• UX Bites — Carrot, Any Distance & Creme - Geek out on this great "bite" from Carrot, which is my new favorite weather app. UX Bites reminds me of Cook Well for apps - fascinating break downs of something so every day we ignore it. If you like this "bite", get many UX bites delivered to your inbox here: https://builtformars.com/newsletter.

It's surprisingly hard to measure the true cost of bad UX.You've got the obvious ones: churn and lost conversions.But it also slows down product teams.Back and forth between designers, developers, designers, QA, designers, and then noticing inconsistencies during testing—it's exhausting (and expensive).So then, what's the value of a single moment of great UX?I suspect a lot.

• 30-Day First Draft: Week 1 Report & Lessons - I'm in love with reading about the results of an ambitious experiment. This one, writing a sci-fi novel in 30 days, fits the bill. I love the nitty gritty habits and hacks that come with trying to write a staggering 6,000 words per day.

The time pressure of getting this many words in per day is forcing me to be much more efficient with everything else, and it’s been a noticeable boost to my overall productivity. I might not have been putting enough on my plate beforehand.

• Let's talk about Shingal and Gukurahundi - I learn more about the world from this newsletter than any other. Each week the curator, Sham, opens my world a bit more. In this issue, the opening is a dark one as it focuses on two genocides, one in Iraq and another in Zimbabwe. While it's difficult to read about, it is critical to learn from the past, especially the darker parts. 

So, Issue #391 took me a day longer than usual because I got totally engrossed in a book to make sure I nailed the story. This issue might feel a bit more intense since I'm diving into some heavy topics. I’m asking you to listen to the stories of survivors from two events: the genocide of the Yazidis in Shingal/Sinjar in Iraq in 2014, and the massacre of the Ndebele people in Zimbabwe during the 1980s. Both communities are still dealing with the aftermath, and I made sure to really focus on the survivors' stories to give you a fuller picture.

• A Smart Bear » It's a torturous chaos until it isn't - I've been around startups for a long time, but I'm not sure I've ever heard the early days described so well. I did not grasp how hopeless the early days of a startup can seem. There's so many good questions here, and few good answers. Just how I like it.

The fact that you’re in over your head, that you almost cannot will yourself to continue, that you’re completely in the dark, that you’re working yourself to an early grave, that you seem to slide two steps back for every one forward, that nothing’s ever good enough, that that your friends and family can’t understand why you’re turning yourself inside out with no apparent progress, that you’re supposed to be enjoying the journey but you’re not, that you yourself doubt whether you’re even capable of this… These things mean you haven’t yet succeeded, but neither do they prove that you’re failing. It’s always like this, until it isn’t.

• Safety, Comfort, and How PsychologyToday.com Tried to Censor Me - Ignore the clickbait title here and you will find many gems. Resmaa Menakem is innovative in connecting the body with politics and racism. In particular, Resmaa's distinction between discomfort and danger blew my mind. Well done.

Danger is a call to act—often immediately. Discomfort is a call to examine, consider, and decide. It is also an opportunity to learn and grow up.

• UX Bites — Carrot, Any Distance & Creme - Geek out on this great "bite" from Carrot, which is my new favorite weather app. UX Bites reminds me of Cook Well for apps - fascinating break downs of something so every day we ignore it. If you like this "bite", get many UX bites delivered to your inbox here: https://builtformars.com/newsletter.

It's surprisingly hard to measure the true cost of bad UX.You've got the obvious ones: churn and lost conversions.But it also slows down product teams.Back and forth between designers, developers, designers, QA, designers, and then noticing inconsistencies during testing—it's exhausting (and expensive).So then, what's the value of a single moment of great UX?I suspect a lot.

• 30-Day First Draft: Week 1 Report & Lessons - I'm in love with reading about the results of an ambitious experiment. This one, writing a sci-fi novel in 30 days, fits the bill. I love the nitty gritty habits and hacks that come with trying to write a staggering 6,000 words per day.

The time pressure of getting this many words in per day is forcing me to be much more efficient with everything else, and it’s been a noticeable boost to my overall productivity. I might not have been putting enough on my plate beforehand.

• Let's talk about Shingal and Gukurahundi - I learn more about the world from this newsletter than any other. Each week the curator, Sham, opens my world a bit more. In this issue, the opening is a dark one as it focuses on two genocides, one in Iraq and another in Zimbabwe. While it's difficult to read about, it is critical to learn from the past, especially the darker parts. 

So, Issue #391 took me a day longer than usual because I got totally engrossed in a book to make sure I nailed the story. This issue might feel a bit more intense since I'm diving into some heavy topics. I’m asking you to listen to the stories of survivors from two events: the genocide of the Yazidis in Shingal/Sinjar in Iraq in 2014, and the massacre of the Ndebele people in Zimbabwe during the 1980s. Both communities are still dealing with the aftermath, and I made sure to really focus on the survivors' stories to give you a fuller picture.

• A Smart Bear » It's a torturous chaos until it isn't - I've been around startups for a long time, but I'm not sure I've ever heard the early days described so well. I did not grasp how hopeless the early days of a startup can seem. There's so many good questions here, and few good answers. Just how I like it.

The fact that you’re in over your head, that you almost cannot will yourself to continue, that you’re completely in the dark, that you’re working yourself to an early grave, that you seem to slide two steps back for every one forward, that nothing’s ever good enough, that that your friends and family can’t understand why you’re turning yourself inside out with no apparent progress, that you’re supposed to be enjoying the journey but you’re not, that you yourself doubt whether you’re even capable of this… These things mean you haven’t yet succeeded, but neither do they prove that you’re failing. It’s always like this, until it isn’t.

• Safety, Comfort, and How PsychologyToday.com Tried to Censor Me - Ignore the clickbait title here and you will find many gems. Resmaa Menakem is innovative in connecting the body with politics and racism. In particular, Resmaa's distinction between discomfort and danger blew my mind. Well done.

Danger is a call to act—often immediately. Discomfort is a call to examine, consider, and decide. It is also an opportunity to learn and grow up.