In the physical world, like in a drugstore or a supermarket, I have been trained to expect certain wayfinding points. Look up for aisle signs—they serve as broad menu items, mimicking that of a universal navigation within an interface. There are lane numbers with broad categorizations. But, I am also trained to find objects by looking for other, related objects. The vitamins are near the pharmacy because both are loosely “health related.” The diapers, family planning merchandise, and feminine hygiene products are proximal. The milk is near the cheese, almost always in the back of a store. The fresh produce … Read more of the post Object-Oriented UX, Part 1

In part four, we looked at the difference between hierarchical and collaborative conversations. Now we bring it all together and ask, “What can we do?” The answer is, a lot. There are, as it turns out, many solutions to how we can do a better job of talking to each other, and any one of these are approaches you can try in your own lives or organizations. Call out good behavior When’s the last time you saw a great comment in a comments section? Did you call it out? Tweet about it? Where is the “top ten comments of the … Read more of the post The Content Strategy of Civil Discourse, Part 5

Pattern libraries are a valuable tool for organizations large and small. In this article, we’ll explain how we’re making pattern libraries even easier to use and maintain. At Think Company, we know that pattern libraries (also referred to as component libraries, UI libraries, or code kits) are excellent tools for enforcing consistency across an organization’s products. They’re a central source of truth for design and code, and they reduce repeated work. If you’ve read Greg’s post on the benefits of using pattern libraries, then you know a pattern library benefits many different folks in an organization. One of those is of … Read more of the post Make It Easy for Your Developers to Use Your Pattern Library

Once a week, when I’m at home dragging the garbage cans to the curb, I think to myself, “Whoa… it feels like I was just doing this yesterday… and here we are again… *SNAP*… another week.” This always gives me a little pang of existential angst, to be honest. This time of year, when Suzanne asks, “Hey, are you gonna do a traditional year-end post?”, it happens on a grander scale. There are rituals that are part of the Think Company experience that hit me in a similar and familiar way every time a year comes to a close, but … Read more of the post Growth, Goals Realized, and Charting the Future: Reflections on 2018

In part three, we talked about how design influences conversation—both in the real world and online. Now we’re going to zoom out a bit to talk about two different approaches to conversation that make all of the difference: collaboration versus hierarchy. A hierarchical approach basically says, “This is how it should be and there should be no deviation.” It already knows the answer. It is non-learning because, well, what is there to learn? We already know the answer. All we can discuss is whether or not you agree. It is also exclusive. It divides the world into two groups: those … Read more of the post The Content Strategy of Civil Discourse, Part 4