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabuman/

The worlds WORST Chewbacca sound effect is in this episode.

If you never heard about Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sound effect, you are not alone, but after listening to this episode, you will know what it is. And you will know how bad Thorbjørn is at saying.. Dialec.. Diaga.. Diegetic!

We are going through movies, games and a lot of other things in this episode, and applying the knowledge that Martin is giving us.

You will learn

What a a sound effect is, different types

Why use sfx? What is the benefits?

SFX in the context of design - how we get there

Emotion

References

The Gunfighter

I Hate Fairyland - Comic Book

How to Sound Design Your Life

Our brains really like that things are the way we believe that they should be! So, how do we determine how our brain believe that things should be?

Give this episode a listen, as we discuss the ideas of constraints and convensions.

I'm in favor of progress; it's change I don't like. - Mark Twain

What are constraints and conventions, and how can we use them when doing design?
Find out all of the basics you need to know about Constraints and Conventions by listening to this Episode of Hidden by Design

You can comment and find useful links, notes and book recommendation on our homepage:

https://www.hiddenbydesign.net/2023/02/19/episode-4-constraints-and-conventions/

Design Ops is there to help Designers "Doing the job that matters"  

NNGroup defines the Design Ops as "The orchestration and optimization of people, processes, and craft in order to amplify design’s value and impact at scale."

As soon as more people works together, and groups start to form in companies, then the overhead and bureaucracy becomes a factor in the way that everyone works together. This slows things down and becomes a burden to everyone.

This is where the Ops role comes into play.

In this episiode of Hidden By Design, we are talking about what Design Ops is, and what it can do for your organization.

You will learn:

• What Design Ops is
• Why and When you need Design Ops
• The 3 fundamentals of Design Ops

Thank you for listening to our podcast

Resources:

Nielsen Norman Group - Design Ops

Frog.com

Perception and reality is two different things!

This is the quote that we start out this episode with, and it set the stage for what you are about to learn.

What is actually there is not the same as what people believe is there. And this creates the foundation for how people will try to interact and operate your designs. Mental models is what users know, or think they know, about a system or object, and how it should be operated. Listen to learn more!

As a designer, or someone who create experiences for others, this is really important to understand, as this is fundamental when creating something nice.

So, what is a conceptual model? And how can you use mental models? This is some of what you will be learning by listening to this episode of Hidden By Design.

Time and the use of time is massively underestimated as a tool for anyone who is creating experiences.

As a designer, and creator of creative content, there is two types of times. Physical time and Experienced time.

In this episode, you will learn how to relate to time as a designer, and how you use this knowledge to change the users experience of time in your creations and designs.

We are going to cover FOMO, Peak end Rule, Parkinsons Law and to Goal gradient effect amongst other things.

And then a little easer egg at the end... dad humor is the best.

Affordance, is a word that is thrown around a lot in Design. But what does it actually means, and how do you approach it as a designer?

We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are! - Anaïs Nin? Babylonian Talmud? Immanuel Kant? G. T. W. Patrick? H. M. Tomlinson? Steven Covey? (We do not know who said this)

This episode explains this really difficult topic of what affordances is, and how you should percieve  it as a designer. We cover other things like, signifiers, toddlers and their perception of chairs, and a lot of other topics.

You can comment and find useful links, notes and book recommendation on our homepage: 

https://www.hiddenbydesign.net/2023/02/19/episode-2-affordance/

What is a problem statement really, and is it really nessecary? (Yes it is ;) )

"Job to be done" is a tool to help you really understand the problem and stay focused on the problem rather than on the solution.

Thinking of the good old phrase "Fall in love with the problem, not the solution", job to be done is here to help you keep your love for the problem strong.

This episode is the first episode where we take a specific tool for doing and understanding design and investigate and try to explain it. The jobs to be done tool, have 3 elements

1. Its stable, and does not change over time.
2. It have no geographical boundaries. 
3. It is solution agnostic.

Anyways, listen to the episode, where we explain what this actually means.

Resources

The free book - Job to be done

Episode about Intuitive Design

Do you rember that party you attended, where there was this one person who was really funny, and was the center of attention, and said so many funny things. And then, do you remember other conversations that was happening that night? It likely that you wont. And the reason, can be found in the Von Restorff Effect. The things that stand out, is what you remember.

In this episode of Midden By Design, Martin and Thorbjørn is talking about the Von Restorff effect, what it is, and just as important what it is not.

In this episode you will learn

• What Focal point and the Von Restorff Effect are different
• How Context is everything when it comes to Von Restorff Effect
• How to use the Von Restorff effect to remember better
• That Focal point and Von Restorff Effect play an important role in racism

References

Effectiviology.com - Von Restorff Isolation Effect

Lawsofux.com - Von Restorff Effect

The behaviours agency - The Von Restorff Effect

UX tweak - Von Restorff Effect

coglode.com - Von Restorff Effect

springer.com - Von Restorff Effect

http://web.archive.org/web/20210110132534/https:/www.utsa.edu/mind/von_restorff_translation.htm

Design Systems is the bridge between professions which most important role is to be the foundation of creating a culture. This is one of the new enlightenments I got out of listening to John Bevan talking about his Passion for Design Systems.

If you want to have a clear brand, but at the same time, want to build products fast, and with a consistent designs and experiences, then this episode is just for your. And even though we talk about this from the perspective of big companies, then most of this also works for small companies as well.

This talk was inspireing and educational like nothing else. Take a listen yourself.

Gamification is NOT when you add a leaderboard and set highscores. Gamification is NOT when you simply take popular gamemechanics and push them into your designs, thinking that it will increase engagement.

But what is is then?

Listen to this episode about gamification, and you will learn what gamification is. You will also learn how to identify it, and what important elements you need to have in order to engage your users with gamification.

How fast, or how slow, are you at taking action and making desicions ? Well, that really depends on how many things you are supposed to relate to, how clear the hieracy of the design is presented, how much else is disturbing the picture, and etc. Hicks law is a way to calculate your designs and how hard it will be to use, and it looks like this:

RT = a + b log2 (n)
Response time = personal + environmental * Log2(number)

This episode is HARD CORE. And you really have to hang on to get it all.
If you have questions, this might be the episode where you should ask!

There is a lot of talk about AI these days. And when it comes to Design and Creatives, there is a lot of fear that AI will come to take our jobs. At Hidden By Design we believe that AI wont take your job. But if you dont start working with AI then Designers who work with AI will take your job.

In this episode we talk about the Turning test. You will also learn what Large Language Models and Generative AI is, and how it is used. And a bunch more.

So buckle in, and have fun in this Episode of Hidden by Design.

Fun little quizz here at the end. How many times does Martin and I say the phrase Chat GTP..PTG..GPT wrong?

A while back, we asked around for everyones favourite designs and what good design meant to them. In this episode we go through some of the answers and have a discussion about that.

Thank you to all who contributed, it was really a pleasure reading and discussing all of this with you.

Damn, I really need the toilet, but I am far away from home!

We have all been there, out for a walk, and in need of a toilet! And it appears that the close we get to home, the more we need to go! At a point when we are there, its almost unbearable!

What I tell my kids when in this situation, and what helps me, is to imagine that the toilet is not at home, but somwhere else.. setting the goal further away, because somehow this helps!

This is a bad example, but it shows the idea perfectly. The closer you are to a goal, the more motivated you are to comlete it. And this appears to be true, also when you need a toilet.

In this episode of Hidden By Design, we are discovering the goal gradient effect, and how you can motivate people by setting a goal and being clear about their progress. A bit of its daily uses, and where you can find it in your daily life.

You will learn

What the Goal Gradient effect is.

How to use the Goal Gradient effect.

Some example of the Goal Gradient effect.

Buckle up for another mind-bending episode of Hidden By Design, where we unravel the mysteries of perception with a dash of humor and wit.

According to the words of Gustave Flaubert, 'There is no truth. There is only perception.'

And in this episode we talk about the fascinating concept of perception from the angle of “Gestalt laws of perceptual organization”.

We will be taking on the laws one by one showing you the basics. From the intriguing 'Figure Ground' to the difficult to pronounce 'Law of Prägnanz,' we'll break them down and make them as easy to digest as your favorite snack.

The 8 Gestalt laws are:

Figure Ground

Law of Prägnanz

Uniform Connectedness

Good Continuation

Proximity

Closure

Common Fate

Similarity.

Thorbjørn ask Martin a LOT of interesting questions and the conversation gets a little be off track, when Martin mentions is Squad cage.. witch for some reason sends Thorbjørn into a "hard to control giggle" - he never knew that there was such a thing!

This brings us to the big takeaway.

The world is a crazy place, and our brains are the ultimate simplifiers, which is really good as it enables us to comprehend a lot of information at once. But also, its a thing to be aware of, as it will often result in us misleading ourselves.

Join us on this episode, and have some "perception party time!"

Disclaimer: No brains were harmed during the making of this episode. We promise.

Postels law, also known as the "Robustness principle" originally comes from the development and ideas of how the internet should be designed. The TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) was designed with the following sentence as a central point "be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others".

How is this related to design you might ask? Well, really simple, because this can be directly applied to how you should think about design. Think about an input field and how it should be conservative in what it shows.

There should be a field, there should be a small explanation on what is expected in the field (email), and an example in the field helping the user (example@email.com) This should make sure that the user have a clear understanding of what is expected, and the context of the situation. However, once the user starts using it, the input field should accept that the user might make some mistakes. This could be the situation where the user is copy/pasting the email from another loaction, and there is a space at the end of the email. There is no emails that end with a space, (or starts with a space) but instead of just throwing an error in the direction of the user, we should silently understand that the space is not a valid charater and remove it, and handle the situation without bothering the user.

And this does not only apply to UI design, which is often used as an example on where to use this, but also when you are working with UX.

Here we are back to the basics that we talked about in the episode "What is Design" where we talked about the importance of understanding that the actor (our user) makes decisions in an environment (the context) and that we have to design our solution (object) in a way that caters for that. In the end, we know what we want the user to do, but we accept that there is a high chance that they will do something different (and something that could be considered an error) and we have to help them recover from these actions.

Give this episode a listen, its good !

You will learn

• Who Jon Postel is
• What Postels law is
• How to apply Postels law

References

Die Antwoord

Nudging

What is design

Respect a whole person, before you expect a whole person! Let me start by killing a misconspetion about Psychological safety.

There is no "Kumbaya" over it, and it does not mean that there will be no conflicts. In fact, Psychologica Safety is about handling conflicts in a constructive way. Its about fostering intelectual disagreements and using them, and its about avoiding personal attacks which are unconstructive.

By fostering Psychological Safety, you can increase productivity, innovation, good designs and so much more. You will be able to have great days at work, and you will end up bringing.. not only your hands and brains to work, but also your heart.

Why do we need to be great storytellers? And where does Storytelling fit into Design and user experience.

This is what we are talking about in this episode. By listning to this you will learn:

• The difference between a layout and a Composition
• Aristoteles story formula
• How to use storytelling in your designs

Resources:

Simon Sinek - Ted Talk

Simon Sinek - Start With Why

Anthony Jeselnik

Studying aristotles poetics

Aristotles 7 Elements of Good Storytelling

Interaction Design - Storytelling

Screencast - Aristoteles six golden rules of storytelling

What is design? A question that have a lot of different opinions attached to it.

Design, and the job of a Designer, often gets reduced to "Just make it look pretty" or "This is not intuitive". But what is design then, if it is not just about making things look great? Get the answer by listen to "Hidden by Design". In this very first episode will will discuss and set straight what Design really is.

We open up this episode with a quote from a guy called Cast Stengel, an American Baseball player.

Never make predictions, especially about the future! 
Casy Stengel!

This opens up the conversation about the essence of design, that as a designer, your job is to predict the future.

You can comment and find useful links, notes and book recommendation on our homepage:

https://www.hiddenbydesign.net/2023/02/15/season-1-episode-1-what-is-design/

Have you ever heard someone say: “Thats not intuitive!” ?

Well, chances are that you have, and especailly, as a designer, you will hear this phrase a lot.

But what does it mean?

In this episode of Hidden by design, we will explore the idea of intuition, and what it means for the way that you experience the world.

You will learn, that intuition is subjective, and it relies on your past experiences.

We talk about what art is (finally, this is the definition you have been waiting for your entire life)

Note: In the episode, I claim that the painting “Red, Yellow and Blue” was destroyed twice, although some believe that is was destroyed twice, once when it was attacked, and again when it was restored. The second real attack on the painting never succeded. I have added a link in the reference section of these shownotes. This was simply a memory slip from my side 😉

Getting feedback can feel overwhelming and be a bad experience, if done wrong. It can feel personal and agressive, and can often leave you feeling bad about yourself.

Giving feedback is a super difficult, and is not, contrary to popular belief an exercie of guiding people by telling them what to do, its about making people understand what to do.

Giving feedback is not about finding and sharing solutions, its about finding problems.

In this episode you will learn:

• What feedback really is.
• How to recive feedback, and use these sessions contstuctively.
• How to give feedback the right way.
• How to avoid getting into a defensive mode, where you stop listening
• How to help people open up to recieve feedback
• How you can be candid and kind at the same time.

The season finale is upon us, but fear not, its only a short break while we prepare season 2.

We will be back in September again.

In this episode you will learn if Martin paid attention during class, and that Thorbjorn prepared some really though questions for Martin to answer.

So Quizz along with Martin here, and see if you can get a better result than Martin.

See you in Season 2. Where we improved a lot of things, so dont miss out!

Did you ever say that you were in flow? Most of us have, but have you really thought about what it means, and where the word “flow” comes from?

In this episode of “Hidden by Design” we are going to take you into the realm of optimal experience, and talk a bit about how to get others and yourself into flow, and why this is an extremly important idea, both when you are create User Experience and when doing game Design!

Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards.
Søren Kirkegård

You will learn that Flow is an activity, that you are so involved in, that nothing else matters. It’s a complete focus on the task at hand, Where your ego leaves the body.

If you have not heard it, it is a good idea to listen to Episode 3 – The Brain before listening to this episode.

Thank you for listening, this means the world to us.

Motion design is the trade of making design move. In this episode we interview Mark Lawrence, a 24 years in the making and super talented Motion Designer, and he tells us all of the knicks and knacks of motion design.

We learn what it is, and what his day to day job entails.

From a personal point of view, my favourite bit was understanding that Marc is the salt of any design, enhancing and pushing the original design to the edge and really making people engage in what you want them to engage in.

UI is not design!

And with that out of the way, lets get to the meat of this episode.

This is an episode about understanding what User Interfaces (UI) is and isnt.

Now that you read this far, then I feel I need to make sure that I mention that design cannot exist without an interface, and so, in that way, they are connected at a very fundamental level. Its like paint in a painting, a painting cannot exist without paint.. but paint is not the painting, it shows the paiting.

This episodes starts with us talking about what users interfaces are, and this in the end, we do a lightning round of the laws of Gestalt.

In this episode you will learn

What UI is and isnt
The difference between GUI and HUD
Cognitive load
Chunking Gestalt

References Season 1 Episode 4 - Constraints and Conventions

Season 1 Episode 12 - Gestalt

How does the human brain work? (It doesent) 

How do we remember things? (We dont)

What is Automatic thinking and Reflective thinking? 

"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that’s even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

The the answer to all of these questions and much more will be discussed in this Episode of Hidden By Design.

You can comment and find useful links, notes and book recommendation on our homepage:

https://www.hiddenbydesign.net/2023/02/19/episode-3-the-brain/

Nothing is also something! And that is exactly what we are talking about in this episode of Hidden By Design. Most people are afraid of Whitespace, and in many cases that is a problem if you are a designer. This conversation will let you know the basics about whitespace, and some practical advice on how to use whitespace.

You will learn:

• What Whitespace is
• That nothing is also something.
• Elements vs Global whitespace
• Functional and Emotional whitespace

Resources:

Hidden By Design - The Laws of Gestalt

A Book of Lenses

5 Best Tips on How Using White Space in Design to Improve Better UX

The Power of Whitespace