#ignore the code

[joshmtucker]

A present I got for my birthday many months ago was Mathis' book Designed for Use: Create Usable Interfaces for Applications and the Web. I started reading it recently and can't believe I didn't start earlier. It's a great resource and has taught me immensely. 

This is another great piece from him called Unsolicited Redesigns. Of all the excellent points made, here's my takeaway:

1) Walk in humility

Humility is an act of respect. Instead of seeking to be right, strive for what IS right. Pose your critique more along the lines of a question, not a statement.

"Being brilliant is not a great feat if you respect nothing." – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

2) Seek to learn

Don't let your arrogance get in the way of learning the what, where, when, why how. Take pride in your work, but be open and receptive to the feedback. The more you listen and the less you talk, the more you will gain. Communication has a purpose – use it for what's meaningful.

"Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn." – Benjamin Franklin

© 2013 Joshua Tucker

[precarioustumblr]

Crappy Computers

This makes perfect sense. >This is a sentiment you often hear from people: casual users only need «entry-level» devices. Even casual users themselves perpetuate it: «Oh, I’m not doing much on my computer, so I always just go with the cheapest option.» And then they buy a horrid, underpowered netbook, find out that it has a tiny screen, is incredibly slow, the keyboard sucks, and they either never actually use it, or eventually come to the conclusion that they just hate computers. >In reality, it’s exactly backwards: proficient users can deal with a crappy computer, but casual users need as good a computer as possible. Via [Ignore the Code](http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2012/11/04/crappy_computers/).

[mlschmitt]

This is a sentiment you often hear from people: casual users only need "entry-level" performance. Even casual users themselves perpetuate it: "Oh, I’m not doing much on my computer, so I always just go with the cheapest option." And then they buy a horrid, underpowered netbook, find out that it has a tiny screen, is incredibly slow, the keyboard sucks, and they either never actually use it, or eventually come to the conclusion that they just hate computers. In reality, it’s exactly backwards: proficient users can deal with a crappy computer, but casual users need as good a computer as possible.

Lukas Mathis, "Crappy Computers"