The Quality Cannot be Named
There is a core quality that serves as the fundamental indicator of life and spirit in a person, town, building, or nature. This quality is…
Read more ->33 posts tagged with Design
Product as Love for Human Species
Building wonderful products with great care and love is a way of expressing our deep appreciation to the rest of our human species. Book…
Read more ->4X in Games
Four verbs that define game design in popular strategy games: Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate. Article: 4X 4X (abbreviation of…
Read more ->Six Components of Game
Six components of a Classic Game Model: Rules, Variable and measurable outcomes, Values on those outcomes, Player effort, Player attachment…
Read more ->Five Definitions of Game
Best definition of Game: A problem-solving activity, approached with a playful attitude. Alternative: A rule-based formal system with a…
Read more ->CCAF Instructional Design Model
The CCAF Instructional Design Model: Engaging and meaningful learning experience requires Context, Challenge, Activity, and Feedback (CCAF…
Read more ->Six Elements of Simplicity
Six elements of simplicity to make a habit easier to form: Time, Money, Physical Effort, Brain Cycles, Social Deviance, and Non-routine…
Read more ->Hooked Habit Model
User habits develop when products consistently guide users through triggers, actions, variable rewards, and investments. This four-step hook…
Read more ->Position in Graphics
Position is the most powerful visual variable in graphics because it leverages our innate spatial reasoning, making complex data instantly…
Read more ->Bloom's Taxonomy
Bloom's Taxonomy: Our learning objectives can be classified as a hierarchy of remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create…
Read more ->Six Learning Gaps
To achieve learning goals, we should identify and address not just knowledge gaps but also skills, motivation, habits, environment, and…
Read more ->Zero-One-Infinity Rule
Zero-One-Infinity Rule: When designing software systems, the only reasonable numerical limits are zero, one, and infinity. Article: Zero One…
Read more ->All buildings are Predictions
All buildings are predictions, and all predictions are wrong. Architectural design should create adaptable spaces rather than attempting to…
Read more ->The Cathedral Effect
The Cathedral Effect: Higher ceilings can make us more creative by triggering feelings of freedom and encouraging people to see broader…
Read more ->Elevator Mirrors Psychology
Approach technical problems with psychological solutions: Elevator mirrors reduce perceived waiting time by distracting passengers. Article…
Read more ->Four Reasons to Post
Four reasons people post things: sound smart, be funny, look hot, look rich. Tweet: Nikita Bier on X To make people share your product…
Read more ->Working and External Memory
Our working memory has a limited capacity for task-related information. To perform complex tasks, we should offload some mental load onto an…
Read more ->XY Problem
The XY problem: Avoid focusing on the attempted solution rather than the actual problem. People don't want a faster horse. They want to get…
Read more ->Algorithms and Heuristics
Algorithms and heuristics are two sides of the same coin in product development, with algorithms providing objective measurements and…
Read more ->No A/B testing
A/B testing cannot substitute for taste in creating appealing products. Relying solely on A/B testing is abdicating your responsibility to…
Read more ->Design is How It Works
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. Book: Creative Selection During a 2003 interview with The New…
Read more ->Experience not Characteristic
People aren't buying your product for the molecules. They're buying it for the way it makes them feel. The subjective experience matters…
Read more ->Discoverability and Understanding
What makes a design good? Examine it using the Discoverability and Understanding Framework. Book: The Design of Everyday Things Two of the…
Read more ->Procedural and Declarative Knowledge
Procedural knowledge tends to be retained longer than declarative knowledge in our memory. All skills start as declarative knowledge and…
Read more ->Make AI Charming to Learn
Rather than program an AI with what we want it to know, create ones capable of learning and have users teach them. Experience is the best…
Read more ->Immediate Connection to Creation
Creators need immediate connections to what they are creating because so much creation is discovery. We discover nothing if we cannot see…
Read more ->Opposite of Courage
The opposite of courage is not cowardice but conformity. Video: “No creative person I know has ever asked for a brainstorming session…
Read more ->Unintentionality and Mistake
If all we have is structure, we won't have magic. What we also need is unintentionality, like a mistake. Unintentionality is the real secret…
Read more ->Keep Watching Section
Why are "Keep Watching" sections always hidden at the very bottom of the streaming apps? Misalignment of incentives between company and user…
Read more ->Fitts's Law
Fitts’s Law: The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance to and size of the target in UI/UX. Article: Fitts's Law: The…
Read more ->Curiosity over Emotion
Can we create a social media platform that predates curiosity instead of emotion? Thoughts This is a question asked by a guest in the course…
Read more ->Game Design
Consider how your product makes customers "feel" instead of what it functionally does for them. Podcast: Superhuman Part II - Designing…
Read more ->Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation undermines intrinsic motivation. Focus on Game Design, not Gamification. Podcast: Superhuman Part II - Designing…
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