Welcome, fellow caffeinated creatives!
If you’ve ever stared at a screen, wondering if a button should be five pixels to the left while questioning all your life choices, welcome. You’re in good company.
This is Fresh Brewed UX, a blog for caffeine-fueled creatives who love design, strategy, and problem-solving… But also know that sometimes, the biggest challenge in UX is getting your client to understand why Comic Sans is never the answer.
I’m Skyler, a UX designer with over 15 years of experience making digital experiences smoother, smarter, and (hopefully) more delightful. I’ve spent my career building user journeys, mapping out strategies, designing websites and watching design trends come and go like questionable fashion choices. But for all the time I’ve spent doing UX, I haven’t taken much time to actually write about it.
That changes now.
New Year, New Blog, No Regrets (Yet)
For the entire month of February, I’m writing a blog post every single day. Not because I lost a bet, but because I want to jump-start this space with real conversations about UX, creativity, and the ever-evolving world of design.
What you won’t find here: robotic, overly academic UX jargon that makes you feel like you’re reading a research paper and are bored out of your mind falling asleep at your desk.
What you will find: practical insights, honest takes on design trends, personal obstacles and lessons I’ve overcome along the way, and maybe even a few hot takes that spark some discussion.
What’s Brewing in 2025?
Design is in a weird place right now. Everything is starting to look the same, AI is shaking up workflows, and we’re all just trying to keep up without burning out. Here’s what’s on my radar:
- Personality is making a comeback. For years, brands have played it safe with stripped-down, “clean” design. Now? We’re seeing bold colors, funky typography, and actual vibes returning to digital experiences. It’s about time.
- The fight for good personalization. Users want things to feel tailored to them, but they don’t want to feel like their devices are watching them sleep. Striking that balance is going to be key.
- Accessibility isn’t optional anymore. And if it is being treated as optional where you work, it’s time to start making noise about it.
- AI is here, but creativity still runs the show. AI tools are changing how we design, but they don’t replace human intuition, storytelling, or the ability to read between the data points. Knowing when to use AI and when to trust your gut is the real challenge.
What’s Coming Up on the Blog?
If you stick around, here’s a tidbit of some of what you can expect to see:
- The Overload of “Best Practices” – When they help, when they hurt, and when you should throw them out the window.
- Data-Driven Design Without Killing Creativity – Because if all you do is chase numbers, you end up designing for robots, not people.
- The UX of the Everyday – Why good design isn’t just in apps and websites, but in restaurant menus, Ikea assembly instructions, and even how your coffee cup is shaped.
- Why Some UX Trends Need to Die – Looking at you, dark patterns and pointless loading animations.
- How to Stay Inspired (Without Burning Out) – Because creative exhaustion is real, and no amount of caffeine can fix a drained brain.
The Caffeine Kick
You ever wonder why so many designers, writers, and problem-solvers are glued to a cup of coffee? It’s not just because we like the taste (though let’s be real, a good pour-over can be life-changing). Coffee and creativity have been intertwined for centuries, and there’s science to back it up.
A study from the University of Arkansas found that caffeine boosts problem-solving skills, making it easier to tackle complex challenges (like convincing a client that their website doesn’t need five different call-to-action buttons). However, the same study noted that caffeine doesn’t necessarily make you more creative—just more focused on the task at hand.
Another study, published in Consciousness and Cognition, found that moderate caffeine consumption helps eliminate distractions and improves idea generation. So while coffee won’t magically drop a game-changing UX solution into your lap, it will help you stay locked in long enough to make that breakthrough moment happen.
No wonder some of history’s greatest creative minds—Beethoven, Balzac, Picasso—were all coffee obsessives. Maybe they were just trying to get their wireframes pixel-perfect too.
Historically, some of the world’s most famous creative hubs revolved around coffee. The first coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries were called “penny universities” because, for the cost of a cup, you could sit and discuss big ideas with intellectuals, artists, and thinkers. Fast-forward to today, and we’re basically doing the same thing—except now, our coffee-fueled debates happen in google chat and design sprints instead of candlelit cafés.
So, why did I name this blog Fresh Brewed UX? Sure, I love coffee, but it’s more than that. The best UX ideas come from conversation, from letting thoughts percolate, and from refining rough ideas until they’re something solid. Creativity is iterative, like brewing the perfect cup—it takes experimentation, attention to detail, and sometimes, a second (or third) try.
That’s the energy behind this blog: a space to share ideas, challenge assumptions, and maybe, just maybe, help us all design better experiences—one cup at a time.
Join the Conversation
UX is more fun when you actually talk about it with other people. So I want to hear from you!
What do you think is the biggest challenge in UX right now? Is it keeping up with trends? Convincing leadership that good design actually matters? The existential crisis of whether or not to add a drop shadow? Drop a comment, and let’s get into it.
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This is just the beginning. If this sounds like your kind of thing, stick around. February and beyond is going to be packed with ideas, debates, and hopefully a few lightbulb moments.
Time to top off my cup and dive into the next idea. Stick around, there’s plenty more brewing!
freshbrewedux.com 
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