Friday reading #31
Here is my weekly round-up of interesting long(-ish) reads about UX, journalism, product management, and other stuff that interests me. This week guaranteed to be 100% Leveson free.
Friday reading
“How to get start-up ideas” — Paul Graham
If you only read one of these, make it this long one:
“You know the ideas are out there. This is not one of those problems where there might not be an answer. It’s impossibly unlikely that this is the exact moment when technological progress stops. You can be sure people are going to build things in the next few years that will make you think ‘What did I do before x?’”[via @solle]
Read the full article
“Subcompact Publishing” — Craig Mod
Oh, and you should read this one too actually, about getting to the atoms of digital publishing:
“Publishing incumbents have been faced with disruption for years. But a curious, natural thing is happening: another, increasingly difficult to dismiss publishing ecosystem — disconnected from and unbeholden to legacy — is emerging. Bubbling up.”[via @stephen_abbott]
Read the full article
“What we’ve learned about responsive design” — Christopher Butler, Newfangled
“The reality of your audience should really dictate your design philosophy. It's one thing if a significant portion of your audience uses mobile devices to access your site. It's another if those users who match the personas that matter to you use mobile devices to access your site and actually engage — by responding to your calls to action — while using these devices. We really need to think deeply about this and then verify our thinking by talking with people who are representative of our core audience. Ask them.”
Read the full article
“The opportunities and challenges of responsive design” — Sabrina Idler, Webdesigner Depot
Really good introduction to the whole caboodle if you are just dipping into the pros and cons of responsive design.
Read the full article
“Rumor Detectives: True Story or Online Hoax?” — David Hochman, Reader’s Digest
Profile of the 40something couple behind Snopes from 2009 “You’d be surprised how hard it is to get traction with one of these,’ he says. ‘The things that take off have to hit a nerve we’re all thinking about.’”[via @brainpicker]
Read the full article
“Iwata Asks: Miiverse Penis Drawing Detection Took Weeks to Develop” — Jack, Play4Real
“In a recent Iwata Asks interview about the Wii U Miiverse social network, director Yoshiomi Kurisu and his team discuss how difficult it was to create auto-detection of penis drawings.”
Read the full article
“A Sorry State: Pop Marketing & Rihanna’s Unapologetic” — Jude Rogers, The Quietus
A long and thoughtful essay on whether the sheer drive for money and product placement has left the planet’s biggest pop star effectively trolling the audience.
Read the full article
Forthcoming talks and events
I’ll be talking and teaching at the following events over the next couple of months:
- 6 December: “The user experience of news” - news:rewired, London
- 12 December: “So you think you want to be a UXer?” - Guardian Masterclass, London - SOLD OUT
- 17 December: “Putting user experience at the heart of your tablet strategy” - “Les Victoires de la Presse”, Lyon
- 26 January: “Responsive IA” - Guardian Masterclass, London
- 28 January: “Improve your blogging” - evening training course, London
- 11 February: “So you think you want to be a UXer?” - Guardian Masterclass, London