Remember the days when you’d gather a team, articulate the problem, brainstorm a ton of super cool ideas, roll up your sleeves, dive into the research, and shape up the solution – all with a smile on your face ‘cause you know you can make a difference with what you create?

Yeah. We miss those days, too.

Now that everything seems so simple and so same → type in the prompt // iterate the prompt // project done → we all long for that beautiful, chaotic process of making valuable, thoughtful, strategic (and sustainable!) design with long-term impact.

That’s why we’ve picked some tools and cards from the SUX Resource Collection to help you navigate the messiness of the design process – and have some serious fun while at it.  

Top 3 tools to try with your team

Here are three inspiring tools that you can use to bring the joy of designing back to your people. 

All of these invite you to experiment, try something new, scratch below the surface, involve the whole team, and make it a playful activity that can change how you work and how your work impacts the world. 

Let’s try them out, shall we?

1. Kaleidoscope

Created by the Artefact Group, Kaleidoscope helps you design more inclusive and equitable experiences, ensuring that more people benefit and fewer are overlooked or harmed.

Let this interactive tool serve as your guide as you navigate the phases of planning, kickoff, research, analysis, design, evaluation, and storytelling. You’ll learn how to embrace the complexity of multiple identities, uncover the factors that affect people differently, identify who holds power and who is marginalized, and reflect on how your solution serves the communities.

Why this? Because of the thoughtful approach, the sections covered, the questions asked, the details included, and the communities impacted.

2.  EcoCards

Currently available in French and English, EcoCards help your teams and stakeholders take a step toward a more sustainable web design – in a fun way. 

To guide you through, there are several pre-set workshops for these cards outlined in the Figma file. The game is developed by Digital4Better and licensed under a Creative Commons license, so everyone can adapt, remix, and build upon this work for non-commercial purposes. 

Why this? Because accomplishing important sustainability goals while playing cards feels quite compelling. Who wouldn’t want that?

3. Future Scouting

“Welcome to your multi-future time machine!” 

The author of this tool, Damien Lutz, invites us in. 

“Step into the realm of speculative design, foresight, and design fiction, where imagination meets values as you explore alternate possible futures.”

Needless to say, the Future Scouting toolkit helps you design (for) the future. There’s also an accompanying guidebook with worksheets to help you catch a signal of an emerging change, design a future invention, imagine a key scenario, and shape a future world.

Why this? Because it calls for inspiring brainstorms, joyful explorations, and imaginative scenarios – all while innovating and building future-ready prototypes.   

Have fun along the way 

When we talk about UX design, we talk about research, discovery, strategy, testing, prototypes, and – of course – accessibility, sustainability, ethics, aesthetics, and a responsible approach. 

All super relevant and super important. But let’s not forget to enjoy ourselves along the way, too.

So, choose your favorite tool from above – or browse SUX Resources for more. Gather your people, play with possibilities, make something wonderful together, and have fun! 

Nadja Bozovic is a writer, editor, and strategist with 10+ years of experience across fields and formats. As a UX enthusiast and an advocate for accessible and sustainable web, she’s been immersed in the SUX topics, and she’s always curious for more – more knowledge, more hands-on experience, more impact. That’s why being a SUX Ambassador and a SUX Network Contributor suits her so perfectly ✨