Thoughts from the week…

• Sometimes you have to get into the fine detail first before you can abstract just the important stuff.
• My experiment in writing a little blog post on a daily basis through November has been a bit wobbly due to a busy work week. But better to have tried something than never started, right? And there’s still time to write more.
• I’ve done quite a bit of work on contracts and service agreements this week. Yeah, it’s quite a dry topic, but intellectually interesting in the way that a well written clear contract can be an enabling constraint to articulate what good looks like. Although admittedly, the norm is dense legalese that nobody looks at unless somethings gone wrong. Something about minimum viable bureaucracy here too?
• I’m not one for dramatic exits, but I think this might be the week that I stop checking Twitter on a regular basis and remove it from my phone.
• I’m still bouncing between BlueSky, Mastodon and LinkedIn for work related stuff. BlueSky in particular feels like Twitter of 10 years ago. I don’t know how long it’ll stay like that, but it’s okay for now.

Interesting stuff…

• I liked Amy’s post on pushing back on perfectionism and knowing when good enough is good enough. https://amyhupe.co.uk/articles/youve-broken-your-streak/
• Choice isn’t a friction point to be smoothed away in favour of convenience. Agency is important. Good brain food here amidst all the hype about AI. https://visitmy.website/2023/11/14/universal-interface-no-thank-you/
• I remain a fan of coworking spaces. We have gotten weirdly hung up on the binary choice of office or home. https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67334476.amp
• One way to get better at presenting (nsfw warning – a bit sweary at the start) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJqr7dMW94Y
• Unlocking a better user experience on a budget – https://www.weareserviceworks.com/blog/user-experience-natural-resources-wales-simplifying-permissions
• Simulating interactions – https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/2023/11/16/simulating-interactions/
• What is incentivzed policy – all else is lip service – https://charleslambdin.com/2021/01/07/what-is-incentivized-is-policy-all-else-is-lip-service/
• Tumblr is always dying. (I have a soft spot for Tumblr, even after all the failed aquisitions and attempts to turn it into things it’s not) – https://www.wired.com/story/end-of-the-tumblr-era/
• “We believe colleagues serving customers delivers a better customer experience and therefore we have taken the decision to remove self-checkouts in the majority of our stores,” – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-67373472