Adam Marsden

Posted on Sep 17

🛠️ 5 rules to fix device onboarding

#ux #product #webdev #css

Hey 👋

This week get right into the action: Build clearer device onboarding and decisive dashboards, shape handoffs with Figma Make and research alignment, and ship safer AI features using lightweight evals and guardrails.

Adam at Unicorn Club 🦄

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🏗️ Build

Make better interfaces.

Onboarding and Connecting Smart Devices: 5 Guidelines for User-Friendly Smart-Device Apps

A practical playbook for device setup: visual step-by-step wizards, reconnection as first-time setup, flexible device management, honest progress, and transparent error handling.

Why it matters: Setup and reconnection are make-or-break moments — clearer flows cut abandonment and support load.
Adopt this week: Convert one setup or reconnection flow into a visual, single-task-per-screen wizard with explicit device cues, time estimates, and in-flow "Need help?" links.

From Data To Decisions: UX Strategies For Real-Time Dashboards

Turn live data into decisions with delta indicators, sparklines, subtle motion, micro-history, freshness status, skeletons, and a clear visual hierarchy.

Why it matters: Reduces time-to-decision and mistakes under pressure; users act with confidence, not guesswork.
Try this: Add a Data Freshness Indicator (status + last updated + manual refresh) to your top dashboard KPI and pair it with a small sparkline.

🧩 Shape

Shared foundations across teams.

Figma Make: the biggest shift in UX/UI since Sketch

Designers can generate functional front-end from frames and libraries, publish PWAs, and iterate with live URLs. Collapsing handoffs inside the tool designers already use.

Why it matters: Moves teams from click-throughs to working prototypes, aligning design and engineering and accelerating learning loops.
First step: Publish your design-system library to Figma Make and generate one pixel-matched, functional page from an existing frame to test on device with a stakeholder.

Research is a leadership skill; don't cede it to AI

Alignment, not "more data", turns facts into shared knowledge. AI-authored summaries short-circuit ownership and mental-model change.

Why it matters: Shared understanding drives coherent decisions and durable adoption across product, design, and engineering.
Adopt this week: Run a 45-minute session laddering fact → conclusion → shared model with your stakeholders; capture decisions and owners.

How To Effectively Pitch Constraints

Why people resist constraints and how to frame WIP limits as optimisation: time-box, make it their idea, measure throughput, and set an expiry.

Why it matters: Enabling constraints raise flow, cut multitasking, and shorten cycle times without heavy process.
Try this: Run a 2-week WIP-limit experiment (e.g., discovery capped at 2× average monthly starts), agree success metrics upfront, and review with leaders as a throughput maximiser.

🚀 Ship

Release, measure, iterate.

Q&A Session: Building AI Evals for the Interview Coach

A pragmatic pattern for AI reliability: define failure modes, add guardrails (e.g., JSON validation), log tokens/costs, and run evals on traces with dev/test sets before release.

Why it matters: Makes AI features measurable, cheaper to run, and safer to ship, reducing regressions and support loops.
First step: Pick one failure mode and add a pre-response guardrail that validates output structure; log token usage and estimated cost per trace from today.

🦄 Join the Conversation

Last week we asked, "What was the one area you found most challenging or rewarding in your interface work?" The standout focus was on "Component Behaviour." Efforts are underway to standardise button styles, enhancing user navigation and striking a balance between design consistency and context-specific needs. Are you facing similar challenges?

This week, we’re turning the spotlight on your achievements:

**- 🏆 Launching a New Feature

💡 Innovating a Creative Solution
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