I am a creative.
I am a creative. What I do is alchemy. It is a mystery. I do not so much do it, as let it be done through me. I am a creative. Not all creative people like this label. Not all see themselves this way....
5 min readAI & ML
Artificial intelligence and machine learning news
Humility: An Essential Value
Humility, a designer’s essential value—that has a nice ring to it. What about humility, an office manager’s essential value? Or a dentist’s? Or a librarian’s? They all sound great. When humility is ou...
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Personalization Pyramid: A Framework for Designing with User Data
As a UX professional in today’s data-driven landscape, it’s increasingly likely that you’ve been asked to design a personalized digital experience, whether it’s a public website, user portal, or nativ...
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Mobile-First CSS: Is It Time for a Rethink?
The mobile-first design methodology is great—it focuses on what really matters to the user, it’s well-practiced, and it’s been a common design pattern for years. So developing your CSS mobile-first sh...
5 min readThe Wax and the Wane of the Web
I offer a single bit of advice to friends and family when they become new parents: When you start to think that you’ve got everything figured out, everything will change. Just as you start to get the ...
5 min readDesigned for a Dead Language
Every language app in your pocket inherited a teaching method built for Latin. Understanding why that happened is a more useful design lesson than anything the apps themselves will teach you. In 1788,...
5 min readGood designers, bad websites: a proposal
I want to discuss accessibility because it is the most important thing for making websites. Other A List Apart articles give you innovation and insight. This article will give you homework. These are ...
5 min readDesign for Amiability: Lessons from Vienna
Today’s web is not always an amiable place. Sites greet you with a popover that demands assent to their cookie policy, and leave you with Taboola ads promising “One Weird Trick!” to cure your ailments...
5 min readDesign Dialects: Breaking the Rules, Not the System
"Language is not merely a set of unrelated sounds, clauses, rules, and meanings; it is a totally coherent system bound to context and behavior." — Kenneth L. Pike The web has accents. So should our de...
5 min readAn Holistic Framework for Shared Design Leadership
Picture this: You’re in a meeting room at your tech company, and two people are having what looks like the same conversation about the same design problem. One is talking about whether the team has th...
5 min readFrom Beta to Bedrock: Build Products that Stick.
As a product builder over too many years to mention, I've lost count of the number of times I've seen promising ideas go from zero to hero in a few weeks, only to fizzle out within months. Financial p...
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User Research Is Storytelling
Ever since I was a boy, I’ve been fascinated with movies. I loved the characters and the excitement—but most of all the stories. I wanted to be an actor. And I believed that I’d get to do the things t...
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To Ignite a Personalization Practice, Run this Prepersonalization Workshop
Picture this. You’ve joined a squad at your company that’s designing new product features with an emphasis on automation or AI. Or your company has just implemented a personalization engine. Either wa...
5 min readAI safety conversations have gotten unbelievable
This week two conversations about AI safety went viral that demonstrate just how hard it is to discern AI fact from fiction.
5 min readVals, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, is looking to become the gold standard for AI benchmarking
Vals AI is hoping to make AI benchmarking a more neutral and trustworthy resource in a world increasingly inundated by AI models.
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Top Stories: iOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate Out Now, Siri AI Waitlist, and More
All of Apple's products introduced at last week's event with the exception of the iPhone Duo are now available, with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, and AirPods 5 all...
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Forget the AI Slowdown—the Vulnerability Explosion Is Already Happening
AI labs are toying with an industry-wide pact to slow development. Meanwhile, widely available AI chatbots are already helping uncover a tidal wave of security flaws.
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Mathematicians Hate AI. They Can’t Quit It
Powerful AI models have created an existential risk to the field, but researchers can’t stop relying on them because they’re too useful.
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An Editor’s Picks: The Best Gifts for Bird Lovers
Whether they’re into feeders, field guides, or games, these tried-and-tested picks are sure to land perfectly.
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The Best Early Prime Day Deals Ahead of Amazon’s Second Sale (2026)
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days officially begin on October 6 and 7, but I’ve already spotted early discounts on gear our team recommends.
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