Society

Article — 6 October 2017 — 1,660 words

Why the cruel culture of coding is damaging society

When a former Google engineer’s ill-informed anti-diversity essay became news during the summer, it shone a light on problems with the the tech industry’s makeup. The diversity issue is the tip of the iceberg. A host of cultural problems face the tech scene.

Article — 3 June 2016 — 2,294 words

The 14 lessons designers need to know from Ofcom’s report on ‘smartphone by default’ users

Digital

Last month Ofcom published a report on the people who rely on their phones as their main way of accessing the internet. Some of the findings are shocking and eye-opening.

Article — 4 May 2016 — 901 words

Avoiding bias in design

User research

One of the biggest challenges designers face is avoiding bias. We all have perspectives that subconsciously affect our decisions. In the case of design, those choices we don’t even realise we are making can have big consequences.

Article — 10 July 2013 — 664 words

Ignorance is inevitable

Economics — Politics

A survey showed that the British public is “wrong about nearly everything”. But the main lesson is not that so many people are stupid. It is that we are all ignorant, no matter how well-informed we like to think we are.