Saved links
A saved link is not an endorsement. It's just a thing I read or thought about reading.
His definition of secrets isn’t the one you grew up with. He’s not talking about spreading gossip or talking behind people’s backs. Rather, Thiel defines secrets as important truths about the world that other people don’t yet realize. They are keys into hidden chambers of knowledge, free from the distortions of lies and propaganda.
Mimetic Theory rests on the assumption that all our cultural behaviors, beginning with the acquisition of language by children are imitative.
I admire what Jeff Bezos built at Amazon, and what they've done for innovation and consumers. But they cannot operate their logistics/supply chain business at a huge loss, paid for by AWS, to stop competition. That's why we have antitrust. My WSJ op-ed:
Now accepting applications! Join a focused, expert-guided program to help you take the next step in your UX content career, led by @ScottKubie. I’ve known Scott for years … this will be GREAT. ⭐️
"You lose friends to marriage, to parenthood, to politics... to success, to failure, to flukish strokes of good or ill luck. (Envy, dear God—it’s the mother of all unspeakables in a friendship, the lulu of all shames.)" HT @kottke
☁️ I don't quite know why I made this, except to publish something soft and weird and useless. I hope you like it.
Maybe I'll clean this up and flesh it out at some point, but here's a little CSS/HTML diagram of how the cascade works:
A common mistake in design portfolio presentations is assuming interviewers want to hear a profound narrative about the product problem. We don't. We want to hear about *your challenges* while working on the product problem.
@scottkubie @karenmcgrane @abookapart @theledu @louisrosenfeld @kissane Firm agree. @Abby_the_IA’s How to Make Sense of Any Mess is an awesome gift on the IA front too:
The radical act of letting things hurt – how (not) to help a friend in sorrow, or, some of the most helpful advice on being there for a loved one suffering
I amended another accessibility bug report at mermaid-js: Hilariously, this 2021 bug was opened after the 2019 bug was closed due to inactivity. From the school of “it’s no longer a bug if we ignore it for 2 years!” I expected more vetting by GitHub.
Our guest house is up on AirBnB now if you need a break this spring or summer:
This is pretty brutal
(That screenshot is from , which, on first skim, seems *exceedingly* clear and good.)
@doriantaylor '-site: has become one of my favorite search operators
@berkun @peterme I thought I found it but instead I found DIFFERENT advice for designers from ‘The Wire’
This is how I encourage clients to tackle strategy. However, the “diagnosis” component takes time, money, and real talk. Leadership often prefers to spend money on Doing the Thing … and real talk can be scary. But this approach brings lasting change.
Laura Griffee shares the details behind the Polaris v9.0.0 release and how we’re laying the groundwork to increase token adoption in the admin and rework our existing range of token values.
Sharing my passing thoughts and Q&A's on content strategy, content design, and UX writing more on TikTok of late. No dancing, no filters, just me talking. Having fun so far!
“A good craftsperson understands the strengths and weaknesses of each model and uses it appropriately, while a poor craftsperson generally blames their tools.” — Andy Budd
Dude who invented NPS, sick of surveys (from 2016)
There are architectural mullets, too. Neighborhood-conforming in the front. Party in the back.
I'm thrilled to announce @cydharrell as our next Chief Digital Services Officer. Cyd’s wealth of experience in government technology and user-centered design will help us strengthen and transform how we connect services directly to people. Read more:
I just turned 70. Here is my advice which I wish I had known earlier.
“Passion jobs are prime for exploitation.” — @annehelen
Tailscale raises $100M to do what any Hacker News reader could have done in a weekend
New citibike silverbacks dropped today:
If you haven’t read @mikeindustries’s thoughts on what Twitter could look like under Musk‘s leadership, it’s well worth a read.
“The control which designers […] desire in the web medium, is simply a function of the limitation of the printed page. We should embrace the fact that the web doesn’t have the same constraints, and design for this flexibility.” —@johnallsopp
My Camper Journey
I am beyond sad and angry reading about the lives of the people killed — how most of them were over 60, how they survived cancer, how they fed communities. All dead, gone because we don’t take white supremacy seriously or treat it as the terrorism it is.
"a bias for action is a bit different than premature convergence. We may have a bias to act, experiment, & test assumptions. But that does not mean we are limiting options. By acting quickly and decisively, we may be leaving room to pursue MORE options."
@candiwrites Not an article but changed their name from ‘dark patterns’ Although they don’t mention why this is harmful, they say that it is to be clearer and more inclusive.
I’ve written a blog post with @Amy_Hupe and @cjforms about why sharing research on patterns and components in design systems matters, and some tips on how to do it.
Great news everyone! Tailscale's docs team including Walter P, @rosszurowski, and @MayaKaczorowski have completed the biggest reorg of our documentation since I disorganized it back in 2019. Try it now and learn about features you never knew existed!
Wondering how this might be turned into an activity. Feels like giving things a name might help? Miro:
@inkblurt @scottkubie @steveportigal @McKinsey Right there with you. Definitely not benign
This house is next level
Have you tried to make a design system but ended up with a library that no one uses? Our new @superfriendlyco “Design System in 90 Days” workbook helps you avoid design system graveyards and create a design system that lasts. Available for purchase now!
@johncutlefish This is so exceedingly useful that I took the liberty of transcribing a copy where I would have it handy:
(500) https://www.getrevue.co/profile/disruptingsystems/issues/introducing-disrupting-systems-913007
So as some of you know, I’m doing a “thing”. It’s the first of a few things that I’m launching this year. If you’d like to know a little bit about it follow the link below 👇🏼 And feel free to follow the Twitter account @disruptsystems 🙏🏼
@apenwarr @segphault This is my workflow
Wonderful touches in the new Human Interface Guidelines abound; fantastic resources on inclusivity, onboarding and AR featured. And seems like the sections are colored after a familiar rainbow color scheme…
📣 Brand new Apple Human Interface Guidelines! 📣 That’s right, we’ve completely redesigned the HIG to be more cross-platform, easier to search, and completely reorganized from high level design principles down to low-level component guidance.🧵
A nice page of good tools:
"Your company can have content strategists, content designers, UX writers, information architects, content managers, and more. Trying to apply a one-size-fits-all job title to anyone that does any kind of content work at all is unnecessary and unhelpful."
“If an AI passes the Turing test, it fails. If it talks to you like a normal human being, it’s probably safe to conclude that it’s just a glorified text engine, bereft of self.”
I’ve written about why we need to change the way we describe bad design patterns - and what to say instead. Thanks to @candiwrites and @CuriousScutter for making me aware of this issue in the first place. ⚠️ Content warning: racist language
TIL: Brandolini's law "The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude larger than is needed to produce it."
@Carnage4Life Sounds like they’re posthumously ripping off Aaron Swartz without saying as much and without the context
"As for web “pages,” they’ve been a good metaphor to help us get our heads around the mind-blowingly surreal fact that we now have so much knowledge instantly available at our fingertips. But it’s time to move on."
@apenwarr The boxiness is their new "design language". Like Volvo's from the 80s.
RISE (Representation, Inclusion, Social Impact, Equity) is key to our mission of building a workplace we can be proud of @GustoHQ. As part of that commitment, we release an annual report to keep us on track. Read the 2022 RISE Report:
Bass Harbor Head Light Station, Maine Prints available at link in bio: Canon EOS R 16mm @ 8s, f/16, ISO 100 EF 16–35mm f/4L IS USM 6-stop ND filter
“AI-Generated Images from AI-Generated Alt Text” My attempt to use AI to demonstrate the problems with relying on AI. An exercise for people who can see the imagery, though I hope the alt text is useful (feedback on alt text always appreciated).
“Use the active voice to transform your design system documentation”
It has been a tough day. I returned from the funeral of a dear friend. Everyone has a different framework for handling grief. Writing allows me to cope with loss, sadness & pain. Today, I share my story about @vgill, who passed away last week. RIP!
This is my new favorite generator
"Longtermism" is a moral perspective that says "Future people count. There could be a lot of them. We can make their lives better." According to William Macaskill as expanded in this recommended interview.
Knowledge retention is key for product development “Here I was thinking that all my work had died when I stopped working on it. But in reality, it remained valuable to others and would outlive me through their work.”
Untitled (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/14/business/worker-productivity-tracking.html)
Productivity tracking is on the rise in the American workforce, with penalties from lost pay to lost jobs. But are these new clocks even accurate? by @jodikantor +me, produced by @alizauf and @iamrumz