Hi there! Hope you're having a good (and safe) week. We've been in better spirits because as of today, D&T turns 1!
It's been a long journey since when we started writing personally handwriting emails for a small group of 5-10 of our clients, to sharing this newsletter with some of the finest minds from the best companies (Visa, Cred, TCS, McAfee, BCG & Schbang to name a few)
Thank you for tagging along our journey as we keeping finding more to learn and talk about. We've got some great reads for you so let's jump right in.
Note: For any articles behind the paywall, open them on an incognito/private window and you should be good to go.
In the process of curating the right kind of content for this newsletter, we end passing on ten articles for every article that makes the cut. So here's a list that we collected up for you, think of it as a 'Special Mentions' shoutout for the past year.
5 steps to maintain strong design-dev bonds 🤝
From our very own Canvs Editorial: Product teams that aim to grow in design maturity and dev output need to create a strong bond between designers and developers besides simply design to dev handovers on Zeplin.
The 200-year-old inspiration for Zoox’s radically new robotaxi 🚕
When Zoox built an autonomous vehicle from the ground up, the horse-driven carriage served as a surprisingly effective design model.
To add is expected, to subtract is design ➕
When it comes to trying to make improvements, people would rather add than subtract. However, this may not be in favour of truly delivering a better time to your users.
How Pixar uses hyper-colours to hack your brain 🎨
The animation studio’s artists are masters at tweaking light and colour to trigger deep emotional responses. Coming soon: effects you’ll only see inside your head.
He's shaping the future of Spotify, one moonshot idea at a time 🎶
The company hired Máuhan "M" Zonoozy as its first and only head of innovation earlier this year to do just that. Zonoozy previously worked at BCG Digital Ventures where he helped big corporations think about and adapt to the future.
The computers are getting better at writing 📝
Whatever field you are in, if it uses language, it is about to be transformed.
Swiggy announces 4-day work week for employees in May 🍲
Swiggy has an in-house app and an employee support hotline—that helps employees access hospital beds, ICUs, plasma and oxygen cylinders, ambulance support, and other emergency services through Swiggy’s network of partners, volunteers and healthcare providers.
How Gupshup turned into a profitable unicorn despite a pivot and two near-deaths 🦄
The company has emerged as a global leader in B2B conversational messaging and claims to have over one hundred thousand developers and businesses as its clients.
Andreessen Horowitz plans $1bn cryptocurrency VC fund 💰
The third crypto vehicle from longtime supporter will be roughly twice the size of the firm’s last one.
The psychology of Clubhouse's user retention (and churn): An interactive case study 🎙️
We constantly assess how interactions influence our standing relative to others and we tend to feel more important when taking part in something exclusive. Add scarcity into this mix, and you have an addictive recipe to nudge people back into your ecosystem (for a limited time).
Honorary mentions
Re:Birth - Pre-internet age technology visualised as physical products 💡
The Largest Structures In The Universe May Not Actually Exist: An astronomical story in images 🏗️
Seven key materials designers are relying on to create more sustainable products 🗜️
First genetically modified mosquitoes released in the United States 🦟
And that's the lot! Thanks for checking out what we had to share with you this week, we shall catch up with you next Wednesday.
Also, please do let your friends know about D&T if they'd be interested! Canvs Club
