Geek Chic: Designing Warmth

Insights on designing simple, accessible interfaces that still feel human

Accessible doesn't have to mean austere.

We audited our settings screens and found that every warm detail had been removed in the name of clarity.

Clarity isn't coldness

Putting a few back — a friendlier empty state, a rounded corner, a colour that wasn't grey — made no difference to task success and a large difference to how people described the product.

People forgive a product that was clearly made by people.

Warmth as a signal

Warmth is not decoration. It is a signal that someone was thinking about you.