UX debt has to be paid back was originally published in UX Collective on Medium. This article from 2022 feels pretty relevant for today. I often refer to the types of debt we accumulate as instructional design teams / units, mostly referring to technical debt, but I like the framing here of UX Debt that […]
Category: Quick Reflections and WebMentions
The Vanishing Designer
Scrolling through the UX Collective blogs today (2021) I came across this post, The Vanishing Designer, by Chuánqi Sun. Losing the design diversity means falling into a singular narrative of how design must be done, which grants unfair and self-reinforcing advantage to the mainstream while discouraging, stifling, or even punishing the idiosyncratic designers who […]
Encountering the most profound belonging
Chris Corrigan shared an experience recounting a recent trip in British Columbia. The description of his encounter with wildlife is well worth the read. I was fortunate to spend time in the Alberta/BC mountain ranges this summer and connect with the way he describes seeing, hearing, smelling, just really being present in nature. Since then […]
Just a QR Code
There was a period of time that link shorteners were the thing – think Google URL Shortener (RIP like so many Google things), and bit.ly – and as I recall, QR codes were rising at that time as well. Back then, before seemingly everyone had a computer with a camera in their pocket, I wondered […]
Weekly Web Harvest for 2025-04-20
I ran into this on Bionic Teaching and thought it was worth making note of. There are lots of resources out there for web accessibility, and it’s something I talk to people about from time to time. I’m grateful for the course W3C put together and the course I took at UAlberta. I make use…
Ever wonder how much energy your chats with LLMs use?
I came across this tool via Sasha Luccioni on LinkedIn. I started following Di. Luccioni’s work after listening to Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 19 – The Murky Climate and Environmental Impact of Large Language Models. That quote about “how much water getting ChatGPT to write your email” you’ve probably seen all over social…
Not being bored is why you always feel busy
From Doug Belshaw’s Thought Shrapnel, this post reminded me a bit of the Note to Self Bored and Brilliant challenge from maybe decade ago. It also echoes of one of the lessons I’ve learned from karate, to be weary of the three Zs (“zees”): too busy, too lazy, too easy. Anyway, it lead to to…
AI Badge – AI Usage Transparency System
I came across this one via Tom Woodward’s Bionic Teaching. If you land on the page in French there is an English version. Badge AI was created by Philippe Bourque, CEO of Cérebrum and an Artist Engineer from Quebec City. Taking inspiration from Creative Commons, Badge AI offers a framework for creators to show how…
Course Design Should Cost Zero…or not.
I’d thought about ignoring this one until AK posted Course Design Should Cost Zero…or Not. AK always ends with “your thoughts?” so I guess here I am. I ran into the “kerfuffle” via Downes, although I also follow Crosslin, Wiley, AK, and used to follow Siemens although he’s moved around a bit since I read…
Work is part of our lives, a big part to be sure, but what if it wasn’t our whole life?
Along the lines of the last post I commented on from Doug Belshaw, this also reflects on identify and how what you do for work my swallow that. I’m more familiar with Mike Monteiro’s talks, F*ck You Pay Me, and What Your Client’s Don’t Know and Why It’s Your Fault. Both are excellent watches/listens. That’s…
What do you *like* to do?
Doug Belshaw’s Thought Shrapnel always has interesting stuff to read. Here he shared an excerpt from Kai Brach’s “Dense Discovery” newsletter that resonated with me, what to do with that terrible social interaction that begins with “What do you do?” There was some interaction I was in over a decade ago where this question came…
Stop Trying to Make AGi Happen, It’s Not Going to Happen!
This is another response from Matt Crosslin to George Siemens on AI. I came across it in OLDaily. Downes notes first the comparison of companies, governments, etc. as a sort of intelligent system. But that if you remove all the people, the company, government, or social system ceases to function (much like a Mechanical Turk)…