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Matthew Stephens

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Matthew Stephens

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Jul 8

AI is Making It Free to Gamify Everything. Why That’s a Problem.

The next dark pattern crisis is being vibe coded by your revenue team. Design leadership needs a framework now.

Futuristic enterprise SaaS dashboard floating in space, overloaded with gamification elements including a 147-day streak counter, reward chest, trophies, confetti, leaderboards, missions, XP, and badges around routine CRM and revenue-reporting panels.

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Design Systems Collective

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Matthew Stephens

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Jun 3

I Gave My AI Design System Ethics, Accessibility, and a Memory

A look at building a behavioral agentic design system that AI can actually re

Dark-mode infographic titled “BADS, The Behavioral Agentic Design System.” A color-coded 10-layer stack flows upward from Foundation to Automate, with notes for tokens, components, patterns, documentation, enforcement, and automation, plus cross-cutting principles.

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UX Collective

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Matthew Stephens

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Jan 16

Hyperlegible Sans: a free, open-source font for accessible design

An accessibility-focused evolution of Inter that blends modern geometry with hyperlegible design principles.

Cover image showing the name “Hyperlegible Sans” on a dark background, with supporting text describing it as an accessibility-focused evolution of Inter’s modern aesthetic, including version number 1.0, open-source license, and available weights (regular, medium, bold).

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UX Collective

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Matthew Stephens

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Mar 6, 2025

Designing for Older Audiences: Checklist + Best Practices

Simple steps to improve usability for all generations.

Prompt: A contemporary collage featuring diverse older adults interacting with oversized UI elements, bold typography, and playful shapes that represent easy-to-use tech, modern, abstract, colorful, editorial style

Matthew Stephens

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18h ago

Designing for Mental Health: UX Strategies for Distressed Users

How Designers Can Create Empathetic Interfaces That Support People Dealing With Anxiety, Depression, and Other Mental Health Challenges

Editorial cut-paper illustration of a person walking from tangled interface panels and warning symbols toward a clear path, simplified screen, and person offering help.

Matthew Stephens

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Jun 16

AI Can Bring Back the Old, Weird Interfaces We Loved

From Winamp skins to vibe-designed interfaces, AI is reopening the door to software that feels custom and fun.

A retro Windows 2000-style desktop collage themed around UFO investigations, with AIM, ICQ, IRC, Netscape, Winamp, download windows, case-file folders, glowing green system panels, and a central wallpaper showing a UFO beam over a forest with the text “The Truth Is Out There.”

Matthew Stephens

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Apr 6

I Built 33 Claude Skills to Fix the “Vibe Design” Accessibility Gap

Why AI-generated prototypes are almost never accessible by default, and how I built a system to codify the manual fixes

An artistic, mixed-media collage in a vintage, textured style. On the left, a woman sits at a laptop, focused on her work. Behind her, a large, detailed eye and botanical leaves are layered over a teal, textured background. On the right, a person in a suit sits back-to-back with the woman. Their head is depicted as a mechanical, robotic assembly with a black blindfold over the eyes. This figure holds a small cup against a backdrop of a large yellow sun and more botanical elements. The overall ae

Matthew Stephens

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Mar 19

Why AI Agents Are Changing the Game for Accessibility

Building accessible products has never been more important, or more achievable, than it is right now.

An abstract digital illustration depicting a collaborative interaction between two people against a black background. One person sits in a chair holding a tablet, while the other sits in a wheelchair facing them. Between their heads, a vibrant explosion of golden and blue lines, dots, and circuit patterns symbolizes a digital or neural connection. The style uses textured stippling and intricate linework to blend human connection with technology.

Matthew Stephens

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Feb 9

Making Agentic UX Fun: Designing Products That Don’t Just Respond, They Participate.

A deep dive into the new metrics, design tools, and behavioral guardrails required for the next generation of AI-driven play.

Matthew Stephens

·

Sep 15, 2025

The Black Mirror Exercise: Building Better by Imagining Worse

Why my design team writes Black Mirror episodes to sharpen our sense of ethics

A dark cinematic poster styled like Black Mirror. A man stares into a glowing mirror where his reflection appears younger and smiling, while he looks older and worn in reality. The Netflix and Black Mirror logos are overlaid across the center.

Matthew Stephens

Matthew Stephens

he/him

Design x AI Leader for Hire. Co-Founder @ DeviantArt. Let's work together. Assume everything I write has been partially written by AI.

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