From the “total product experience” department…a nice story of a woman asking about product recommendations on Twitter and getting a much better initial user experience with KISSMetrics. Note that neither of these interactions actually have anything to do with the software…it’s all interpersonal communication. This is product experience in the age of Twitter… “Boom. They […]

Continue Reading: Mixpanel or KISSmetrics? Why I Made the Decision Before Seeing the Product

Andy Budd nails it: “So this is the dirty little secret in our industry. The best designers and developers rarely have more talent. They simply have more time.” hat tip: @danritz

Continue Reading: Enough time to sweat the details

Josh Miller, one of the makers of Branch: “A few months ago, my fifteen-year-old sister told me that Snapchat was going to be the next Instagram. Many months before that she told me that Instagram was being used by her peers as much as Facebook. Both times I snickered. Learning from past mistakes, I took […]

Continue Reading: Tenth Grade Tech Trends

Somewhat lost in the whole Facebook Poke/Snapchat brewhaha is what people actually use the different services for. Many people characterize Snapchat as a “sexting app” simply because the pictures/videos you capture with it have a lifespan of a few seconds. And its true that there is some sexting going on. But as Sarah Lacy points […]

Continue Reading: Calling Snapchat “the sexting app” misses a huge shift in mobile, photos, and communication

Some good thoughts in Design is not veneer by Aral Balkan, including this one: “There are no shortcuts to good design. There are no silver bullets, no magic buttons, no silver sixpences. Every design problem is unique. Design is a process, not a product. And you cannot take part in the process by ignoring the […]

Continue Reading: Design is not veneer

Lego product designer John Henry Harris shares fifteen design and innovation principles. Lots to like in here, including: “Build with your left hand, or with gardening gloves. That is how far the Lego designers will go to emulate what it is like to be 4 years old and trying to pick up and manipulate the […]

Continue Reading: What software people can learn from great Lego design

Ev Williams: “I see this mentality that I think is common, especially in Silicon Valley with engineer-driven start-ups who think they can test their way to success. They don’t acknowledge the dip. And with really hard problems, you don’t see market success right away. You have to be willing to go through the dark forest […]

Continue Reading: Don’t Be Too Data-Driven

Alexis Madrigal writes why we should want to pay for software: “Under these conditions, companies have to sell themselves because they do not have a sustainable business. And when they’re sold, they either A) get shut down or B) become part of an advertising machine, like Facebook’s. Truly, the only way to get around the […]

Continue Reading: Why You Should Want to Pay for Software, Instagram Edition

Good and realistic viewpoint by Fred Destin on startups and the reality of monetization in the wake of Instagram’s TOS mess. Money quote: “In the world of innovation I love that we champion ‘disruptive entrepreneurs’ who want to ‘change the world’.  We’re so far out there in assuming there is something inherently ethical or moral […]

Continue Reading: Instagram : follow your dreams, CANCELLED

Funny piece by John Brandon called Much ado about Pinterest. John hits a funny middle place where he points out that Pinterest isn’t much more than a zeitgeist, merely showing what’s popular right now, but he also is very much drawn to it despite this. From a design standpoint, I find Pinterest fascinating. Pinterest has […]

Continue Reading: Much Ado About Pinterest