Design Assets - August '25
This month we cover a broad spectrum of topics, from AI sessions, to iOS Liquid Glass , museum-inspired creativity, and even a recent team social...Plus a very special visit from the team at Figma
Design with AI
It’s Not Me, It’s Prompting
In our second Design with AI session, we explored how AI can support user research and journey mapping. Lead User Researcher, Nicole Brown shared her beginner’s journey using ChatGPT to make sense of thousands of open-text survey responses from applicants for a public sector service.
Framed as a lighthearted relationship saga, the talk explored the ups and downs of working with AI, from vague prompts and clunky outputs to a more productive partnership built on clarity, iteration, and context.
The session reflected on where AI adds real value, and where it still stumbles, especially with nuance and emotional depth.
The key takeaway? AI doesn’t replace research thinking, but with the right prompts, it can sharpen and scale it.
Written by Nicole Brown
AI Unpacked
AI Agents: leveraging marketing data
This month’s AI Unpacked session took us on a deep dive into the world of AI agents, led by Juan Felipe Sánchez Vélez, one of our UX Designers in Colombia.
Juan Felipe shared a recent proof of concept showing how AI agents can bring siloed marketing data together, a move that doesn’t just improve workflows but can also save serious costs.
Along the way, he unpacked:
The difference between agents, assistants, and bots (yes, they’re not the same!).
A design flow built from scripted dialogues and real campaign artefacts.
A clever “product marketing card” concept, that pairs narrative answers with traceable KPIs, charts and scorecards.
Looking ahead, he teased some exciting possibilities: from side-by-side campaign comparisons to analyzing video links.
Spotlight this month
Glassmorphism: The Most Beautiful Trap in Modern UI Design
Earlier this month, Leigh shared his thoughts on the new iOS update and its adoption of Glassmorphism—a design trend built on blurred, translucent panels that mimic glass. While Glassmorphism looks slick and premium, and can elevate a product’s look, it can also create accessibility issues for users with visual or cognitive impairments, drains device performance, and loses impact once it becomes overused. What begins as a striking, innovative effect, risks turning into generic or gimmicky visual noise.
Designers must be more purposeful with their aesthetically design choices — prioritising brand, clarity, inclusivity, and originality over chasing trends. Glassmorphism is not inherently bad—it can work well in the right context, applied sparingly and thoughtfully. But when aesthetics are prioritised above function and inclusivity, design loses its purpose.
Written by Leigh Brown
Inspiration this month
Inspiration beyond the screen
Sometimes, a designer just needs to get out. This month, Naomi stepped away from the screen to explore exhibitions that spark fresh ideas, from sustainability to the art of clear communication.
More than human
Design Museum, Closes Sunday, 5 October 2025
The exhibition currently running at the Design Museum brings together art, science and radical thinking to ask how design can help our planet thrive by shifting its focus beyond human needs.
There are many thought provoking pieces displayed. Several are multimedia installations describing projects from activists across the world. Others are more art pieces which invite us to reflect on the wide variety of non-human life, and our interdependence with nature.
As designers we value user goals, and centre human needs at the heart of what we do. The artists and designers featured in the exhibition use various communication techniques to tell stories and invite the audience to consider wider responsibilities to species and ecosystems. This makes for a thought-provoking visit for anyone interested in user experience design.
Pictograms
Japan House, Closes Sunday, 9 November 2025
Simple and compact, pictograms communicate meaning effectively at a glance, managing to transcend cultural and language barriers. From street signs and text messages to toilet doors and maps, we see them everywhere.
The pictograms exhibition at Japan House demonstrates how Japanese design has shaped this art of visual communication, and how an early standard was set at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics through sporting pictograms. It also explores the creative process of their creation. A must for anyone interested in visual language.
Written by Naomi Pattem
Special guests
Figma join us to talk about the future of design
At our latest Design Practice Main Event, we rolled out the red carpet for none other than Figma , joining our Design team across London and Manchester.
Guest of honour? Luis Ouriach, Design Advocate at Figma and a globally recognised voice in design systems. Luis dropped an inspiring talk: “From AI Skeptic to Rediscovering Code: What Does Design Feel Like in 2025?” and trust us, it sparked plenty of “aha” moments.
But that was just the start. Zorast Gustavsp (Account Executive) and Cathal Moran (Solutions Consultant) took us on a live tour of Figma’s latest and greatest.
Highlights included:
A first look at Figma Make
How AI is reshaping code handoff
A peek at MCP within Cursor, helping AI agents read Figma files straight from your IDE
The big takeaway? Design systems only thrive with the right support and that’s front and centre on Figma’s roadmap.
And we’re not done yet… In a future edition, we’ll be catching up with Luis again to dive deeper into his thoughts on AI and the future of design.
Stay tuned!
Summer social
It's not all fun and games… well actually it is
After the Figma talk, it was time to swap pixels for play. Both our Manchester and London teams headed out for a well-earned design social, Manchester to Roxy Ball Room, and London to We Are Fair Game.
The night had it all: tasty food, endless games, a few spooky clowns 🎪, and plenty of friendly competition.
Nothing like a summer evening of laughs and connection to bring the team closer together. Scroll on for some snapshots of the fun.
