# Full text of the five articles

## How to Develop Design Taste in the AI Era: A 4-Week Plan for UX Designers — Nishkarsh Gupta (ILLUMINATION)

https://medium.com/illumination/design-taste-new-skill-how-to-build-it-a46d424f3173

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 You can now type one line and get a full app screen back. It has clean spacing, nice cards and a tidy button. It looks fine. So what do you bring to the table? 
 My take: you bring taste. Design taste is the ability to tell good work from almost good work, and to explain why in plain words. It is not a gift you are born with. You build it by looking at a lot of work, thinking about it, and making things yourself. This article shows how, with a four week plan at the end. 
 What is design taste? 
 Design taste is trained judgment. It is the skill of seeing that one screen works and another does not, then saying what is different: the spacing, the order, the tone, the one thing that is missing. 
 Notice the last part. Taste is not "I like it." Taste is "I like it because the label sits close to the field, the contrast is clear, and nothing else fights for attention." If you cannot explain your choice, you cannot repeat it, and you cannot teach a tool to do it either. 
 Public radio host Ira Glass described the trap that most of us fall into. People start creative work because they have good taste, but their early work is not yet as good as their eye. That gap is normal. His advice was short: "Do a huge volume of work." The gap closes by making things, not by waiting. 
 Taste is also not about style trends or expensive gear. It is not the same as being trendy, and it is not the same as being minimal. A crowded dashboard can have great taste if every row earns its place. My take: in B2B work, which is where I spend most of my time, taste shows up in tables, forms and empty states far more than in hero images. 
 Why does taste matter more when AI can generate screens? 
 Taste matters more because a decent looking screen is now cheap, so the choosing is what is left. When everyone can generate ten options in a minute, the person who picks the right one, and knows what to change, has the edge. 
 Nielsen Norman Group says this directly. In its State of UX 2026 article, published in January 2026 by Kate Moran, Raluca Budiu, Sarah Gibbons and the NN/g team, the authors explain that design systems, patterns and components have made interfaces more standard. As AI design tools improve, they write, that standardization gets stronger and almost anyone will be able to make a decent looking UI. They add that if you only put together components from a design system, AI can already replace you. 
 Then they name what is hard to automate: curated taste, research informed understanding of context, critical thinking and careful judgment. Notice that taste is one of four. It sits next to research and thinking, not above them. Good taste with no understanding of users only gives you a pretty wrong answer. 
 There is early study evidence for this too. A 2026 final project at the UC Berkeley School of Information watched thirteen UX designers use prompt based tools like Lovable to build interfaces. It found six kinds of breakdown. Two matter here. One is a vocabulary gap: designers could not find the right words for what they wanted. The other is a convergence trap: the tool drifts toward generic, polished results. In short, the tool gives you the average, and only your eye can push it away from average. 
 How do you build design taste? 
 You build it with five small habits done often: collect references, write down why you like them, copy to learn, critique every day, and look outside software. None of them needs a course. All of them need repetition. 
 Collect references on purpose 
 Write down why you like each one 
 Copy a screen by hand to learn 
 Critique something every day 
 Look outside software 
 1. Collect references on purpose 
 Start with a library, but treat it like a study desk, not a wall of pretty pictures. Mobbin, which I use, says it holds more than 620,000 screens and over 300,000 flows from actual apps, and it lets you save designs into collections and add notes when you save. For whole portfolios, Wall of Portfolios is a curated set of UX, product and interactive design portfolios you can filter by role, experience and theme, such as minimalist or dark. 
 The rule that helps most: save fewer things, and name the folder after a question, not an app. "How do good apps handle empty states?" teaches more than "Stripe stuff." 
 2. Write down why you like it 
 This is the habit that turns taste from a feeling into a skill. Under every saved screen, write three short lines: what I see, why it works, what I would steal. 
 This also fixes the vocabulary gap from the Berkeley study. The words you build here are the words you will later use to direct a person, a teammate or an AI tool. "Make it cleaner" gets you the average. "Give the heading more space above and cut the border on the cards" gets you closer to what you meant. 
 3. Copy to learn 
 Pick one screen you admire and rebuild it by hand in Figma. Do not trace it with a plugin. Measure the spacing, guess the type sizes, match the colors, and look at how the layout is built. You will find out how much you missed when you only looked. 
 The point is not to publish the copy. The point is to learn the decisions behind it. When you finish, change one thing on purpose, like the type scale or the density, and ask whether it got better or worse. It is like learning other people's songs before you write your own. 
 One small habit makes the copy step stronger. Before you start, write down three guesses about why the screen looks good. After you finish, check which guesses were wrong. The wrong ones are where you learned something. 
 4. Critique every day 
 Ten minutes is enough. Open one screen and answer three questions: what works, what does not, and what would I change first. Say it out loud or write it down. 
 Also critique AI output. Generate a screen in your favorite tool and look for where it is generic. Is every section the same weight? Is the copy vague? Does the hierarchy tell you where to look first? This is where taste pays off in daily work, because you can now edit the machine instead of accepting it. 
 A tip for the daily critique: keep one running note, and add a rule to it whenever you catch yourself saying the same thing twice. After a month you have a personal style guide written in your own words. 
 5. Look outside software 
 If you only study apps, you will only make things that look like apps. Look at posters, book covers, packaging, street signs, maps, film title cards and buildings. Take a photo, then ask the same three questions. 
 Outside references give you ideas the rest of the crowd does not have. Since AI tools lean toward the average of what already exists, a fresh source is one of the few ways to end up with something that does not look like everyone else's. 
 What is a simple four week taste practice plan? 
 Spend 20 to 30 minutes a day for four weeks, and give each week one job. Here is the plan I would follow. 
 Week 1, collect and name. Save five screens a day. Write the three lines under each one. By the end you have about 35 notes and a shared vocabulary. 
 Week 2, copy. Rebuild three screens by hand, one every two or three days. After each, write down two rules you found. 
 Week 3, critique. Ten minute critique every day. Do half on human made work and half on AI generated screens. 
 Week 4, look outside and make. Collect ten references from outside software. Then design one screen using only your written rules, and compare it with what an AI tool gives you for the same brief. 
 At the end of week four, read your notes from week one. The difference in how you describe things is the proof that your eye moved. 
 Can taste be taught? 
 Yes, in the sense that matters for work. You cannot fake it in a weekend, but attention, words and volume make it grow. The Ira Glass idea holds: your eye starts ahead of your hands, and steady work closes the gap. 
 One honest limit. Taste is not a shortcut around research. NN/g lists it beside contextual understanding and critical thinking for a reason. Use taste to judge how something feels and looks, and use users to judge whether it works. 
 The short version 
 AI makes decent screens cheap. What stays scarce is the person who can tell which one is right and why. Collect on purpose, write your reasons, copy by hand, critique daily and look outside software. Four weeks of small daily effort is enough to notice a change. 
 Which screen do you admire most right now, and can you say in three lines why it works? 
 Thank you!! 
 You can find more of my thoughts and work credibility on LinkedIn , Instagram , My portfolio . 
 If you would like to connect directly, feel free to reach out on WhatsApp at +91 9559904610 or email me at nishkarshgupta381@gmail.com. 
 I am always open for my readers :)

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## "Everyone Says Designers Need Taste. How Do You Actually Develop It?" — Life Considered (Muzli)

https://medium.com/muzli-design-inspiration/everyone-says-designers-need-taste-how-do-you-actually-develop-it-c8c09f0e2605

Aleks Dorohovich on Unsplash" class="object-cover w-full h-auto min-h-96 svelte-tpe5ub" style="cursor: zoom-in" onload="this.__e=event" onerror="this.__e=event"/> Photo by Aleks Dorohovich on Unsplash You've saved hundreds of references and follow designers whose work you admire. You can recognize good design. Then you open your own file, adjust the layout, rework the spacing, and still can't put your finger on why the screen feels off. 
 "Develop your test" is easy advice to give. It's harder to use when you're deciding how much information a screen needs, which action should stand out, or whether an interaction feels right. Those everyday decisions give you a place to practice: noticing what works, understanding why, and learning when a different approach would serve the user better. 
 Study More Than Other Interfaces 
 When your references all come from other apps, it's easy to keep reaching for the same layouts and visual treatments. Give yourself something different to notice. Open a magazine, order from a printed menu, or follow signs through an unfamiliar building. Pay attention to how the design directs you and where you have to stop and work things out. 
 A magazine might use a large headline to invite you into a story, then quieter typography to make a long passage comfortable to read. A station sign has a different job: you need to find your destination while walking, often with little time to spare. Notice how the type, spacing, and placement serve those situations. Bring that question back to your interface: what does someone need to notice here, and what can stay in the background? 
 When something catches your attention, save a photo and add a few notes: 
 What did I notice first? 
Was it the size, color, position, or wording? 
 What did the design help me do? 
Find a destination, choose an item, or understand where to begin? 
 Where did I hesitate? 
What was missing, unclear, or competing for attention? 
 What could I apply to my work? 
Name a specific decision rather than saving it as "inspiration." 
 For example: "The station repeats the platform number at each turn. In a long setup flow, i could keep the user's chosen plan visible so they don't have to go back to check it." 
 Ask What Isn't Working — and Why 
 "Looks good" feels reassuring, but it gives you little to learn from. When asking another designer for feedback, explain who the screen is for, what users need to do, and which decision you're unsure about. 
 For example: "Support agents use this screen to find cases that need attention. I'm unsure whether the urgent cases stand out enough." 
 Then ask: 
 What do you notice first? 
Does it match what matters most for the task? 
 What is difficult to scan or understand? 
Ask them to point to a specific area. 
 What would you change first? 
Ask what the change would improve. 
 What might that change make worse? 
Consider the tradeoff before applying it. 
 If they suggest adding more space between rows, ask why. It might help distinguish cases, but it also means fewer fit on screen. 
 Learning how another designer weighs that tradeoff helps you judge similar decisions in your next project. Their feedback gives you a direction to investigate; testing with users can help establish whether it works. 
 Practice on a Problem You Can Finish 
 Choose one part of a current project that still bothers you: a crowded setting panel, a form with unclear grouping, or a table where important details disappear among everything else. 
 Give the practice a clear purpose: 
 Name the problem. 
"The account settings and notification preferences look like one long list." 
 Choose what to work on. 
Start with grouping and spacing before changing colors, icons, and typography too. 
 Use realistic content. 
Include long labels and descriptions that wrap onto several lines. 
 Explain the change. 
"I separated the groups so people can see which settings belong together." 
 Check what you sacrificed. 
Clearer separation might make the page longer. Decide whether that tradeoff fits the task. 
 Save a short note about what you changed and what still needs to be checked. Over time, those notes give you a record of your judgment developing: the problems you notice, the choices you make, and the assumptions you reconsider. 
 Notice How Your Decisions Change 
 Reopen a design you made a few months ago. You might immediately want to fix it. Before you do, write down what you notice. 
 "I don't like it anymore" tells you little. "Every card has equal emphasis, so it's hard to tell what needs attention" gives you something to work with: 
 Look for these signs in your recent work: 
 You can name what feels wrong. 
You identify a hierarchy or grouping problem instead of changing things at random. 
 You can explain why a reference fits. 
You know which decision is useful and which details don't belong in your product. 
 You recognize the tradeoff. 
You can explain what a change improves and what it makes harder. 
 You revise your judgment when you learn more. 
Feedback or observed behavior can change a choice you initially preferred. 
 You'll still make uncertain decisions. Keep track of what you expected, what happened, and what you'd do differently. 
 The next time you open your file and something feels off, start there: name the problem, make a deliberate change, and give yourself a way to check it. 
 Know When Your Favorite Approach Doesn't Fit 
 You might prefer spacious layouts, subtle colors, and minimal controls. Those preferences help shape your work. They can also become habits you stop questioning. 
 Imagine designing a stock-management screen. You hide secondary information to make it cleaner, but staff need those details to check each item. Now they have to open every row. 
 Before committing to a direction, ask: 
 What task am I making easier? 
Name the benefit beyond "it looks cleaner." 
 What am I making less visible? 
Check whether people need that information to decide or act. 
 Whose preference is driving this? 
Distinguish your aesthetic preference from a requirement or an observed user need. 
 What would make me reconsider? 
Identify something you check through a prototype, feedback, or actual use. 
 You can keep your visual sensibility while changing how you apply it. A dense screen still needs careful typography, grouping, and emphasis. The craft lies in making the necessary information manageable. 
 Start With the Screen You're Working On 
 You don't need to collect another hundred references before practising. Open your current project and choose one decision you're unsure about. 
 Name what bothers you. 
"The screen feels crowded" becomes "The filters and results compete for attention." 
 Make a change for a reason. 
Decide what should become easier to notice, understand, or do. 
 Check the result. 
Use realistic content, seek focused feedback, and test with users where the question requires it. 
 Keep a short note about what you learned, especially when your first instinct was wrong. 
 That gives you something to bring into the next project: a clearer understanding of which choices work, under what conditions, and why you'd make them again. 
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## 10 Tips on How to Develop a Sense of Taste in Design and Other — Kseniia Vertunova

https://medium.com/@izh.open.yoga/10-tips-on-how-to-develop-a-sense-of-taste-in-design-and-other-41b2dfb24707

"Soft Skill", Made by Stable Diffusion Exhuman Telegram Chat Download article 
 I've been a graphic designer for 10 years, I've been developing my taste for a long time. The most important thing in this field is to have a look. In Russian, it's called " насмотренность " (nasmotrennost' )— where "na(на)" seams "on", and "smotret'(смотреть)" seams "look at", and the whole word is a noun"). I don't know how to translate it correctly, but if I explain in simple words — to constantly consume/view quality and aesthetic content, which is highly appreciated. 
 Here's a 10-point article on how to develop a sense of taste in design, art, and aesthetics: 
 Study design and art history : Understanding the history of design and art can help you develop your sense of taste. By studying different styles and movements, you can learn to appreciate different forms of design and art, and identify what appeals to you. 
 Follow design and art blogs and social media accounts: Following design and art blogs and social media accounts can expose you to a wide range of design and art styles and help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends. 
 Attend design and art exhibitions : Visiting design and art exhibitions can be a great way to see different styles and techniques in person. Take note of what you like and don't like, and try to identify what makes certain pieces stand out. 
 Take a design or art class : Taking a design or art class can help you learn the basics of design and art principles, and give you a foundation to build on as you develop your own sense of taste. 
 Read design and art books and magazines : Reading design and art books and magazines can help you learn more about different styles and techniques, and give you inspiration for your own work. 
 Practice design and art : Practicing design and art is a great way to develop your sense of taste. As you create your own designs and artwork, you'll learn what works and what doesn't, and develop your own unique style. 
 Get feedback from others : Getting feedback from others can help you see your work from a different perspective and identify areas for improvement. Be open to constructive criticism and use it to refine your work. 
 Experiment with different styles : Experimenting with different styles can help you develop your sense of taste and find your own unique style. Try working in different mediums, using different colors and textures, and experimenting with different design styles. 
 Trust your instincts : Ultimately, developing a sense of taste in design and art is about trusting your instincts and following what feels right to you. Don't be afraid to take risks and try new things. 
 Keep learning : Developing a sense of taste in design and art is an ongoing process. Keep learning, experimenting, and practicing, and you'll continue to refine your skills and develop your own unique style. 
 Of course, all of these points are great ideals to aspire to if you want to develop an unprecedented sense of taste. But it's actually much simpler than that. 
 Set yourself up on Pinterest and before you start implementing an idea, start doing a project. order — look up relevant work on the topic, do some mini research. 
 Similarly, you can look at Behance , Dribbble, or any other publishers and channels that publish highly appreciated works and see works similar to what you're looking for. 
 I think a sense of taste is a skill that can be trained. If you're constantly looking at what's beautiful, you start to understand what's beautiful and what's tasteless. Your own confidence in it grows. The more you look, the more you know. 
 I will take this opportunity and if you feel that you need design, graphics, and competently prepared layouts for your project or business, I can offer my candidacy. I work through Upwork, here is my page with feedback . 
 If you think there are faster and more effective ways to develop this soft skill , then write in the comments, I will be happy to learn new methods. Also, if you like what I write and on what topics, I invite you to subscribe to my channel, I welcome every subscriber.

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## "What Good Taste in UI Design Actually Means" — Heshan.Design

https://medium.com/@heshan.design/what-good-taste-in-ui-design-actually-means-2b52ffc4b3c4

"That designer has good taste." 
 But what does that actually mean? 
 Is it about: 
 Using the right colors? 
 Following trends? 
 Copying great designs? 
 Having a natural talent? 
 Not really. 
 In UI design, good taste is not a feeling .
It's a skill — and it can be trained. 
 Let's break down what "good taste" actually means in UI design 👇 
 Good Taste Is Not About Style 🎨 
 This is the biggest misconception. 
 Good taste does not mean: 
 Fancy visuals 
 Trendy gradients 
 Complex animations 
 Dribbble-level polish 
 A stylish UI can still be: 
 Confusing 
 Inconsistent 
 Hard to use 
 Overdesigned 
 Good taste is not about how much you add.
It's about knowing what not to add . 
 Good Taste Is Judgment 🧠 
 At its core, good taste is decision-making . 
 It's the ability to answer questions like: 
 Does this element earn its place? 
 Is this helping the user or just decorating? 
 Is this clear enough without explanation? 
 Is this consistent with the rest of the product? 
 Designers with good taste don't guess.
They judge calmly and clearly. 
 Good Taste Shows Up in Restraint ✋ 
 Here's a secret: 
 Most professional UI looks simple because someone decided to stop . 
 Good taste means: 
 Not using every color 
 Not using every font weight 
 Not adding icons everywhere 
 Not animating everything 
 Restraint is a design skill. 
 If everything is loud, nothing feels important. 
 Good Taste Is About Hierarchy 🔍 
 Designers with good taste are obsessed with one thing:
 What should users notice first? 
 They care deeply about: 
 Visual hierarchy 
 Spacing 
 Alignment 
 Typography scale 
 Contrast 
 Even without colors or images, their layouts still make sense. 
 That's not talent.
That's trained taste. 
 Why Beginners Struggle With "Taste" 😬 
 Most beginners think taste comes first. 
 In reality, taste comes after exposure and mistakes . 
 Beginners: 
 Add too much 
 Over-style 
 Fear empty space 
 Want to impress 
 Experienced designers: 
 Remove things 
 Simplify 
 Trust white space 
 Design for clarity 
 Good taste grows when you stop trying to impress other designers — and start serving users. 
 How "Good Taste" Develops Over Time ⏳ 
 Good taste comes from: 
 Seeing many bad designs 
 Fixing confusing screens 
 Watching users struggle 
 Making wrong decisions 
 Learning why something didn't work 
 It's pattern recognition. 
 After a while, you just know : 
 "This feels unnecessary"
"This will confuse users"
"This is doing too much" 
 That's taste. 
 Copying Doesn't Build Taste 🚫 
 Copying Dribbble shots can help your visuals — but not your taste. 
 Taste improves when you: 
 Redesign bad products 
 Explain your decisions 
 Compare before vs after 
 Ask "why" instead of "how" 
 If you can't explain why a design is good, you're borrowing taste — not building it. 
 How to Train Your UI Taste (Practically) 🛠️ 
 Try this simple exercise: 
 Open a random app 
 Look at one screen 
 Ask: 
 What's unnecessary here? 
 What's unclear? 
 What's competing for attention? 
 Remove or simplify one thing 
 Explain why 
 Do this often. 
 Taste grows through intentional observation , not inspiration feeds. 
 Senior Designers Aren't More Creative 🎯 
 They're more selective. 
 They don't design more.
They design less, better . 
 That's why their work feels: 
 Calm 
 Confident 
 Professional 
 "Obvious" in hindsight 
 That "obvious" feeling?
That's good taste. 
 Final Thought 💭 
 Good taste in UI design is not a gift. 
 It's: 
 Clear thinking 
 Strong judgment 
 Visual restraint 
 User-first decisions 
 If your UI feels quieter, clearer, and easier — your taste is improving. 
 And that's one of the most valuable skills a designer can have ✨

---

## The Fastest Way to Develop Visual Taste as a Designer — Omoraiyewa Samuel (Bootcamp)

https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/the-fastest-way-to-develop-visual-taste-as-a-designer-85ef6d905034

Thumbnail by Author With AI generating interfaces on demand and beginner designers using those outputs as references, what makes you stand out is your taste. 
 Every designer I've watched develop quickly had one thing in common. They were all inspired by great work, and that has always been how taste gets built. 
 What taste actually is 
 Taste is your judgment. The choices you make for the work in front of you. 
 What font, layout, and pattern. What color, spacing, what to emphasise, and what to strip away. Every decision you make while designing is an expression of taste, and the quality of those decisions is what separates work that feels considered from work that feels assembled. 
 A cleaner way to think about it: taste has three layers. 
 The first is surface . 
That immediate reaction when you look at something and know it works, or know something is off, before you can explain why. This is the layer most people think of when they say a designer "has taste." It comes with time and repeated exposure to good work. 
 The second is context. 
Good taste reads the room. A choice that works beautifully for one brand, one audience, one cultural moment, can fail completely in another. Contextual taste is what makes a design feel right for the situation, not just visually clean in isolation. 
 The third is visual. 
The execution layer. Knowing which typeface pairing carries the right tone, how much negative space is actually enough, and which color communicates the intended emotion without announcing it. This is where taste becomes visible. 
 Why borrowed taste stops working 
 You can scroll through Pinterest, find something that looks impressive, and recreate the aesthetic. That produces work but does not taste good over time. 
 Think of borrowed taste as a starting point, not a destination. The problem with building your eye entirely on curated feeds is that you develop a sensitivity to what looks good on those feeds, not a judgment for what works in context. The moment a design problem steps outside familiar territory, you run out of answers. 
 Real taste comes from curation across a wide range, knowledge of why things work, practice making decisions, and the experience of seeing those decisions play out. None of those are going to come from collecting and reposting inspiration. 
 Practice one: study references with a question, not just your eyes 
 Most people look at references the way they scroll social media. Something registers as good, they save it, and they move on. Nothing transfers. 
 Pick one: Why does the hierarchy work here? What makes this feel trustworthy? Where is the designer directing attention and how? What would this look like if the primary action were less obvious? 
 Then look at the reference through that question. 
 Three sources worth building the habit around: 
 Mobbin for real production mobile and web UI 
 Layers.to for curated design work with context 
 Your mobile app store itself. 
 Open apps you use every day and look at them as a designer. The products that feel effortless to use almost always have decades of considered micro-decisions behind them, and those decisions are visible if you know what to look for. 
 Practice two: reverse-engineer what you admire 
 Looking at great work is one layer; rebuilding is the next logical step. 
 Pick a screen from a product you think is exceptionally well designed. Recreate it in Figma to understand it. 
 Pay attention to every decision that comes up as you build: the exact spacing values, the type-scale relationship, where the designer chose restraint and where they did not, and how the component structure creates consistency across states you cannot even see in the screenshot. 
 You will make decisions during rebuilding that the original designer also had to make. When you notice yours do not match, you are learning. When you notice yours actually works better in a specific way, you are developing judgment. 
 This practice is particularly valuable for UX flows. Find a well-designed onboarding sequence, a checkout flow, or a settings screen in an app with a strong design reputation. 
 Map the full flow: every state, every transition, every piece of copy. Ask what the designer assumed about the user at each step. Ask what would happen if that assumption were wrong. 
 That kind of analysis builds an instinct for interaction design that no tutorial covers, because it comes from studying real decisions made under real constraints. 
 Why taste is what companies are actually hiring for 
 Over the last year, most of the work that came my way arrived because of taste. No whiteboarding sessions and lengthy project explanations. The decision was made because someone wanted my thinking and my judgment for their product. 
 The ability to make the right call, know what fits the brief, know what to remove, and know what will land with the audience is what makes a designer valuable at a level that tools cannot replicate. 
 The honest timeline 
 Taste takes time. No shortcut changes that. 
 The work that grows your taste is the work you find slightly uncomfortable. The moment you have to make a decision you are not sure about, without anything to generate an answer for you, is the moment your judgment is actually developing. 
 Do that enough times, and it starts to feel like instinct. That is when you know it is working. 
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Thank you!❤️