Design Thoughts

The truth about grit “I first got interested in grit after watching how my friends fared after...

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:17:32 +0200

“I first got interested in grit after watching how my friends fared after college,” Duckworth says. She noticed that the most successful people in her Harvard class chose a goal and stuck with it, while others just flitted from pursuit to pursuit. “Those who were less successful were often just as smart and talented,” Duckworth notes, “but they were constantly changing plans and trying something new. They never stuck with anything long enough to get really good at it.”

(via givemesomethingtoread)

Be Good Paul Graham: But the most important advantage of being good is that it acts as a compass....

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:12:57 +0200

Be Good

Paul Graham:

But the most important advantage of being good is that it acts as a compass. One of the hardest parts of doing a startup is that you have so many choices. There are just two or three of you, and a thousand things you could do. How do you decide?

Here’s the answer: Do whatever’s best for your users. You can hold onto this like a rope in a hurricane, and it will save you if anything can. Follow it and it will take you through everything you need to do.

"The new design is unremarkable, boring, commonplace. It’s so simple that the initial design..."

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:29:00 +0200

“The new design is unremarkable, boring, commonplace. It’s so simple that the initial design took about 30 minutes — most of which was spent debating different header treatments. The new design is only worthy of remark because it was incredibly effective. We saw a noticeable increase in our registration rate compared to the old page.”

- Rob Goodlatte, Redesigning the Facebook Registration Page (via Pat Dryburgh)

"As designers, we often pursue radical departures from simple. We search for a solution that..."

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:28:41 +0200

“As designers, we often pursue radical departures from simple. We search for a solution that re-thinks everything. That thinking is valuable — it let’s us make paradigm shifts when needed. But the solution that anyone could have designed, the simple solution, is usually the best. The hard part is choosing it.”

- Rob Goodlatte, Redesigning the Facebook Registration Page (via Pat Dryburgh)

"If the reader notices the interior page design of a book — even if he or she likes what they see —..."

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:55:24 +0200

“If the reader notices the interior page design of a book — even if he or she likes what they see — I’ve missed, because I distracted them from their reading.”

- Stephen Tiano (via quotesondesign)

"Recognize that by being useful and good to others, you will eventually build a very strong team of..."

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:55:12 +0200

“Recognize that by being useful and good to others, you will eventually build a very strong team of supporters. They’ll lift you up to new heights and protect you. If you falter they will be there to bring you back up and support you.”

- Tom Williams: Hired by Apple at 14. His full story.

The Joy of Less I had been lucky enough at that point to stumble into the life I might have dreamed...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:08:00 +0200

The Joy of Less

I had been lucky enough at that point to stumble into the life I might have dreamed of as a boy: a great job writing on world affairs for Time magazine, an apartment (officially at least) on Park Avenue, enough time and money to take vacations in Burma, Morocco, El Salvador. But every time I went to one of those places, I noticed that the people I met there, mired in difficulty and often warfare, seemed to have more energy and even optimism than the friends I’d grown up with in privileged, peaceful Santa Barbara, Calif., many of whom were on their fourth marriages and seeing a therapist every day. Though I knew that poverty certainly didn’t buy happiness, I wasn’t convinced that money did either.

(via givemesomethingtoread)

The Start-up Guru: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham “You need to listen to your users, figure...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:04:16 +0200

The Start-up Guru: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham

“You need to listen to your users, figure out what they want, and do that.” When founders are accepted into Y Combinator, they are given a gray T-shirt that says, “Make something people want.”

(via TightWind)

Three men are found smashing boulders with iron hammers. When asked what they are doing, the first...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:58:00 +0200

Three men are found smashing boulders with iron hammers. When asked what they are doing, the first man says, “Breaking big rocks into little rocks.” The second man says, “Feeding my family.” The third man says, “Building a cathedral.”

From Meaningful work

Filmmaker Lou Stouten tells the painfully unapocryphal story about hand-carrying his first film...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:54:44 +0200

Filmmaker Lou Stouten tells the painfully unapocryphal story about hand-carrying his first film (produced while he was still a student) to the famed teacher and film theorist Slavko Vorkapitch. The teacher watched the entire film in silence, and as the viewing ended rose and left the room without uttering a word. Stouten, more than a bit shaken, ran out after him and asked, “But what did you think of my film?” Replied Vorkapitch, “What film?”

The lesson here is simply that courting approval, even that of peers, puts a dangerous amount of power in the hands of the audience. Worse yet, the audience is seldom in a position to grant (or withhold) approval on the one issue that really counts - namely, whether or not you’re making progress in your work. They’re in a good position to comment on how they’re moved (or challenged or entertained) by the finished product, but have little knowledge or interest in your process. Audience comes later. The only pure communication is between you and your work.

Another great excerpt from the book Art and Fear.

Disconnecting Distraction If I’d spent a whole morning sitting on a sofa watching TV,...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:19:37 +0200

Disconnecting Distraction

If I’d spent a whole morning sitting on a sofa watching TV, I’d have noticed very quickly. That’s a known danger sign, like drinking alone. But using the Internet still looked and felt a lot like work.

Brains in wild animals are 15%-30% larger than tame, domestic counterparts. The cold, hard world...

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:12:41 +0200

Brains in wild animals are 15%-30% larger than tame, domestic counterparts. The cold, hard world forced the wild animals into constant learning mode. It is the same with humans.

From Brain Rules (via Derek Sivers)

On feeding The feed reader is the fast food joint of the reading experience, but I want the...

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:55:21 +0200

On feeding

The feed reader is the fast food joint of the reading experience, but I want the farmer’s market, the slow-cooked greens, the home-baked bread. I don’t want to feed, I want to eat, with all the attendant history that word evokes—the flavor, the company, the time.

The power of emotional contagion While in the park I received a strong reminder of something we all...

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:07:59 +0200

The power of emotional contagion

While in the park I received a strong reminder of something we all know but too often forget: that emotions are contagious and our emotional displays can and do influence those around us […]

Everyone on the ground was really enjoying just watching the fun the other people were having on the attractions. I was too. It was a surprisingly enjoyable atmosphere; I could have spent much more time just sitting and watching the smiles, laughter, and displays of exhilaration by complete strangers.

about a working library Of the many ideas at play here, the most significant is my belief that...

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:12:14 +0200

about a working library

Of the many ideas at play here, the most significant is my belief that every book is connected to many other books, such that no book can or should be considered in isolation. When you read a book, you bring to it all the other books you’ve read (and been affected by), so your reading of it is necessarily unique.

From Inc.’s profile on Paul Graham: I ask Graham why he is so intent on growing. Why does the world...

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:02:54 +0200

From Inc.’s profile on Paul Graham:

I ask Graham why he is so intent on growing. Why does the world need so many little software companies? He looks at me as if I’m insane. “Imagine that instead of starting Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin had taken jobs in some research lab,” he says. “They would have written a little piece of an operating system that might not even get used and maybe some boring academic papers. Think of how much more they did for the world as start-up founders.”

(via TightWind)

Be nice I don’t care how good you are at programming, finding bugs, whatever. If you’re rude, or if...

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:57 +0200

Be nice

I don’t care how good you are at programming, finding bugs, whatever. If you’re rude, or if you speak poorly to people who don’t understand your… quirks…. you will wind up being shunted to the side. No one wants to work with someone who makes them feel beat down all the time, or someone who they simply can’t understand, or someone whose reaction to every issue is to start wailing about the end of the world.

(via 37signals)

"Always grab the reader by the throat in the first paragraph, send your thumbs into his windpipe in..."

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:11:43 +0200

“Always grab the reader by the throat in the first paragraph, send your thumbs into his windpipe in the second, and hold him against the wall until the tagline.”

- Paul O’Neil (via Kathy Sierra)

"Instructions for living a life:Pay attention.Be astonished.Tell about it."

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:32:45 +0200

“Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

- Mary Oliver (via psychotherapy)

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine..."

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:29:56 +0200

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

- Neil Gaiman (via littlemiss)