article

Feb 13, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Meta

How To Find Your Way as a Designer

Introducing Design Navigator

Feb 3, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Meta

Platform Update: January 2023

We're back to our regular posting schedule, after a brief intermission to take in the new year. Even though we haven't released any new articles, videos, or podcast episodes, we have been busy during the last few weeks. We just launched our new collection of Offerings: a set of products and services by designers, for designers, to upgrade your creative work and navigate your future with ease. We previously offered an Advisory Service where we helped students, creatives, and innovators

Jan 27, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Roundup

Editor's Choice: Profound Books I Read in 2022

I believe I'm extremely fortunate, because every morning I spend at least half an hour reading books. Every morning, one chapter, and I start the day feeling blessed – because I have the time and space to do this, and because I can afford to own books. As you might imagine, I end up reading a lot of books this way. I don't keep track of it very well, but this year I must have finished at least 20, and abandoned

Dec 30, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

On the Pursuit of Visual Design with Anthony Hobday

Usually on Design Disciplin, we ask the questions. This time, our guest is the interviewer. Designer Anthony Hobday asked the questions, and I answered. We spoke about the place of visual design in modern, technology-centered design education – UX and interaction design. Anthony is a generalist product designer, particularly interested in interaction and visual design. He is an explorer in the world of design, through his many side projects, blog posts, books, and tweets. You can find other

Dec 20, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

Ron Wakkary: Beyond Human-Centered Design

Ron Wakkary is a professor of design at Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology in Canada. He is also a professor, holding the Chair of Design for More Than Human-Centered Worlds, in the industrial design department at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. Ron is the founder of the design research studio Everyday Design Studio (EDS). At EDS, he works with Will Odom and an evolving cast of students to produce multi-disciplinary design research that

Dec 16, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Roundup

The Best Modern Books on Layouts and Grid Systems

Grid systems are a mainstay for all design disciplines – graphics, architecture, industrial products, UI, textiles, and more. It's no accident we find Josef Müller-Brockmann's classic book on the subject – the aptly titled Grid Systems in Graphic Design – in every designer's library. First published 1981, Müller-Brockmann's work was an innovative resource that taught a highly systematic approach to designers worldwide. A pinnacle of design learning in the 20th century, this is the fountain tha

Dec 9, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Roundup

Decentralized Design Business: 6 Companies Building the New Paradigm

To make a living as designers, we must do the "dirty work" of a service business: marketing, advertising, courting clients, devising proposals, contracts and accounting, chasing unpaid bills, keeping people happy even when we don't agree... So many famous designers – think Michael Bierut, Virgil Abloh, Dieter Rams, Jony Ive, Diane von Fürstenberg... – owe their success not to talent alone, but to mastering the business and social worlds around them. Designers who create fashion, cars, and arch

Dec 2, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş, Mohammed Yarroum

Roundup

Fonts, Ferrari, and Frameworks

The Design Disciplin Community Discord Server is home to our #inspiration channel with a constant torrent of cool things – tools, resources, and ideas shared by our team and members from all over the internet. Here's our selection of 5 of the coolest things for designers from the #inspiration board, all shared within the last couple of weeks. Join our Community to access the entire #inspiration channel and share your discoveries with us. Ferrari's Ex-Design Director Reviews the New Purosangu

Nov 25, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Concept

The UX Designer's Guide to NFTs

It seems that we have moved on from the massive hype around NFTs. We're ready to have a sober look at them from a UX design perspective. The NFT phenomenon reveals timeless and practical insights in culture, technology, and economics that we can leverage for all kinds of design work. Because of how they build on timeless human rituals, we believe that NFTs are here to stay, and ripe with fantastic opportunities for UX design. The "UX design perspective" means

Nov 22, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Meta

Platform Update

My first vision for Design Disciplin was a content play: a blog, podcast, and YouTube channel. It was meant to be a resource – to read, watch, and listen to. Today we reach 1,500 subscribers on YouTube, and 1,200 monthly website visitors. Though this volume is minuscule by internet standards, having come this far in a year is validating and encouraging. The time has come to think about the next level, and build the steps to take us there.

Nov 5, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

Irmak Nur Sunal Lutkin

Born in Turkey and educated in the UK, Irmak Nur Sunal Lutkin is currently based in London, serving as Director of Digital Design at Reuters. She looks after a design team that contributes across Reuters News products and services. Previously she has worked with Atlantic Records, Sony Music, Puma, Adidas, CNN International, The Wall Street Journal, and XOXO Magazine. She cultivated more than 10 years of experience and insights in the design industry across the worlds of branded content, editori

Sep 5, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Concept

The Origin and Purpose of Research through Design

Research through Design is a way of producing "research" that comes with opportunities to practice the craft of design. It's a way of expressing and materializing knowledge and insights, acquired based on hands-on design work, packaged into a scientific format. Research through Design is something you might hear about if you study design at the graduate level. It's especially popular among interaction designers and human-computer interaction people. The appeal of it, if you're involved in acade

Jul 8, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

Carlos Calva and Timmy Ghiurau

Timmy Ghiurau is an innovation leader at Volvo Cars, and Carlos Calva is an AI and augmented reality entrepreneur. Both of them are experts in virtual reality, augmented reality, game engines, and other 3D interactive technologies, with experiences spanning design, engineering, and business. Timmy originates from the worlds music, fashion, and culture; while Carlos has been building projects for clients that include NASA and multiple branches of the US military. We had this conversation in fron

Mar 23, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Concept

Crash Course in Research through Design

On December 1, 2021, I gave a talk on Research through Design at a meetup organized by Got UX (IxDA Gothenburg Chapter), in collaboration with Design Disciplin and Recorded Future. The audience was mostly professional UX designers and researchers, and a few graduate students. This article has been adapted from the talk. Abstract: Research through Design is a way of materializing knowledge and insights based on hands-on design work. It’s an exciting world where designers can do scientific resear

Dec 8, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

OP.™ | Office of Possibilities

OP.™ – short for Office of Possibilities – is a multi-disciplinary design studio that creates objects and spaces based on well-informed strategic ideas. Their competences span architecture, art direction, exhibition design, industrial design, brand strategy, graphic design and innovation strategy. I've been following them since they moved into their Gothenburg studio, in the same building where I was living at the time. Since then, they have built a formidable portfolio of projects involving br

Nov 28, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

April Dunford

April Dunford spent 25 years running marketing, product, and sales teams as a startup executive. Creating a systematic way of positioning tech products and companies became her life's work, informing her consulting practice where she has advised 100+ companies. Her best-selling book Obviously Awesome offers a methodology that any leader or entrepreneur can follow. I found great value in April's positioning methodology as I figure out directions for my own projects, including Design Disciplin.

Oct 1, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Concept

The Profession of Human-Computer Interaction

The philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas argues that everything has an essence or ideal at its core, as well as an existence – an appearance and manifestation in the real world. The only being whose essence and existence are identical, according to Aquinas, is God. For all other things – material things, and ideas too – discrepancies between what is essential and what is existential are unavoidable. In trying to make sense of complex topics – like entire fields of academic and scientific research – I

Jul 1, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

Martin Stellar

Martin Stellar is a coach and consultant for ethical sales and business growth, as well as a former monk, tailor, and copywriter. Martin has lived an incredibly rich life, with many creative and introspective adventures. He draws on his experiences and years of study in psychology and business, to provide guidance for professionals and entrepreneurs. I met Martin earlier this year as I took up his offer on a coaching call, curious to see how his experience and framework would

Jun 15, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

Jofish Kaye

Jofish Kaye is a computer scientist who aligns design, data, and qualitative exploration for human-centered product innovation. His superb track record as a scholar includes more than 100 publications and affiliations with MIT, Cornell, and Microsoft Research. Surprisingly, his career has been in corporations: following stints at Nokia, Yahoo, and Mozilla, he is now a director of AI and UX at Anthem. I have been a fan of his work for many years – he is a brilliant research writer whose

Jun 1, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Concept

The Story of Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a religion with two core beliefs: 1. Design can solve all problems. It doesn't matter what your problem is – sales, education, science, global pandemic... Design will give you a solution. 2. Design can be done by all people. Skills, training, experience, talent – none of it matters. You just have to believe in Design Thinking, and you can become a designer today. Of course, these are not true. But they are dangerously close to the truth of how

May 15, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

Erik Stolterman

Erik Stolterman is Professor of Informatics at Indiana University Bloomington, as well as a professor at the Institute of Design at Umeå University, Sweden, where he originates. A prolific scholar of design theory and philosophy, he has co-authored 5 books and more than 150 academic publications with a focus on the design of digital and interactive systems. His work has been immensely useful to mine. In his writings, I find the words I need to articulate my ideas. He writes,

May 1, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Concept

The Three Faces of Design Research

I didn't know much about design research when I began doing it nearly 10 years ago. I began as a grad student, arriving as an engineer and web designer. I was able to build things. But I didn't fully understand the purpose of design research. I didn't know whom it creates value for, and what it should deliver. I didn't see the full spectrum of activities involved. The problem was that the books I read and the people I worked

Apr 15, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Conversation

Håkan Lidbo

Håkan Lidbo is a musician, artist, innovator, designer, and founder of the Rumtiden Idea Lab, an unconventional creative workspace in Stockholm. The work of Håkan and his collaborators stretches across music, art, installations, games, robots, software, public installations, and more. It's quite difficult to define exactly what they do, which is a testament to their vision: "bringing totally new ideas into the world that weren't here before." Håkan himself is wildly prolific (he has released m

Apr 1, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Meta

The Bookstore

Editor's Note: Since we published this meta-announcement, we have been iterating on our offerings. The Bookstore may or may not be available at the time of your reading. After a long period of planning, preparation, and design, I am proud to launch the Design Discipline Bookstore. Contents The Bookstore presents a collection of hand-picked must-haves for the library of any designer or design enthusiast. Every single title that appears in the Bookstore is either chosen by myself after a cove

Mar 30, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

IDEO cofounder Bill Moggridge – known for coining the term "interaction design" – once said that "the only way to experience an experience is to experience it." On that note, I feel like the topic of today is best suited for a face-to-face discussion. I'll let you find out over at YouTube, or perhaps the podcast. Enjoy. Books That Inspired This Episode * The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin * Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever * Build: An Unorthodox Guide

Mar 14, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Masterclass

Reviewing the Cosmos Landing Page

Our second Masterclass reviews the landing page of Cosmos, a "Pinterest alternative" for creatives. Starting from how I first encountered Cosmos on the website of another designer, we journey through the experience of visiting their landing page. Cosmos' website offers us many lessons in layout, typography, animation, and interaction design on the web. Highlights * "Cosmic Design" – painting with light on a black canvas * First impression of a new startup – how we discover new design tool