Please pull with vigor
This sign delights me. Snapped this pic in Indianapolis last year during Confab Higher Ed and don’t think I ever shared it. I hope it delights you, too.
Writing
Fresh ideas about craft, clarity, creativity, and personal growth, as well as updates on my projects, media recommendations, and links to all the weird and delightful things I find on the internet.
Ecosystems and origins on The Content Strategy Podcast
The boss had me as a guest on her new podcast about content strategy, The Content Strategy Podcast (great name). I can’t bear to listen to it but I hope you will. There’s a transcript, too. Behind-the-scenes: I went home to record from my apartment so we wouldn’t have to mess with a multi-mic set-up … continue
From the notebook: Maps and stories and journeys
Been developing a new workshop to help orient practitioners to all of the various tools available for being user-centered in their content strategy work. It’s been interesting and maddening at the same time. There’s a good deal of semantic diffusion across the various tools and methodologies. And many were blatantly misnamed to begin with. In … continue
No. 46 | Seven principles of dungeon mastering
Replace “elves” with “developers” and “table” with “project” and these principles could work just as well on a design sprint.
Letterpress printing at MCBA
Took a one-night class on letterpress at MCBA recently. There were about 10 people in the group. Ruby, the instructor, had us start by making exquisite corpse poems based on the loose theme of “circus”. We picked the best two, divided into teams, and got assigned words to pick out letters for from the trays. … continue
A very useful iPad button
In case you‘re as unobservant as me, I thought I’d point out this useful button on the iPad keyboard. I didn’t notice it for at least a month: A quick tap in the bottom-right minimizes the on-screen keyboard. This is essential in making stuff work in your web browser. Form fields and the like are … continue
Notes from Close Encounters with Humankind
Finished reading Close Encounters with Humankind recently. The writing is not great but it did contain several interesting facts I’m still mulling over, so hey. A few favorite notions: Some of our earliest tools were used to break open bones so we could eat the marrow. One reason humans may have lost our “fur” was … continue
Now What Workshops in Sioux Falls
Made my first trip out to Sioux Falls and to Now What Workshops last week to talk about writing tools with some lovely folks. I wasn’t able to stay as long as I’d have liked but I did get to sit in on Laura Creekmore’s morning workshop on content modeling. I sketched a few notes: … continue
The content doesn’t “live” anywhere
Found notes from a Donna Spencer workshop on information architecture I took back in 2012. I paid out of pocket to attend and though it seemed a small fortune at the time I’m very glad I did. On where content “is”: I don’t talk about where things are in a site because they aren’t anywhere. … continue
Starting in the middle
When I know what I want to say I start at the top-left corner of the page. “Dear Sir or Madam, I demand satisfaction!” When I don’t know what I want to say — or even what I think — I start in the middle of the page. Then I can go up. Or down. … continue