Elizabeth Ayer – Medium

Elizabeth Ayer

Elizabeth Ayer

Enshittification as Overproduction in Software, Part 2: Overproduction in the product lifecycle

When exactly software is most vulnerable to overproduction and what can keep it in check.

12 min readFeb 13, 2024

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A mass of white mushrooms on moss on a fallen log.

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Elizabeth Ayer

Enshittification as Overproduction in Software, Part 1: Seeing Overproduction

As someone who has previously enshittified a product, I have a few things to say about this moment of mass enshittification…

7 min readFeb 8, 2024

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A disconcerting number of gnomes on a dirt field.

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Elizabeth Ayer

Antifragile — a belated book review

For the most part, Taleb’s answer for how to promote antifragility is for us all to stop trying so hard, a message I found hard to swallow

5 min readJan 3, 2024

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Painting with a scene of a pristine cathedral on the left and tumbling ruins on the right.

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Elizabeth Ayer

Perfectly good reasons to avoid formal training

Some people mistake others’ dislike of formal training for unwillingness to learn, but these are not the same thing.

2 min readNov 8, 2023

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Emergency exit sign with arrow pointing right

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Elizabeth Ayer

Meetings are the work

Wherein I take aim at the common tech trope that people need to limit meetings to get work done.

11 min readFeb 22, 2023

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Painting called “Declaration of Independence” of an 18th century scene. Five white men stand in a fancy hall to present a seated man with a paper. Two rows of mostly seated men look on.

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Elizabeth Ayer

Review: Introduction to Digital Facilitation by Howspace

I finished this course last week, and it had some approaches I hadn’t seen before, particularly for asynchronous group facilitation.

4 min readDec 1, 2022

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Elizabeth Ayer

“Nobody could have known”: inclusive behaviors to counter a culture of short-termism

When you say, “Nobody could have known,” I hear, “We shut out the people who tried to warn us.”

9 min readOct 28, 2022

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Outdoor bronze statue with a child feigning surprise and another child trying to tell them something.

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Elizabeth Ayer

Organizational boundary problems: too many cooks or not enough kitchens?

Open cultures can be satisfying to work in, but they often evolve in ways that increase feelings of exclusion and ineffectiveness.

8 min readSep 1, 2022

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Three chefs working together in a modern restaurant kitchen, with another two chefs working at a different station in the background.

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Elizabeth Ayer

Annual Performance Reviews Ruin Everything

There is hardly an area of work, psychological safety, growth, collaboration or equity that annual performance reviews don’t undermine…

12 min readApr 19, 2022

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Annual Performance Reviews Ruin Everything

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Elizabeth Ayer

30 questions to spot racist ideology in your product org

Hey product people, we need to talk about racism.

5 min readAug 20, 2020

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Graphic of question marks leading to a point in the distance.

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Elizabeth Ayer

Elizabeth Ayer

Making software systems more humane, sustainable, and intentional. Infatuated by the possibilities of bringing product thinking to #govtech.

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