A look at research showing how accountability shapes outcomes, why those outcomes aren’t as good as we think, and what we can do about it. — If you work in a design-oriented role, to what extent do you agree with the following statement, as it relates to you personally? I approach my design work so that it is made to be in fact effective, rather than to look effective. If you’re like me, your response is…

Are users equipped to defend against persuasive technology? How much tax on your valuable time do manipulative products take? And where is the border between habit and harm? A conversation with behavioral designer Nir Eyal explores some answers. — “Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” — Warren Buffett I recently observed a couple seated together at the corner table of a popular Colombian restaurant in New York. They weren’t on a date. I knew that because they were…

Our response to change is irrational — A familiar thing happens when everyone gets used to an app, and then it changes. I picture users’ reactions to that change as a graph of outrage over time. There’s an initial spike in outrage followed by an acceptance to a new normal. The peak outrage is like a mountaintop…

On September 20th I attended a panel discussion in Brooklyn, Dispatches from the Future: Nonprofits and Tech, led by Jeffrey Zeldman. In that discussion Zeldman referenced an article he posted the day before, Why don’t non-profit sites convert? I had read his post so I was familiar with the central…

Three ideas from a product designer — The United States Constitution’s 5th amendment says… No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury … And that’s why we have grand juries. Rooted in English common law, they have been around quite a…

Learning to code won’t limit your design sense — There’s a common argument in the perennial “Should designers code?” debate that, in my view at least, has outrun its justification. The essence of the argument as I understand it goes something like this. Coding limits your design thinking because you’ll only be creative within the bounds of your development…

And Abraham Lincoln’s advice on what to do about it — Can you think of a time you encountered someone you disliked straightaway based on a small amount of information? I’m sure you had your reasons. Perhaps it was the way they spoke, words they used, or how they dressed or carried themselves. …

There’s a book on my shelf titled Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams. It’s a massive, 800 page compendium of Rams’ life’s work and values, as well as essays by prominent designers around the world on his impact on the pursuit of good design. …

Sometimes I can’t help but change my mind about something, like I did after hearing Dan Pallotta give a studied, persuasive talk about how we tend to apply a double standard to charities and non-profits. I’ve changed my thinking on several things, particularly over the past 18 months. Sometimes the…