Web – Duncan Stephen

Article — 26 May 2026 — 3,473 words

Grounding AI the webby way — Taxonomy Boot Camp London 2026 takeaways

Business — Information architecture — Technology — Web

There was a heavy focus on artificial intelligence. But what really struck me was that the semantic approaches that are preparing us for our AI future are well-established web standards that have been around for decades.

Article — 26 April 2026 — 2,764 words

Working with custom content types in WordPress

Web

Different ways of working with custom content types in WordPress, and the pros and cons of each.

Article — 19 January 2026 — 1,727 words

Perceiving relationships gives glue people the edge

Business — Information architecture — Social science — Web

Seeing what’s in between as well as what is — in information architecture and in the way organisations work.

Article — 1 November 2025 — 797 words

How did we let the web get this bad?

User experience — Web

Recently I had to intensively research a couple of topics involving potential purchase decisions. My experience was utterly miserable.

Article — 26 September 2025 — 1,247 words

Autonomy, independence, federation, WordPress and concrete

Personal — Web

I have had to make some behind-the-scenes changes to this website. In the process, I am planning to make it more interoperable with the fediverse and indieweb standards — and I am sticking with WordPress.

Article — 11 August 2025 — 1,745 words

Life beyond the folder system

Digital — Information architecture — Technology — Web

The folder metaphor is so intuitive to generations of computer users that they can struggle to think of any other way of using a computer. Yet for younger generations, the idea is completely alien.

Article — 25 February 2025 — 1,679 words

Object-oriented approaches in action

Information architecture — User experience — Web

Work: Scottish Government

There are several benefits of building a content model in an object-oriented way. This post walks through those benefits, and demonstrates a real-life example of how this approach works on a well-known website.

Article — 4 February 2025 — 1,406 words

There’s no such thing as a technology problem

Business — Social science — Society — Technology — Web

Information has become the forgotten half in “information technology”. Tech companies are struggling because they aren’t focusing on the human problems they need to solve.

Article — 30 September 2024 — 583 words

Another fresh start

Personal — Web

I have decided to refresh my approach to blogging (yet again). There are a couple of main drivers for this.

Article — 2 January 2024 — 1,225 words

Busi-ness and blogging in 2024

Personal — Technology — Web

A busier life, and recent events on the internet, mean a new direction for my blog.

Article — 30 December 2022 — 1,261 words

20 years of blogging

Personal — Technology — Web

Today marks the 20th anniversary of my first blog post. Blogging is important to me, but it has seen many changes. The online publishing ecosystem is having a moment right now. So what’s next?

Article — 6 November 2022 — 1,179 words

One twit can make a service a dodo

Digital — Politics — Web

I have complicated feelings about the apparent imminent demise of Twitter in the hands of a reckless owner.