Linknote — — 128 words

Technology

Crash: how computers are setting us up for disaster

The headline is slightly over-the-top. But this is nevertheless a fascinating long read on the paradox of automation — how our reliance on computers leaves us incompetent to act when we are needed the most.

First, automatic systems accommodate incompetence by being easy to operate and by automatically correcting mistakes. Because of this, an inexpert operator can function for a long time before his lack of skill becomes apparent – his incompetence is a hidden weakness that can persist almost indefinitely. Second, even if operators are expert, automatic systems erode their skills by removing the need for practice. Third, automatic systems tend to fail either in unusual situations or in ways that produce unusual situations, requiring a particularly skilful response.

Linknote — — 127 words

Technology

Kickstarted: iA Writer for Windows – iA

I am a fan of iA Writer, a writing application designed to help you focus. The only problem is that it is not available for Windows.

I have the Android version installed on my phone. But I don’t know about you — I don’t tend do my writing on my phone. Meanwhile, those fancy Mac users have had a desktop application for a while.

On my Windows machines I have had to make do with using Sublime Text with some Markdown packages installed. Which kind of does the trick, but is not as slick

Finally, a Windows version of iA Writer is coming, and you can back it on Kickstarter. I am looking forward to it and the promised web version.

Linknote — — 30 words

Human-centred approaches

Tiny wins

Some great examples of why it is good to focus on achieving small victories, as well as pursuing the bigger projects. The effort/impact matrix is your friend.

Linknote — — 88 words

Digital — Media

There is so much positivity in the digital world of media

As ever, Thomas Baekdal is brilliant and insightful on where traditional media companies are getting it so wrong. He compares the consistently negative focus of news outlets to successful YouTubers, all of whom are filled with “excitement and positivity”.

[I]t makes traditional journalists appear reactive, while digital natives appear proactive…

You can’t just be negative. You also have to give your readers hope and invite them to join you on a journey into a better future.

Linknote — — 119 words

Human-centred approaches — User experience

Then and now: The Bauhaus and 21st century design

Don Norman assesses the Bauhaus movement, and its relevance to design today. He notes that despite its widespread cultural influence, it failed to produce a single object that significantly improved people’s lives.

Consider the “Curriculum Wheel”… developed by Walter Gropius in 1922… It contains three years of study, starting with form and materials, moving to advanced topics in materials, composition, and construction. Never a mention of people. Never a mention of usage. It was all about form.

Elements of this remind me of contemporary debates around flat design and other superficial user interface decisions. This form or that form isn’t right or wrong, unless you know you are meeting people’s needs.

Linknote — — 60 words

Content design — Digital

Language in web teams

Content designer Sarah Richards shares an amusing story of a technique she has used to help people from different disciplines and backgrounds who have been talking at cross-purposes.

We are meant to be content and communication experts. But we often see people putting little effort into how they communicate internally, or even within their own teams.

Linknote — — 131 words

Technology

diamond geezer on why companies are installing badly designed phoneboxes

I can’t say I’ve noticed new phoneboxes popping up, but maybe things are different in Edinburgh. Nevertheless, I found this blog post by diamond geezer fascinating.

BT’s new InLink sounds especially awful:

All the action takes place on the thin side farthest from the road, where no separate receiver is apparent. Instead there’s a socket for a headphone jack, provided by the user to cut costs, and a loudspeaker at waist height which’ll broadcast across the pavement…

Most striking is the big red button which if pressed immediately dials 999, an innovation surely far too tempting for passing fingers, which must have emergency switchboards cursing.

So why in this day and age would new phoneboxes be emerging? The answer is depressingly familiar.

Linknote — — 46 words

Human-centred approaches

You can’t start with an iteration, you can only start with an idea

We often talk about iterative developments and continuous improvement. But by using the example of King’s Cross railway station, Ben Holliday demonstrates that sometimes you need to “completely strip back previous ideas”.

Linknote — — 73 words

Media — Technology — Web

Legends of the ancient web

Maciej Cegłowski considers the parallels between the early decades of radio, and the web. He notes how radio became a crucial propaganda tool for the fascists of the 1930s.

In less than four decades, radio had completed the journey from fledgeling technology, to nerdy hobby, to big business, to potent political weapon.

It’s a great history lesson. Read on to find the silver lining in his talk.

Linknote — — 76 words

Accessibility — Digital — Human-centred approaches — Web

Accessibility according to actual people with disabilities

We often hear about the theory of accessibility in design. But we know that the reality can often be different.

So it’s great to see such a comprehensive run-down of actual digital accessibility complaints from people with disabilities.

The article ends with a sage point:

Basically everything that people with disabilities comment on are things that annoy everyone, so fixing these issues makes your interface better for all users!

Linknote — — 129 words

Human-centred approaches — Personal

Your design ikigai

I love this idea of the ikigai.

It has no direct translation into English, but roughly means your level of happiness in life, or your ‘reason for being’.

This is what I was thinking about when I wrote that you should follow your passion — you should instead find your purpose.

This ikigai venn diagram potentially provides a way of discovering the elements that make up that purpose. I will spend some time thinking about this, and considering what my answer is for each of the sections of this diagram.

It is interesting that passion is represented, as the intersection of what you love and what you are good at. Your mission, profession and vocation may be harder to figure out.

What would your answers be?

Linknote — — 102 words

Technology

Triple Meltdown: How so many researchers found a 20-year-old chip flaw at the same time

In transpires that Meltdown and Spectre, the two major security bugs recently announced in processors, were discovered by several researchers who all had the same idea at a similar time. This is despite the flaws having existed for decades.

Something happens in the community and it leads people to think, let’s look over here. And then they do. And it definitely occurs way more often than chance.

This fascinating article also considers how long intelligence agencies may have known about this and other computer security issues.