Design, Graphics & Visual Media: what Hacker News watches
9 topics, 426 videos. Pick a topic for a focused list, or scan the 100 best-scored across the whole area below.
- Rui Oliveira talk recommended in 11 different months by 12 HN users, 2013–2025It is HN's go-to recommendation for the case that programming environments should give instant feedback, and it appears in nearly every thread on live coding, visual programming or developer tools.
- CreativeMornings HQ talk recommended in 9 different months by 12 HN users, 2015–2026HN regulars send freelancers and consultants to it whenever clients don't pay or contracts come up.
- Recommended as the most entertaining serious critique of a software interface, and a crash course in UX mistakes.
- HN commenters repeatedly share it because it is an eye-opening look at screen-reader use, and because at about 6:30 it addresses how inaccessible Hacker News itself is.
- Repeatedly recommended as the definitive, well-made explanation of why attempts to reinvent music notation fail and what tradeoffs the current system makes.
- Matthaeus Krenn demo recommended in 6 different months by 4 HN users, 2017–2023Repeatedly cited in car touchscreen debates as an elegant, sensible alternative to distracting automotive UIs.
- HN treats it as a foundational Bret Victor talk that reshaped how people think about software and interfaces, often cited alongside Dynamicland.
- Montalvo Machado talk recommended in 5 different months by 6 HN users, 2013–2017Recommended to freelancers and consultants as practical advice on contracts and getting paid.
- Casey Muratori lecture recommended in 5 different months by 5 HN users, 2017–2024Seen as the origin of the IMGUI idea that inspired Dear ImGui, recommended to anyone curious about immediate-mode UI design.
- Regarded as the seminal talk on Dasher, recommended in threads on accessible and alternative text input.
- Often the first thing suggested to HN programmers asking about posture and back pain.
- Cited as a funny, informative teardown of bad interface design, and for the story that MuseScore hired him as head of design afterward.
- HN links it whenever menu hover problems or nearest-to-pointer selection come up, and as proof algorithms matter in front-end work.
- blogphilofilms commentary recommended in 4 different months by 3 HN users, 2012–2015Linked in Windows 8 threads as a funny but accurate summary of its usability problems.
- Razbuten commentary recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2019–2023HN uses it to illustrate learned literacy in game and software UX, and how unfamiliar conventions confuse newcomers.
- HN returns to it as the original Wave pitch, both for its wow factor and as a case study in a hyped product that was later shut down.
- Kristy Viers tutorial recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2021–2022HN recommends it to show what on-device accessibility features can do and how blind users actually use an iPhone.
- Recommended as a thought-provoking critique that makes people notice how poor everyday GUIs are.
- HN points to it whenever analog versus digital clocks come up, as an idea that changed how commenters think about time perception.
- Recommended as a candid, in-depth look at hard UX redesign work and the limits of MIDI for notation.
- Cited whenever backup beepers and noise come up, as a clear explanation of the white-noise alternative.
- squareweave talk recommended in 3 different months by 4 HN users, 2014–2021HN users recommend it as a memorable, short way to build empathy for users' confusing mistakes and to design for distraction.
- HN commenters recommend it as a thoughtful take on doing gamification and game design well.
- Coding Tech demo recommended in 3 different months by 4 HN users, 2019–2023HN recommends it, especially to developers losing their sight, as a concrete demonstration of coding with text-to-speech.
- HN commenters recommend it as a fresh perspective on layout and styling in CSS discussions.
- Tavis Rudd demo recommended in 3 different months by 2 HN users, 2014–2023HN points to it as a lost example of intuitive low-code tooling, and as inspiration for newer products.
- Used as the go-to visual demonstration of A-pillar blind spots and badly designed junctions.
- Thierry Hubert demo recommended in 3 different months by 1 HN user, 2022–2026HN links it in spreadsheet-reinvention threads as the clearest look at what Improv did differently, with a distinctive NeXTstep aesthetic.
- HN commenters cite it whenever input latency comes up, as the demonstration that people can perceive touch delay down to 1 ms.
- Netflix Is A Joke commentary recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2021–2024HN recommends it as an accessible explanation of how Intuit's lobbying and deceptive design undermine free tax filing.
- Neowin demo recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2010–2021HN treats it as a gold-standard concept demo and a what-might-have-been for dual-screen and digital notebook devices.
- 8pen demo recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2022–2025HN commenters who used it remember it as an unusually fast and accurate touchscreen text input method and a fascinating alternative to QWERTY.
- erg0steur interview recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2020–2022Praised as a lesson in explaining technology to non-technical people and as a window into early Mac design.
- Referenced in debates over Chrome hiding URLs as a compelling case for why full URLs are hard even for experts.
- zoobean talk recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2019–2025HN recommends it for its in-depth view of a major UI redesign process driven by user data.
- Brad Fitzpatrick comedy video recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2015–2025HN cites it as the famous example of how over-clever smart-home devices can fail at something as basic as a smoke alarm.
- Design Theory explainer recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2024–2025Commenters cite it to explain expert blindness and the difficulty of solving problems from inside your own cultural context.
- Brought up as an early example of context-aware touch sensing and as part of Disney Research's wider interaction prototypes.
- HN commenters recommend it as a companion to Steve Krug's usability advice and as a talk on minimal interface design.
- HN recommends it as a rigorous, entertaining example of interface design review and notes the author later became head of design at MuseScore.
- Ji Lee video recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2009–2025Cited as evidence that ordinary users often don't understand basic technology like browsers, as a reminder for designers and developers.
- HN uses it as the short, canonical explainer of Norman doors and affordances, linked in design and UX discussions.
- Web Design Museum demo recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2019–2023HN points to it as the example of the weird, artistic, animation-heavy web UIs of the Flash era.
- WordPress talk recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2018HN commenters say it convinced them to drop other layout approaches and embrace Grid, and cite its advice on fallbacks for older browsers.
- Canonical Ubuntu talk recommended in 1 different month by 3 HN users, 2025–2026HN commenters cite it when discussing stagnating desktop UX, Apple's design decline, and open source's chance to experiment with new interaction models.
- Cited as an example of how hard it is to reconcile UX views in open source communities, and as the start of a redesign discussion.
- HN recommends it during the Muse Group acquisition controversy for its funny, pragmatic take on usability and open source stewardship.
- creativecrewchannel talk recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2011–2020HN points to it to explain the design rationale behind the Ribbon and why the older menu and toolbar interface had accumulated too much cruft.
- Seen as an inflection point in how Blender's UI was perceived, and as helping kick off the 2.8 redesign.
- Hagerty commentary recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2021–2023HN cites it in threads on touchscreens versus physical buttons in cars, as an example of an enthusiast's critique of VW's UX.
- HN points to it to explain how steer-by-wire is implemented and why variable steering ratio is its benefit.
- Arkmage2 demo recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2009–2019Cited to contrast Microsoft's ambitious Longhorn vision with the Vista that actually shipped.
- EveryAmp demo recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2021–2024HN cites it in threads about Teslas trapping occupants to show how the manual release is located and used.
- Microsoft in Business demo recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2017–2021Cited as an example of corporate future-concept videos, sometimes appreciated for its ideas and sometimes used as a cautionary comparison.
- Kompetenzzentrum Digitale Barrierefreiheit demo recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2024–2026HN uses it as the go-to example of how blind developers work, including the very fast screen reader speech.
- Boeing news clip recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2016–2022Cited as an example of effective alarm and voice-alert design and in discussions of reactions to female voices.
- GE Lighting, a Savant company tutorial cited on HN 5 times, 2019–2023HN cites it as a prime example of absurd, user-hostile IoT reset procedures.
- Lexi Heft tutorial cited on HN 4 times, 2019–2021Used in UI debates as evidence that wiper control on the touchscreen is awkward, or alternatively that it is just two touches.
- Sven Herzog Aviation video cited on HN 5 times, 2016–2024Cited as a vivid example that experienced pilots can ignore loud alarms, in threads on alarm design and gear-up landings.
- homefree122 comedy video cited on HN 3 times, 2016–2022Used as a joke reference in threads about confusing error messages and printers.
- MacVsPCcommercials comedy video cited on HN 3 times, 2020–2026HN mentions it as a joke when Apple's own security prompts or Gatekeeper restrictions annoy users.
- Web Design Museum demo cited on HN 6 times, 2020–2023HN commenters link it as nostalgic proof of how inventive and formative the Flash-era web was.
- HN cites it as proof that tactile morphing touchscreens existed years ago, in discussions of car touchscreens and tactile on-screen keyboards.
- alittle116 comedy video cited on HN 5 times, 2022–2025It is invoked as a joke whenever a product forces users through dumbed-down or unhelpful interfaces and automated support.
- ysnimkim video cited on HN 3 times, 2010–2024Cited in discussions of sci-fi interfaces and whether ideas like pinch-to-zoom were prior art.
- HN mentions it as the polished design-team vision that Android's actual implementation fell short of.
- GottaBeMobile demo cited on HN 3 times, 2016–2021HN uses it as evidence that Apple's Touch Bar idea was not new, and that Lenovo had already tried and dropped it.
- Channel2600 talk cited on HN 3 times, 2018–2019HN cites it as proof that voice coding works and lists it among resources for programmers who can't type.
- UserExperiencesWorks video cited on HN 3 times, 2012–2019Cited as a humorous, somewhat contrived example of children and technology dependence.
- Your Product Sucks commentary cited on HN 5 times, 2021–2024HN cites it, with schadenfreude, as evidence that Apple Music on desktop is poorly built.
- Answer in Progress explainer cited on HN 3 times, 2022–2026Cited as a companion to articles on Japanese web design and as an example of clustering websites by appearance.
- It is a go-to recommendation whenever cans, good design or mass-produced objects come up, and many also recommend the whole channel.
- HN people cite it in threads on vehicle size and safety as a clear explanation tying grille height to deaths.
- Mike Cane talk recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2011–2022Commenters link it as a canonical statement of Jobs's product philosophy and as an example of handling an insult calmly and articulately.
- HN treats it as the obligatory video to share whenever plugs and sockets come up, praised for its safety reasoning.
- Brant Walsh comedy video recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2011–2026HN commenters bring it up whenever Microsoft product naming, branding or marketing is confusing, pointing to it as a long-running self-aware critique.
- Posy explainer recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2023–2026Recommended as a meditative, geeky tour of alternative display designs.
- Jonathan Field talk recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2020–2026Quoted constantly as the canonical statement of product-first thinking over technology-first thinking, and as a model of handling a heckler.
- Alexander Budde demo recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2011–2025HN brings it up as a nostalgic, exciting concept in threads on foldable phones and design, and sometimes as an example of concept videos that never shipped.
- HN recommends it as a short intro to the Designing Your Life approach when people ask about career direction and finding meaningful work.
- Bo Manton interview recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2021–2026Quoted whenever HN discusses process-heavy management and companies losing their product focus.
- Sam Holmes Sailing interview recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2022–2023HN recommends it as an accessible introduction to Yrvind and his minimalist boat ideas.
- Cited again and again in microwave and smart-appliance threads as proof that older appliances were smarter, especially for steam-sensor cooking.
- Recommended in back pain and posture threads as a short, practical idea that helped some commenters.
- Held up as the ultimate example of small-space design and a beautiful compact home.
- Cited in copyright and patent debates to argue that creative works and inventions evolve by building on earlier ones.
- youareworthy interview recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2010–2012HN commenters share it for Jobs's account of Rand's single-option approach and as a lesson in trusting designers.
- HN uses it as the standard illustration of hidden complexity and supply-chain dependencies behind everyday objects.
- Ben Vallack demo recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2021–2022HN links it in keyboard threads as a short visual demonstration of why staggered layouts force unnatural finger movement.
- HN points to it as the informative explanation of US turn signal quirks whenever signal design comes up.
- thecupertinoads video recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2020–2025Cited in iMac G4 threads as a charming ad reminiscent of Pixar's Luxo Jr.
- Recommended as a passionate take on good appliance design and cited in toaster threads.
- Cited when HN discusses taste and vision in product companies.
- Николай Товеровский commentary recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2020–2026HN drops it into Microsoft threads as a quick, quotable jab that people feel still holds.
- HN points to it whenever chest fridges or freezer efficiency come up, as a clear explanation of design trade-offs between efficiency and convenience.
- It gets mentioned as a thought-provoking video that changes how you look at everyday objects, though HN mentions are sparse.
- HN people link it as an example of a transformable small apartment in threads on micro-apartments and space-saving furniture.
- Diego Cumplido comedy video recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2018–2026Mostly posted as a joke in toilet-related threads, especially for the line about German hermeneutic stool inspection.
- Erin Casali talk cited on HN 5 times, 2012–2026HN uses it as the canonical source for the 'focus is saying no' quote, cited in threads on product decisions such as dropping old hardware support.
- HN cites it as a detailed teardown of a Dyson vacuum showing little substance beneath the branding.
Showing the 100 best-scored of 426. Use search to find the rest.