Category: Sound Design

Not long ago I realized something that stuck with me: I am bored a lot more than I thought.
Until recently I didn’t even register it as boredom. I thought I was unmotivated and innately resistant to getting things started. In these moments it was much easier to reach for my phone and fill this uncomfortable pause by checking instagram, watching some reels, or scroll through some reddit posts. Anything to not confront myself with that itch of restlessness.
It occurred not only at home, but also when waiting for the bus, standing in line, or sitting through a dull section of a lecture.

This probably doesn’t sound groundbreaking to anyone reading this. We all do it and most of us have this reflex of reaching for our phones when we feel bored. But it wasn’t until i stumbled across a video by journalist Johnny Harris that I started questioning this habit more than I usually do. A video that I can highly recommend to anyone by the way: Why Everything is Making You Feel Bored.

In the video, Harris talks about the modern relationship between boredom and motivation. He mentioned that the constant drive to eliminate boredom can paradoxically erode our motivation and creative capacity. And that embracing boredom, sitting in it rather than avoiding it, can actually enrich our creative process.

Since then I’ve been looking into the topic and changing the way I think about attention, bordeom, and creativity.

Boredom and the Creative Process

The first piece of academic research I came across was a study by Sandi Mann and Rebekah Cadman, published by Consciousness and Cognition in 2014: Does being bored make us more creative?

Their experiment was quite simple: one group of participants were asked to copy numbers out of a phone book – a deliberately boring task. The control group did not perform any initial task. Afterwards both groups were asked to come up with as many uses for a pair of plastic cups as possible.

The result: participants who had been primed with boredom generated more creative and diverse ideas than the control group. Mann and Cadman’s explanation is that boredom encourages mind-wandering. A state in which our brain forms new associations and explores different mental territories.

Different Kinds of Boredom

Research by Thomas Goetz and colleagues called Types of boredom: An experience sampling approach identifies five types of boredom:

• Indifferent Boredom: A relaxed, indifferent state
• Calibrating Boredom: A slightly unpleasant feeling, prompting thoughts about different activities
• Searching Boredom: A ore intense desire to find engaging alternatives
• Reactant Boredom: A highly unpleasant state, characterized by restlesness and a strong urge to escape the situation
• Apathetic Boredom: A particularly unpleasant form, marked by low arousal and feelings akin to helplessness or depression

Understanding these nuances could be important. While certain types of boredom, like searching boredom, can stimulate creativity, others, like apathetic boredom, might hinder creativity.

Make the User Bored?

In addition to changing how we approach the creative process, boredom could also be an important emotion to instill in users. Instead of the conventional approach of minimizing user boredom at all costs perhaps we should consider how to harness its creative potential.
Intentional pauses in digital experiences could on the one hand allow users for their minds to wander and encourage moments of reflection, but might also result in a lot of frustration for the users if they are not receptive for it. A specific ruleset could be interesting.

Developing a new Design Process

In most design processes today we tend to optimize for efficiency, flow, engagement, and constant stimulation. We pack brainstorming workshops, sprint cycles, and ideation sessions filled with activities and prompts. We check notifications while waiting for feedback and often leave little room for mental idleness.

But if boredom can foster creativity, as research suggests, maybe we should design boredom into the design process instead of avoiding it. Creating space for disengagement and intentionally embracing boredom could be a valid and valuable phase. For example, before an ideation session, designers could schedule a period of low stimulation, spending fifteen minutes on an undemanding and repetitive task such sorting materials, going for a short walk without media input, or simply looking out of a window. This would allow the mind to wander freely and tap into its associative processes.

Throughout longer creative phases, alternating between focused work sprints and unstructured, boring breaks could encourage the brain to process ideas in the background and make unexpected connections, which aligns with creativity research by Sio & Ormerod from 2009 that suggests that incubation periods can enhance problem-solving and originality.

The exact structure of a new design process and the utility of boredom in it still need to be thought about but the potential effects are fascinating and, to my knowledge, have never been considered in the context of a framework before.

Research to be done

At this point, much of the existing research on boredom and creativity focuses on correlations or experimental effects in controlled settings. Studies like those by Mann & Cadman (2014) and Bench & Lench (2013) suggest that inducing boredom can temporarily boost creative output. However we still lack a clear understanding of how structured boredom impacts real-world creative processes over time. Can boredom really improve creative output consistently in a corporate context?

There are still several open questions. How often and how long should boredom phases be integrated to yield great creative benefits? Are certain types of boredom more conducive to creativity than others? We know little about how boredom plays out on a team level. While boredom may foster divergent thinking in individuals, does it have the same or a similar effect in collaborative settings, or does it risk disengaging the entire group. There is a challenge in balancing boredom with professional constraints (tight deadlines, fat-paced workflows, client expectations, etc.) which remains an open and practical concern.

Why I think this matters

As design culture becomes increasingly optimized for speed, constant creativity, and measurable output, we risk losing one of the most human elements of the creative process: the minds ability to wander, reflect, and synthesize. Exploring a design process that makes space to slow down and embrace the feeling of boredom offers a way to reclaim this ability – ideally without reducing productivity and instead fostering deeper creativity.

At this year’s WebExpo, Jan Řezáč delivered a compelling and structured talk titled “12 Core Design Skills” that reframed what it means to be a complete designer today. Drawing from real-world challenges in UX, CX, and product design, he warned against common traps and laid out a roadmap for how designers can escape it by growing beyond just creativity or aesthetics.

Here are the 12 essential skills he outlined, along with some key takeaways from each:

1. Design Process

Design is not art. It’s intentional problem-solving. Whether you’re improving conversion rates or building a new service, a structured and goal-oriented design process is critical.

2. Business Thinking

To be taken seriously, designers must speak the language of business. This means understanding value chains, profit models, and being fluent in spreadsheets, metrics, and strategic frameworks.

3. Workshop Facilitation

Good workshops don’t happen by accident. Designers need to know how to listen actively, manage group dynamics, and facilitate decision-making sessions that are productive—not just fun.

4. Customer Research

From interviews to analytics, understanding what people say vs. what they do is vital. Tactical empathy—listening well, reading nonverbal cues, and avoiding judgment—is just as important as choosing the right method.

5. Sense-making

It’s not enough to gather data—you must extract meaning from it. Tools like journey maps, affinity diagrams, or concept maps help designers (alone or in teams) make strategic sense of what they learn.

6. Strategy

Designers influence business outcomes. Strategic thinking involves more than goals—it’s about choosing the right battles and methods. Familiarity with tools like Wardley Maps or Cynefin helps designers navigate complexity.

7. Stakeholder Management

This is a social skill, not a soft skill. Designers must persuade, negotiate, and manage conflict—often while handling governance and aligning teams. The higher you go, the more this matters.

8. Ideation

Great designers generate many ideas. Juniors tend to fixate on the first; seniors create, oppose, remix, and improve. With AI in the mix, idea generation becomes a hybrid of human insight and computational creativity.

9. Rapid Prototyping

Prototypes aren’t just sketches—they’re experiments. From static screens to AI-driven tools, being fast and iterative is essential. Tools like Replit, Firebase Studio, and Glitch are part of the modern prototyper’s stack.

10. Testing Business Ideas

Borrowing from lean startup methods, this skill is about de-risking innovation. You don’t need to build to test—you need fake doors, landing pages, concierge tests, and more.

11. Design Operations

The backstage of design: automation, documentation, tooling, and workflows. Understanding APIs, JSON, prompt engineering, and how to use AI tools well is increasingly part of the designer’s toolkit.

12. Project Management

Designers who can’t manage time, people, and dependencies get stuck. As you grow, you must manage not only yourself, but also others—and your boss. That means mastering risks, gantt charts, and even meetings.

Final Thought: Avoid the Second Diamond Trap

One of the most resonant warnings from Řezáč was about the “Second Diamond Trap”—the tendency to over-invest in ideation and exploration without ever delivering results. To rise above that, designers must develop both creative and operational muscles.

If you’re a junior, mid-level, or senior designer, this list isn’t just a checklist—it’s a map. And in a world where 95% of new products fail, becoming fluent in these 12 areas might just make the difference between launching something forgettable… or something that lasts.

At WebExpo Prague, one standout talk compared the world of advertising to a jungle. A dangerous, chaotic, yet exciting terrain where only the smart and strategic make it out alive. The speakers laid out a vivid survival guide with 10 essential rules for brands trying to cut through the noise and thrive. Here’s what I took away.

1. Know What’s in Your Survival Kit
Every successful campaign starts with knowing the basics: who you are, what you’re selling, and who you’re talking to. Your brand, product, and target audience form your survival gear. Without a clear identity and focus, you’re setting off without a map or a compass.

2. Enter with Courage
Surviving the advertising jungle takes guts. You need the courage to invest, often heavily and the courage to be different. Playing it safe means blending in. True bravery lies in trying new approaches, breaking norms, and not fearing bold decisions.

3. Hunt One Animal
Don’t try to chase everything at once. Focus your efforts on one clear objective and communicate one strong message. Klarna’s “smooth payments” campaign succeeded not because it was extraordinary, but because it was simple, focused, and consistent.

4. Stay on the Path
Consistency and integration are what keep a campaign strong over time. An integrated campaign is 31% more effective, and consistent brands earn 28% more profit. That means sticking to your story, your values, and your visual language across every platform.

5. Take a Buddy
Your buddy in the jungle could be a mascot or a recurring character, what’s called a fluent device. Most brands play it safe with friendly figures, but the bold ones dare to go rogue. Think of the chaotic Duolingo owl or the famously grumpy “Never Say No to Panda.” A strong character gives your brand a recognizable, repeatable voice.

6. Climb the Tree for Perspective
Survival sometimes means stopping to get a better view. In creative terms, that means finding unusual angles, new interpretations, or breaking common patterns. Great ideas often come from looking at the ordinary in unexpected ways.

7. Follow the River
Trends are like rivers: fast-moving, powerful, and unpredictable. Tapping into them can give your brand momentum. Think of Heineken’s “The Flipper” or the viral explosion of “Brat summer.” These cultural waves don’t last long, but when timed right, they carry you far.

8. Cooperate with the Indigenous People
In the jungle, locals know the terrain. In advertising, that means working with credible people who already have trust and reach like influencers, actors, or community figures. But the influencer cannot be the idea itself. Calvin Klein’s campaign with Jeremy Allen White had cultural fit; Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi ad did not. Authenticity is key.

9. Turn Obstacles into Opportunities
Barriers don’t have to stop you they can inspire creativity. When a brand faced “consumer blindness” to prices, it made the price tag the visual identity. When beer ads were banned from football kits, they got players to shave beer logos into their hair. Restrictions can become your creative fuel.

10. Celebrate at the End
Surviving the jungle is no small feat. When the campaign ends, take time to reflect, share what you learned, and celebrate the journey. The best brands don’t just move on—they take their wins, analyze their failures, and build smarter strategies for next time.

Final Thought
In the end, advertising isn’t about playing it safe. It’s about preparing wisely, taking risks, collaborating meaningfully, and adapting fast. The jungle is wild but with the right survival kit, your brand might not just survive. It might lead the way.

Net art (also called net.art) is a type of art that exists only on the internet. It doesn’t just use the web to share images—it uses the web itself as the art. This kind of art started in the 1990s, and it is very different from what we usually see online today. It doesn’t try to sell anything or look perfect. Instead, it focuses on feeling, experience, and sometimes even confusion.

Net art is full of strange designs. It often looks like websites from the early internet—raw HTML, broken images, old GIFs, and strange links. These websites may seem like mistakes, but many parts are made on purpose. The goal is not to make things easy, but to make people explore and feel something. Some websites are made to look like video games, blogs, or even computer viruses, but they all hide deeper ideas under their strange looks.

There are many styles and themes in net art. Some use ASCII art (pictures made with letters and symbols). Others create fake online worlds or use broken design to create a special mood. A site like Ghost City feels like a dream, while Jim Punk uses bugs and glitches to show how strange the internet can be. These works often mix fun with serious topics like memory, fear, or digital life.

One interesting part of net art is how it makes the user feel. These websites are not easy to use. You have to click around, get lost, and try to understand what’s going on. Some links don’t work anymore, but that’s part of the idea—nothing on the internet lasts forever. This shows how fast things change online and how easy it is to lose digital memories.

Sometimes, net art is shown in real museums. For example, one project at UC Berkeley showed a broken desktop with old journal entries. But most net art stays online, where it works best. It’s not made to hang on a wall—it’s made to live in a browser.

My Opinion
Net art is very different from modern websites and apps. Today, everything online is fast, clean, and made for profit. But net art shows another side of the internet—one that is creative, strange, and emotional. As a designer, I think that’s very exciting. We often focus too much on making things “perfect.” Net art reminds us that mistakes, confusion, and emotion can be part of design too. It gives us freedom to break the rules and try new things. Even if it’s old and broken now, net art still has something important to say.

Zoltan Kollin’s talk on gamification was not just insightful, it completely shifted how I think about what gamification really means. Before this talk, I mostly thought of gamification as collecting points, completing levels, or earning badges. But Zoltan showed us that gamification can be so much more, even playful, analog, and emotional. It’s not just about digital tricks. It’s about turning everyday actions into meaningful experiences.

He began by showing how gamified training can boost engagement and productivity. One study from the University of Colorado, shown in the first image, revealed that gamified training led to a 48% increase in employee engagement and a 34% increase in productivity. That alone already proves how powerful gamification can be when it’s applied well.

One part that really stuck with me was when Zoltan talked about the “IKEA effect”, people tend to value things more when they’ve put effort into creating them. This idea was connected to customization, like on reddit, where users can customize their avatar. This emotional investment creates stronger engagement, because people feel a sense of ownership. (See image 2)

But then Zoltan really opened my mind when he showed a picture of a kid vacuuming (image 3). It wasn’t just a regular vacuum, it had a laser light at the front, making it feel like a toy or a game. Suddenly, a boring task became fun. That’s when I realized: gamification doesn’t need to be digital at all. It can be tactile, visual, playful—even a product design choice. He called this “unexpected gamification,” and it’s a brilliant way to change behavior, especially for tasks peopl usually avoid.

Another interesting example was the use of small steps, like adding musical steps to a staircase to encourage people to take the stairs instead of the escalator. Or painting a fly in a urinal in Amsterdam to improve aim. These examples prove that gamification can be subtle, simple, and still very effective.

Zoltan also talked about how gamification taps into our psychology. For instance, Duolingo uses streaks to keep people coming back. Progress bars (like the LinkedIn profile completeness) push us to finish what we started, this is known as the Zeigarnik Effect. And daily goals or eco-driving scores in cars are more examples of behavioral motivation through simple game mechanics.

This talk made me think more about my own research topic, EV charging stations. What if i could apply this kind of gamification to the charging experience? Right now, waiting while your car charges can feel boring. But what if there were small interactions, progress bars or playful moments that make it more engaging? Maybe a kid-friendly “eco mission” on screen, or a streak for smart, energy-efficient charging habits. These aren’t just fun ideas, they’re ways to design more user-centered, enjoyable experiences.

Gamification is not about making everything feel like a game, it’s about motivation, emotion, and experience. Thanks to this talk, I’ll definitely keep looking at ways to bring meaningful, playful interaction into my design projects.

Designing Reality: How Adobe Aero is Changing AR for Creatives.

In this world where digital encounters draw ever closer to the tangible, augmented reality (AR) is not a futureistic idea any more. And it’s interactive, immersive, and extremely creative. Amid the multitude of platforms emerging to the occasion, Adobe Aero is a game changer, a piece of software that gives designers, artists and storytellers the ability to bring to life their visions literally in the 3D space.

But what’s that makes Adobe Aero so special? What are designers so excited about it? Let’s examine what Aero is, why it is that important, and how it is changing our creative process.

What is Adobe Aero?

Adobe Aero is a strong app for AR authoring and viewing by Adobe as a member of its Creative Cloud suit. It enables creators to design and share interactive augmented reality experiences without having to write any code at all. That’s right. No unity, no unreal engine, no need of developer background. Simply creativity and iPad (or iPhone) and Aero. Users are also able to import 3D models, animations, and assets from Adobe tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator or Substance 3D, and layer them into real world environments using the mobile camera. Whether you want animated characters to walk on your kitchen table or build immersive product demonstrations or interactive stories responding to touch & movement. You can do all this in augmented space with Aero.

Key Features That Make It Shine

1.Intuitive Drag-and-Drop Interface

Adobe aero is user friendly. I used it for my personal business logo and it worked perfectly. Its interface lives up to the feel of many other creative tools from Adobe, making it easy for long-term users. You just drag 3D assets from our library into your scene, adjust their position, size and apply inbuilt behaviors such as bounce, rotate or fade to animate them.

2.Interactivity Without Coding

The ability to create interactive experiences, thanks to simple triggers and actions, is one of Aero’s best features. For instance, if one taps on a digital object it can cause it to spin, tumble, or produce a sound. This degree of interactivity brings AR to life and becomes attractive without necessitating technical know-how.

3.Cross-Tool Integration

Aero works with other Adobe tools without glitches. How about using layered PSD file for digital pop-up book? Done. Want an original 3D logo to create in Illustrator or Substance? Just import it. Aero is a creature of a creative ecosystem. you can do animation as well such as spin, move and all.

4.Real-Time Preview and Sharing

Content creators are able to view their experiences in real time on mobile via links or QR codes. This is extremely important for client presentations, education and using in social networks.

Empowering a New Era of Creativity.

Traditionally, the creation of AR experiences entailed an intricate process of development environments, use of coding languages or collaboration with engineers. Adobe Aero manages to turn that model on its head by allowing designers to be able to independently prototype, build, and share augmented experiences.

This democratization of AR design is important because it moves creative power into a lot more hands, artists, creatives, educators, marketers even students can now create in AR without having to wait on a dev team, or a big budget.

Picture yourself, as a fashion designer, presenting a virtual runway anywhere on the street or a curator at a museum making tales of the gallery walls into an animated story that reacts to the movement of visitors. Aero is making that sort of magic possible.

Use Cases: From Art to Commerce

Adobe Aero is already used in many industries:

• Art & Exhibitions: Digital artists are utilizing Aero to place animated artwork over real world environments. This is in particular strong for public installations, street art or immersive galleries.
• Marketing & Retail: Brands can develop product demos where customers can imagine furniture in their homes, or play with 3D packaging prior to purchase.
• Education: Teachers and students are also applying Aero to interactive learning – picture an AR history lesson in which the ruins of Rome appear under your desk or science project that uses 3D models of molecules.
• Storytelling & Publishing: Authors and content producers are creating AR-enhanced books and zines; transforming pages from a single sense into multisensory adventures.

AR as a Creative Standard

AR is no gimmick or trend. It’s becoming a new norm for digital communication and design. Given the increasing popularity of headsets such as Apple Vision Pro and the Meta Quest, high quality AR content will be in much higher demand. Adobe Aero is contributing to preparing creatives for that future by making available to them tools that they can import immediately. The way we learn also matters for those who aim to stay ahead of the curve learning Aero isn’t just a fun experiment, it’s a smart investment in future ready skills.

Final Thoughts

Adobe Aero is proof that AR does not have to be complex to be powerful. Thanks to a bit of imagination and a smart device, author-savants are now in a position to design immersive and interactive worlds that immerse and excite. Whether a designer bursting at the seams to enrich your toolbox, a marketer yearning for fresh paths to your audience or an artist keenly watching the frontiers of digital representation, Aero is the starting point for your next big idea in Augmented Reality.

References

Adobe, 2023. Adobe Aero: Create interactive augmented reality experiences without coding. [online] Available at: https://www.adobe.com/products/aero.html [Accessed 9 May 2025].

Adobe Creative Cloud, 2023. Adobe Aero: Getting Started with AR. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg2kjUlSsu0 [Accessed 9 May 2025].

Billinghurst, M., Clark, A. and Lee, G., 2015. A survey of augmented reality. Foundations and Trends in Human–Computer Interaction, 8(2–3), pp.73–272.

Craig, A.B., 2013. Understanding augmented reality: Concepts and applications. Waltham: Morgan Kaufmann.

Ha, A., 2022. Adobe Aero adds desktop support and new features for creators. TechCrunch. Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/18/adobe-aero-desktop-update/ [Accessed 9 May 2025].

Parsons, T., 2023. Augmented reality for designers: How Adobe Aero is changing the creative landscape. Creative Bloq. Available at: https://www.creativebloq.com/features/adobe-aero-ar [Accessed 9 May 2025].

The Futur, 2023. Augmented Reality Design with Adobe Aero – What You Need to Know. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czdMwCnxRRA [Accessed 9 May 2025].

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Grammar and structure were refined with the help of ChatGPT.