Building tools in the Open Technology Fund ecosystem?
Through the #OTF UXD Lab, we can offer support across a range of design issues.
When conditions are risky or unstable, usability is not just a nice-to-have. It determines whether tools actually work.
We support teams with discovery research, usability reviews, design iteration, post-release testing, and coaching.
Find out more about the UXD Lab: https://www.opentech.fund/labs/uxd-lab/
Reach out today 📩 otf-uxd@superbloom.design
Heading to #PfP✨London 2026 4-5 Feb? Superbloom will be there!
Protocols for Publishers (@team) brings together publishers, developers, and researchers to explore open protocols for a sustainable, agentic web.
This connects closely to our work on cooperative infrastructure and usability as part of system design.
If you’re attending tonight or tomorrow, reach out via DM! We’d love to connect.
Check out more event info here 👉 https://protocolsforpublishers.com/london-2026/
A lot of the internet freedom ecosystem is building alternatives to extractive platforms. That work is essential, but adoption is as much a design challenge as a technical one.
Through@OpenTechFund@mastodon.social UXD Lab, we support tool teams with research and design focused on usability as infrastructure: onboarding, risk communication, core flows, testing, and team practice.
If this could help your project, get in touch otf-uxd@superbloom.design
Last week, Helpful Places and Superbloom came together during @NSF I-Corps training, supported by the National Science Foundation.
The training was linked to our NSF-funded DTPR project and focused on ecosystem research, interviewing, impact measurement, and mapping complex systems.
Many thanks to our friends at School of Visual Arts MFA in ixD for hosting us for the week. We now move into the next phase of the project with interviews and research.
How do interfaces quietly steer us toward one option and away from another?
In our latest bite-sized video, Superbloom's Molly Wilson looks at how UI design choices shape our behavior:
🎨 Color + contrast
↔️ Button order
✍️ Copy choice
👁️ When to make an action obvious vs. subtle
You’ll never see a “Continue / Cancel” box the same way again.
Working through a UX challenge for your product development? Thinking about using STRUDEL Kit?
Join Superbloom’s monthly UX Office Hours for live feedback and practical guidance from our designers.
🗓 Wed, Jan 21, 2026
⏰ 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT
💬 UX support & product roadmapping
🔗 go.lbl.gov/StrudelOH (no sign-up)
Bring questions, prototypes, or ideas.
cc: Berkeley Institute for Data Science
#UXDesign #OpenSource #ProductDesign #UX #HumanCenteredDesign #STRUDEL
Platforms say kids are protected.
Research says otherwise.
In a new Superbloom piece, @veszna argues that harm doesn’t come only from what children see online — but from how platforms are designed around them: defaults, friction, dark patterns, and “safety” features that exist on paper but fail in practice.
The real question isn’t whether platforms have safety features, but whether those work for children.
https://superbloom.design/learning/blog/2026-the-year-we-choose-to-protect-childrenor-fail-them/
Design theory isn’t just for designers. If you’ve ever tried to make a process easier for someone else, you are designing.
This 4-minute video breaks down affordances—how objects (and software) signal what they want us to do, and how those signals shape behavior, security, mistakes, and shortcuts.
🎥 Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ab8-QO-OA
Got feedback or a topic you want us to explore? DM us!
Platforms say kids are protected.
Research says otherwise.
In our latest piece, @veszna argues that children are harmed not only by what they see online but also by how platforms are designed around them.
As the EU’s Digital Services Act begins to bite, the real question isn’t whether platforms have safety features, but whether those features actually work for children.
UX isn’t cosmetic. Interface design is where harm travels — or stops.
Read the piece here 👇
https://superbloom.design/learning/blog/2026-the-year-we-choose-to-protect-childrenor-fail-them/
🌍 Survey announcement: Help shape the future of decentralised social!
Are you building on Nostr or exploring what decentralized social networks can be? We want to hear from you!
On behalf of Nostr, we are conducting a community survey to map how people worldwide are using the protocol. We also aim to identify what would make participation easier and more sustainable.
✍️ Take part in the survey here: https://lnkd.in/eqzNeWnU
#DecentralizedSocial #OpenSource #OpenProtocols #FOSS #Community
💬 Community insights wanted!
Calling all developers, builders, and people interested in decentralized social networks! Want to help shape Nostr's future? Now's your chance.
We're gathering insights on behalf of Nostr to understand how its global community engages with the platform and what support it needs going forward.
✍ Share your perspective by taking the survey here https://survey.superbloom.design/878514
#DecentralizedSocial #OpenProtocols #OpenSource #FOSS #Survey #Community
At #Mozfest Barcelona, Superbloom took part in Internet Exchange's session: “Encryption and Feminism: Reimagining Child Safety Without Surveillance.”
It reframed encryption through a feminist lens and showed how we can protect children without expanding surveillance. The questions, perspectives, and insights were exactly the kind of conversation the future of digital rights needs.
That's why another session will take place on 10 Feb, 4pm GMT.
Register here: 👇 https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GduDM4XIQD6u0tZ49u51SQ?ref=internet.exchangepoint.tech#/registration
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Decentralized platforms are growing fast, and we want to hear from the people building them!
If you're a Nostr developer, creator, builder, or simply exploring decentralized tech, your insights will help us understand where this ecosystem is heading globally.
The survey runs until January 6.
Share your experience and help shape the next wave of decentralised communication:
Take the survey here 👇
https://survey.superbloom.design/878514
It’s #GivingTuesday 💫
Superbloom is powered by community. And your support keeps us growing!
Donations help us connect designers and build tools that change who technology serves.
💚 100% of donations via Every.org go directly to Superbloom to support our work!
Donate today: https://www.every.org/superbloom
Tomorrow’s #GivingTuesday 💫
Superbloom grows where design, technology, and community meet.
Your support helps us fund fellowships, create open resources, and make sure technology serves more people, more fairly.
Every dollar through Every.org goes straight to our nonprofit work, with no fees or middlemen.
💚 Donate now https://www.every.org/superbloom
The Nostr Community Survey is now live!
We’re inviting developers, builders, users, and anyone interested in decentralized social networks to share their experiences.
This survey will help us:
• Identify what support makes ecosystem participation easier and more inclusive.
• Understand how Nostr can better support developers.
• Map global and demographic participation across the community.
You’ve got until Jan 6 to take the survey 👇
https://survey.superbloom.design/878514 #Nostr #Decentralization
Just one week to go before #GivingTuesday 💫
Why not donate to Superbloom? Your support keeps us growing and helps us connect designers and build tools that change who technology serves.
💚 100% of donations via Every.org go directly to Superbloom.
Looking for guidance on #design or strategy for your next Open Source Software project?
We offer flexible coaching with experienced mentors to help your project make an impact!
Get in touch to sign up for a coaching session today!
https://superbloom.design/work/ux-guidance/ #Coaching #UX #OpenSource
We’ve been experimenting with micro-learning videos at Superbloom — short lessons on human-centred security, ethical design, harmful patterns, and more.
Here’s one from Molly on what security + design have in common: (spoiler: real humans + shortcuts)
🎥 Watch (4:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbnSw6vckWs
Got feedback or ideas for future topics? DM us!
Working on a project and need UX support, or help using STRUDEL in your product development?
Join STRUDEL’s next monthly UX Office Hours to get live feedback from Superbloom's design team.
Bring your questions, prototypes, or ideas!
🗓 Wed, Nov 19, 2025
⏰ 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT
💬 Focus: General UX support
🔗 go.lbl.gov/StrudelOH (no sign-up required)