Conceptual debt accrues when we take shortcuts in developing the foundational concepts behind our products. Continue readingConceptual debt is killing your design process
Tag: productivity
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The effortful way
Job one is doing the job.Continue readingThe effortful way
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.Continue readingHow do you estimate the time needed for doing the writing?
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)
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Islands and icebergs
Spent all week working on something and I just trashed it. Wasn’t coming together. Hate to do it because you never know if you were almost there. Sometimes you’re hating it and hating it, and you keep sailing on, and then blam-oh! There she is! I see land, boys! But maybe you stopped just before…Continue readingIslands and icebergs
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Steady on
Damn the calendar. I don’t have the energy to set goals right now. Not big ones. Not new ones. Nobody asked me if I was ready for a new decade. I’m not, damn it — give a guy a minute. Continue readingSteady on
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Press and hold
I was having trouble with my internet service the other day. At one point the technician, Sanchez, had me press and hold the router’s reset button for 15 seconds. Fifteen Mississippi! He made it clear: it’s not enough to press the reset button. You have to hold it in. A metaphor for vacation if I’ve…Continue readingPress and hold
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Being the thing
Recently finished reading Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I probably should have read it before I wrote a book about writing? But I’m happy to report it didn’t leave me second-guessing my guidance in Writing for Designers. Just envious of King’s prose and storytelling skills. Like many books on creative practices,…Continue readingBeing the thing
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It doesn’t keep
Reflections on how I use paper and notebooks.Continue readingIt doesn’t keep
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Making Time for Content Strategy
Taking time to slow down and really think about content can seem impossible. But it’s a crucial step for the health of your business (and self).Continue readingMaking Time for Content Strategy