Writing

What the “Four Types of Designer” Debate Gets Right and Wrong

A friend recently sent me a post from "the bad place" that broke product designers down into four types.

The language was intentionally provocative. Some of it was needlessly mean-spirited. In places it was openly contemptuous. Certain designers were described as effectively worthless. Others were framed as self-important, disingenuous, or fundamentally unserious about the business.

And yet, beneath the aggression, I think there is a real, painful truth in there.
Design Practice

How AI will Affect the Design Industry

I don't think that AI is going to "kill design" in the next few years (as some pundits are claiming). However I do think we reached "peak designer" several years ago, and the volume of designers needed over the next 10 years will be less than the previous 10. (This is as much to do with the rise of design systems leading to the industrialisation of design, and the power shift of decision making, as it is AI)
Tech Culture

From Chess to Poker: How Speed Changed Design Before AIand and

There was a time when design was slow, considered and informed. This was not simply a matter of culture or temperament. It reflected the economics of software at the time. Development used to be slow, expensive and risky. If you built the wrong thing, the cost of fixing it could be enormous, so product teams created space to think before they made.
Startups and Investing

Will AI Super Charge Venture Studios?

Coming from an agency background, I’ve always had a soft spot for the idea of the venture studio. At its simplest, it’s a pretty seductive model. Instead of using your design, engineering, marketing and commercial skills to help clients build their businesses in exchange for fees, you use those same capabilities to build companies of your own in exchange for equity.
Tech Culture

As we Reach the Feature Event Horizon, our Processes Start to Collapse

We find ourselves at a singular moment of time. As an industry we’re starting to reach what I call The Feature Event Horizon. The point at which the time it takes to ship an idea is almost the same as the time it takes to come up with the idea in the first place. As we get closer to the threshold, time dilates. reality warps and we start to experience process collapse. What happens on the other side is anybody's guess, but it’s going to be bumpy. Let me explain. But first, let me start with a story.