tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:/feedAlexander Singh2018-12-17T01:35:47-08:00Alexander Singhhttps://alexsingh.svbtle.comSvbtle.comtag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/an-incomplete-list-of-my-ux-heuristics2018-12-17T01:35:47-08:002018-12-17T01:35:47-08:00An Incomplete List of My UX Heuristics<p>I realized I don’t have a central reference for all of my UX heuristics, so here they are. I’ll be adding to this list over time.</p>
<p>Some are mine, many are borrowed.</p>
<p><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The validity of these heuristics is entirely dependent upon context. Know why and when to use them.</p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Breadcrumbs not Banquets</strong><br>
Too much information - especially new information - is paralyzing. Rather than giving people a “banquet” of information to gorge on, give them breadcrumbs: just enough so that they have the <strong>confidence</strong> and <strong>knowledge</strong> to proceed to the next step in the process.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Communicate the Benefit</strong><br>
Per <a href="https://www.useronboard.com/features-vs-benefits/">this great essay</a> from User Onboarding. I see this one broken often.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>One Request At A Time</strong><br>
Don’t overload them. Make a single, simple request at a time: whether it’s asking them to sign up, complete an onboarding, subscribe/upgrade, invite a friend.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Perform a favor before asking for one</strong><br>
Selectively choose when to ask a user to do you a favor. This might be an App Store review, inviting friend(s) or subscribing. Always seek to position your requests immediately after providing demonstrable value to them.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Three Steps to an Outcome</strong><br>
Where possible, never make a user ‘travel’ more than three steps to achieve an outcome or milestone. This heuristic encourages you to consider it as an architectural structure: can you distribute, say, your onboarding throughout the app, so your 6 steps are broken into two 3-step flows? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>This may not always be possible. Fintech is one area with a lot of regulation, which may require several verification steps that force this rule to be broken.</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Minimization of Output Energy</strong><br>
All biological life seek to minimize their output energy. This is fundamental to survival: the less energy you expend, the less scarce food you need to find to recharge. In society we judge this behavior and call it <em>laziness</em>. Someone who has discovered your company or product for the first time is going to be less inclined to expend the energy necessary to determine if it does the job they need. Seek to reduce this fundamental biological impulse where possible. Reduce friction.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Make Sequentially Greater Asks</strong><br>
This continues on from #6. Most people will be wary of investing a lot of time & energy into an activity with an unproven reward. How do they know your product can deliver? To adapt around this behavior, start by making small asks and sequentially increasing them as you continue to prove yourself. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Don’t ask for a referral before you’ve got them signed up. Don’t ask them to pay until you’ve proven value. Etc.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Metaphors Make Understanding</strong>
Seek metaphors to improve people’s comprehension of your product, what it does, and how it functions. Metaphors are an effective tool to allow people to decipher unknown concepts by extrapolating from known ones. </li>
</ol>
<p>The history of computing is littered with metaphors: Desktop computers. Files and folders. The World Wide Web. Password Keys. If Lakoff is right, and metaphor is the root of cognition, then this only adds to its effectiveness as a kind of “cognitive conceptual translator.”</p>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Consider the Second Order Effects</strong>
Contemporary design discourse doesn’t wade into this territory much, but we are designing within and amongst complex systems. Emergent -unexpected - outcomes are an inherent property of these systems. Look at Airbnb’s effect on neighborhoods in Amsterdam and Barcelona. Look at Facebook’s effect on the accuracy of information and its capability to shape and manipulate opinion. </li>
</ol>
<p>Even the simplest products have second order effects on human cognition, habit, and social behaviors. Do your best to map them out.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Fools Emerge from Frictionless Experiences</strong>
The current obsession with frictionless experiences is a troubling one. It appears predicated on an incentive structure that encourages ever higher DAUs.</li>
</ol>
<p>Frictionless experiences can undermine people’s behavior, encourage their worst impulses, and lead to negative outcomes. Friction - struggle - is central to the human condition. We grow from our trials. What friction can you put into your product that improves your users behaviors and habits? That makes them stronger?</p>
<hr>
<p>More to come.</p>
tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/notes-observations-on-community2018-06-08T15:23:20-07:002018-06-08T15:23:20-07:00Notes & Observations on Online Communities<p>This is a distillation of my experience in community building for Domino, a startup I co-founded that operated for nearly three years. It was a referral-driven job marketplace that let freelancers find work through their friends. As such, our community was an integral component for seeding the two-sided marketplace.</p>
<p>Community building is more art than science. It is highly subjective and so your mileage may vary.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>1. Start immediately</strong> <br>
Because communities are fuzzy spaces, it’s very hard to will them into being: they simply take time. There are certain things you may be able to do to expedite the process (ads, hiring community managers to recruit people / generate constant activity, partnerships) but these will be temporary effects and they may ultimately fail.</p>
<p>We started Domino’s community before we wrote a single line of code. Back in early 2015, we were one of the first to adopt Slack as a community platform.</p>
<p><strong>2. Choose your space wisely</strong> <br>
Where you establish your community has major implications for: </p>
<p>-The speed of community growth.<br>
-The minimum engagement activity/energy required to sustain it.<br>
-The level of community belonging/connection<br>
-The required community management infrastructure.</p>
<p>We adopted Slack without thinking about it and found ourselves holding a double-edged sword. The chat medium enables a fast pace of community growth, high level of community belonging and can scale reasonably well. Unfortunately, it requires a substantial amount of time and energy to engage the community because the medium is <em>real-time chat</em>. </p>
<p>I spent every waking hour on our Slack in the early days. When I was taking a break from code/design work I would be attempting to facilitate discussions amongst community members. It was brutal. There <em>is</em> a critical mass of community membership in chat apps that requires less direct involvement, especially if you can promote community members into moderator roles, but it’s still higher than other community spaces.</p>
<p><strong>3. A quick list of possible community spaces</strong><br>
Just so we’re clear on the alternatives, community spaces can also be created via:</p>
<p>-Real world meetups.<br>
-Email newsletters<br>
-Twitch streams<br>
-Blogs<br>
-Social media (Twitter, FB)</p>
<p><strong>4. How do I get people to join?</strong><br>
There’s no right answer. A good practice is to find where the people that you want to appeal to are already hanging out & interacting. Seek out existing communities. Reach out to their members, or partner with them directly. For us, that meant freelancers on /r/freelance, Twitter, Facebook, and digital nomad communities online.</p>
<p>Be clear on your value proposition. What’s the community for? Why is it worth the time to join and participate?</p>
<p><strong>5. So how’s my community going?</strong><br>
There are three big metrics: Community growth, engagement & belonging. Growth refers to the number of new community members you add each month, engagement refers to how many times your members interact with the community, and belonging is a fuzzy one relating to how connected they feel / how much they personally identify with the community.</p>
<p>80% of the time you want to focus on engagement. An engaged community is a living community. The more they interact, the stronger their connection and sense of belonging. Growth can be deceiving. Beyond a certain limit, large communities become more complex to manage, can fracture and split.</p>
<p>Domino’s community grew to just over 1000 people. Within that was a core group of 40-60 highly engaged members that helped keep it alive. Numerous community members met, worked together and provided educational and emotional support to one another. That is far greater success signal than a vanity number of total sign-ups.</p>
<p><strong>6. Community-led moderation</strong><br>
Even if you can afford to hire a full-time community manager, you should endeavor to hand off community moderation to the community itself. Doing so empowers the community, further engages the chosen moderators, and gives your CM bandwidth to invest their time into deeper work.</p>
<p>We never formalized this at Domino and I believe it was to our detriment.</p>
<p><strong>7. Maybe you shouldn’t create a community at all</strong><br>
Community creation, engagement & management takes significant time and energy. Unless you can identify how your own community is a core part of your business/product strategy, you’re probably better off engaging with existing communities.</p>
<p><strong>8. Examples of great communities</strong><br>
Here are my two favorite: [Learning Gardens](<a href="http://www.learning-gardens.co">www.learning-gardens.co</a>) & Are.na(<a href="http://www.are.na">www.are.na</a>). Why? Because both have introduced me to interesting, like-minded people that have expanded my thinking, self-understanding, and comprehension of the world.</p>
<p>[Lot](<a href="http://www.lot2046.com">www.lot2046.com</a>) has been very successful in attracting a membership with a high degree of association/belonging despite limited engagement (consisting of a weekly Twitch stream/hangout).</p>
<p>More to come.</p>
tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/a-short-note2018-02-03T12:25:43-08:002018-02-03T12:25:43-08:00Ambient Product Design<p>Since November last year, I’ve been publicly researching <a href="http://www.are.na/alex-singh/ambient-product-design">Ambient Product Design</a> on Are.na in an attempt to arrive at a new paradigm of harmonious digital products.</p>
<p>My research has accelerated since January, and I’m spending the first few hours of each morning reading, writing and synthesizing.</p>
<p>I have also begun to present the material 1:1, seeking criticism to help shape the ideas and prepare them for wider publication. <strong>If you’re interested in discussing this research please <a href="mailto:studio@alexsingh.com">email me</a>.</strong></p>
<p>I’ll be back writing here when the initial research into APD is finished.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in following along, I encourage you to read the following channels:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.are.na/alex-singh/ambient-product-design">Ambient Product Design</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.are.na/alex-singh/ambient-product-design-references">Ambient Product Design References</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.are.na/alex-singh/ambient-product-analogies">Ambient Product Analogies</a></p>
tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/ambient-interventions-for-20182018-01-01T04:59:08-08:002018-01-01T04:59:08-08:00Ambient Interventions for 2018<p>I’ve been on the lookout for digital products that embody the principles I’ve begun outlining in my <a href="https://www.are.na/alex-singh/ambient-product-design">Ambient Product Design</a> research. </p>
<p>Essentially: products with a tiny footprint that empower us, promote calm and protect our humanity.</p>
<p>One class of “ambient products” are <em>ambient interventions</em>. They consciously intercede against existing products on the user’s behalf. An intervention can take any form: a digital product itself, or add-on/plugin/extension into an existing product, a written guide on reconfiguring a piece of owned technology, etc.</p>
<p>For 2018, I’ve set up the following interventions:</p>
<p><a href="https://jon-kyle.com/entries/2017-10-26-dropout/"><strong>Dropout</strong></a><br>
Collects online material for offline access. There are several use cases for this, but I personally want to leverage it to disconnect from the Internet while preserving access to materials I need for work.</p>
<p><a href="https://github.com/jondashkyle/hardly-everything"><strong>Hardly Everything</strong></a><br>
Another project by <a href="https://github.com/jondashkyle/hardly-everything">Jon-Kyle Mohr</a>. Defined as an “anti-feed”, it helps you control the <em>cadence</em> of your online content consumption, through a user-defined period of rest. You add a URL, set the period of rest (a day, a week) and once you click on the link, it disappears for that period of time.</p>
<p><strong>Device Dulling</strong><br>
Late last year, I adopted my friend <a href="https://edouard.us/personalcomputer-vendingmachine/">Edouard’s iPhone setup</a>. The premise is simple: reduce the phone’s distractive potential by restricting its access <em>to you</em>.</p>
<ol>
<li>Set a pure black wallpaper.</li>
<li>Move all the apps into a single collection within your dock.</li>
<li>Remove badge notifications</li>
<li>Reserve the remaining dock space only for functionally critical or positive apps, e.g. ExpressVPN, 1Password, Kindle.</li>
<li>(Optional) This wasn’t expressly articulated by Ed, but restricting call access to your immediate family + friends is simple and effective to implement too.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Device Demarcation</strong><br>
Building upon the reconfiguration of my phone, this year I’m demarcating two distinct spaces: </p>
<ol>
<li>My phone, for external communication & consumption.</li>
<li>My computer, for productive, focused work, creativity, and contemplation.</li>
</ol>
<p>This is simple: I’ve deleted my email client, Slack, iMessage et al from my computer, so I can only access them from my phone and I’ve setup URL restrictions against the few non-work sites I check regularly.</p>
<p>By creating a physical demarcation with these two devices, I intend to establish a new set of habits around focus, consumption, and time management.</p>
<p><strong>Are.na as All-Seeing Eye</strong><br>
<a href="http://www.are.na">Are.na</a> was one of the best things I came across in 2017 (alongside <a href="http://www.learning-gardens.co">Learning Gardens</a>). It has become an indispensable resource, both for my work and for my own personal development - thanks to the best community on the Internet.</p>
<p>By default, Are.na is centered around a user-curated feed. It’s a great mechanism for creative discovery & idea generation, but it’s increasingly at odds with how I <em>want</em> to be using the site, moving principally from discovery to more “development/management” tasks – managing my research, organizing & tracking my notes, synthesizing and building upon my ideas, etc.</p>
<p>A couple of days ago, Jon-Kyle shared <a href="https://www.are.na/block/1542337">his Are.na homepage/approach</a> and that has given me some initial context for how I’d like to utilize Are.na going forward. A mix of project index, daily to-do list, journal, and note app.</p>
<p>This is an open area of inquiry for me, and I’ll be sharing my approach as it evolves.</p>
<p><strong>Chrome Tab Management</strong><br>
Tabs are one of those great-in-theory-terrible-in-practice features, courtesy of a lack of constraints and poor user education.</p>
<p>I’m now using <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/session-buddy/edacconmaakjimmfgnblocblbcdcpbko">SessionBuddy</a> to create curated collections of tabs that are project, task or idea specific. They can be saved and loaded at will, letting me leverage the power of tabs while staying organized.</p>
<p>I’ll update this post as I implement new interventions throughout the year.</p>
tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/life-as-language2017-12-20T06:13:36-08:002017-12-20T06:13:36-08:00Life as language<p>Language is an incredible device. </p>
<p>It has allowed us to share knowledge, to organize and clarify our world, to cooperate and collaborate, to be taxed by the man, and to think in abstract terms. It has formed the foundation for the discovery of all of our subsequent technologies. It even lets me pontificate like I know what I’m talking about.</p>
<p>What comes to mind when you read the word “language”? Probably English, if you’re a native English speaker. Or maybe the concept of verbal languages, generally.</p>
<p>A more open reading might include other languages we’re already familiar with:</p>
<p><strong>Mathematics</strong> is a problem-solving language. <br>
<strong>Physics</strong> is the foundational language of the universe.<br>
<strong>Design</strong> is an abstract language to help us engage with and navigate the various abstractions within our world & society.<br>
<strong>Music</strong> is a non-visual language that interfaces with our entire nervous system.<br>
<strong>Biology</strong> & <strong>horticulture</strong> are languages to help us to communicate with & mold the natural world.<br>
<strong>Photography</strong> is a language to help us see the invisible. It also lets us render the language of time.<br>
What about <strong>time</strong>? It’s a language that allows us to perceive the apparently linear progression of events. It’s also a language of order.<br>
<strong>Diplomacy</strong> is the official language of negotiation and Nation States.</p>
<p>I find rock climbing an interesting language: a combination of physics, biology, and engineering. Natural routes, defined over thousands or millions of years that are then mapped out and solved by climbers with a mix of their own physical strength and endurance, alongside various tools they bring with them.</p>
<hr>
<p>Try redefining your work, skills, hobbies, beliefs, interactions, and information flows within the conceptual framework of language, and you open them up to some wonderful new characteristics:</p>
<p><strong>Malleability</strong><br>
Languages are inherently malleable. Letters and words can be placed in any order and combination you fancy. Hell, you can even throw a semicolon in there.</p>
<p><strong>Translatability</strong><br>
They have the flexibility to be translated into different languages. How can the characteristics of rock climbing be translated into plumbing? Or the characteristics of music into app design?</p>
<p><strong>Combinatorial</strong><br>
Language is fundamentally combinatorial. Symbols we call letters are combined into words into sentences into paragraphs into pages into books. How might you practice this <a href="https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/04/einstein-productive-thought-combinatory-creativity/">combinatorial behavior</a> in your own work?</p>
<p><strong>Atomized</strong><br>
A language’s foundation is its alphabet of symbols - its atomic units. What are the atomic units of your hobbies, or interests? How might you use this foundation to facilitate <a href="https://alexsingh.svbtle.com/atomic-actions">atomic actions</a> in your projects?</p>
<p><strong>Formless</strong><br>
Language has a symbolic structure, but it’s also formless. It exists within our minds, in the air, on paper, and on screens. It is visual and verbal. This formlessness grants it a wonderful adaptability. How can your interests transcend their forms?</p>
<p><strong>Alive</strong><br>
Most importantly, it’s alive. An entity in constant evolution with its environment. The English, French or Portuguese of a century ago is out of place today, as was the popular culture, values & entertainment. How can you engineer your knowledge to evolve alongside you?</p>
<p>I think that utilizing the conceptual framework of language can make us more open-minded, more flexible, less defensive, and more creative. </p>
<p>This is currently an area of casual inquiry that I will update accordingly.</p>
tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/are-na-channel-abstracts2017-10-28T09:40:29-07:002017-10-28T09:40:29-07:00Are.na Channel Abstracts<p>I wanted to write a quick post to share more context around some of <a href="http://www.are.na/alex-singh">my channels on Are.na</a>.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.are.na/alex-singh/assorted-design-references-vol-i">Assorted Design References </a></strong><br>
ADR began as a collection of digital design references to help with my product design education, and then quickly evolved into a scrapbook featuring art, architecture, fashion, philosophical quotes, graphic design and identity work, digital product design, editorial and print design, posters and packaging.</p>
<p>The broad collection now functions more like a blog that’s intended to aid in <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2011/08/01/networked-knowledge-combinatorial-creativity/">combinatorial creativity</a>.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.are.na/alex-singh/a-catalogue-of-simple-pleasures">A Catalogue of Simple Pleasures</a></strong><br>
I’ve grown increasingly wary of the “innovations” of early 21st-century life: iPhones, social networks, the attention economy, digital vanity, the erosion of focus-as-skill, and the elevation of shallow experiences.</p>
<p>There are so many small, simple pleasures in life that are truly wonderful - from holding hands, to stretching, to paying off a debt, to saying “I’m sorry” - and I wanted to start collecting them as a reminder to myself and hopefully to others.</p>
<p>The collection is an antidote to modern life, encouraging us to seek them out and savor them wherever possible.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.are.na/alex-singh/small-tools-for-successful-living">Small Tools for Successful Living</a></strong><br>
A motley collection of individual “tools” - including walking, forgiveness, doubt, and The Socratic Method - designed to give you more agency over your life.</p>
<p>I’m quietly collecting these tools and will then organize them around a simple taxonomy designed to encourage their application.</p>
<p>The goal is a succinct digital object that functions as a narrativeless self-interpreted self-help text stripped of any agenda.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.are.na/alex-singh/an-index-for-interacting-w-information">An Index for Interacting with Information</a></strong><br>
A shorthand reference for the different systems we use to structure, organize, process and deliver information. I created it as an aid in the product design process.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.are.na/alex-singh/living-through-networks">Living Through Networks</a></strong><br>
Still very much in its infancy, this is a casual exploration into the notion that networks are the fundamental architecture of complex life - from our brains and bodies through to our societies, economies, organizational methods etc.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.are.na/alex-singh/joy-cooperation">Joy & Cooperation</a></strong><br>
I find the human capacity for complex collaboration to be deeply fascinating and very rewarding. I’ve been enamored with concepts like companies, management, and organizational systems since I was a kid.</p>
<p>While we all have horror stories of our corporate experiences, there are many good stories that permeate the zeitgeist as well, and I’d like to better understand both halves.</p>
<p>This is an ongoing study in understanding the various pieces necessary to promote a joyful collaborative experience.</p>
<p>**<a href="https://www.are.na/alex-singh/ambient-organisations">Ambient Organisations</a><br>
A concept that emerged within Joy & Cooperation that I spun out into a dedicated channel. Ambient Organisations are organizational systems that exist within the fabric of our society. They can be implicitly influenced, not explicitly controlled. They are publicly accessible and collectively agendaless (although individual agents may have agendas). Examples would include Bitcoin (but not Ethereum), the global economy, science, language, subcultures, the concept of abstract currency and knowledge.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.are.na/alex-singh/questions-for-a-future-self">Questions For A Future Self</a></strong><br>
A broad range of questions designed to establish an on-going dialogue between your past, present, and future selves.</p>
<p>The idea is to answer these questions repeatedly, across different timescales (a week, a month, a year, a decade, etc.) so that you can observe your personal evolution across time.</p>
<p>This sits alongside <em>Small Tools for Success Living</em> and <em>Living Through Networks</em> as an exploration in living with agency, grace, and harmony.</p>
tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/wikipedia-as-the-ideal-social-network2017-08-05T17:20:15-07:002017-08-05T17:20:15-07:00Wikipedia: prototype for a collaborative, goal-oriented social network<p>Facebook is the de facto standard in online social networking in the eyes of the tech industry and the media and in the subconscious minds of consumers.</p>
<p>The “Facebook Model” of social networking is so well entrenched that any emergent rivals are swiftly and unfavorably analyzed against it. I suspect this is one of the reasons Snapchat rebranded its parent as Snap Inc and <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/why-is-snap-calling-itself-a-camera-company">declared itself a camera company</a> with Pinterest <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2015/05/27/pinterest-ben-silbermann-at-code/27808501/">recently following suite.</a>.</p>
<p>Facebook’s dominance stifles the imagination. A weak abstraction of a local social system mapped to a global scale, it successfully creates a veneer of intimacy between its users that is wonderful and wonderfully hollow.</p>
<p>The platform does allow for some interesting and productive experiences to emerge. These are exclusive, small-scale endeavors, often private and invite-only: localized marketplaces for trading goods & services, profession-specific forums for education and skills development, and informal, job recommendations within closed social groups. Alas, these are the exceptions that prove the rule.</p>
<p>Facebook has uncovered and popularized a range of conventions within online social networking which are often mimicked:</p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> Temporal value is emphasized over stored value: Yesterday is irrelevant, now that there’s Today, until the arrival of Tomorrow.</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> Attention is monetized through advertising.</p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> Competitiveness trumps collaboration: Likes! Followers! Interactions!</p>
<hr>
<p>Wikipedia - founded before Facebook - gives us a prototypical model for another approach:</p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> Non-profit - relying on grants and donations to survive.</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> Collaborative, not competitive - User interactions are structured around collaborating toward a mutually beneficial outcome, in this case, a <a href="http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=78cbbb7f2882629a5157fa593&id=f3d26f3690">Great Work</a>.</p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> Goal-oriented - The Wikipedia social network facilitates collaboration toward a global, collectively beneficial goal. Within this is a set of local goals that a participant achieves as they write, edit and moderate the encyclopedia.</p>
<p><strong>4.</strong> Quality Standards: Contributions must surpass a high bar that demands approval from multiple participants. </p>
<p><strong>5.</strong> Valuable to non-participants: Even if you’re not a member of the “Wikipedia social network” you can still access and benefit from it.</p>
<hr>
<p>More recently, my new <em>favorite place on the Internet</em> has been <a href="https://www.are.na/">Arena</a> which shares some of Wikipedia’s qualities. A space for collaborative research, it features an open-ended design that supports user-driven use cases. As you collect and organize your research material it is made accessible to others to integrate into their own work. Local actions have global benefit. It has expanded my mind, and led me to meeting intelligent and open minded individuals.</p>
<p>Most importantly, it has helped guide me to a new model of socializing online that is thoughtful, productive and optimistic.</p>
tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/sand-and-sediment2017-07-22T14:19:17-07:002017-07-22T14:19:17-07:00Sand and sediment<p>In a speech in 1964 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1tKEvN3DF0">(echoed here in 1981)</a>, Richard Feynman talked about the importance of doubt as a principle element of belief and knowledge. He lamented science’s passivity in encouraging society to embrace this point-of-view and it remains a foreign concept until today.</p>
<p>By virtue of his worldview as a scientist, Feynman understood that all knowledge is graded on a spectrum of certainty. Even something as mundane as the rising of tomorrow’s sun, which seems like an inevitability, cannot escape this net. Complete certainty is the domain of the delusional.</p>
<p>Like many of our challenges, I suspect that the reason this worldview hasn’t been more widely adopted outside of science is that it demands a rational mind, a high degree of self-awareness, and the ability to identify and discard bias, which is at odds with our ego. These are demanding qualities to cultivate.</p>
<p>Historically, we have required certainty to aid our survival. We must be certain about what we can eat, where to hunt, and what to avoid. Certainty was cultivated primarily through intimate personal experience with our physical environment. Today, our personal experiences involve the amorphous web of theories, concepts, ideas and values. Rarely do we learn these through personal experimentation and endeavor. More often, they are discovered or formalized by figures in history and transmitted to us by trained teachers.</p>
<p>In school, most of the information we’re given is couched in certainty. A single point of view on world history, economics, geography, language, culture and societal values. The media talks in absolute statements that ironically change with the wind. Our parents teach us the absolutes of right and wrong.</p>
<p>I struggle to recall a time - outside of the science lab - where knowledge was delivered without complete certainty.</p>
<p>Certainty is also at the heart of all conflict. It encourages a narrow mind and demands an unflinching position. Certainty must be defended at all costs. Certainty must be complete for it to survive. It is it’s nature, and so it cannot give quarter to doubt, which needs but a foot in the door to flourish.</p>
<p>Millions of grains of sand form a free floating bed on the beach and in-between your toes. Modest, malleable, harmless. Only when they’re caught in the web of certainty do they bind together, and become rock hard sediment.</p>
<p>Seek the sand, spurn the sediment, and doubt everything. Even just a little bit.</p>
tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/design-the-beginning-not-the-end2017-06-11T13:29:28-07:002017-06-11T13:29:28-07:00Design the Beginning, not the End<p>During my conversation with <a href="http://www.vadikmarmeladov.com">Vadik</a> one of our discussions was on the iPhone and how its current form was not directly and consciously conceived of by Jony Ive and his design team, but by the multitude of social, economic, environmental and cultural influences and decisions made throughout the process by the company, and culture as a whole.</p>
<p>The choices around materials, functionality, and features were the primary contributor to the phone we see today. Those choices were themselves a consideration between cost, durability, supply chain efficiencies, production volumes, and so on. In the end, the conscious aesthetic design process accounts for a fraction of the phones final form.</p>
<p>This reminded me of a discussion on habits with <a href="https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/02/naval-ravikant-reading-decision-making/">Naval and Shane on the Knowledge Project podcast</a> and the idea of designing your <a href="https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/06/habits-vs-goals/">habits, not your goals</a>.</p>
<p>The End is inconceivable at the Beginning, and it’s a mix of hubris, ignorance, and fantasy that paints an imaginary picture of what it will look like.</p>
<p>Alternatively, try to design the start - and the system - that will get you there.</p>
tag:alexsingh.svbtle.com,2014:Post/individuality-at-the-intersection-of-our-interactions2017-06-05T07:56:58-07:002017-06-05T07:56:58-07:00Individuality at the Intersection of our Interactions<p>In <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Brief-Lessons-Physics-Rovelli/dp/0399184414/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499018687&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+brief+lessons+on+physics">Seven Brief Lessons on Physics</a></em>, Rovelli cites the “odd” behavior of quantum matter - to exist simultaneously in all possible states until observed or interacted with - and questions whether all reality <em>is</em> interaction.</p>
<p>Born as blank canvases, it’s easy to observe how we take shape through our interactions with others.</p>
<p>The individual can only exist through their interactions with others. </p>
<p>Our individuality is unique only at the intersections of those interactions.</p>
<p>How do individualistic cultures reconcile the value of “The Individual” as greater than the group which nurtures it, sustains it and maintains its form?</p>