Weekly curated resources for designersthinkers andmakers.The main thing Ive realized after talking with dozens of designers in 2025 is that design cant be a cost center and hope to survive. In an uncertain economy, many organizations are looking to reduce costs. If youre seen as nothing but a cost with little benefit, your team may be on the choppingblock.So if executive whims are throwing you around, dont just learn to follow orders or question them to the point of being seen as a roadblock. Learn to get executives to realize that what theyre proposing is a bad idea on theirown.How do you deal with an executive demanding features? By KaiWongThe easiest feedback tool for UX teams & designers [Sponsored] Tired of chasing screenshots, Slack threads, and vague emails? With Pastel, clients leave all their feedback in one place, no login required. Loved by 10,000+ creatives including teams at Calendly, Dropbox Bentobox andmore.Editor picksWhy good UX isnt enough Lessons from the internal combustion engine.By JonDaielloGenerative AIs dehumanization problem The defects of traditional media, on steroids.By NeelDozomeAI + the age of choice Less noise and more quality.By Chris RBeckerThe UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about theirwork.Dicing an onion the mathematically optimal wayMake methinkWe must build AI for people; not to be a person AI companions are a completely new category, and we urgently need to start talking about the guardrails we put in place to protect people and ensure this amazing technology can do its job of delivering immense value to the world. Im fixated on building the most useful and supportive AI companion imaginable.Vibe coding and the illusion of progress While artificial intelligence has revolutionized how we write code, it hasnt touched the fundamental human work of discovering genuine user needs, validating solutions through real-world testing, and adapting products based on market feedback. This distinction matters now more than ever, as AI-powered development tools create a dangerous illusion of progress that threatens the very foundation of successful product building.Easy will always trump simple Simple and easy arent inherently in conflict, but are instead orthogonal. Simple is an absolute concept, and easy is relative to what the software designer alreadyknows.Little gems thisweekWhat GPT-5 could have learned from Apples headphone jack By YoujinNamFrom skim to substance: designing the future of reading By Wira IndraKusumaWhats human agency, anyway? By Helena MathiesenTools and resourcesAI in UX research What to automate, augment, or keep in human hands.By JuheeDubeyDesigning how AI thinks A scrappy guide to prototyping conversational AI.By MikeWaszazakDesign beyond sight How to make your product work with screen readers.By Gabriella ChuffiSupport the newsletterIf you find our content helpful, heres how you can supportus:Check out this weeks sponsor to support their worktooForward this email to a friend and invite them to subscribeSponsor aneditionDealing with feature requests, AIs dehumanization problem, AI in UX research was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.