Best of UX — December 2025

  1. 1
    Article
    Avatar of hnHacker News·22w

    The f*** off contact page

    A 'fuck off contact page' is a deliberately friction-filled contact page used by large SaaS companies to discourage support inquiries and push users toward self-service options. This design pattern is fundamentally inappropriate for service-based agencies that need to cultivate leads and demonstrate helpfulness. The author shares a client story where misaligned goals, discounted pricing, and lack of trust led to implementing this anti-pattern despite knowing better. Success in client work requires educating clients on the design process, establishing proper value perception through pricing, and building trust through clear communication of expertise and values.

  2. 2
    Article
    Avatar of css_tricksCSS-Tricks·23w

    Prevent a page from scrolling while a dialog is open

    Chrome 144 introduces a fix for preventing page scrolling when modal dialogs are open by extending overscroll-behavior to work on non-scrollable containers. By setting overscroll-behavior: contain on both the dialog element and body, and making the dialog a scroll container with overflow: hidden, developers can now solve this long-standing issue without JavaScript workarounds that previously required fixing body positioning.

  3. 3
    Article
    Avatar of daily_updatesdaily.dev Changelog·20w

    We fixed duplicate posts in your feed

    daily.dev has implemented a deduplication system to prevent the same post from appearing multiple times in your feed when it's shared across different Squads. The system uses a dedup key to track interactions across all versions of the same content, ensuring that once you've seen, upvoted, or interacted with a post, you won't see it again regardless of where it's reshared.

  4. 4
    Article
    Avatar of uxplanetUX Planet·23w

    How India’s Largest Payment App Fixed a Problem with Just a Plus Button

    Paytm solved a common friction point in payment flows by adding a plus button directly to the amount entry screen, eliminating the need to switch between apps for calculations. The case study demonstrates how identifying micro-frictions in user behavior and addressing them with minimal interface changes can significantly improve user experience. The article explores potential extensions of this concept and emphasizes the importance of observing where users pause or break their workflow.

  5. 5
    Video
    Avatar of designcourseDesignCourse·19w

    2026 UI/UX Design Trends - 2 of the Biggest Trends

    Two major UI/UX design trends for 2026: First, designers should adopt AI-assisted development tools like Cursor to become full-stack capable, moving beyond Figma-only workflows to build functional prototypes and projects without deep coding expertise. Second, designers should learn low-code/no-code WebGL tools (Unicorn Studio, Spline 3D, HANA, Rive) to create distinctive experiences that differentiate from AI-generated designs. The combination of AI-assisted development skills and specialized visual tools will separate skilled designers from generic AI output.

  6. 6
    Article
    Avatar of oddbirdOddBird·22w

    Make it ugly, for clients

    High-fidelity design mockups can mislead clients into focusing on superficial details like colors and fonts rather than core structural decisions. OddBird deliberately removes polish from early mockups using techniques like grayscale filters, off-brand fonts, or scribbled annotations to help clients understand what stage the design is in and provide appropriate feedback. This approach prevents 'premature sheen' from creating false impressions of completeness and keeps conversations focused on the right questions at each phase of the project.

  7. 7
    Article
    Avatar of atomicobjectAtomic Spin·21w

    Maybe It’s Not the User Who is Stupid

    Users don't fail because they're stupid—they fail because interfaces aren't clear enough. Common dismissals like "user error" or "they should figure it out" ignore how fragile UI communication really is. Bright modals get closed because the web trained users to dismiss intrusive elements. Banners get ignored because they look like ads. Buttons go unseen due to screen size differences. Good design means making systems clearer, not expecting users to be smarter. This empathy should extend to teammates too—they weren't hired to think like designers, and dismissing their perspective repeats the same mistake we criticize when applied to users.

  8. 8
    Article
    Avatar of uxplanetUX Planet·21w

    Why Your “Out of Stock” State is Losing You Users

    Most e-commerce apps lose customers when products are out of stock by forcing users into passive waiting mode with "Notify Me" buttons. The On Running app demonstrates a better approach by showing contextually relevant alternatives immediately below the size selector when inventory is unavailable. This pattern works by preserving buying momentum, adapting the UI based on stock status, and recommending similar in-stock products. The key insight is treating out-of-stock states as design challenges rather than dead ends, keeping users in active shopping mode instead of ending their journey.

  9. 9
    Article
    Avatar of adrianroselliAdrian Roselli·23w

    You Can’t Make Something Accessible to Everyone

    Accessibility is fundamentally about people, not just technical compliance. WCAG conformance (even at AAA level) doesn't guarantee universal accessibility due to varying user needs, contexts, technologies, and abilities. Rather than claiming something is universally accessible, practitioners should specify what accessibility features are implemented. The goal is continuous improvement to serve more people, acknowledging that perfect accessibility for everyone is unattainable given human diversity and technological limitations.

  10. 10
    Article
    Avatar of jetbrainsJetBrains·22w

    Meet the Islands Theme – The New Default Look for JetBrains IDEs

    JetBrains introduces the Islands theme as the new default UI across all their IDEs starting with version 2025.3. The theme features rounded corners, balanced spacing, improved tab recognition, and clearer separation between working areas. It includes distinct tool window borders for easier resizing and an optional setting for different tool window backgrounds to emphasize the editor. The design was shaped by user feedback and testing, aiming to create a softer, more comfortable environment that supports focus and productivity while aligning with modern design trends from macOS and Windows 11.

  11. 11
    Article
    Avatar of thoughbotthoughbot·21w

    How a £20 mirror solved a £35,000 engineering problem (and why you, a Product Founder, CTO or Head of R&D should care)

    A hotel elevator problem illustrates how perception management can solve customer complaints more effectively than expensive engineering fixes. Instead of upgrading the elevator motor for £35,000, hotels use simple UX techniques like lit call buttons, floor indicators, mirrors, and small distractions to make waiting feel shorter. The same principle applies to software products: addressing users' emotional experience through feedback, visibility, and reassurance often solves frustration more cost-effectively than performance optimization or rebuilds.

  12. 12
    Article
    Avatar of hnHacker News·22w

    Building a toast component

    Sonner is a React toast library downloaded 7M+ times weekly. Its success stems from unique stacking animations using CSS transitions instead of keyframes for smooth interruption, momentum-based swipe gestures, and an Observer Pattern for state management that avoids React Context. Key implementation details include dynamic height calculations for stacking, velocity-based dismissal, tab visibility detection to pause timers, and pointer capture for consistent drag behavior. The library prioritizes developer experience with a simple API and comprehensive documentation.

  13. 13
    Video
    Avatar of galaxies_devSimon Grimm·20w

    I Reviewed 3 REAL React Native Apps (Here's what I thought)

    A video review of three React Native applications (District walking game, Zyotes note-taking app, and Rail Ruckus dice game) analyzing their UI/UX design, user onboarding flows, and implementation quality. The reviewer provides specific feedback on improving native feel, visual consistency, animation patterns, paywall design, and emotional engagement in game interfaces. Key takeaways include the importance of native UI components, proper haptic feedback, smooth transitions with reanimated, and making games feel alive with animations and visual effects.

  14. 14
    Article
    Avatar of lobstersLobsters·20w

    You Can't Opt-Out of Accessibility

    Web accessibility is a fundamental requirement, not an optional feature. The industry has deprioritized accessibility in favor of developer convenience, treating it as an afterthought rather than a core responsibility. Legal mandates like the EAA and ADA have led to checkbox compliance rather than genuine improvement. Accessible design benefits everyone through universal design principles like captions, alt text, and intuitive interfaces. Real accessibility requires hiring professionals, integrating accessibility into every development phase, testing with actual users of assistive technologies, and recognizing it as everyone's responsibility. The human cost of inaccessible products is severe for people with disabilities who face physical exhaustion and exclusion from digital experiences.

  15. 15
    Article
    Avatar of uxplanetUX Planet·23w

    What Gemini 3 Pro Changes About Product Design

    Google's Gemini 3 Pro introduces Generative UI capabilities that transform product design workflows by converting sketches directly into working prototypes in seconds. The model demonstrates multimodal synthesis, agentic design system thinking, and aesthetic control that enables designers to move from concept to interactive interface without traditional handoff processes. Early adopters report 35-50% improvements in frontend task completion, with the AI functioning as a design collaborator rather than just a code generator. While implementation times and premium access remain limitations, the technology is already collapsing week-long design cycles into days and shifting designer focus from implementation details to strategic design thinking.

  16. 16
    Article
    Avatar of lobstersLobsters·21w

    Text Editors Should Be Worse

    Auto-completion features in text editors create frustrating inconsistencies across different tools. The author argues for simpler default behavior that matches basic text inputs like HTML textareas, particularly criticizing automatic quote pairing and cursor movement. They propose a NO_AUTOINPUT environment variable to disable these "smart" features by default, allowing developers to maintain consistent muscle memory across all text input contexts.

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