If the term “Slow Design” isn’t a thing, it needs to be. Some might call it “iterative design” but to me, slow design is different and I’ve been practicing it recently. One project in particular is a personal gift list that I’ve been crafting over the last few years. Piece by piece, and bit by bit trying to be very thoughtful to give it space and really let the problem seep in over and over again as you refine a response to it.

It all started when a few annoyances collided and I realized I could actually make something pretty cool and improve the friction in an experience that I was experiencing.

• How do people know what gifts they can get you that would be genuinely meaningful?
• Why does every time the holidays come around we use clunky docs with links or other rudimentary or annoying ways to communicate them?
• How can I avoid receiving gifts that I don’t actually want and I’m honestly just going to donate or throw away? 😅
• How do I build this with visual no-code tools and other design centered tools?

Instead of diving into sketches like I normally would, I went directly to Figma and started throwing around concepts. It quickly evolved and was fun to watch grow through multiple iterations across the years, let’s check it out!

There was never a super honed in process, or restrictive timeline. This is loose, cozy, and slow. It’s meant to be very exploratory. That way it doesn’t become another project to mark off or fluster me. It can be something fun to explore whenever I have space for it.

What I loved most about this project is how messy and open it was. With typical design projects it’s very easy for me to get lost or overwhelmed with the details, but this one felt different and I liked it. The project still isn’t done and I don’t know if it ever will be. That’s kind of been the point of the whole thing from the start and I’d like to keep it that way. Because of the restrictions I ran into with WordPress and newer developments with my primary shopping platform “Shop”, I’ve put it on pause. For now I’m using the collections feature inside Shop because it works well enough and connects to all my favorite brands. I’m still very satisfied with the type of project this was and how much I explored with it and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Impact