Emerson Ward
@emersonsays
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Product design @perplexity_ai / prev @google @apple
Los Angeles, CA
Joined January 2012
It's true, @visualelectric has been acquired by @perplexity_ai. I’m beyond grateful for the ride at Visual Electric. I joined because I believed in their vision, design craft, but most of all because of who they were as humans and as a team. Good things happen when the vibes are
Today we’re sharing the next step in Visual Electric’s journey: we’ve been acquired by @Perplexity_AI ⚡️ This marks both an exciting opportunity for our team, but also some bittersweet changes for our product. Over the next 90 days we’ll be winding down Visual Electric. Thank
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In job interviews when asked a question like “what makes you a good designer” I used to say “I’m actually an idiot, I have no attention span, I am the lowest common denominator. If it appeals to me it will work for anyone, and that’s the frame of reference I use to craft
the key to being great at UX is being as dumb as your dumbest customer then dogfooding your app before your first cup of coffee and logging every papercut that's it pity anyone too smart to be great at UX
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Eight Sleep has the easiest win sitting right in front of them: pod control live activity widget. 2x usefulness with almost no work. Quick mockup to prove the point @eightsleep
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I’ve seen the hollywood to tech pipeline with my own eyes. Tv/film graphics designers are generally hipsters living in Silver Lake and Los Feliz, etc. In other words, they’re relatively stylish tastemaker types. And in the age of AI, where designers can forgo eng and build an
Prediction: first AI comes for Hollywood jobs then Hollywood designers come for software design jobs
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Kinda mesmerizing both visually and computationally
the line between simulation and reality is dissolving. this new research paper shows how to simulate millions of collisions with zero intersections. just pure physics.
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Prediction: big AI players will work toward making agentic commerce extremely efficient and personalized, and the magic of planning a great trip, finding a cool jacket, etc will be lost A user may still plan a great trip or find a cool jacket, but the experience won't be more
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Enabling user customization is to admit design decisions are not 100% usability driven, and to hand over the keys Meanwhile the whole rationale for Liquid Glass (a system for vision based interfaces) is undone by the near total miss that is the Vision Pro What’s it all for?
I dislike customization. I love the Apple ecosystem for its lack of customization, which I believe was Apple's core. They knew what people wanted, not just what they asked for, and most of their choices succeeded, with a few misses. Is it just me? I hate this wave of doubt at
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This plus the @Crocs rebrand feels like logo design is coming back to life
In what feels like a bleak era of brand refreshes (Kia, Jaguar, Cracker Barrel), credit where credit is due: the new Crocs logo is an instant classic.
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Just got the Sigma BF, it’s like a passion project between Apple and Teenage Engineering Even the packaging is on a different level design wise from all other cameras I’ve ever bought It’s almost too beautiful to touch which might be a usability issue, it’s too nice as an
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The world needs an @orenmeetsworld breakdown of this phenomenon
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Mesmerized by the response to this campaign. Claude’s brand could be any tables stakes tech brand, like say Notion. It’s polished, restrained, and cute. Good but very safe. They do a thoughtful coffee shop popup and make dad hats that say “thinking” playing off “put on your
GOOD MORNING NEW YORK CITY COME DO YOUR BEST THINKING AT OUR THINKING SPACE IN THE WEST VILLAGE SAY NO TO SLOP
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🌪️
When friends collaborate @visualelectric 🤝 @perplexity_ai Knowledge is created where minds meet. Some great design minds are gathering to build the next chapter of Perplexity. Congrats to all!
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Wild foreshadowing from 1 year ago
Most creatives know AI won't replace human creativity; instead, those who leverage AI will outpace those who don't. Two tools I rely on every single day are @perplexity_ai and @visualelectric. AI has become a powerful thought partner 🧵 1/3
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Ready to make.
We've acquired @visualelectric. The team led by @colin_dunn and @adammenges is fantastic and they will work together with us on new consumer product experiences that we're excited to ship to all Perplexity and Comet users pretty soon!
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one thing fka twigs is gonna do is have sickening mugshot album covers
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"Design is easy" This is how Slack decides when to send notifications.
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Pro tip: use @comet browser to auto-complete mandatory workplace training courses You're welcome (but you didn't hear it from me)
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