Mark W.rites

Articles and essays on design, technology, and my POV of the world. For shorter bursts find me on Mastodon.

The Mastodon logo with an illustration of a cute mastodon that's smiling with its eyes squinting in delight. It’s holding a mobile device and looking off to the side. A search form input is overlaid with placeholder text that reads 'search.'

One of the biggest complaints I hear about Mastodon is that its local search is unusable. It certainly was. But not anymore. Now it’s quite powerful, if you know the basics. So here’s a primer for you. Because I love Mastodon, you, and good UX.

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Grid of all of the record covers shown below in this article.

This is my annual list of records that brought me the most joy during a respective calendar year. 2023 brought the world some really spectacular music. Here is a list of my favorites (18 in total).

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Flat 2D illustration of faceless people in front of a collage of computer devices with social posts and a hashtag in bubbles, adjacent to a list of hashtags that read “UXDesign, UIDesign, WebAccessibility”

My post about hashtag accessibility on Mastodon (and later LinkedIn) got a lot of attention. There were so many replies from people who didn’t know about the accommodation I outlined, who vowed to commit to it. I also learned a lot from folks who weighed in with great insights.

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Grid of all of the record covers shown below in this article.

Music is a very significant part of my life. I was a full-time musician for a number of years, with a lot of records and shows under my belt. But more immediately relevant, I’m a music fan. I listen to music all day, every day.

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Screenshot of a failed text message with the “green” SMS status and a warning that reads ‘not delivered.’

Having an iPhone and a Mac makes for a lot of seamless transitioning between mobile and computer. One of those transitions is with messaging. Text on one device, then move to the other. Everything continues where you left off. It works really well and really fast.

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Looking down at an antique Favorit typewriter with a piece of paper sticking out of the top of it.

One of the most prominent dark UX patterns is hiding paths to exit doors. Faint unsubscribe links, ambiguous language, and even forcing people to call a phone number to opt-out of digital products. The intention is the same every time: retain customers.

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Early version of Cadaverous Quartet logo with four corpses huddled together singing which overlays a texture created from letters and magazine articles.

Following is a story about my six-year journey as a drummer in a death metal band you’ve probably never heard of whose collection of recordings is being republished by a record company you also probably haven’t heard of—26 years after we called it quits.

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Collage of four images: bowl of finished dish, a jar of chili oil, ingredients cooking in a pan, and fresh veggies prepared on a cutting board.

Cooking is fun. Most of the time. My wife is better than I am, but I have mastered a few things. Mostly tofu-based things.

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Sketches on notebook paper: the word 'godspeed' surrounded by ominous symbols.

Etymology is a meaningful part of my profession. Especially when working on Information Architecture and information design. It isn’t always a factor when considering language usage, but it does come into play. In any case, for a grammar enthusiast like myself it’s super fun to dive into the etymology of any given word, rabbit holes and all.

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Graphical representation of a full automobile dashboard with a continuous screen from driver side to passenger side, with driving controls on the left, media and climate controls in the middle, and a graphic of a galaxy on the right.
The forthcoming MBUX Hyperscreen, via Mercedes-Benz.

Back in 2013 I gave a talk about design usability which included a slide about the then-new Tesla touchscreen dashboard. Everyone was super hyped about how cool it was, but I was there to ruin the party with my criticism about a lack of tactile feedback.

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