Musings

There's a disappointing lack of quality writing aimed at high-level design ICs and "player-coach" design leaders.

Having been a Christian for years, I own several Bibles. I appreciate that this is a luxury uncommon in the history of the faith; for a long time, it was rare to own a single Bible, and for longer than that it was rare to access to Scripture aside from

Hello, CatskillsConf! This is the written version of my talk, given on October 20, 2018 at 4:00pm. There might be some slight differences between the written version and the spoken verison. All images are from Unsplash, except for the Hudson Valley image, which I took myself from the top

Adam Greenfield, author of the book Radical Technologies that I quoted recently, was interviewed on the Hurry Slowly podcast. The conversation retread familiar terrain from the book, but it's always worth a reminder. The episode focused mainly on the sociology of the smartphone, and I found two parts

For is there any practice less selfish, any labor less alienated, any time less wasted, than preparing something delicious and nourishing for people you love? Michael Pollan, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation This quote is about making food, but I think it goes for making anything: artwork, music, or

I’ve been reading the book Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life by Adam Greenfield, and I thought this quote insightful, on how smartphones shape our lives: It’s easy, too easy, to depict the networked subject as being isolated, in contact with others only at the membrane that

This is the transcript of a talk I gave in a Christian small group on April 28, 2015. I haven’t changed any of the text from its spoken form, so some turns-of-phrase may not make much sense in writing. I have added links where relevant, though. Preface I have

Working on digital products is like working in a bubble – it’s easy to forget that what we do remains mysterious to the rest of the world. Few things bring home that point like someone saying, “Oh, you design apps? What’s it like having a tech job?” That question

Just about everyone I spoke to on the last day of ValioCon agreed that, as design/tech/maker conferences go, it was special. I’m sitting in the airport waiting to board a plane to New York, trying to distill the conference into a single takeaway. It’s probably impossible

Originally published on Stemmings, a now-defunct publication. You can see the original at the Internet Archive: Stemmings The most important trait a designer can have is empathy. Practical skills are important, and a shot of talent never hurts, but at its core, design relies on our ability to see things