A designer who writes.
Editor’s note: I wrote this in either March or April of 2019, I reckon, and recently found it languishing in my drafts. Still liked it, so here you go. Jon and I did a new open mic on Friday. On the one hand, it was the most people we’ve ever played in front of. On … continue
Folks seem to like my latest bit of advice for aspiring designers: Learn Thinky Things. I coined this advice (with an unconscious assist from Marc Maron, I suspect) as part of an off-the-cuff remark during UX Content Office Hours. Someone asked whether content designers need to learn Figma, a popular tool for front-end design. I shared my response as a … continue
This excerpt originally appeared as part of Issue 100 of the UX Writing Events newsletter on September 12, 2022. Would you lookie there?! Issue 100! Gotta say, it felt a little ambitious to go with a 3-digit number when I started indexing these issues, but we made it! Just 899 to go until the curse … continue
I would have a healthier relationship with technology and social media — and be healthier in general — if it were easier to take the phone off the hook. Alas, I don’t think any product teams are rewarded for maximizing DIUWMBAUAASPITF (that’s ‘daily inactive users who might become active users again at some point in … continue
When it comes to maintaining a productive, creatively fulfilling life, the simple answers are terribly alluring. I’ve swooned to the siren songs of bucking up and toughening up and not giving a fuck and pulling on my bootstraps just a little bit harder. But like the Sirens themselves, those songs are just myths. What I’ve … continue
Conceptual debt accrues when we take shortcuts in developing the foundational concepts behind our products.
Job one is doing the job.
The project managers turns to you and asks: “How long is it going to take to write this?” Hoo boy. It’s time to proceed very, very carefully.
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
“So often the long paragraphs I write in life are responses to Facebook posts, or reply letters to someone, or … I can put together a three-paragraph letter that burns the hair off of your eyebrows about almost any topic.” – John Roderick on the Road Work podcast I like this thought technology: Where do … continue
Or you will, if you subscribe. Personal dispatches from the desk of Scott Kubie, a designer who writes.