I say…
It could go either way
June 19, 2023
We have the affordance, we have the signifier. Yet, some of us call the elevator to us. Others tell the elevator in which direction they want to go.
Interpretation is such a crucial part of design. While we can plan for almost every conceivable eventuality, there is always someone who sees it differently.
Minimalism in Design
June 09, 2023
Minimalism is the absence of distraction for the sake of clarity, purpose, and focus. As a lifestyle if encourages us to seek simplicity and meaning over consumerism. It guides us to be truly appreciative of what matters most - relationships, peace, contentment, experiences, time, space, and so on.
In design too, it is the omission of the non-essential. It is a conscious decision and a difficult path at that. It demands restraint, confidence, and concerted effort. It drives us to make mindful choices, to focus on functionality, and prioritize outcomes over sophistication.
Socially Unreliable
June 05, 2023
I created my first social media account more than a decade ago. To me, it served as a mechanism to share updates, stories, and memories with the people I considered important to me.
But, somehow as humans, we’ve turned an incredible opportunity to connect into a disruptive path to instigate, tarnish, bully, cheat, mislead, and more. We’ve managed to create alternate realities, divide ourselves, and inspire distrust.
When I think of impressionable minds being subjected to idealism, aggression, destruction, and just plain old stupidity, it worries me. Worse, algorithms endorse content that keeps users engaged. This motivates more production and the vicious circle continues.
The problem lies at the brittle intersection of personal freedom, and business value. Ironically, they may have been created with the same good intentions as social media.
Dark Patterns & Checkboxes
May 11, 2023
We humans have contributed to information warehouses for ages. We’ve helped those that employ dark patterns set us up to spend more money, more time, and cough up even more data. We hate reading too. Avoidance and negligence are acceptance to those who hide behind checkboxes.
Checkboxes can really get you in trouble. We believe that developers have our best interests in mind when building websites and mobile apps.
We trade assumptions and optimism for quicker time-to-value. We then spend our precious time clearing out inboxes, fielding sales calls, removing malware, or trying to cancel subscriptions we had no idea we signed up for.