Job one is doing the job.Continue readingThe effortful way
Categories
Categories
One or two readers will do
Solid evergreen advice in this piece on providing feedback on longform content like blog articles. I especially echo this sentiment: [M]ultiple teammates giving feedback can confuse the writer and may also contradict each other’s feedback. Put some trust in the writer you’re working with and understand that you need one or two, at best, sets…Continue readingOne or two readers will do
Categories
Four Tips on Writing About Design
Some thoughts on producing high-quality design articles that actually get shared.Continue readingFour Tips on Writing About Design
Categories
A Civic Technologist’s Practice Guide
Excited for this new book coming up from Cyd Harrell (who’s also a good follow on Twitter, btw), especially the part about “how to show up in spaces dedicated to stewardship rather than profit.” Always happy for design conversations that aren’t about algorithmically testing the conversion rate of different shades of cornflower blue.Continue readingA Civic Technologist’s Practice Guide
Categories
Invitations
I don’t believe by me drawing a line I can make things happen. I can’t force anybody to do anything or be anyone. But we can make invitations. – David Sim, speaking in the documentary The Human ScaleContinue readingInvitations
Categories
Idiot Boxing
The Great Flattening continues. Even when the city was burning, even with protests to attend and petitions to sign and causes to donate to, it’s still all blending together a bit. (I’ve come to appreciate the #WhatDayIsIt tweets from Steve Portigal.) I moved during the initial lockdown period in Minneapolis, and I’m in a larger…Continue readingIdiot Boxing
Categories
The Great Flattening
Things aren’t so bad in Minnesota as in other places, for which I’m grateful. I’m home, mostly, unless I’m going to the store or my girlfriend’s apartment, by foot or by bike, playing Frogger all the way trying to dodge other humans. Our respective offices went work-from-home only a week or so before the orders…Continue readingThe Great Flattening
Categories
Zero Minus Plus
Lotta information to process these days. I’ve read more bits of scientific papers in the past few weeks than ever before. Doesn’t mean I know anything, though. I’ve stopped sharing what I think I’ve learned even with people close to me, at least until I hear it from multiple real experts. At least twice now…Continue readingZero Minus Plus
Went out to an event a few weekends ago, but did not actually get to attend the event, because I did not purchase tickets to the event and it was sold out when we got there. I was absolutely certain I had purchased the tickets. I remember looking at the site, I remember filling out…Continue readingI am absolutely certain I did the thing I did not do
My book advises designers to be intentional about the tools they choose and use to do the writing on their projects. For writing a book, a thing I’d never done before, I ran a few experiments to see if there was any good and smart tool I hadn’t tried before that would make it easier.…Continue readingNothing unfamiliar (Tools I used to write a book)