Thinking in public
Journal.
Notes, films and ideas
about making technology
useful in everyday life.
From the journal · Visual note
Offline from the first use
Working offline should include the first use.
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26 entries- Note
A choice for this task
A setting changed for one task shouldn't become a rule for every task.
- Visual note
Offline from the first use
Working offline should include the first use.
- Note
Keep the result useful without the device
A file made by a device should remain useful after the device is gone.
- Document
Count the hands a task takes
One button can still take two hands.
- Note
Design for the part that wears out
A worn pad shouldn't make an otherwise working device disposable.
- Visual note
Test the utility where it will be used
The room shouldn't need to be arranged around the device.
- Note
Make the task status clear after the beep
You shouldn't have to catch a beep to know whether a task finished.
- Note
Make the task status clear after the beep
You shouldn't have to catch a beep to know whether a task finished.
- Document
Decide what the device should remember
A device should have a reason to remember the last task.
- Note
Choose the computing budget around the job
Before choosing a larger model, we should be able to name the extra work it will do for the owner.
- Visual note
Compare the new device with the existing workaround
A workaround is evidence of a need. It isn't evidence that people want another device.
- Note
The owner should have a direct way to stop
A Stop button should not depend on a conversation with an AI.
- Note
What would you like to hear from us?
How are you today? Tell us what you want to hear from us.
- Document
Design the action and the check together
A device can follow an instruction and still leave the job unfinished.
- Note
Usable by the person who did not set it up
The person who didn't set it up should be able to use it.
- Visual note
Count the whole job
Count the work after "done."
- Film
Life with v/h: Stay for the story
Stay for the story.
- Film
Life with v/h: Keep the favourite
Keep the favourite.
- Film
Life with v/h: The Stare
Let life have your attention.
- Note
What an interrupted task should tell you
If a device stops halfway through a task, 'Try again' isn't enough.
- Visual note
Less time managing the product
A useful device can succeed by giving you fewer reasons to interact with it.
- Document
What an everyday utility has to prove
We want to judge our first utility by an ordinary week of use.
- Visual note
The core function belongs with the product
You should be able to use the core function of a product you own without keeping a service running.
- Visual note
Made to be useful
You shouldn't have to be interested in technology to benefit from it.
- Document
What we mean by an agent under the hood
The complicated decisions should happen inside the product.
- Note
Easy to use and useful to many people
A product can be easy for everyone to use and still be useful to almost no one.