425: Overengineering Variants

<p>This week, we share tips for crafting component variants to avoid the dreaded variant-explosion problem. In the Sidebar, we talk about Tesla’s latest UI refresh, where we see auto interfaces going in the future, and share some of our favorite car dashboard design details.</p><h3><strong>Golden Ratio Supporters:</strong></h3><p><a href="https://createwithplay.com"><strong>Play</strong></a> — Play is the first native iOS design tool made for teams creating mobile products. Design, prototype, and collaborate, directly from your phone. With Play you can experience your design as you create it while taking full advantage of native iOS features not found in other design and prototyping tools. Full access invites available for the first 25 people <a href="https://invite.createwithplay.com/link/kaq6eRiMWRffKhtw8">here</a>!</p><h3><strong>The Sidebar:</strong></h3><p>The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to bonus content going forward! Sign up at <a href="https://patreon.com/designdetails">patreon.com/designdetails</a>.</p><h3><strong>Latest VIP Patrons:</strong></h3><ul><li>Aneliya Kyurkchiyska</li><li>Lucia</li><li>Matthew Achariam</li><li>Alan Mills</li><li>Jordan</li><li>Mejji Le</li><li>Taylor Vogel</li><li>Filip Szafirowski</li></ul><h3><strong>Main Topic:</strong></h3><p>This week, we share tips for crafting component variants to avoid the dreaded variant-explosion problem.</p><ul><li><a href="https://github.com/designdetails/designdetails/issues/619">Bryan Maniotakis asks about Figma variants on GitHub</a>: <i>Based on your experience, is this method sustainable? Is forcing the user to hide/show layers a better option to reduce complexity? Should I break out the component into more subcomponents to create fewer variants, but which causes more clicking around?</i></li></ul><h3><strong>Cool Things:</strong></h3><ul><li>Brian shared the <a href="https://august.com/products/august-wifi-smart-lock">August Wi-Fi Smart Lock</a> as a