“The designer does not, as a rule, begin with some preconceived idea. Rather, the idea is (or should be) the result of careful study and observation, and the design a product of that idea.”
—Paul Rand
On muddling through
“Remember this: however bad you think things are today, however awful you consider our leaders to be, however stupid you think your fellow Americans are, this country has seen worse times, including - to name a few - the Civil War, 9/11. the Great Depression, and six seasons of Jersey Shore. We muddled through those times. We will muddle through these.”
― Dave Barry
This quote is from Dave Barry's wonderful book, "Lessons from Lucy", which I had the pleasure of finishing today. With all of the current anxiety from COVID-19, this thoughtful and hilarious book was a welcome relief.
Our wiring
“Simply put, humans are not wired to be constantly wired.”
—Cal Newport
As concerns over coronavirus grow, I more seriously consider taking a break from social media.
It's conflicting. On the one hand, it's a primary connection to others while self-isolating. On the other, it's a continual source for anxiety and dread.
While it likely comes down to how we choose to use these tools, it's difficult when these tools are not designed with minimal usage in mind. It's up to us to find a healthy usage -- especially when that's not the intended model, or when the amount ends up being zero.
Creativity over concern
I've never visited the Seattle Symphony. Tonight, I can watch them live from home.
I've never met one of my favorite authors, Mike Monteiro. But for $5 I can join a virtual book club with him and talk to him next week.
I've never been to Seattle's top restaurant. Starting next week, I can pick up breakfast, lunch, and dinner from one of their three new restaurants dedicated to takeout.
The novel coronavirus is now a pandemic, and the situation is only going to continue to get worse until it gets better. And yet, wonderful, creative people are continuing to work hard to make life that much sweeter for all of us.
Data and emotions
“Although data can make a compelling case for something, data rarely creates the emotions needed to spur people into action."
—John Maeda
As COVID-19 continues to spread, we're seeing variable levels of concern. While Seattle announced drastic measures today — the closure of schools, the banning of large-group events — many people continue to travel and avoid self-isolation by choice.
The data may not be enough. But with news today that Tom Hanks has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, I think it may unfortunately be a matter of time until there is a high-profile death related to the disease. And that may be the event that finally pulls the rest of the world forward into action.
Coming apart
“When you want to know how things really work, study them when they're coming apart.”
― William Gibson
As the world struggles with the mounting pressure of the coronavirus, a better understanding of our infrastructure is also emerging.
From our politics to our economy, from education to recreation, every societal system is now (or will soon be) tested for its resilence, and what each country values most will now come to the forefront. At the last, it will be very illuminating.
An Open Web
NetNewsWire is a wonderful app for keeping track of blogs and websites via RSS feeds. Yesterday, a version of it for iOS was released.
In order to try the app out, I needed to temporarily switch from my current RSS service (Feed Wrangler) to another one (Feedbin). To do so, I imported my data from the old app into the new one, and in a few minutes I was ready to go.
Compared to almost every other technology on the web, this almost feels like magic.
I think of so many of the apps we depend on these days: Gmail, Office, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, Amazon. The idea of being able to take all of your data, export it, and then use to start using a competitor's product seems absurd. But yet, that's exactly what you can do with RSS.
It's also hard to believe that, not long ago at all, this is how all of the web used to be not too long ago. We expected that services would work well with each other, and we could move back and forth between them.
RSS serves as a reminder of this time. My hope is that, thanks to great apps like NetNewsWire, it grows in popularity, and motivates us to continue to develop the web in ways that work well together.
Experience contextualizes preferences
On politics and design
"As someone once said, "Just because you're not interested in politics does not mean that politics won't be interested in you." And staying away from politics either because you think tech will make laws irrelevant or because there's no good way to influence laws just opens the field for people who don't cherish either of those illusions to make things very bad indeed."
—Cory Doctorow
A fresh perspective
“If you want a great site, you’ve got to test. After you’ve worked on a site for even a few weeks, you can’t see it freshly anymore. You know too much. The only way to find out if it really works is to test it.” —Steve Krug
Steve Krug's thoughts apply just as well to design as too much of life in general. Humans are designed to look for variety, and we very quickly grow accustomed to whatever we consistently experience. The best thing we can do is recognize this, and continually seek fresh perspectives on familiar problems.
On meetings
"Most people doubt online meetings can work, but they somehow overlook that most in person meetings don't work either."
—Scott Berkun
As Seattle comes to grips with being the poster-child of the COVID-19 epidemic in the U.S., we're revisiting all of our assumptions about remote work. Scott Berkun's work in The Year Without Pants — which is likely where this quote is from — may prove very useful.
How design should add value
"Design adds value faster than it adds costs."
-- Joel Spolsky
This quote from Joel Spolsky (creator of Trello, among other significant accomplishments) is a delightful reminder of what design is, and what it should be.
That is, design should add value faster than it adds costs. While working as a designer, it's very easy to get drawn into creating elaborate designs and perfect prototypes. But the goal should always be to inform the correct solution as quickly as possible, as Spolsky so succintly articulates.
On perspective
“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”
—Douglas Adams
On manners
“If we want users to like our software, we should design it to behave like a likeable person: respectful, generous and helpful.”
— Alan Cooper
Back to design
“Efforts to reinvent downtown Middletown always struck me as futile. People didn’t leave because our downtown lacked trendy cultural amenities. The trendy cultural amenities left because there weren’t enough consumers in Middletown to support them.”
—J.D. Vance, "Hillbilly Elegy"
I was struck by John Maeda's suggestion that design is not the most important thing, and now I keep seeing reminders of it in the most unlikely of places.
On dreams
“Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow, and the day after that. Look at who you want to be, and start sculpting yourself into that person. You may not get exactly where you thought you'd be, but you will be doing things that suit you in a profession you believe in. Don't let life randomly kick you into the adult you don't want to become.”
― Chris Hadfield
I've been reading Chris Hatfield's delightful "The Darkest Dark" to my two-year-old daughter at bedtime. This quote sums up a lot of what inspires me about him.
On hope
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something.” -Barack Obama
On listening
“This is the problem with dealing with someone who is actually a good listener. They don’t jump in on your sentences, saving you from actually finishing them, or talk over you, allowing what you do manage to get out to be lost or altered in transit. Instead, they wait, so you have to keep going.”
― Sarah Dessen, Just Listen
On completion
On importance
“The only important thing about design is how it relates to people.”
-Victor Papanek