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Jonas Downey

@jonas.do
3.9K followers 628 following 405 posts

Design Director @ Superhuman // Co-creator of Hello Weather. Ex-Figma, Twitter, and some other stuff. Puns always intended. he/him 🌐 jonas.do 🌞 @helloweather.com

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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 28/09/2026
Has anyone done a sociological study on why corporate jargon business-speak is so pervasive? Whyyyy do we do this? Business weirdo: "I'm not aligned. Can we circle back to sync again, and assign a DRI to put more wood behind fewer arrows?" Regular human person: "I disagree. Let's make it simpler."
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 10/09/2026
wow Indigo is excellent, and highly customizable too. Combining social feeds is a hard problem, but this is so well done!
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 10/09/2026
One upcoming feature in iOS 27 is a new "extra large" widget size, which might as well be an entire app at this point, because it's nearly the same dimensions as a full screen app. But who are we to question this? So, behold, the upcoming Super Mega widget for Hello Weather:
why is this widget so giant yep it seems overly big tbh
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 02/09/2026
More on this kind of thing: www.newyorker.com/culture/infi...
newyorker.com
The A.I.-Design Aesthetic That’s Taking Over the Internet
How Anthropic’s new tool, Claude Design, is creating overnight web-design clichés.
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 02/09/2026
Designing software in 2026: - Generative AI outputs bad design slop - The bad AI designs are poor facsimiles of actually good reference designs - But, users now falsely interpret the original designs as "evidence" of careless AI usage - So, now you have to revise previously good UI patterns 🙃
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 02/09/2026
Yes 100% this. You can’t bottoms-up a company to do good things. It has to be in the fiber of the organization all the way through, and someone at the top needs to care as much as you do. (I learned this the painfully hard way)
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 30/08/2026
Whenever something deeply stupid like this happens in software, I always wonder what went down internally. Was there a conversation in Slack about it? Was it demanded by executives? Who made the change? Did they protest? I hope the commit message was funny at least: "Rename lake (revert in 2028)"
Google Maps showing Lake America
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 29/08/2026
Currently considering a second career as a Pancake Plant Farmer
A pancake plant (Pilea peperomioides) with several of its baby plants in smaller separate pots
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 28/08/2026
Every time I think, “ok, that’s the dumbest thing that could possibly come from the President of the United States,” a new even dumber thing appears and proves me wrong again
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 27/08/2026
There's a new Twitter starting up, and it's worth the price of admission just for the nostalgia
Screenshot of Twitter.now
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 27/08/2026
all of the news this week is extremely shite. 0/10. bad stuff. would not week again.
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kate bush’s husband @airbagged.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
RIP TO ONE OF THE GREATEST TO EVER DO IT
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 10/08/2026
Times when I most fantasize about quitting tech: 1. quiet sunlit mornings spent pondering the destructive effects of careless growth capitalism run amok, and mournfully reflecting on my direct personal contributions to these problems 2. trying to use Google Slides for literally anything
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 01/08/2026
I've gotten really tired of reading AI writing, so I wrote a little screed about it: jonas.do/writing/2026-08-01-s...
jonas.do
Stop lending your personal credibility to AI | Jonas Downey
A small plea to literally everyone
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 21/07/2026
Can't decide which is weirder: 1) the endless barrage of mind-numbing AI slop posts on LinkedIn 2) the surprising amount of positive engagement on said AI slop posts
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 18/07/2026
We started with Neocities and she had a good time with it. The editor is essentially just HTML/CSS by hand, but it has a cool community vibe that’s inspiring. (There are a lot of example personal sites)
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 18/07/2026
If you haven't watched Phoebe Bridgers play a song with an epic band of kids, you should youtu.be/zfaVCiyyqTQ?is=J9-pn...
youtu.be
Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Boys | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Musical guest Phoebe Bridgers performs "Lost Boys" for The Tonight Show. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Stream now on Peacock: https://bit.ly/3gZJaNy Subscribe NOW to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: http://bit.ly/1nwT1aN Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Weeknights 11:35ET/10:35c Get more The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: https://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show JIMMY FALLON ON SOCIAL Follow Jimmy: http://Twitter.com/JimmyFallon Like Jimmy: https://Facebook.com/JimmyFallon Follow Jimmy: https://www.instagram.com/jimmyfallon/ Follow Jimmy on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jimmyfallon Follow Jimmy on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jimmyfallon THE TONIGHT SHOW ON SOCIAL Follow The Tonight Show: http://Twitter.com/FallonTonight Like The Tonight Show: https://Facebook.com/FallonTonight Follow The Tonight Show: https://www.instagram.com/fallontonight/ Follow The Tonight Show on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@fallontonight The Tonight Show TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fallontonight The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon features hilarious highlights from the show, including comedy sketches, music parodies, celebrity interviews, ridiculous games, and, of course, Jimmy's Thank You Notes and hashtags! You'll also find behind the scenes videos and other great web exclusives. GET MORE NBC NBC YouTube: http://bit.ly/1dM1qBH Like NBC: http://Facebook.com/NBC Follow NBC: http://Twitter.com/NBC NBC Instagram: http://instagram.com/nbctv Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Boys | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon http://www.youtube.com/fallontonight #FallonTonight #PhoebeBridgers #JimmyFallon
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matt sephton @gingerbeardman.com · 17/07/2026
Long time no sea: finding the seahorse emoji blog.gingerbeardman.com/2026/07/17/l... *So it wasn't a dream!* I'm really happy to have found this, and Happy World Emoji Day. 🎉
blog.gingerbeardman.com
Long time no sea: finding the seahorse emoji  ⌘I  Get Info
Happy World Emoji Day! 🎉
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 17/07/2026
I haven't talked much about this, but one of the gut-wrenching things about designing a weather app is thinking through various extremes and disasters. We designed these UI elements hoping that most people would never see them.
Chicago forecast with hazardous air quality and poor visibility Radar with bands of smoke
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 09/07/2026
static.klipy.com
David Schitts Mmhmm Okay Head Shake
ALT: David Schitts Mmhmm Okay Head Shake
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 09/07/2026
It’s having a moment! weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2026/06/26/f...
weblog.rogueamoeba.com
Free The Icons
Apple should end their prohibition on shapes in MacOS app icons
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 09/07/2026
What's the most annoying software word of 2026? I'm nominating "squircle"
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 28/06/2026
Love it! We’re going to start with this and see how it goes 🙏
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 28/06/2026
This looks cool and fun! Thanks for the tip
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 28/06/2026
My kid is very anti-AI, so this isn’t an option at the moment. But otherwise I totally agree 😅
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 28/06/2026
Yeah, thought of that too! Definitely a good place to start, but something with a little more bootstrapping upfront would be helpful I think
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 28/06/2026
Web friends: in 2026, what’s the best semi-friendly way to make a hand rolled website? My kid wants to get into web making, but stuff like Eleventy or Hugo feels a little advanced. Is there a beginner-level option that’s more approachable?
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 22/06/2026
I hate this too. Always feels like a classic case of designing for software systems instead of designing for the people who use them. (my YouTube “Watch later” playlist has hundreds of videos in it, and I will never ever make another playlist, but YouTube asks me “where to save?” every single time)
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Hello Weather @helloweather.com · 11/06/2026
To celebrate WWDC, we’re offering 50% off one year for our iOS app! More details at @macstories.net here: www.macstories.net/sponsored/he...
macstories.net
Hello Weather: Half Off for WWDC Week, Just in Time for Summer [Sponsor]
Summer and WWDC arrive together this year, and Hello Weather is ready for both. It's one of the most beloved indie weather apps around, and right now it's half off, which makes it a great time to give...
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 11/06/2026
🥹
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 10/06/2026
New post: a reckoning on the contradictions of working in tech, when AI is taking over everything. jonas.do/writing/2026...
jonas.do
It's hard to be good at your tech job right now | Jonas Downey
I’m writing this post because I want to say out loud what a lot of people are feeling. Working in tech during the AI transition is tough as hell.
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 05/06/2026
Trying to work with Al chatbots is basically the same as being a horrible reply guy: "Actually, you're wrong" "That's a bad take" "Is this even true? What are your sources?" "This writing makes no sense" "Think harder"
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 03/06/2026
I'm writing a post on what's hard about working in tech right now. (The list is long.) What are you struggling with the most?
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 03/06/2026
One of my favorite Internet pastimes is clicking NO on passive aggressive promotional upsells, to intentionally mess up the metrics for whatever dumb psychological conversion tricks the product team is trying to pull
Two buttons for a promotion on a wesbite:

"Yes I'm interested"
"No, I hate free stuff"
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 02/05/2026
oh yeah, also SaaSpocalypse
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 01/05/2026
Wrote a little reflection on the current (highly chaotic) state of software design: jonas.do/writing/2026-04-22-d...
jonas.do
Designing the wrong way is finally right | Jonas Downey
Designing the wrong way is finally right
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 01/05/2026
great post. I also love this new site design!
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 01/05/2026
omg yes
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 01/05/2026
words I would be ok with never hearing again agentic tokenmaxxing human in the loop generative anything involving a claw meatspace you're absolutely right —
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 24/04/2026
sure, here you go! I don’t spend much time on the aesthetics of this, just try to keep it simple and low on distractions (except for Slack lol.)
iPhone home screen
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 08/04/2026
Thanks for the kind words!
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 04/04/2026
these are bit old now, but should get you started: bsky.app/profile/jona...
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 29/03/2026
oh hey, I'm in the New Yorker chatting about weather apps www.newyorker.com/culture/infi... (I hope you don't hate @helloweather.com though)
newyorker.com
Why You Hate Your Weather App
As the weather becomes less predictable, we need forecasts and apps that are better at telling us what we don’t know.
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 14/03/2026
sheesh
more green river
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 14/03/2026
Green day
dyeing the Chicago river for St. Patrick’s
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sam henri gold @samhenri.gold · 12/03/2026
The MacBook Neo is such an interesting machine that it coaxed a thousand-word-essay out of me: samhenri.gold/blog/2026031...
samhenri.gold
“This Is Not The Computer For You” · Sam Henri Gold
Sam Henri Gold is a product design engineer building playful, useful software.
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 11/03/2026
haha Mike! Are you ride or die for light mode?
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 11/03/2026
Question for designy friends: which app or product has the most beautiful dark mode interface?
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 20/02/2026
Modern software needs more stuff like this. Adding a small, superfluous human touch in a few places goes such a long way. (The original Mac OS had this sort of personal character scattered all over the place, but it's been gradually squeezed out over the years.)
high fiving pals at the bottom of a very long GitHub pull request diff
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Jonas Downey @jonas.do · 14/02/2026
Same goes to you man! Proud of all of us for getting through the other side of that stuff.
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