Design With Blessing | Blessing Okpala, PhD | Substack

🔮 #BlessingSeries Issue 29 - Frozen Lessons: How a Ziplock of Ice Taught Me More About UX Than Any Framework

A parenting moment, a design thinking pivot, and a powerful reminder for how we should design AI experiences in 2026

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🔮 #BlessingSeries Issue 14 – Gesture-Driven UX: The Future of Interaction Beyond Clicks

Sep 17, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 #BlessingSeries Issue 15 – Donuts 🍩, Astronaut 👩🏾‍🚀, and User Lenses 👀

Sep 24, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 #BlessingSeries Issue 12 – The Invisible Seat: A UX Lesson from My Mother’s Igbo Adage

Sep 3, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

UX for Wearables: Visual vs. Haptic Interaction Design

Sep 11, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

Recent posts

🔮 #BlessingSeries Issue 28 - Hello 2026, Let Us Begin Gently

There is something special about a first message.

Jan 7 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 #BlessingSeries Issue 27 - An Appreciation Letter Before the Year Closes

There are moments when you sit quietly and suddenly realize something has ended.

Dec 31, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

2:30

Building the Calmdown.ai

A Quiet Idea Born During the Holidays

Dec 28, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 BlessingSeries Issue 26 - Because Sharing Is Good.

What a Father, a Plate of Poutine, and a Tough Parenting Moment Taught Me About UX, AI.

Dec 24, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 BlessingSeries Issue 25 - If I Can’t Read You, I Won’t Trust You

What a Cookie Label Taught Me About UX, Accessibility, and AI Design

Dec 17, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 BlessingSeries Issue 24 - Where Are Baby Mummy’s Videos & Pictures?

How Curiosity, Memory, and Identity Shape the User Experience

Dec 10, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 BlessingSeries Issue 23 - When a Paper Plane Teaches You UX

How forgotten skills, gentle nudges, and childlike curiosity shape better AI and product experiences

Dec 3, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 BlessingSeries Issue 22 “Mummy, I Will Fall”

How Fear, Mental Models, and First Impressions Shape User Decisions in UX and AI

Nov 26, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 #BlessingSeries Issue 21 - The Sky Is Blue, But Only Birds Fly: What Children Teach Us About Mental Models in UX and AI

How a Simple School-Run Conversation Reveals the Foundations of User Logic, Trust, and Decision Making

Nov 19, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

The Disney Bag Effect: How Influence Shapes User Decisions in UX and AI Design

What My 5-Year-Old Taught Me About Social Proof, Emotional Design, and Why Users Trust Familiar Voices

Nov 12, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

🔮 #BlessingSeries Issue 19 – When My 5-Year-Old Built a TV: The Wonder of Imaginative UX Thinking

What My 5-Year-Old’s DIY TV Taught Me About Imagination, Interface Design, and the Future of AI Creativity

Nov 5, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

Meet NEO: The Future at Home

How 1X Technologies’ Humanoid Robot Is Redefining Everyday UX in the Home

Nov 1, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

AI

AI Meets Mental Health UX: How Talkspace Balances Tech with Human Care

Designing Digital Therapy Experiences That Blend Technology and Empathy

Oct 18, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

Your AI Feature Isn't Neutral: How Product Decisions Embed Bias at Scale

From recommendation algorithms to automated decisions, every product choice about AI carries ethical weight. Here's the framework most product teams are…

Oct 13, 2025 • Guilherme Storti

🔮 #BlessingSeries Issue 17 – 🌱 The Basil Plant, Winter, and UX Design: Lessons in Reviving What Users Value

UX design & AI innovation aren’t just about creating something new but about sustaining life, adapting to shifts, and reviving what matters.

Oct 8, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

AI & Emotion in UX Writing: Writing Prompts That Feel Human

AI won’t magically generate human-sounding text without direction. The art lies in designing prompts that instruct AI to write with empathy.

Sep 30, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

AI-Driven A/B Testing: Faster UX Learning with Less Guesswork

If you’re still relying only on traditional A/B testing, you’re behind. The future of UX is faster, more contextual, and powered by machines.

Sep 26, 2025 • Blessing Okpala, PhD

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