#97 The Ultimate Gift Guide for UX Designers: Ideas for Creativity and Productivity
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Hello friends and welcome back to the future of UX podcast. I'm Patricia Reiners, your host and guide you to all things design, creativity and innovation. Today we are diving into something a bit more festive and also practical, our ultimate gift guide for UX designers. So whether you're a designer treating yourself or shopping for a creative mind in your life,

This episode is packed with thoughtful, exciting and also practical ideas across different categories. So grab your notebook or maybe your Apple pencil and let's explore gifts that inspire, empower and make the creative journey even more enjoyable. I organized all those different gifts into different categories, so it's a bit easier.

We will get started with the first category which is education and learning. As UX designer staying ahead of trends is crucial and here are some fantastic learning resources that can help you grow. One idea could be the Google UX design certificate, a comprehensive online course that covers the fundamentals of UX. So whether you're a beginner or looking to refresh your skills this course is an excellent choice

I'm also going to link it in the description box in case you want to check it out. Number two are conference tickets. Conferences are of course a big thing for 2025 so maybe you already have a conference in mind that you would like to join or maybe go with your partner or with a friend.

Conferences that I can definitely recommend are, of course, the Hatch conference in Berlin. I think it's in September again. I also really like the UX Prompt conference. It's all about AI. I think you can't buy tickets yet, but maybe, you know, you can write yourself a virtual gift voucher, basically, and keep an eye on it.

Or the config will be in London in San Francisco in May and you can still buy tickets. So think about a conference ticket. And of course other courses, AF for Designers for example, will be available as the compact version, as a self-learned version.

where you dive into how artificial intelligence is reshaping the design world with this impact and self-paced. So perfect for staying ahead of the curve, especially if you are busy and you have all the time in the world to finish this course. Let's move to category number two which are tools and gadgets. I mean we are all designers, we love tools and gadgets.

And every designer needs the right tools to streamline the process and bring the ideas to life. And there are three things that I really love. First is the

The Post-it dry erase surface can turn any surface into a reusable brainstorming canvas. It's perfect for sketching workflows or for jotting down quick ideas. I'm also going to link it. It's amazing. It's basically like a transparent foil that you put on the wall and then you can pin Post-its on it. You can write on it like a whiteboard. It's super, super nice.

The second really cool gadget that I would be so happy to get as a present, although I already have it, is the Time Timer. The Time Timer is basically a little clock, a little timer for workshops.

You can use this for meetings with your team, with workshops or for your own focus time. Sometimes I am putting this on my desk and using this to focus. So when I have an hour of really focused tasks, I don't use my phone to put a timer on, but I use the time timer. Wonderful present. And number three is a little bit more expensive, a whiteboard. A classic tool for brainstorming and for mapping out concepts.

There are a lot of different versions out there, some smaller ones, some bigger ones. You need to look up the brand that I have here in my office but this is a really really big one but it's super nice for brainstorming. Let's move to category number three which is creativity and relaxation. Sometimes the best ideas come when we are relaxed and playful so here are some gifts to fuel creativity and unwind a little bit.

One is the Lego architecture set. There are a million different ways or different Lego sets out there. You can recreate maybe famous landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the Tokyo skyline or

yeah basically anything last year I sent my or I gifted my partner the flower the lego flower set it's more like an easier beginner thing but I personally think it's beautiful and it looks very nice and this is super important for me because we're living together so this is a super nice present I think for designers or for anyone who's working in tech and generally

Number two is this is I think a little bit more something that gets your creative juices flowing which is either a watercolor set or an acrylic set. So anything that basically taps a little bit into the artistic side with beautiful colors for the person who likes to paint, who really likes to relax.

I think this is a perfect thing to do on the side when you're constantly overwhelmed and overworked and focusing on all the digital stuff. So doing something with your real hands is super super nice. I can also highly recommend gifting a pottery class. I gifted myself one last year in Berlin and it was so wonderful.

I honestly felt never more relaxed after those sessions. It was absolutely amazing. I did this in Berlin. I'm not sure if I find the website again, but it was great. I'm pretty sure if you Google, you'll find something in your city as well. It's very nice to do something with your hands as basically a balance to all the digital work, to all the computer work. So this is also super nice, a great gift.

Another thing that I really love in the area of creativity and relaxation is painting by numbers.

You know, we all used to know these ugly painting by numbers visuals, but this really changed. There are quite some brands on there. Make sure to Google. I'm sure you will find something. You have wonderful images that you create. So very cool, super modern, super nice. And it's very meditative. It's super nice to relax and create something beautiful. So I think this makes a wonderful presence if you find a good motif.

Number four is something around typography and calendars. There are two wonderful calendars that I think are a wonderful present. One is the typodarium 2025. It's basically your daily dose of typography, inspiration curated by global designers. I'm also going to link it

It's honestly wonderful. Designers will understand what I mean. Each day you have another typeface that you can explore and that you can see. It's beautifully done. It's wonderful. And the second calendar that I really love is the gradient calendar by Lucia Hein. She gifted me the calendar last year and I put it on my whiteboard and I got so many questions around this calendar because it's really beautiful. It's very minimalistic.

And each month consists of a color gradient between two colors. I just really, really love it and I bought the calendar this year for myself. It's wonderful. I'm not sure if there are still available calendars, but I think it also makes a wonderful gift because it's absolutely beautiful. I'll link it below. Now let's move to category number five, which are tag gifts.

Things that I always can recommend are an ergonomic mouse or an ergonomic keyboard. Of course the Apple Pro, Apple iPad Pro or an Apple Pencil. Noise cancelling headphones, I have the one from Bose but I think the ones from Apple are also great.

or a high quality camera for your MacBook. I have the one from Logitech, which is also great. So I think tech gifts can also be very, very nice and very, very thoughtful. Category number six are subscriptions. This is not super personal, but cool.

or super personal but could be nice. I would be very happy about a ChatGPT subscription about a yearly one or a Figma subscription or maybe a website hosting with Wix for example. Perfect for designers launching you know personal projects. So when you want to gift someone or maybe yourself think like what would be a great tool that you would really want to focus on next year. Okay so now let's come to this episode's sponsor Wix Studio.

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That's wixstudio.com. And I think this year has definitely shown it how important mindfulness is and really being balanced with yourself. So for us designers, it's very important to maintain clarity and balance.

And one idea, it's also a subscription, would be a Headspace subscription. So I'm doing Headspace meditations. I mean, I'm trying to do it every morning or so. And I also had the yearly subscription for this year. They offer guided meditations for mindfulness, for stress relief. They have different courses. They have different podcasts. They have workouts. So it's something that really helps you to...

Focus on yourself. It's a wonderful app. I also love the design. It's great. Another thing that I really love, I don't have this, but I want to have it, is an aroma diffuser. Something that you put in your office. You have some wonderful oils in there and then everything smells wonderful. I think this is also a great present for someone who's working from home.

Now let's move to category number 8 which are desk accessories.

you can upgrade your or like someone you will send up or give a present their workspace with functional but also stylish additions one idea could be inspirational desk posters i found some interesting one on etsy we'll link them in the in the show notes it really could be super nice and another thing that i really loved is a desk

pad like a little mat put on your desk and there are some super beautiful ones out there i'm also going to link it it could be nice or a great pencil holder i have one out of wood which is super beautiful it had only space for two pencils so you need to basically only have two pencils because there's no not more space so you automatically get a little bit more minimal

And at the end, last but not least, are the books and resources. Books are always a thoughtful gift for designers. I mean, you know, nothing makes me happier than getting a book. Of course, there are some classics like "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman, but I feel like most designers already have it.

Another one that I really like is Creative Confidence by Tom Kelly, where it's about unlocking your creative potential. It also helps you to get inspired. I think a great book for reading over the holidays. And book number three that I would like to recommend is A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI. It's called Nexus. This is what I'm going to read over the holidays. So I gifted this myself already.

And it's a wonderful book. It's from Nual Nahari and he wrote lots of different books. They're all amazing and wonderful, very, very inspiring. So I can highly recommend to check it out. I think this also makes a wonderful presence. Because designers don't always want design books. Sometimes they want something that's more, you know, inspirational. That helps them to rethink, to refocus and to plan their year.

um yeah so a book is always a good idea it doesn't need to be a design book i'm also curious what are your favorite gifts feel free to share that here in the comments or send me a message on instagram at ux.patricia i'm super super super super curious and if you want to give me a little gift you don't have to but if you want to

please rate this podcast with a five-star review it doesn't cost you any money it doesn't cost you anything but this would be so helpful for me to really keep the podcast growing to invite amazing guests and to continue with everything next year 2025

So it only takes a couple of seconds, basically. But I would highly, highly appreciate that. Thank you so much for your support, for everything that you have done, how you have supported this podcast. Now I wish you a wonderful Christmas, a wonderful and hopefully relaxing times ahead.

And I hope that this gift guide was helpful for you for some last minute gifts or also for some gifts for yourself. And I would say let's wrap up our ultimate gift guide for designers from tools to spark creativity to subscriptions that keep us productive and gadgets to streamline our workflows. There is something for every designer on this list, and I would love to hear your thoughts or additions.

what your go-to gifts for the UX designers in your life. And yeah, don't forget to give me a wonderful rating for the podcast. And as always, keep designing for the future. See you next week.