The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Back to feedPost
Let's talk about designing for anxiety 🧘♂️
Lately, our team has been thinking a lot about how people feel when they first open a complex platform. Most of the time, they're slightly overwhelmed or anxious.
As designers, we often talk about beautiful layouts and good hierarchy. But none of that means much if the user feels lost or stressed out.
That's what led us to what I call calm design.
Our team has been paying more attention to the small things that make an experience feel safe. Here are some of them:
• softer copy;
• guided empty states;
• subtle feedback that lets users know they did everything right.
Social Tap is one of our projects where this was really put to the test. A platform for brands and influencers, with lots of features and two very different user types. Getting the emotional side of the experience right wasn't optional there.
At the end of the day, people might not remember what the interface looked like. They surely remember how it made them feel.
Do you think about the user's emotional state when creating a design? Would love to hear how you approach it 🪼
Wow! That's really interesting 😍
Such an important reminder. Thoughtful microcopy and subtle feedback rarely get the spotlight, yet they can completely change how a product feels to use
Love this perspective. How do you test for emotional states or anxiety levels during user testing sessions?
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Related posts
In 2026, great design is about more than looking good. The real challenge is creating something that stands out in a world where AI can generate polished layouts in seconds.
Strong UX and structure are the foundation, but the details make the difference: bold typography, unique compositions, subtle accents, and thoughtful visual rhythm.
For these two hero sections, we explored two different directions. Version 1 is clean and typography-driven, while Version 2 adds supporting cards and decorative elements for more depth and personality.
Which one do you prefer: 1 or 2?
22 voted
31%
48 voted
69%
70 votes
Closed
2 is soo cool
Project:
A promo reel for a real client. A LinkedIn brand consultant who helps serious professionals show up online without the noise.
The Human by Design moment:
I built the loud version first. Big text, fast cuts, hype music. Exactly what a LinkedIn promo is expected to look like. It was competent work. Then I watched it back and deleted it.
Not because it was badly made. Because it was wrong for her. Her clients come to her to get away from that noise. A loud promo would have contradicted the thing she's known for.
AI could generate something polished. It couldn't know that polished was the wrong call for this particular client. I knew, because I built her website and I know her brand.
The decision that carries it:
Her brand has exactly one accent color. So in a 28-second reel, that color appears once, on a single word. Everything else stays calm. AI would have spread it everywhere for "visual interest." Using it once was the whole point.
Envato as the toolkit:
Stock video, music, fonts, and AI-generated textures. All from Envato. Four asset categories in one deliverable.
Real client:
Not a spec project. She's an active consultant, I built her website, and she reviewed and approved this reel.
Social links: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da5GRSnTkj9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Really great walkthrough video
The core of Augment's business strategy is that logistics teams should not have to change how they work. Augie comes to where work already happens rather than asking teams to adopt a new platform.
The design challenge was communicating that without listing it. A list of compatible platforms tells the visitor what is possible. Showing Augie inside a real Slack conversation, responding to a real request with useful output, tells them what it feels like.
The visitor sees Augie thinking and responding inside a tool they already open every morning. The message lands without needing to be stated. Nothing changes in how the team works. Augie just shows up inside it.
This section was built entirely around: demonstrating the integration. A founder reading this page does not need to imagine what the product does. They see it happening.
Trending
Claude
Claude has entered the design space. How are you using Claude Design?
Contra University
Learn from expert creatives how to earn more using next-gen AI tools.
creativeaiflow
Creative AI workflows are evolving. What tools do you use, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
freelancerlife
Freelancer life is wins, pivots, and everything in between. What’s yours right now?