Each month, we carefully curate a collection of links for our Clearleft, UX London and Leading Design subscribers featuring the latest articles, insights, tools and masterful creations from the wonderful, ever-evolving world of design.

Whether you are a design enthusiast, a professional in the industry, or just someone who appreciates the beauty and impact of great design, we are confident that you will find something new, inspiring and thought-provoking in each edition of our newsletter designed to make your life that little bit easier.

Each month, I’ll be posting nine of our most clicked links from each newsletter (three from each) in a monthly round-up blog for your consumption. There’ll sometimes be a tenth link and it’ll likely be something that we’ve accomplished in the agency that we’re super proud of, or letting you know when a sale is ending for one of our events. We promise to keep this to a minimum. You’ll likely be sick of our puns before anything else.

First up, the top three of nine links from Clearleft’s curated links newsletter for June and July (we doubled up this month because of UX London 2024).

Let’s dive in…

Figma design systems 102...

An abstract colourful image that includes the following text - design systems 102 e-book

For full transparency, the report does sit behind a form, however, we still wanted to share it and give you the choice of whether to download it or not.

- How to understand problems your design system will solve.
- How to define the foundations of your design system.
- How to build your design system in Figma.

Download it here.

A modern approach to browser support...

A Clearleft logo on a dark green background with the following text - A modern approach to browser support - It became evident during a recent project that Clearleft did not have a browser support policy of our own - something we set about rectifying.

Here’s our approach to browser support, crafted by our Co-founder, Richard Rutter.

You can use it too (it’s CC-licensed).

2-minute read

How to create your UX design principles...

A collection of green and white posters with various geometric designs and text. One poster is titled "Connected 04" and features a network of connected white and green squares. Another is titled "Memorable" with a pattern of circles. Additional posters have abstract designs.

Harness your team’s creativity, foster alignment and improve the consistency of their work by creating some shared principles...

5-minute read


Next up, your top three of six links from UX London Curated Links a collection of links for UX professionals, this month was a UX London 2024 special.

A recommendation from Product and Design Leader, author and UX London workshop host Ben Sauer...

The front and back cover of The Unicorn Project book

Before UX London, we sat down with Ben Sauer to get to know him better. Amongst other things, we asked what he was currently listening to, reading or watching. Here's what he had to say:

"I'm enjoying The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim. It’s a fable about digital transformation. A little in-your-face with its message (and very engineering-oriented!), but very readable. The principles in it are really useful."

Read it here

A recommendation from Principal Product Designer and UX London 2024 speaker Wioleta Maj...

Red background with four green stick figures, three with pants icons and one with a skirt. Text reads, "MEN ARE ON AVERAGE MORE THAN TWICE AS LIKELY TO INTERRUPT WOMEN AS WOMEN ARE TO INTERRUPT MEN." A book titled "Invisible Women" by Caroline Criado Perez is displayed.

Before her UX London 2024 talk 'Understanding the Impact of Design Choices' we chatted to Wioleta Maj and asked what she's currently listening to, reading or watching. Here's what she said:

"I have just started reading “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado-Perez, a book that sheds light on the gender data gap and how it negatively impacts women in many aspects of life. A great read, which was recommended by a friend of mine."

Read it here

The UX London 2024 library...

Around 10 books on a shelf

Several UX London speakers referenced their published books and decks. To make things easier, we've compiled a list of their work for your convenience:

Deceptive Patterns by Harry Brignull.
Death by Screens by Ben Sauer.
Atomic Design by Brad Frost.
Innovation Tactics by Tom Kerwin.
Creative Leadership Born from Design by Rama Gheerawo.
Mind Hacks by Tom Stafford and Matt Webb.
Researching UX: Analytics by Luke Hay.


Moving on to your top three links from seven in last month’s Leading Design curated links newsletter for design leaders.

Why it seems like the sky is falling for digital design, and how to come out of the storm stronger...

An abstract image of a women's fave in various colours mostly blue orange red and pink.

If you are a designer and look around the internet now, it’s tough. It seems like it is all falling apart. It's no wonder that many are second-guessing their career choices and their future in the industry. But is this wave of pessimism just noise, or is there indeed something more profound going on?

8-minute read

2024 designer engagement report...

A graph with the title my manager is good to me with results from strongly disagree (the most popular) to strongly agree (the least popular).

This report reveals widespread dissatisfaction among designers with their management, likely reflecting the views of your team. Design leaders should read this report to understand these issues.

11-minute read

Women score higher than men in most leadership skills...

A woman sat at a desk in an empty dark room.

In an analysis of thousands of 360-degree assessments, women were rated as excelling in taking initiative, acting with resilience, practising self-development, driving for results and displaying high integrity and honesty. As a leader what can you do to ensure unconscious bias doesn't shape your hiring decisions?

6-minute read


Finally, from us…

Is the planet the missing member of your project team?

View of earth from space.

The internet is killing the planet.

We’ve designed a ferocious energy-consuming monster. Here are five ideas to design with the environment in mind from our Head of Experience Design - Chris How.

8-minute read

Before you go...

The links in this blog are snippets of longer versions, if you would like to subscribe to any of our newsletters exclusively and be the first to receive the full version of any of our curated links newsletters, you can sign up here for Clearleft, here for UX London and here for Leading Design.