1. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
  2. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
  3. Abo, Akinori 9
  4. aesthetics 19
  5. agile 30
  6. Albers, Josef 17
  7. Alexander, Christopher 135
  8. Alexander, Scott 5
  9. Allsopp, John 4
  10. Ammer, Ralph 6
  11. Anderson, Gretchen 7
  12. anxiety 9
  13. Appleton, Maggie 5
  14. Aptekar-Cassels, Wesley 5
  15. Arango, Jorge 4
  16. architecture 110
  17. art 86
  18. Asimov, Isaac 5
  19. attention 17
  20. Auping, Michael 6
  21. Aurelius, Marcus 14
  22. Bachelard, Gaston 12
  23. Baker, Nicholson 10
  24. beauty 58
  25. Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 7
  26. Bell, Larry 3
  27. Bjarnason, Baldur 8
  28. Blake, William 5
  29. blogging 22
  30. body 11
  31. Boeing, Geoff 7
  32. boredom 9
  33. Botton, Alain de 38
  34. Brand, Stewart 4
  35. Bringhurst, Robert 16
  36. Brooks, Frederick P. 22
  37. Broskoski, Charles 6
  38. brutalism 7
  39. building 16
  40. bureaucracy 12
  41. Burnham, Bo 9
  42. business 15
  43. Byron, Lord 14
  44. Cagan, Marty 8
  45. Calvino, Italo 21
  46. Camus, Albert 13
  47. care 6
  48. Carruth, Shane 15
  49. Cegłowski, Maciej 6
  50. Cervantes, Miguel de 7
  51. chance 11
  52. change 16
  53. Chiang, Ted 4
  54. childhood 6
  55. Chimero, Frank 17
  56. choice 8
  57. cities 51
  58. Clark, Robin 3
  59. Cleary, Thomas 8
  60. Cleary, J.C. 8
  61. code 20
  62. collaboration 18
  63. collections 31
  64. Collison, Simon 3
  65. color 23
  66. commonplace 11
  67. communication 31
  68. community 7
  69. complexity 11
  70. connection 24
  71. constraints 25
  72. construction 9
  73. content 9
  74. Corbusier, Le 13
  75. Coyier, Chris 4
  76. craft 66
  77. creativity 59
  78. crime 9
  79. Critchlow, Tom 5
  80. critique 10
  81. Cross, Nigel 12
  82. Cross, Anita Clayburn 10
  83. css 11
  84. culture 13
  85. curiosity 11
  86. cycles 7
  87. Danielewski, Mark Z. 4
  88. darkness 28
  89. Darwin, Will 10
  90. data 8
  91. death 38
  92. Debord, Guy 6
  93. decisions 10
  94. design 131
  95. details 31
  96. Dickinson, Emily 9
  97. Dieste, Eladio 4
  98. discovery 9
  99. doors 7
  100. Dorn, Brandon 11
  101. drawing 23
  102. Drucker, Peter F. 15
  103. Duany, Andres 18
  104. Eatock, Daniel 4
  105. economics 13
  106. efficiency 7
  107. Eisenman, Peter 8
  108. Eliot, T.S. 14
  109. emotion 8
  110. ending 14
  111. engineering 11
  112. Eno, Brian 4
  113. ethics 14
  114. euphony 38
  115. Evans, Benedict 4
  116. evolution 9
  117. experience 14
  118. farming 8
  119. fashion 11
  120. features 25
  121. feedback 6
  122. flaws 10
  123. Flexner, Abraham 8
  124. food 16
  125. form 19
  126. Fowler, Martin 4
  127. Franklin, Ursula M. 30
  128. friendship 6
  129. fun 7
  130. function 31
  131. games 13
  132. gardens 26
  133. Garfield, Emily 4
  134. Garfunkel, Art 6
  135. geography 8
  136. geometry 18
  137. goals 9
  138. Gombrich, E. H. 4
  139. goodness 12
  140. Graham, Paul 37
  141. graphics 13
  142. Greene, Erick 6
  143. Hamming, Richard 45
  144. happiness 17
  145. Harford, Tim 4
  146. Harper, Thomas J. 15
  147. Hayes, Brian 28
  148. heat 7
  149. Heinrich, Bernd 7
  150. Herbert, Frank 4
  151. Heschong, Lisa 27
  152. Hesse, Herman 6
  153. history 13
  154. Hoffman, Yoel 10
  155. Hofstadter, Douglas 6
  156. home 15
  157. Hoy, Amy 4
  158. Hoyt, Ben 5
  159. html 11
  160. Hudlow, Gandalf 4
  161. humanity 16
  162. humor 6
  163. Huxley, Aldous 7
  164. hypermedia 22
  165. i 18
  166. ideas 21
  167. identity 33
  168. images 10
  169. industry 9
  170. information 42
  171. infrastructure 17
  172. innovation 15
  173. interaction 10
  174. interest 10
  175. interfaces 37
  176. intuition 8
  177. invention 10
  178. Irwin, Robert 65
  179. Isaacson, Walter 28
  180. Ishikawa, Sara 33
  181. iteration 13
  182. Ive, Jonathan 6
  183. Jackson, Steven J. 14
  184. Jacobs, Jane 54
  185. Jacobs, Alan 5
  186. Jobs, Steve 20
  187. Jones, Nick 5
  188. Kahn, Louis 4
  189. Kakuzō, Okakura 23
  190. Kaufman, Kenn 4
  191. Keith, Jeremy 6
  192. Keller, Jenny 10
  193. Kelly, Kevin 3
  194. Keqin, Yuanwu 8
  195. Ketheswaran, Pirijan 6
  196. Kingdon, Jonathan 5
  197. Kitching, Roger 7
  198. Klein, Laura 4
  199. Kleon, Austin 13
  200. Klinkenborg, Verlyn 24
  201. Klyn, Dan 20
  202. knowledge 29
  203. Kohlstedt, Kurt 12
  204. Kramer, Karen L. 10
  205. Krishna, Golden 10
  206. Kuma, Kengo 18
  207. language 20
  208. learning 30
  209. life 59
  210. light 31
  211. loneliness 12
  212. love 25
  213. Lovell, Sophie 16
  214. Lupton, Ellen 11
  215. Luu, Dan 8
  216. Lynch, Kevin 12
  217. MacIver, David R. 8
  218. MacWright, Tom 5
  219. Magnus, Margaret 12
  220. making 77
  221. management 14
  222. Manaugh, Geoff 27
  223. Markson, David 16
  224. Mars, Roman 13
  225. material 39
  226. math 16
  227. McCarter, Robert 21
  228. meaning 33
  229. media 16
  230. melancholy 51
  231. memory 28
  232. metaphor 10
  233. metrics 19
  234. microsites 49
  235. Miller, J. Abbott 10
  236. Mills, C. Wright 9
  237. minimalism 10
  238. Miyazaki, Hayao 30
  239. Mod, Craig 15
  240. modularity 6
  241. Mollison, Bill 31
  242. morality 8
  243. Murakami, Haruki 21
  244. music 16
  245. Müller, Boris 7
  246. Naka, Toshiharu 8
  247. names 11
  248. Naskrecki, Piotr 5
  249. nature 51
  250. networks 15
  251. Noessel, Christopher 7
  252. notetaking 35
  253. novelty 11
  254. objects 16
  255. order 10
  256. ornament 9
  257. Orwell, George 7
  258. Ott, Matthias 4
  259. ownership 6
  260. Pallasmaa, Juhani 41
  261. Palmer, John 8
  262. patterns 11
  263. Patton, James L. 9
  264. Pawson, John 21
  265. perception 22
  266. perfection 7
  267. performance 17
  268. Perrine, John D. 9
  269. Petroski, Henry 24
  270. philosophy 6
  271. photography 20
  272. physics 6
  273. Pinker, Steven 8
  274. place 14
  275. planning 15
  276. Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth 18
  277. poetry 13
  278. politics 9
  279. Pollan, Michael 6
  280. practice 10
  281. problems 31
  282. process 22
  283. production 7
  284. productivity 12
  285. products 21
  286. programming 9
  287. progress 16
  288. Pye, David 42
  289. quality 26
  290. questions 8
  291. Radić, Smiljan 20
  292. Rams, Dieter 16
  293. Rao, Venkatesh 14
  294. reading 16
  295. reality 13
  296. Reichenstein, Oliver 5
  297. religion 11
  298. Rendle, Robin 12
  299. repair 28
  300. research 17
  301. Reveal, James L. 4
  302. Richards, Melanie 3
  303. Richie, Donald 10
  304. Rougeux, Nicholas 4
  305. Rowe, Peter G. 10
  306. Rupert, Dave 4
  307. Ruskin, John 5
  308. Satyal, Parimal 9
  309. Saval, Nikil 13
  310. Sayers, Dorothy 32
  311. Schaller, George B. 7
  312. Schwulst, Laurel 5
  313. science 17
  314. seeing 36
  315. Sennett, Richard 45
  316. senses 11
  317. Seuss, Dr. 14
  318. Shakespeare, William 4
  319. Shorin, Toby 8
  320. silence 9
  321. Silverstein, Murray 33
  322. Simms, Matthew 19
  323. Simon, Paul 6
  324. simplicity 14
  325. Singer, Ryan 12
  326. skill 17
  327. Sloan, Robin 5
  328. Smith, Cyril Stanley 29
  329. Smith, Justin E. H. 6
  330. Smith, Rach 4
  331. socializing 7
  332. society 23
  333. software 68
  334. solitude 12
  335. Somers, James 8
  336. Sorkin, Michael 56
  337. sound 14
  338. space 20
  339. Speck, Jeff 18
  340. spirit 10
  341. streets 10
  342. structure 13
  343. Strunk, William 15
  344. Ström, Matthew 13
  345. style 30
  346. Sun, Chuánqí 15
  347. symbols 12
  348. systems 18
  349. Sōetsu, Yanagi 34
  350. Sōseki, Natsume 8
  351. Tanaka, Tomoyuki 9
  352. Tanizaki, Jun'ichirō 15
  353. taste 10
  354. Taylor, Dorian 16
  355. teaching 21
  356. teamwork 17
  357. technology 41
  358. texture 7
  359. thinking 31
  360. Thoreau, Henry David 8
  361. time 54
  362. Tolkien, J.R.R. 6
  363. tools 32
  364. touch 8
  365. transportation 16
  366. Trombley, Nick 44
  367. truth 15
  368. Tufte, Edward 31
  369. Turrell, James 6
  370. typography 25
  371. understanding 32
  372. urbanism 68
  373. ux 100
  374. Victor, Bret 9
  375. Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène 4
  376. vision 7
  377. visualization 34
  378. Voltaire 4
  379. wabi-sabi 8
  380. walking 23
  381. Wallace, David Foster 33
  382. Wang, Shawn 6
  383. war 7
  384. waste 12
  385. Watterson, Bill 4
  386. Webb, Matt 14
  387. Wechler, Lawrence 37
  388. whimsy 11
  389. White, E.B. 15
  390. Wirth, Niklaus 6
  391. wisdom 20
  392. Wittgenstein, Ludwig 7
  393. Woolf, Virginia 11
  394. words 35
  395. work 81
  396. writing 55
  397. Wurman, Richard Saul 18
  398. www 88
  399. Yamada, Kōun 5
  400. Yamashita, Yuhki 4
  401. Yudkowsky, Eliezer 17
  402. zen 38
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Dorian Taylor

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  • make things. make sense

    A Website by Dorian Taylor
    doriantaylor.com
  • “Design” is now “Product”

    An Article by Dorian Taylor
    dorian.substack.com

    Design has very little to do with what tools or methodologies you use, or what your job title is, or what you have a degree in, or even anything like “creativity”; design is about your relationship to constraints. Rather: to what extent are you defining constraints rather than just obeying them? Design is about taking a universe of possibilities and converging onto exactly one outcome. Being handed a set of constraints which you treat like immutable laws of physics (because many of them are) and solving within that envelope is what engineering is. To wit: what most designers are doing most of the time is actually a form of engineering, and engineers are always doing at least some design.

    This is because genuine design—the power to define constraints—is a privileged political position within an organization, and not everybody can occupy it. In other words, the “seat at the table” comes first. Design is Steve Jobs infamously dropping an iPod prototype into his fish tank, pointing at the bubbles coming out and yelling at his staff to make it thinner. It doesn’t matter what your title is; Jobs is the designer in that scenario.

    1. ​​Steve Jobs​​
    • design
    • engineering
    • constraints
  • Navigation by shibboleth

    An Article by Dorian Taylor
    doriantaylor.com

    The inverse-chronological colly on the front page is exactly what I didn’t want to end up with. I have tried my damnedest to keep everything on this site as temporally neutral as I can make it. I even intentionally leave the dates off the documents. Temporality only matters if you’ve already read everything and you want to see what’s new or changed, like if you’ve subscribed to a feed. Which is exactly what that is on the front page.

    1. ​​Reverse chronology bias​​
    • blogging
    • time
  • Skeleton, Organs, Circulation, Sinew, Skin

    An Article by Dorian Taylor

    I’m concerned with how I witness the work of user experience practitioners getting treated: like it’s just a set of motions toward a product’s all-important implementation, and one that we try to compress, due to its ostensible superfluity. Once the implementation is finished, the UX work appears to usually get discarded.

    1. ​​Tracing the answer back​​
    2. ​​The UX coral reef​​
    • ux
  • Design System as Style Manual With Web Characteristics

    An Article by Dorian Taylor
    doriantaylor.com

    In my opinion, what makes a designer competent is precisely their ability to credibly justify their conclusions. If you can’t do this as a designer—no matter how successful your results are—then neither I nor anybody else can tell if you aren’t just picking things at random.

    What I am proposing, then, is no less than to make a designer’s entire line of reasoning a matter of permanent record. On the surface is the familiar set of prescriptions, components, examples and tutorials, like you would expect out of any such artifact. Attached to every element, though, is a little button that says You click it, and it tells you. The proximate explanation will probably not be very satisfying, so you click on the next until you get to the end, at which point you are either satisfied with the explanation, or you aren’t.

    1. ​​The Design of Design​​
    • decisions
    • design
    • systems
    • style
  • On the "Building" of Software and Websites

    An Essay by Dorian Taylor
    doriantaylor.com

    I’m beginning to suspect that software, and more conspicuously the Web, is fundamentally the wrong shape for the archetype of the construction project.

    1. ​​You are agreeing to make a Thing​​
    2. ​​The Thing-deadline calculus​​
    3. ​​Trees and graphs​​
    4. ​​Content as value​​
    1. ​​The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth​​
    2. ​​Hofstadter's Law​​
    • software
    • building
    • www
    • construction
  • Agile as Trauma

    An Essay by Dorian Taylor
    doriantaylor.com

    The Agile Manifesto is an immune response on the part of programmers to bad management.

    1. ​​Many a corner office​​
    2. ​​Intramural brownie points​​
    3. ​​Feature factories​​
    • agile
    • management

See also:
  1. planning
  2. features
  3. ux
  4. decisions
  5. design
  6. surprise
  7. agile
  8. management
  9. problems
  10. products
  11. networks
  12. thinking
  13. math
  14. content
  15. software
  16. building
  17. www
  18. construction
  19. blogging
  20. time
  21. systems
  22. style
  23. connection
  24. engineering
  25. constraints