There’s a designer I used to work with at a previous agency. He was the best critic I’ve ever had the privilege of working alongside, and would give design feedback like he was giving a toast at his best friend’s wedding. …

Some words about surveillance capitalism, greed, ethics, and data collection — Over the holidays I helped my parents set up their new Roku devices with their TVs. This was no mean feat for a few reasons. They live in a rural part of Ohio so they’re still on DSL (if you haven’t encountered this before, you’re blessed to not recall the…

Thoughts on the temporary nature of tech. — I like to tell people I was born into design and the internet. I spent many hours as a preteen tinkering with websites, hacking video games, and torrenting music files. I reckoned recently that I’ve now spent over two-thirds of my life working and playing digitally. Where are those early…

Designing the seams of information architecture. — In the real world, space is a given. We create spaces just for certain tasks — a kitchen for cooking, a dining room for dinner, a bedroom for sleep. These spaces shift our modes of thought. When we want to work, we go to the office — well, used to…

Struggling to ensure consistency in your experiences? You’re not alone. Here’s how to decide if you’re ready for a design system. — This article is a continuation of a Twitter thread started by the author. Join the conversation! Picture this. You’re a moderately successful designer at a large business with lots of digital products. Your boss comes up to you one day and says, “We have a problem. It’s taking our engineers…

Consumer and business spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to reach $1.3 trillion in 2020, and 1.9 billion smart home devices are expected to be shipped by the end of 2019. The IoT business is booming, and connected technologies are becoming more and more ubiquitous. As businesses…