Interface Café
LightNews LightNews
banner
interfacecafe.com
Interface Café
@interfacecafe.com
97 followers 260 following 72 posts
A calm space to work through ideas on the meaning of our work, both theoretical and practical. Written by @iamli.am

☕ https://interfacecafe.com/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
interfacecafe.com
Interface Café @interfacecafe.com · Feb 24
Setting up a Bluesky account just for Interface Café posts, separate from the rest of my personal posts :) Give it a follow if you only want design opinions from me!

– @iamli.am
interfacecafe.com
A special ep with PM Aneesha Kommineni, UX Researcher Michael Gilbert, and Creative Director Andy Stewart, going over the M3 Expressive updates.

interfacecafe.com/design-notes...

#MaterialDesign #DesignSystems #Podcast
Material Design Gets Expressive: Aneesha Kommineni, Andy Stewart, and Michael Gilbert
The latest evolution of Google’s design system: Material 3 Expressive.
interfacecafe.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:04 PM
interfacecafe.com
📣 Calling all Design Notes listeners:

What other design or creative podcasts do you listen to regularly?

Let me know in the replies!

#designsky
November 2, 2025 at 2:00 PM
interfacecafe.com
It’s freeing to think about returning to a site built in Notepad as a more direct expression.

Jarrett Fuller unpacks simple tools in this essay.

interfacecafe.com/read-this-ja...

#WebDesign #IndieWeb #Simplicity
📚 Read This: Jarrett Fuller on Simple Tools
The irony of recommending this essay on Interface Café, which is hosted on Ghost, a CMS platform, is not lost on me.
interfacecafe.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:31 PM
interfacecafe.com
A post from Nico Thornley, Brenton Simpson, Julia Feldman, and Michael Gilbert about research the team did to determine how users perceive Material 3.

interfacecafe.com/read-this-wh...

#MaterialDesign #UserResearch #UIUX
📚 Read This: What Does Your UI Say To Your Users?
New on the Material Blog: a post from Nico Thornley, Brenton Simpson, Julia Feldman, and Michael Gilbert about research the team did to determine how users perceive Material 3 against Material 2.
interfacecafe.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:06 PM
interfacecafe.com
In a brand new issue of Doubleshot, I reflect on the importance of careful and intentional abstraction, and the aesthetic impact that can be created by mystery.

interfacecafe.com/levels-of-ab...
#designsky
Levels of Abstraction • Doubleshot
The aesthetic effect of mystery in design.
interfacecafe.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:03 PM
interfacecafe.com
Can technical expertise be a creative trap?

In a new Design Notes, Fabian Bircher explains how to break free of what's technically possible to make a greater creative impact.
Other Than Expected: Fabian Bircher on Combining Art, Architecture, and Code
Fabian discusses his unique creative process, where inspiration flows from both artistic concepts and the discovery of new technological possibilities.
interfacecafe.com
October 17, 2025 at 9:54 PM
interfacecafe.com
A new issue of the Doubleshot is set to go out next Wednesday! Sign up now so you don't miss it, and catch up on previous design tips, tools, and theory.

interfacecafe.com/tag/doublesh...
October 17, 2025 at 1:31 PM
interfacecafe.com
At the height of Google+, many Android dev, customization, and fan community members were hanging out there. Here’s what I think it got right:

interfacecafe.com/one-thing-go...

#GooglePlus #SocialMedia #TBT
One Thing Google+ Got Right
Decentralized platforms are picking up steam, and one reason I’m excited for that comes back to Google+
interfacecafe.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:05 PM
interfacecafe.com
The way metaphor permeates the interface points to a continued struggle with the complexity introduced by the things we’ve created.

interfacecafe.com/metaphor-and...

#Design #UX #Metaphor
Metaphor and Transformation in the Interface
The way metaphor permeates the interface points to a continued struggle to live with the complexity introduced by the very media we’ve created to manage it.
interfacecafe.com
October 9, 2025 at 2:45 PM
interfacecafe.com
The most interesting explorations are those that show something unexpected: the importance of creating a slight unbalance or a new focal point in the composition.

interfacecafe.com/doubleshot-0...

#DesignThinking #CreativeProcess #DesignSystems
Tension • Doubleshot
The most interesting explorations are those that show something unexpected: a constellation of system features that creates a slight unbalance or a new focal point in the composition.
interfacecafe.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:15 PM
interfacecafe.com
On an infinitely scrolling, algorithmic list, scrolling past something is about the least intentional thing one could do.

interfacecafe.com/view-counts-...

#SocialMedia #Design #UserExperience
View Counts and the Detotalization of Social Media
On an infinitely scrolling, algorithmically generated list, scrolling past something is about the least intentional thing one could do.
interfacecafe.com
September 11, 2025 at 2:31 PM
interfacecafe.com
Connecting historic conceptions of adaptable design with contemporary visions, looking toward a truly adaptive future.

interfacecafe.com/the-future-o...

#AdaptiveDesign #FutureofDesign #SpeculativeDesign
The Future of Design is Still Personal
Connecting historic conceptions of adaptable design with contemporary visions, looking toward a truly adaptive future.
interfacecafe.com
September 4, 2025 at 1:04 PM
interfacecafe.com
If Googling doesn’t give you the numbers you need, or you just want to show off your math skills, here’s a relatively easy way to determine the relevant metrics for your designs.

interfacecafe.com/how-to-find-...

#Design #AndroidDev #UIUX
How to Find Device Metrics and dp Resolution for Any Screen (Updated)
If Googling doesn’t give you the numbers you need, or you just want to show off your math skills, here’s a relatively easy way to determine the relevant metrics for your designs.
interfacecafe.com
August 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM
interfacecafe.com
Tomorrow, a new Doubleshot newsletter goes out, pondering the primacy of the “problem” in the design process.

Sign up to get it directly in your inbox 💌
Doubleshot - Interface Café
Enrich your practice with the Interface Café newsletter—one part curated practical tips, one part theoretical exploration, delivered to you bi-weekly.
interfacecafe.com
August 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
interfacecafe.com
From Le Corbusier to Figma, “design is, at its core, a permanently subject-oriented discipline.”

To realize the potential of this coming era of design, we must reconsider the nature of the objects we create.
Reshaping our expectations for generative design
From Le Corbusier to Figma, “design is, at its core, a permanently subject-oriented discipline.”
interfacecafe.com
August 21, 2025 at 1:30 PM
interfacecafe.com
Adaptability to the individual is a persistent vision that’s engaged a long line of thinkers and practitioners in computing since day one.

Trace its history (and predict its future) in this summer reading list 📚

interfacecafe.com/adaptive-ind...
#designsky
A Reading List for Individualized and Adaptive Design
It’s (still) summer, which is the perfect time for a reading list.
interfacecafe.com
August 19, 2025 at 1:12 PM
interfacecafe.com
In a new Doubleshot, some thoughts (and resources) on the irreplaceable creativity of the mind and how individual subjectivity, on a fundamental level, can’t be generated. ☕️

interfacecafe.com/mindmade-ai-...

#designsky
August 13, 2025 at 1:02 PM
interfacecafe.com
Tomorrow, a new Doubleshot newsletter will go out centered on what distinguishes generation and creation.

Sign up to get it directly to your inbox, or on Interface Café ☕️

interfacecafe.com/tag/doublesh...
#designsky
Doubleshot - Interface Café
Enrich your practice with the Interface Café newsletter—one part curated practical tips, one part theoretical exploration, delivered to you bi-weekly.
interfacecafe.com
August 12, 2025 at 2:02 PM
interfacecafe.com
The interface subtly evokes and communicates possibility. For an example, look no further than the chair you’re probably sitting on right now. 🪑

interfacecafe.com/chair-as-int...
August 7, 2025 at 1:16 PM
interfacecafe.com
If you like Design Notes, consider helping the show by leaving a rating on your favorite podcast platform!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you leave a review, you’ll get a shoutout on the next episode 💌

Find the show on your favorite app: design-notes.show
Design Notes
Design Notes is a show about creative work and what it teaches us, hosted by Liam Spradlin.
design-notes.show
August 6, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Interface Café
design-notes.show
In a new episode—Rob Giampietro returns to the show for a case study on @Notion.com Faces. Rob and I cover:

• The irreplaceable joy in hand-drawn assets
• The role of expression in #UX
• How to ship ambitious design projects

📻 Tune in:
The User Brings the Confetti
Design Notes is a show about creative work and what it teaches us, hosted by Liam Spradlin.
design-notes.show
August 5, 2025 at 2:24 PM
interfacecafe.com
To go along with this week’s Doubleshot newsletter, take some time to revisit this @design-notes.show episode with Cameron Koczon, in which Koczon explains the importance of designing tools—products that simply facilitate user intent.
Designing Tools is Awesome: Cameron Koczon, Partner at Fictive Kin
Fictive Kin’s Cameron Koczon on understanding the foundational impact of design.
interfacecafe.com
July 31, 2025 at 1:16 PM
interfacecafe.com
In a 🆕 Doubleshot newsletter: Is software like Figma or Sketch actually a tool?

How should we think about these platforms in relation to our work?

Plus, some curated practical tips for the week ☕️
Let’s Talk About Tools • Doubleshot
Like physical workshops, these pieces of software are likely to supply slightly different sets of tools for carrying out your intent as a craftsperson.
interfacecafe.com
July 30, 2025 at 1:05 PM
interfacecafe.com
From ideation to creating and running the interface, I broke down—in a previous Doubleshot—the spectrum of possible landing places I see for generative AI in the process of creating UI.
Design Space and the Generative Spectrum • Doubleshot
Untangling some of the abstract and ambiguous possibilities of designing with AI.
interfacecafe.com
July 28, 2025 at 1:31 PM
interfacecafe.com
A new issue of the Doubleshot newsletter is coming out next week, and it’s all about the relationship designers have to their tools.

Sign up to get resources, prompts for thought, and a little theory on the tools we use in our everyday practice.

interfacecafe.com/tag/doublesh...
#designsky
Doubleshot - Interface Café
Enrich your practice with the Interface Café newsletter—one part curated practical tips, one part theoretical exploration, delivered to you bi-weekly.
interfacecafe.com
July 25, 2025 at 1:05 PM