PRODUCT DESIGN WEEKLY

Hey folks, this is our last issue for the year. It's been a light news week, but we've got some great reads and things to peruse over the break. Enjoy! You'll hear from us again in a couple of weeks.

A rare look into Amazon's secret Kindle lab, and their influence on how we're reading. "Great writing ought to get into people’s brains, and how it gets there shouldn’t be a matter of religiosity."

The Facebook design director rounds up her most memorable reads of the year, which go well beyond design themes. Her essay collection, The year of the looking glass, is also full of short but insightful reads. 

Benedict Evans shares "Four thoughts for 2015" – trends showing connectedness and mobile usage.

Bret Victor talks about historic interfaces and how they advanced thinking, then moves into the future and his idea for dynamic interfaces beyond the screen. Grab a coffee and all your remaining brain cells.

Virtual reality, makeshift Holodecks and sketches that float in 3-D. Some of the wildest ideas in user interface design this year.

A nicely executed colour-combo picker for material design projects.

An overview of the basic building blocks and properties of CSS animations.

Dust off your iPad, Duet lets you expand screen real estate with zero lag.