Weekend Reading — I am a little surprised to hear this

dave trott “The memo that turned Avis into a much bigger company.”

Design Objective

Maxim Leyzerovich This animation illustrates the point so well:

Never ever present just a wireframe.

Always progressively contextualize:

• Content Hierarchy
• Feature Annotation
• Tasks/Interactions
• Journey Map
• Motion Design

Andrew Chen 👇 Hit the thread for product ideas that sound good but don't perform as well:

product ideas that sound good but rarely A/B test well

• multi-step tutorials that teach you how to use the product
• asking users to pay only after they've fully experienced the product
• (same on referrals - upfront is better!)
• lots of whitespace, low-density of data/information-- that nice designery look we all like

How to design delightful dark themes It's more than black & white: “However, it is difficult to create a delightful dark theme. We cannot simply reuse our colors or invert our shades.”

Dima Spivak 😂

"What's the opposite of 'stop?'"
"Go."
"Damn. I already put 'unstop.'"

Tools of the Trade

free-for.dev “A list of software (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc.) and other offerings that have free tiers for developers.”

AnnaR Like that:

Write the README you wish to see in the world

The Passion Economy and the Future of Work Marketplaces vs SaaS:

Marketplaces bring value for creators looking to be discovered and attract customers over time. SaaS tools often make sense for more established creators who already have a customer base. In response to this dynamic, many startups are building SaaS platforms that aim to poach large creators from existing marketplaces.

Nat Pryce Epic!

After reading Beowulf & the epic of Gilgamesh I’ve come to think the term epic is very well used in big-A agile. Real epics start with a compelling story, but then meander on, with random things happening, until they peter out without a satisfactory conclusion.

Lines of Code

The Lines of Code That Changed Everything Slate explores some of the most influencal pieces of software:

(define-behavior (bounce
        :start-when (or (bump?)
                      bounce-trigger? )
        :abort-when (bump-edge?)
        :onetime? t
      )
)

The Roomba proved that while our attention gravitates toward hardware—such as freaky backward-kneed, door-opening dogs—software might be even more important for a product’s wide adoption. The Asimovian-named iRobot did not create the first robotic vacuum, but the Roomba became a niche must-have not because of how well it sucks, but because of how well it navigated a room.

Test Desiderata Explores the properties of tests:

Isolated — tests should return the same results regardless of the order in which they are run.
Composable — if tests are isolated, then I can run 1 or 10 or 100 or 1,000,000 and get the same results.
Fast — tests should run quickly.
Inspiring — passing the tests should inspire confidence
…

Mihai Popescu Related:

There is a difference between the principles of test code and the principles of prod code. The way I experience it:

• prod code is concise, test code is descriptive
• prod code is general, test code is specific
• prod code is composable, test code is independent

David K. 🤔

There's a lot of confusion between what transpilers, compilers, and interpreters are.

Transpilation is compilation.

TypeScript is compiled to JavaScript

JavaScript is interpreted to Java by recruiters

Architectural

Hello, production 👍

Deploying something useless into production, as soon as you can, is the right way to start a new project. It pulls unknown risk forward, opens up parallel streams of work, and establishes good habits.

Jonnie Hallman … of those you don't regret immediately:

Every tech stack decision you make will be regretted 3-5 years later.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”

me: “Still trying to remove Angular and Coffeescript from my app’s codebase.”

Devoops

erincandescent I guess that's one way to manage infrastructure …

Today it was announced that Yahoo! Groups is shutting down, and taking with it a piece of critical national infrastructure: the Oftel Yahoo Group which is used for managing UK phone number assignments.

Yes, really: See Ofcom's website https://ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/56646/simwood.pdf

Teamwork

Asynchronous Communication: The Real Reason Remote Workers Are More Productive Not just for remote teams (caveat, written by Doist):

Because employees don’t have to stay on top of each message as it comes in, they can block off large chunks of uninterrupted time to do the work that creates the most value for your organization. They can come back to process their messages in batches 1-3 times a day instead of bouncing back and forth between work and messages or meetings.

Peopleware

Alex 🏖

Signs you need a break:

• loosing interesting in things you’re usually passionate about and bring you joy
• short temper and easy to provoke
• taking everything personally
• constant overthinking
• emotionally overwhelmed
• always exhausted/tired

Take care friends. Take a break.

YouTube ad sequencing and ad recall How ads are designed to capture your attention (cynical would say “manipulate”).

We’re all wired to remember great stories. Video ad sequencing lets marketers show ads on YouTube in an order based on the most compelling and memorable story structures. There are a lot of structures to explore, so we tested five sequences to understand their influence on three key metrics: brand awareness, ad recall, and purchase intent.

Locked Doors

Merritt Baer 🚨 Hiding electronics in the trunk:

Colleagues had a car broken into and laptops stolen in downtown Mountain View last night while we were at dinner. We wondered how they knew to break into the hatchback when it is not see- through.

They turn on bluetooth scanners and follow the beacon to find electronics.

Jane Lytvynenko “The details from his Equifax class-action suit are BONKERS”

For example, Equifax relied upon four digit pins derived from Social
Security numbers and birthdays to guard personal information, despite the fact that these weak passwords had already been compromised in previous personal information. Furthermore, Equifax employed the username “admin” and the password “admin” to protect a portal used to manage credit disputes, a password that “is a surefire way to get hacked.”

None of the Above

Chris Cox “Mom took my fridge.” — smart toilet Twitter integration

Hrothgar 🔥

Airbnb Math:

$40/night x 2 nights = $164

Best of Nextdoor “I avoided this submission for weeks bc of the subject line but then I finally read it and just trust me on this one 😂😂😂”

James Clear Ditto:

My email response time is either 3 minutes or 3 months.

ニューディスカバリー “People who take toy photos seriously 🤩”

iucounu 😂 This thread …

just had cause to send an email containing the phrase 'I am a little surprised to hear this, especially as', which fellow Britons will recognise as essentially a stabbing

Grouch (Joker Parody) - SNL I'd watch this Sesame St Joker mashup.

Manisha Agarwal Joke:

A physicist, a biologist, and a mathematician watch people enter and leave a house.They see 2 ppl enter & 3 leave

Physicist: The initial measurement wasn't accurate
Biologist: They must have reproduced
Mathematician: If one more enters, then the house will be empty again

Dak “I found a video of a duck falling asleep and I’m convinced it’s the cutest video ever”