Matthew Stephens
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matthewlarn.bsky.social
Matthew Stephens
@matthewlarn.bsky.social
280 followers 790 following 21 posts
Fractional Design Leader. Co-Founder @deviantart. Emphasis on the business value of design, ethics, accessibility, & DEI. he/him
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matthewlarn.bsky.social
Matthew Stephens @matthewlarn.bsky.social · Sep 17
I built a workshop that helps teams explore unintended consequences, define anti-goals, and design with more foresight by imagining your product as a Black Mirror episode.

Full write-up here: matthewlarn.medium.com/the-black-mi...

#UX #ProductDesign #Ethics #BlackMirror
The Black Mirror Exercise: Building Better by Imagining Worse
Why my design team writes Black Mirror episodes to sharpen our sense of ethics
matthewlarn.medium.com
matthewlarn.bsky.social
I built a workshop that helps teams explore unintended consequences, define anti-goals, and design with more foresight by imagining your product as a Black Mirror episode.

Full write-up here: matthewlarn.medium.com/the-black-mi...

#UX #ProductDesign #Ethics #BlackMirror
The Black Mirror Exercise: Building Better by Imagining Worse
Why my design team writes Black Mirror episodes to sharpen our sense of ethics
matthewlarn.medium.com
September 17, 2025 at 4:07 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
My son just turned one, and all his toys are safety tested. What about the apps he’ll use next? I wrote about designing ethical digital experiences for kids. Full post here: matthewlarn.medium.com/designing-fo... #ux #designforkids #designethics #design #uxdesign
Designing for Kids: Creating an Ethical Framework for Digital Play
Designing digital experiences for kids means balancing creativity with responsibility. Here’s my proposal for a new standard in…
matthewlarn.medium.com
September 8, 2025 at 7:55 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
10 years ago, while caring for my fiancé during the final months of her life, I was asked to help create an end-of-life planning tool. Here's what I learned.

medium.com/@matthewlarn...

#uxdesign #emotionaldesign #productdesign
Designing for Death: A UX Guide for End-of-Life Products
Lessons from building a planning app for North America’s largest funeral provider.
medium.com
June 23, 2025 at 6:04 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
I played competitive sports for decades. Now I lead design teams and run them the same way sports organizations operate. Just dropped a piece on leadership, ego, burnout, and data—through the lens of high-level sports. #design #designleadership #management
matthewlarn.medium.com/what-competi...
What Competitive Sports Taught Me About Leading Design Teams
Real lessons from the field that make creative teams faster, smarter, and stronger.
matthewlarn.medium.com
May 9, 2025 at 2:16 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to design responsibly in the age of AI. How do we move quickly without breaking the very people we’re building for?

matthewlarn.medium.com/move-fast-an...

#EthicalDesign #LeanUX #ProductDesign #AIethics #MoveFastBreakNothing #UXStrategy
Move Fast and Break Nothing: How AI Can Support Ethical Product Development
A playbook and custom GPT for designing with speed, empathy, and trust in the era of AI.
matthewlarn.medium.com
April 16, 2025 at 1:15 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
Great design doesn’t come from rigid processes—it comes from curiosity, collaboration, and fun. When teams embrace play, they unlock flow, fuel creativity, and actually boost productivity.

Read my latest piece: matthewlarn.medium.com/designing-fo...

#flow #design #joy #creativity
Designing for Joy: How Play Sparks Creativity and Gets Better Results
Practical ways to make design more fun for yourself, your team, and your clients
matthewlarn.medium.com
March 7, 2025 at 2:02 AM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
Designing for privacy isn’t just about compliance—it’s about trust. It means collecting less, being transparent, and putting users in control.
#UX #DesignEthics #DataPrivacy #Trust #UserExperience #ProductDesign
Reclaiming Trust: The 8 Principles of Privacy-First Design
Practical strategies for designers to build trust and safeguard data in an increasingly invasive digital world.
matthewlarn.medium.com
February 8, 2025 at 3:22 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
Here’s a staggering stat: By 2030, 1 in 6 people worldwide will be over 60. But here’s the good news: accessible design isn’t just for older adults—it improves the experience for everyone.

matthewlarn.medium.com/designing-fo...

#accessibility #aging #inclusivedesign
Designing for Older Audiences: Checklist + Best Practices
Simple Steps to Improve Usability for All Generations
matthewlarn.medium.com
January 27, 2025 at 8:09 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
Some more logos from last year.. #logos #branding
January 25, 2025 at 2:58 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
Some unused logos from 2024 #logos #branding
January 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
Rethinking my old futures wheel idea for the AI era. I still love scribbling on a whiteboard, but now I always get a second opinion from ChatGPT. It’s pretty wild how many many new ideas it comes up with. Prompt included if you want to try. matthewlarn.medium.com/harness-ai-t...
Harness AI to Make Smarter, Safer Decisions Using a Futures Wheel
A simple prompt to reveal unintended consequences
matthewlarn.medium.com
January 2, 2025 at 7:22 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
my gamification brainstorming template has been added to the miroverse!

check it out here: miro.com/miroverse/ga...

#Gamification #DesignThinking #UXDesign #ProductDesign #UserExperience #DesignProcess #Miroverse #Brainstorming
Gamification Brainstorming Template | Miroverse
Discover how Matthew Stephens does Gamification Brainstorming in Miro with Miroverse, the Miro Community Templates Gallery. View Matthew Stephens's Miro templates.
miro.com
December 10, 2024 at 4:52 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
i love design sprints, but we need to consider the consequences of our work. add tools like evil 8’s, ethical heuristics, and black mirror episodes to think through what could go wrong? matthewlarn.medium.com/adding-ethic... #uxdesign #designsprints #ethicaldesign #productdesign
Adding Ethics to Design Sprints
Introduce future thinking into your design process.
matthewlarn.medium.com
December 4, 2024 at 4:15 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
measuring happiness in UX is great, but what about sustainability? EARTH swaps HEART’s priorities to design for a future that works for people and the planet. worth a read: uxdesign.cc/why-we-need-... #uxdesign #userexperience #designthinking #sustainability #designmetrics
Why we need to have a change of HEART with UX metrics
The HEART framework revolutionised UX design, but it’s time for an upgrade. With a small tweak, we can use the EARTH framework
uxdesign.cc
December 2, 2024 at 3:49 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
In my latest post, I break down the 10 core drives of gamification and how you can use them to create engaging, meaningful experiences that actually align with our values and enhance our lives in a meaningful way.
#Gamification #DesignEthics #DarkPatterns

matthewlarn.medium.com/the-10-core-...
The 10 Core Drives of Gamification & How to Utilize Them Responsibly
I’m tired of feeling emotionally manipulated by everyone — corporations, politicians, nonprofits, you name it. As a designer (and a decent…
matthewlarn.medium.com
November 19, 2024 at 8:56 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
“In a world of scarcity, we treasure tools. In a world of abundance, we treasure taste.” –Anu Atluru
It’s not just about functionality anymore—it’s about how our products emotionally resonate and connect with people’s personal tastes.
The Power of Taste: Elevating Design to Create Emotional Connections
“In a world of scarcity, we treasure tools. In a world of abundance, we treasure taste.” –Anu Atluru
matthewlarn.medium.com
November 18, 2024 at 7:35 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
My attempt at creating a roadmap for the next generation of design leaders.
#DesignLeadership #FutureOfDesign
matthewlarn.medium.com/the-future-o...
The Future of Design Leadership in the Era of AI
My attempt at creating a roadmap for the next generation of design leaders
matthewlarn.medium.com
November 15, 2024 at 2:05 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
I’m going to share some of my previous Medium posts here, especially the ones that talk about ethics in tech and design. matthewlarn.medium.com/explore-dire...
Explore Direct & Indirect Consequences Using a Futures Wheel
A brainstorming exercise to consider the possible results of a particular decision, event, or trend.
matthewlarn.medium.com
November 15, 2024 at 2:02 PM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
Fun bandana design for my wife’s event.
November 15, 2024 at 12:34 AM
matthewlarn.bsky.social
I’m gonna lean into @bsky.app and start posting some recent work. Here’s a cool brand sprint I ran for Vaughn Physics. #branding
November 14, 2024 at 10:32 AM