[img]: Theatrical poster for Rotterdam English Speaking Theatre featuring a triptych of moody scenes

Daddy Cross, my friend and coworker with the best nickname in the world, is usually a very bold woman. The kind of power house I imagine Julia Louis-Dreyfus to be. Speaks truth to power in a voice that can do all sorts of things. Best physical comedy I’ve ever seen in a person. But I shouldn’t be surprised, because she’s a total theater kid. Last week, as I hobbled my way past her desk, she asked, in a squeaky voice: “Are you busy, like, in general?”

I’m never busy. I learned early on in University that answering the question “How are you?” with “Oh my, I’m so busy” was both boring and unproductive. I always reserve space for emergency design work, on-the-fly meetings, and time-sensitive requests. But Daddy Cross’ question wasn’t about work.

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The procrastinating part of me celebrates these words.

I want a good calendar app. One I’m excited to use, that works across devices, and is happy with multiple accounts that didn’t all originate in its own ecosystem. I want it to be lightweight.

I want a beautiful way of organizing my areas of responsibility. The difference between organizing my objectives, and executing on them is growing larger by the day, it seems. I don’t see people around me who appear to have the same struggle.

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There’s a reason I keep thinking Millennials are the new Boomers, and that reason is me. Here are some thoughts on how I finally came to welcome AI as a friendly member of my UX toolkit. (Keep reading)

A late submission to April’s IndieWeb Carnival, and thoughts on system-thinking in the product world (Keep reading)

Yesterday, as I was going through what seemed like the most severe after-lunch dip in recent memory, I logged on to ADPList to meet a designer from Denmark. It’s miraculous, the effect unexpected kindness can have on the body. After 30 minutes, I skipped out of my meeting booth ready to take on the rest of the afternoon, which I did, and it rocked.

Here’s a summary of her booking request:

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The March edition of the IndieWeb Carnival is about accessibility on the small web. The host, orchids, touches on a note-worthy design pattern found in this fine corner of the Internet: that of artsy, personal websites that emulate technology of old, particularly the early days of Internet. The fair question orchids poses is: how does this design pattern affect people with particular accessibility needs?

Here I am.

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I always say that I like returning from church with more questions than I brought in. The same is true for this month’s prompt.

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More than any other time in my online life am I aware of the value of alt text. I make a point to write image descriptions whenever I can. Kind strangers with a variety of accessibility needs have been helping me understand how to best capture my interpretation of an image. I’ve come to regard alt text as the secret side bar I get to have with blind people and others who need it.

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