Toolbenders

Design's best trendspotter is @ridd_design. - He drives industry dialog with @joindiveclub - He changes the way designers work with @inflight - He spotlights designers, tools and trends early I spent two days with him to learn how he does it. One of the most important questions he asks: What should exist? It's a question I asked before embarking on this series going backstage with some of the industry's most talented people. This is the first episode. What I learned was a lot different than what I thought I would.

Measuring velocity of designers is absolute bullsh*" says @sravienna, CDO at @metalab Speed isn't about cutting corners. It's about building trust. The faster you demonstrate momentum, the more goodwill you earn. And that goodwill buys you the space for quality work. Her team uses "Tarantinos": Play out the end of the movie fast, throw everything at the wall, kill your darlings. 80% won't work. But you need space to find the 20% that becomes magic. Full interview: youtu.be/nuVCTOwUS-Y

my goal is to transition into a full-blown builder with AI in 2026 so I asked @kylezantos to share specific Claude Code tactics that designers can add to their toolkit I'm unreasonably excited about his design engineering "skill" 👇 youtube.com/watch?v=HcLz3i…

I've spent the year studying how designers are exploring. Then the @karrisaarinen vs. @ryolu_ debate kicked off, and it captured everything I've been seeing this year. I sat down to write a 60 second video about it. 6 hours later I'd written something more. Reasonable hyperbole: this was the most important convo in design this year. Featuring: - @steveruizok - @asallen - @mrblackstudio - @floguo - @raunofreiberg - @weberwongwong - @tomjohndesign - @stephenhaney - @basementstudio - @samraaj

What started as a Sunday idea turned into something special. We’re giving 23 winners over $17k in the best design courses. How to enter: 1. Share a social media post celebrating a designer you admire OR 2. Share a post about about my latest YouTube episode 3. Submit your entry (link below) Winners announced in 7 days (Friday, Dec 19th) Huge thank you to everyone who contributed: - @mds with @shiftnudge - @emilkowalski with Animations on the Web - @raunofreiberg with Devouring Details - Joey Banks with Level Up w/ Figma - @theryanhayward with Ultimate Framer Course - @ransegall with Web Career Ignite - Catt Small with Influence & Lead as an IC - @femkesvs with Product Strategy for Designers - @LizTheWhizard with DesignerUp

I'm not even saying this as bait: Granola Crunched > Founder Pitchdeck 16 insights about you + your people + your progress. This is really good. Well done to the @meetgranola team. Newcomer product of the year, easy.

Some people make noise on the internet for the sake of noise. But @soren_iverson knows how to make it mean something. This is how the Weird Al of tech turned his absurdity into a world-class design agency. Full episode on YouTube.

I got @framer to give you 6 months free off of a paid annual plan. I also got 9 of my favorite AI and design tools to do the same including: @perplexity_ai @jittervideo @magicpatterns @createwithplay @Weavy_ai @mobbin @NotionHQ @meetgranola @boltdotnew Up to 6 months of free paid plans. This is an exclusive @uxtoolsco promo that ENDS TONIGHT. $1k in software for a one-time $129. Use the ones you want, gift the ones you don’t use. For new accounts. If you write “dope bundle” I’ll DM you with a last minute $29 discount. 12 hours left.

I'm a designer LARPing as a media dude. The cool thing about that is I get to meet the people building my favorite tools. And the cool thing about that is I talked them into giving you guys a months of Pro access. $129 one-time. 6 months of Premium access to: - @perplexity_ai - @framer - @NotionHQ - @meetgranola - @magicpatterns - @Weavy_ai - @jittervideo - @createwithplay - @boltdotnew - @mobbin I originally was going to just announce this to our @uxtoolsco readers, but figured some people here would get some value out of it. Enjoy - ends Sep 15th.

Designers: TRY THE NEW TOOLS. Two-week rule: Use the tool for actual client work. If you're still fighting it after 60 days, delete it. If it's saving you time, it stays. And now at @uxtoolsco we're making it easy for you to try new things. The UX Tools Stacks Bundle is live Aug 11 - Sep 12. We've teamed up with 9 of the most talked-about design and AI tools to create an absolutely ridiculous deal: UX Tools Pro subscribers will get: - 3-6 months of premium plans from @framer, @perplexity_ai, @NotionHQ, @boltdotnew, @createwithplay, @magicpatterns, @Weavy_ai, @meetgranola, and @jittervideo - $9,000+ in software value for only $129 - Limited to the first 1,000 people Try the tools that are shaping modern workflows for a fraction of the cost. This is our way of helping designers stay ahead of the curve. Stay tuned.