Notes on AI,
design, and craft.
Research and workflow notes from the studio, on building with and around AI.
User Simulation: A First Read That Gives You Hypotheses, Not Results
What are synthetic users, and when does user simulation help? How we use different personas to build hypotheses before real research.
Enterprise Application Design: UX and AI for HR, Dealer and Field Apps
How do you design enterprise applications? UX for HR tools, dealer portals and field apps: the hidden costs and a four-stage process with AI.
How to Prepare Your Design System for AI: A Guide for Enterprise Teams
Want AI to build on-brand interfaces? Separate your design system from the brand, turn it into a neutral core and keep it alive in a repo.
How to Build an AI Design Workflow: From Prompt to Production
A practical guide to building an AI design workflow: mapping AI to every phase, choosing tools, and keeping human craft at the center.
CLAUDE.md for Design Teams: Teaching AI Your Brand
How design teams use CLAUDE.md and agent context files to teach AI their brand: tokens, typography, voice, and do/don't rules that keep output on-brand.
What Is a Design.md File? How Markdown Design Docs Power AI-Assisted Product Teams
Learn what a design.md file is, what belongs in one, and how markdown design docs keep AI-generated UI on-brand, with a full annotated example.
Design-to-Code with AI: How We Eliminated Handoff Gaps
How AI-augmented design-to-code workflows eliminate handoff gaps, and why designers and engineers under one roof still matter. From Things Studio.
How to Do UX & UI Analysis with AI: Heuristic Reviews, Audits, and Beyond
A practical guide to AI-assisted UX audits: heuristic evaluation with LLMs, accessibility checks, analytics analysis, and where AI still falls short.
How to Do UX Research with AI: Faster Insight Without Losing Rigor
A practical guide to AI UX research (synthesis, synthetic users, interview analysis) and how to move fast without corrupting your evidence.
Will AI Replace UX Designers? What Actually Changes
AI won't replace UX designers. It replaces tasks, not judgment. Here's what actually changes in the role, hiring, and how clients choose partners.
What Is an AI-Augmented Design Studio? (And Why It Beats Both Agencies and AI Tools)
What an AI-augmented design studio is, how it compares to agencies and DIY AI tools, and how to evaluate one before you hire.
What It Takes to Win a Red Dot: Lessons from Our First Submission
How Things won a Red Dot on its first submission: what juries actually evaluate, why research beats aesthetics, and practical Red Dot submission tips.
How Enterprises Should Approach a Product Redesign
A practical guide to the enterprise UX redesign process: scoping, governance, design systems, phased migration, and choosing the right design partner.
Should You Redesign or Audit First? How to Decide
A UX audit before a redesign protects what works and fixes what doesn't. Here's how to decide which your product needs, with a practical framework.
Remote, Lab, Guerrilla: Which Usability Testing Method When?
Remote, lab, contextual, or guerrilla usability testing? A practical comparison of methods, sample sizes, and when to use each, from Things Studio.
What Does Product Design Actually Cost? A Budgeting and Proposal Guide for Enterprise Websites and Apps
What drives the cost of enterprise websites and mobile apps? Cost drivers, pricing models and a guide to comparing proposals.
How to Choose a UX Design Partner: Agency vs. Studio
How to choose a UX design agency or studio: model differences, what to evaluate, red flags, questions to ask, and why Turkey is a design talent hub.