The clamour of modern urban life – in both the physical and digital worlds – can sometimes be overwhelming. In the first of a two-part report, Canvas8 looks at how complexion reduction is seeing apps redesigned with bold headers, simple icons and reduced colour for a unified mobile experience.

We’re now constantly connected – the average person checks their phone 150 times a day – but it’s an unwanted burden for many. Canvas8 spoke with cyborg anthropologist Amber Case, author of Calm Technology, to understand the importance of designing tech that respects people’s limited attention.

With one-in-three US shopping malls expected to close in the coming years, bricks-and-mortar retail businesses are struggling to keep up with their online counterparts. In a bid to make the offline experience as easy as possible, the Mall of America is installing chatbots to help shoppers get around.

You've got a friend request on Facebook, three messages on Messenger, and five new likes on Instagram. Switching between all three platforms isn't particularly user-friendly, so to tackle this, Facebook is now running tests to aggregate notifications from its most popular apps.