Articles and essays on design, technology, and my POV of the world. For shorter bursts find me on Mastodon.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
These are my girls. With the help of my skillful coaching partner, I’m trying to prepare them for the 2027 World Cup. And while their silly-putty faces may lead you to believe that we’re the Bad News Bears of soccer (we kind of are) they are complete badasses.
Not all of us are okay. Nor are we prepared to answer the question genuinely. The world is overwhelming in myriad ways. It feels like a betrayal to the pain and suffering felt deep in the soul to reply with “okay, thanks.”
In high school I was often found listening to records in my living room, air drumming, trying to reverse engineer what I was hearing on my favorite records. Mostly I was trying to learn records by Death, Metallica, Slayer, and Rush.
I think I was six, which would have made my brother four. We were avid fans of The Hulk TV series, starring Lou Ferrigno. My dad, like most 70s dads I suspect, had a crush on Lou because he was manly and buff. For my brother and me, though, we just loved that he was green, wore purple pants, and beat the shit out of bad guys for doing bad things.