Design archives
108 posts
Challenges designers face in open source (and how to fix them)
By Kola Ojoodide, 26 June 2026
Open source powers up to 90% of modern software, yet many projects lack usability. Canonical’s Design team surveyed 115 cross-functional professionals to...
Template: Streamlining open source design contributions
By Nina Rojc, 16 June 2026
As designers working at Canonical, we’re always thinking about open source. We believe that encouraging more designers to contribute to open source benefits...
Decoding design: How design and engineering thrive together in open source
By Miguel Divo, 22 May 2026
Open source thrives on engineering-driven processes. Fast feedback loops, terminal tools, Git workflows: they’re the lifeblood of how we build software in the...
From inspiration to impact: design students from Regent’s University London explore open design for their dissertation projects
By Miguel Divo, 13 February 2026
Last year, we had the opportunity to speak at Regent’s UX Conference (Regent’s University London’s conference to showcase UX work by staff, students, and...
Showcasing open design in action: Loughborough University design students explore open source projects
By Miguel Divo, 19 January 2026
Last year, we collaborated with two design student teams from Loughborough University in the UK. These students were challenged to work on open source project...
Open design: the opportunity design students didn’t know they were missing
By Miguel Divo, 21 November 2025
What if you could work on real-world projects, shape cutting-edge technology, collaborate with developers across the world, make a meaningful impact with your...
Web Engineering: Celebrating Our Third Annual Hack Week
By Anthony Dillon, 6 November 2025
The Web Engineering team is thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of our third annual Hack Week! Over the past three years, this initiative has...
How we ran a sprint to refresh our design website, Part 2
By Leia Ruffini, 9 September 2025
Part 2 of our series on how our team created content for our design website. Get insights, tools, and lessons to help you run your own design sprint.
How we ran an effective sprint to refresh our design website, Part 1
By Leia Ruffini, 14 April 2025
Part 1 of how we ran a design sprint to refresh our website. Sharing what worked, what didn’t, and lessons from designing for open source in mind.
An Introduction to Open Source Licensing for complete beginners
By piperdeck, 20 January 2025
Open source is one of the most exciting, but often misunderstood, innovations of our modern world. I still remember the first time I installed linux on my...
Web Engineering: Hack Week 2024
By Anthony Dillon, 8 January 2025
At Canonical, the work of our teams is strongly embedded in the open source principles and philosophy. We believe open source software will become the most...