1. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
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  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 59
  25. Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 7
  26. Bjarnason, Baldur 8
  27. Blake, William 5
  28. blogging 23
  29. body 11
  30. Boeing, Geoff 7
  31. books 6
  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. Carruth, Shane 15
  48. Cegłowski, Maciej 6
  49. Cervantes, Miguel de 7
  50. chance 11
  51. change 17
  52. Chiang, Ted 4
  53. childhood 6
  54. Chimero, Frank 17
  55. choice 8
  56. cities 51
  57. Cleary, Thomas 8
  58. Cleary, J.C. 8
  59. code 20
  60. Coelho, Paulo 31
  61. collaboration 18
  62. collections 31
  63. color 23
  64. commonplace 11
  65. communication 31
  66. community 7
  67. complexity 11
  68. connection 24
  69. constraints 25
  70. construction 9
  71. content 9
  72. Corbusier, Le 13
  73. Coyier, Chris 4
  74. craft 67
  75. creativity 59
  76. crime 9
  77. Critchlow, Tom 5
  78. critique 10
  79. Cross, Nigel 12
  80. Cross, Anita Clayburn 10
  81. css 11
  82. culture 13
  83. curiosity 11
  84. cycles 7
  85. Danielewski, Mark Z. 4
  86. darkness 28
  87. Darwin, Will 10
  88. data 8
  89. death 38
  90. Debord, Guy 6
  91. decisions 10
  92. design 132
  93. desire 6
  94. destiny 6
  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. dreams 8
  103. Drucker, Peter F. 15
  104. Duany, Andres 18
  105. Eatock, Daniel 4
  106. economics 13
  107. efficiency 7
  108. Eisenman, Peter 8
  109. Eliot, T.S. 14
  110. emotion 8
  111. ending 14
  112. engineering 12
  113. Eno, Brian 4
  114. ethics 14
  115. euphony 38
  116. Evans, Benedict 4
  117. evolution 9
  118. experience 14
  119. exploration 6
  120. farming 8
  121. fashion 11
  122. fear 7
  123. features 25
  124. flaws 10
  125. Flexner, Abraham 8
  126. food 16
  127. form 19
  128. Fowler, Martin 4
  129. Franklin, Ursula M. 30
  130. fun 7
  131. function 31
  132. games 13
  133. gardens 26
  134. Garfield, Emily 4
  135. Garfunkel, Art 6
  136. geography 8
  137. geometry 18
  138. goals 9
  139. Gombrich, E. H. 4
  140. goodness 13
  141. Graham, Paul 37
  142. graphics 13
  143. Greene, Erick 6
  144. Hamming, Richard 45
  145. happiness 18
  146. Harford, Tim 4
  147. Harper, Thomas J. 15
  148. Hayes, Brian 28
  149. heat 7
  150. Heinrich, Bernd 7
  151. Herbert, Frank 4
  152. Heschong, Lisa 27
  153. Hesse, Herman 6
  154. history 14
  155. Hoffman, Yoel 10
  156. Hofstadter, Douglas 6
  157. home 15
  158. Hoy, Amy 4
  159. Hoyt, Ben 5
  160. html 11
  161. Hudlow, Gandalf 4
  162. humanity 16
  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 9
  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. Keqin, Yuanwu 8
  194. Ketheswaran, Pirijan 6
  195. Kingdon, Jonathan 5
  196. Kitching, Roger 7
  197. Klein, Laura 4
  198. Kleon, Austin 13
  199. Klinkenborg, Verlyn 24
  200. Klyn, Dan 20
  201. knowledge 29
  202. Kohlstedt, Kurt 12
  203. Kramer, Karen L. 10
  204. Krishna, Golden 10
  205. Kuma, Kengo 18
  206. language 21
  207. learning 31
  208. life 60
  209. light 32
  210. loneliness 12
  211. love 29
  212. Lovell, Sophie 16
  213. Lupton, Ellen 11
  214. Luu, Dan 8
  215. Lynch, Kevin 12
  216. MacIver, David R. 8
  217. MacWright, Tom 5
  218. Magnus, Margaret 12
  219. making 77
  220. management 14
  221. Manaugh, Geoff 27
  222. Markson, David 16
  223. Mars, Roman 13
  224. material 39
  225. math 16
  226. McCarter, Robert 21
  227. meaning 33
  228. media 16
  229. melancholy 53
  230. memory 29
  231. metaphor 10
  232. metrics 19
  233. microsites 49
  234. Miller, J. Abbott 10
  235. Mills, C. Wright 9
  236. minimalism 10
  237. Miyazaki, Hayao 30
  238. Mod, Craig 15
  239. modularity 6
  240. Mollison, Bill 31
  241. morality 8
  242. Murakami, Haruki 21
  243. music 16
  244. Müller, Boris 7
  245. Naka, Toshiharu 8
  246. names 11
  247. Naskrecki, Piotr 5
  248. nature 51
  249. networks 15
  250. Neustadter, Scott 3
  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 7
  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. photography 20
  271. Pinker, Steven 8
  272. place 14
  273. planning 15
  274. Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth 18
  275. poetry 13
  276. politics 9
  277. Pollan, Michael 6
  278. practice 10
  279. problems 31
  280. process 22
  281. production 7
  282. productivity 12
  283. products 21
  284. programming 9
  285. progress 16
  286. Pye, David 42
  287. quality 26
  288. questions 8
  289. Radić, Smiljan 20
  290. Rams, Dieter 16
  291. Rao, Venkatesh 14
  292. reading 17
  293. reality 13
  294. Reichenstein, Oliver 5
  295. religion 12
  296. Rendle, Robin 12
  297. repair 28
  298. research 17
  299. Reveal, James L. 4
  300. Richards, Melanie 3
  301. Richie, Donald 10
  302. Rougeux, Nicholas 4
  303. Rowe, Peter G. 10
  304. Rupert, Dave 4
  305. Ruskin, John 5
  306. Satyal, Parimal 9
  307. Saval, Nikil 13
  308. Sayers, Dorothy 32
  309. Schaller, George B. 7
  310. Schwulst, Laurel 5
  311. science 17
  312. seeing 36
  313. Sennett, Richard 45
  314. senses 11
  315. Seuss, Dr. 14
  316. Shakespeare, William 4
  317. Shorin, Toby 8
  318. silence 9
  319. Silverstein, Murray 33
  320. Simms, Matthew 19
  321. Simon, Paul 6
  322. simplicity 14
  323. Singer, Ryan 12
  324. skill 17
  325. Sloan, Robin 5
  326. Smith, Cyril Stanley 29
  327. Smith, Justin E. H. 6
  328. Smith, Rach 4
  329. socializing 7
  330. society 23
  331. software 69
  332. solitude 12
  333. Somers, James 8
  334. Sorkin, Michael 56
  335. sound 14
  336. space 20
  337. Speck, Jeff 18
  338. spirit 10
  339. streets 10
  340. structure 13
  341. Strunk, William 15
  342. Ström, Matthew 13
  343. style 30
  344. Sun, Chuánqí 15
  345. symbols 12
  346. systems 18
  347. Sōetsu, Yanagi 34
  348. Sōseki, Natsume 8
  349. Tanaka, Tomoyuki 9
  350. Tanizaki, Jun'ichirō 15
  351. taste 10
  352. Taylor, Dorian 16
  353. teaching 21
  354. teamwork 17
  355. technology 41
  356. texture 7
  357. thinking 31
  358. Thoreau, Henry David 8
  359. time 55
  360. Tolkien, J.R.R. 6
  361. tools 32
  362. touch 8
  363. transportation 16
  364. Trombley, Nick 45
  365. truth 15
  366. Tufte, Edward 31
  367. Turrell, James 6
  368. typography 25
  369. understanding 33
  370. urbanism 68
  371. ux 100
  372. Victor, Bret 9
  373. Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène 4
  374. vision 7
  375. visualization 34
  376. Voltaire 4
  377. wabi-sabi 8
  378. walking 23
  379. Wallace, David Foster 33
  380. Wang, Shawn 6
  381. war 7
  382. waste 12
  383. Watterson, Bill 4
  384. Webb, Matt 14
  385. Webb, Marc 3
  386. Weber, Michael H. 3
  387. Wechler, Lawrence 37
  388. whimsy 11
  389. White, E.B. 15
  390. Wirth, Niklaus 6
  391. wisdom 21
  392. Wittgenstein, Ludwig 7
  393. Woolf, Virginia 11
  394. words 35
  395. work 81
  396. writing 55
  397. Wurman, Richard Saul 18
  398. www 89
  399. Yamada, Kōun 5
  400. Yamashita, Yuhki 4
  401. Yudkowsky, Eliezer 17
  402. zen 39
  403. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
  404. About
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Matthew Ström

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  • Beyond 10×

    An Article by Matthew Ström
    matthewstrom.com

    Forget 10×. With a focus on outcomes and an eye towards the border between net-positive and net-negative work, any team can push their productivity beyond their previous limits.

    ...If you can perform one task better than most people, you might be a 10× designer or developer or product manager (or whatever you are). But if your team can find small ways to make many of their tasks net-positive, 10× is just the start.

    • productivity
  • The management strategy that saved Apollo 11

    An Article by Matthew Ström
    matthewstrom.com

    In 1969, the people in charge of Apollo 11 trusted a 23-year-old engineer in a back room of mission control to make one of the most consequential decisions of this decade-defining mission. And they did so in seconds, without deliberating or debating.

    Next time you’re faced with a decision, ask yourself: how can this decision be made on the lowest level? Have you given your team the authority to decide? If you haven’t, why not? If they’re not able to make good decisions, you’ve missed an opportunity to be a leader. Empower, enable, and entrust them. Take it from NASA: the ability to delegate quickly and decisively was the key to landing men on the moon.

    1. ​​Central planning gives poor results​​
    2. ​​Beware SAFe, an Unholy Incarnation of Darkness​​
    • management
    • decisions
    • trust
  • Research, empathy, simplicity, speed

    An Article by Matthew Ström
    matthewstrom.com

    As Nosrat provides a simple list of essential ingredients for any great meal, can we describe a simple list of essential components for digital products?

    Here are four elements that I believe are the foundation of great digital products: Research, Empathy, Simplicity and Speed.

    1. ​​Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat​​
    • design
    • software
    • products
    • balance

    The key, Ström observes, is not simply to deploy these elements, but to find the correct balance in each case between too much and not enough.

  • Just-in-time Design

    An Article by Matthew Ström
    matthewstrom.com

    There is a disconnect between product design and product engineering.

    1. ​​Finish designing as close to the end of a sprint as possible​​
    2. ​​Just-in-time manufacturing​​
    1. ​​The Hot Potato Process​​
    • ux
    • process
  • Designing with code

    An Article by Matthew Ström
    matthewstrom.com

    Recently I’ve had a few opportunities to use code to create design. In two of my bigger projects at The Wall Street Journal, writing code has led to new ideas. Problems that typically plague early designs — e.g. “how does this look with real content?” — are easy to solve. By exploring visual ideas directly in code, I’ve started to see the amazing potential of code as a design tool.

    1. ​​Colophon​​
    2. ​​Painting With the Web​​
    3. ​​I never have engineers that aren't designers​​
    • code
    • design
  • Pictures of Websites

    An Article by Matthew Ström
    matthewstrom.com
    Image from matthewstrom.com on 2021-03-15 at 10.45.36 AM.jpeg

    When I was a product designer, people would ask what I did for a living, and sometimes I’d answer “I draw pictures of websites.”

    Sure, I could just say “I design websites.” That’s true. The end result of my work is (hopefully) that a website looks better, works better, or results in better outcomes.

    But most of my day isn’t spent looking at the website, or working on the code of the website, or manipulating the website directly in some way. It’s spent in Figma or Sketch, drawing pictures of how I think the website should look and work.

    Through some kind of alchemy, the pictures I draw have an impact on the finished website. But they’re not all the same.

    • design
    • drawing
    • interfaces
  • Copying (is the way design works)

    An Essay by Matthew Ström
    matthewstrom.com
    Screenshot of matthewstrom.com on 2020-10-29 at 10.09.45 AM.png

    This is a very short book about copying. Its contents, unless otherwise noted, are licensed under CC-BY SA 4.0 (more on that in a bit). You can download, copy, remix, excerpt, change, and repost it however you see fit.

    1. ​​What's love got to do with it?​​
    • design
    • theft
    • copying
  • The hand and the brain

    An Essay by Matthew Ström
    matthewstrom.com
    Image from matthewstrom.com on 2020-11-18 at 1.16.30 PM.jpeg

    Prescriptive feedback limits creative collaboration. I’ve seen it time and time again, but I’ve struggled to articulate the exact reasons and their remedies. Recently, though, I got some insight from an unusual source: a game of chess.

    1. ​​Hand and brain chess​​
    2. ​​Hand and brain design​​
  • What makes a good design principle?

    An Article by Matthew Ström
    matthewstrom.com
    1. Good design principles are memorable.
    2. Good design principles help you say no.
    3. Good design principles aren't truisms.
    4. Good design principles are applicable.
    • ux
    • design

    Of these, probably the most important is #3. Ström and others encourage applying the reversibility test: a principle passes the test if the opposite of that principle is something a reasonable person might believe. A principle like "make users happy" fails this test because no organization would adopt the opposite, "make users unhappy" – therefore the principle is useless for making design decisions.


See also:
  1. design
  2. ux
  3. management
  4. process
  5. decisions
  6. trust
  7. code
  8. agile
  9. theft
  10. copying
  11. games
  12. teamwork
  13. constraints
  14. drawing
  15. interfaces
  16. software
  17. products
  18. balance
  19. productivity