Stephen Farrugia

Design enthusiast. Experienced user.

I have been making these videos about tech & design: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwvAAoSdsXWxHwFbULgbpVGiLmJZv4X1g
and in audio: https://pnc.st/s/faster-and-worse

An Australian in Amsterdam

Blog: https://www.fasterandworse.com
Gravatar: https://gravatar.com/fasterandworse
WriteFreely: gibberish.awful.systems/fasterandworse/

Public Key

npub1eyn64n3ck376ullpqlvxa66ljn9662hlru7sy7jgvsmzr9qmaysq9tw409

NIP-05 Address

fasterandworse_at_hci.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsvjfa2ecutgldw0lss0krwad0efjad9tl370gz0fyxgd3pjsd7jgqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds8yx769

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1eyn64n3ck376ullpqlvxa66ljn9662hlru7sy7jgvsmzr9qmaysq9tw409

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Last Notes

2026-04-16 14:37:23 UTC

mastodon, my favourite little internet cockroach is always here waiting

2026-04-08 12:05:42 UTC

AI bros don't realise they are conceptually reinventing the design prototyping process
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/116/368/993/151/406/906/original/62006b870e4df476.png

2026-04-06 13:37:07 UTC

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thanks for telling me information I already knew. I hope that's not what you meant by me publishing my ignorance!

2026-04-06 13:15:24 UTC

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it should be celebrated that an account which posts ai generated harry potter videos is butthurt about engagement on mastodon

2026-04-06 12:34:36 UTC

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"The Mastodon team is finally getting some traction" is an important phrase to consider.
Mastodon has traction. It is an internet cockroach that will out last any other current social network.
But that kind of traction is not recognised in this context because this is not a good faith post made by a serious person

2026-04-06 12:31:18 UTC

RE: https://social.coop/@scottjenson/116352522288234148
shameful junk
this is commercial UX posturing 101 that amounts to the complaint that generative AI positivity does not get engagement on mastodon.
"community", "inclusivity", "bring more voices", "marginalised communities"
the problem?
Mastodon lacks an algorithmic feed that boosts AI positivity posts
#note17rf…2uc0

2026-03-30 21:05:15 UTC

we should have seen the front-end community's acceptance of tailwind as a warning sign

2026-03-29 10:58:42 UTC

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#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/116/312/104/061/957/599/original/1d7af57d1925650e.mp4

2026-03-18 17:34:24 UTC

Never before has “I work in the tech industry” sounded so much like “I work in the tobacco industry”

2026-02-20 18:45:20 UTC

Cory Doctorow's ultimate crooked point is that you're fucked if you don't embrace AI. Local models, whatever. He compares technologies that have been proven valuable with a product that is being predicted to be valuable.
It's a variation of the assumption that everyone who hates AI hasn't *tried* it. If only they would give it a chance, they'd not be left behind.

2026-02-17 15:51:12 UTC

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Either way I don't get callbacks!

2026-02-17 15:40:32 UTC

It's very common in my experience for job application forms to ask you something like "how do you use AI in your workflow?" as a convoluted hard-pass filter

2026-02-08 14:00:27 UTC

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#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/116/035/363/793/879/966/original/3f091bb3a5481a3c.png

2026-02-07 21:40:59 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@firefoxwebdevs/116006718073303488
best not find yourself saying "people have different definitions of opt-in"
#note1plw…hpl5

2026-02-03 18:35:16 UTC

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in case it's not clear, Mozilla could have pleased *everyone* by making all this stuff into browser extensions. They've been hammered with feedback about this but have not addressed it.

2026-02-03 15:47:17 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@firefoxwebdevs/116002119945073671
For all us Web Developers there is the WebExtensions API detailed here (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions) on the Mozilla Developer Network made by Mozilla, but for Mozilla we have this "AI Controls" mess, the most incredible display of "what is consent...really?"
#note1gfs…sumq

2026-01-27 21:50:55 UTC

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mozilla used tailwind to build a website to talk about all the wonderful things they've done for the web
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/969/267/113/962/779/original/9ab920e6afe2e333.png

2026-01-11 08:38:44 UTC

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#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/875/547/018/881/221/original/29b879d7f53b6175.mp4

2026-01-07 18:18:47 UTC

Incredible
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@duke_of_germany/115853330852766984
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/855/185/479/932/569/original/6d33ffe34d9ce433.png
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/855/185/842/983/766/original/164769435f8cd94a.png

2026-01-06 18:18:46 UTC

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it would be compelling if the future of Firefox was to be the fastest, most secure, most efficient browser engine with the best add-on ecosystem.
It would also be compelling to hear someone from Mozilla talk about their design effort to improve add-on adoption rather than forcing add-on-level-functionality into the core product

2026-01-06 18:13:43 UTC

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It would also be compelling if a team at Mozilla were dedicated to building the best browser translation add-on on the market, for all browsers. To promote the power of add-ons and, at the same time, the Mozilla brand.

2026-01-06 18:11:15 UTC

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it would be compelling to hear someone at Mozilla recognise that you don't have this "kill switch" yet but you're already facing the problem of what to kill.
It would also be compelling to hear someone at Mozilla recognise that there is a browser and there are browser extensions and that "translation" has nothing to do with the operating system of a web browser.

2026-01-04 11:53:12 UTC

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#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/836/659/956/955/266/original/1d2a7826caed5389.mp4

2026-01-04 09:49:09 UTC

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#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/836/193/963/245/254/original/1fe457769f939d90.mp4

2025-12-26 18:33:09 UTC

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reminds me of this https://hci.social/@fasterandworse/112050632621162982
#note12la…ehqx

2025-12-25 18:33:36 UTC

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His example of normalising AI is in response to internal employees resisting it. Rather than accepting their "no", he prefers to believe that they are not capable of making their own judgement and need to learn to accept AI instead.

2025-12-24 17:02:08 UTC

Mozilla's new CMO, John Solomon, talking about his mission to "normalise" AI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTbjEqsWLKQ&t=920s

2025-12-16 20:45:06 UTC

RE: https://hci.social/@fasterandworse/115731120513478963
Firefox's killer feature is that it's not chromium. That's the pull. Nothing to do with tab grouping or UI design.
When your userbase is made of people who don't want bullshit, you are taking a risk with every new feature, especially the ultimate bullshit feature of AI
#note19qk…g9ej

2025-12-16 20:25:55 UTC

> Enzor-DeMeo spent 2025 racing to make Firefox a more compelling product, adding things like tab groups, while also trying to figure out how the browser should integrate with AI.
It's a web browser! It doesn't have to be compelling! It's for accessing compelling stuff!
https://www.theverge.com/tech/845216/mozilla-ceo-anthony-enzor-demeo
archive: https://archive.is/VCWZI

2025-12-14 20:18:00 UTC

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#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/719/757/658/358/710/original/12c03a44c39906d8.jpg

2025-12-14 14:05:11 UTC

The World Is Not A Desktop - Mark Weiser
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/174800.174801
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/718/297/415/405/705/original/c29e44f2fe71ef96.png

2025-12-10 11:15:38 UTC

AI assistant bots can be replaced by a single button that says "cancel my contract"

2025-12-05 16:44:15 UTC

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they should make the usb port proprietary

2025-11-30 15:31:37 UTC

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#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/639/363/387/769/396/original/8ee83623c4384e02.jpg

2025-11-30 15:28:10 UTC

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#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/639/347/660/299/213/original/6a1a19cfe61b719b.mp4

2025-11-12 17:00:46 UTC

I feel like the "it's good for building prototypes" vibe coding excuse ignores the way that building a prototype also helps build a strategy for how to code the real thing. As in, a prototype isn't just to validate the idea, it also helps validate the best course of production.

2025-10-28 16:50:39 UTC

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"I think it's a mail plane"
"how can you tell?"

2025-10-26 12:52:30 UTC

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#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/440/552/142/024/507/original/dd009752d0182d1f.png

2025-10-26 11:54:22 UTC

#silentsunday
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/440/321/336/180/837/original/810d7926cd4e24b5.mp4

2025-10-15 11:43:32 UTC

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the reason I zoned out in the climactic fight scenes of Tron: Ares is because I don't care who wins in a fight between two CEOs and one of their products.
No amount of Nine Inch Nails UX design can cover the emptiness of that conflict

2025-10-15 11:43:24 UTC

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now, I'm trying not to be a cynic but this trope doesn't end well in real life. The goodie CEO tends to be taking the longer route to the position of the baddie CEO
Or they're concealing the fact they are already in the same position as the baddie CEO

2025-10-15 11:43:09 UTC

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the baddie ceo has found their market and is openly developing the product for the military.
the goodie ceo speaks in *beliefs* and potential.

2025-10-15 11:42:51 UTC

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when the baddie ceo is making the choice to kill his rival to get the [plot device] he says he'll make "a trillion dollars"
the goodie ceo says “we believe the beauty of AI is not the ability to build smarter weapons, but to uplift humanity, feed the hungry, cure the sick, educate the world”

2025-10-15 11:42:41 UTC

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Tron: Ares and Jurassic World: Rebirth do the thing where the capitalist is a baddie because they are *very openly doing it for the money* and the goodie is the one that *claims* they are doing it to save lives etc

2025-10-15 11:42:30 UTC

there are 3 ways to look at the antagonist/protagonist narrative of Tron:Ares
1. CEO vs rival CEO
2. CEO vs their own product
3. CEO vs rival CEO and their own product

2025-10-15 10:54:15 UTC

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can confirm I'm having the same issues. Losing interactivity in tabs, have to restart

2025-10-01 12:17:58 UTC

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laravel guy also cheering on dhh

2025-09-24 20:49:27 UTC

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Software as a Service permits anti-design because it has none of the attributes that make good products earn the space they take up in the world.
It takes up no space in a store, in your home, and on your computer.
7/x

2025-09-24 20:49:05 UTC

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The most toxic use cases also tend to be the most lucrative.
Anti-design comes into play as the design of socially acceptable purposes that distract from the product being used in mass surveillance or as a military death optimisation device.
6/x

2025-09-24 20:48:50 UTC

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The making of a purposeless product on the consensus that it will be a cool and powerful mechanism creates a purpose vacuum.
This attracts individuals who champion the product with their own niche use case.
The maker will never optimise the product for the niche use cases of individuals.
5/x

2025-09-24 20:48:36 UTC

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A "use case" is a designed speculation that tests the boundaries of plausibility in defining a purpose that the product would most certainly satisfy
4/x

2025-09-24 20:48:24 UTC

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The Product/Market Fit concept is a formalised, unironic, interpretation of anti-design in that it promotes the act of building a thing and then speculating how it could be useful for people with money
3/x

2025-09-24 20:48:09 UTC

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Anti-design is the design of use cases that appear to justify the existence of a product that was not designed to satisfy a purpose OR the design of use cases to distract from the lucrative use cases that are not good for PR
2/x

2025-09-24 20:47:51 UTC

Dispatch #31: Anti-Design
Design to compensate for a lack of design
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3eLYxVYjV4
Audio: https://pnc.st/s/faster-and-worse/1190f134/anti-design
1/x

2025-08-22 16:31:16 UTC

This is what @npub1fdr…lvhs 's "Enshittification" looks like, but when it comes to enterprise SaaS the starting point can be wildly different because the people who *have* to use it are not the ones who choose it or pay for it.
This is the captive user experience of enterprise SaaS products.
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/115/073/367/996/620/690/original/c26cd64021af75b7.png

2025-08-18 14:28:59 UTC

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I've been actively looking for a new career direction where I can best put my skills and experience to use.
The growing onset of LLM and generative AI products being forced into the process of designing and building web products has deteriorated my joy of making things in this space.

2025-08-18 12:35:24 UTC

Hi everyone,
I unexpectedly lost the contract with my main client today and would appreciate some help.
If you know of front end dev work, planning/strategy, or if you know me, anything where my skills may be useful.
I have 26+ years of experience in web products, strategising, designing, and building UIs for them.
Any leads, short term, part time, etc would be helpful.
I'm based in Amsterdam and 100% equipped for remote work.
Boost welcome!
Thanks so much
#jobs #FediHire #getfedihired

2025-07-20 18:35:41 UTC

the thing about LLM coders who say "of course you're supposed to check the code first" is that they don't want to do that and probably don't do it and if they do check it they'll do it less over time until they don't do it at all

2025-07-07 12:48:56 UTC

Open question: Do you have a tech industry recruiter in Amsterdam, or possibly EU-based specialising in remote, that you can recommend?
I'm trying to find more personable recruiters who have the patience to deal with a middle-aged frontender trying to find a career path.
Boosts appreciated

2025-06-25 19:13:54 UTC

tell your nearest big ai-critical account to make sure to call them "products" instead of "tools" or "technologies" please

2025-06-12 20:14:29 UTC

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Creators of LLMs benefit from the general purposeness of their products because we have no constraints on what it means for them to *work*
They can always escape accountability because a "use case" is an abstract concept that the products will never be optimised for.

2025-06-12 20:11:27 UTC

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Because a calculator is a device made for a specific purpose, our trust in it would be immediately corrupted if it were to give an incorrect answer. It would be useless.
If you take away the specific purpose you also take away the criteria to determine if something works or not.

2025-06-12 20:07:04 UTC

Dispatch #26: General Purpose is an Accountability Loophole
If they don't say what it's for, we can't say if it works.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zs6BXdesaw
Podcast: https://pnc.st/s/faster-and-worse/e884f2ff/general-purpose-is-an-accountability-loophole

2025-06-11 09:16:14 UTC

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and just about every booster counters criticism with "they'll get better" but ignores the circumstances required to continue that trajectory

2025-06-05 16:49:04 UTC

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If a coder keeps their job but has to supervise LLM code agents, they depend on the LLMs remaining at a level that requires supervision.
If the LLMs remain at a level that requires supervision, is it a coding job or purgatory?

2025-06-05 16:28:36 UTC

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If you reject the idea that AI won't take your coding job (because you adapt) it's important to contemplate the trajectory your job will take in that case.

2025-06-05 16:26:25 UTC

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I am indeed someone who likes making stuff with code. I've always avoided automations for the sake of automations.
It's not because I enjoy doing things slowly, it's because I enjoy *doing* things.

2025-06-05 16:12:52 UTC

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The LLM coding takes flying around the net amount to variations of "you're using it wrong", "it's fine if a human is in the loop", and "who gives a shit?"
They resemble forward thinking opinions but sound more like a new comfort zone than flexibility for what might come next

2025-06-05 16:10:31 UTC

Dispatch #25: Trajectories of Coding with AI
Things don't look good if you like making stuff with code.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQxqF4KKZHU
Podcast: https://pnc.st/s/faster-and-worse/80b5c1ba/trajectories-of-coding-with-ai

2025-06-03 14:15:39 UTC

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I can relate to this incredibly well, but something tells me that it's more common than it seems

2025-05-30 12:39:51 UTC

@npub1a80…vkfq made a video version of her great article from yesterday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UerHVpQpixo

2025-05-28 04:56:50 UTC

What a maddening reason to kill a product.
https://archive.is/V8lFd
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/114/583/672/667/801/951/original/7eb643137d105452.png

2025-05-26 12:39:59 UTC

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Managers, I get it. I get the perspective that makes you like LLMs.
But developers and designers. People who, supposedly, like *making* things. Don't you see the trajectory?

2025-05-26 11:30:37 UTC

it's weird and funny to read posts from people praising llm coding tools, but to hear it first hand from someone you know is surreal and ominous

2025-05-22 19:31:49 UTC

gross.
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/114/553/143/799/442/727/original/118ce123bcc65f1c.png

2025-05-21 17:41:12 UTC

this is real and I warn you the video is worse https://openai.com/sam-and-jony/

2025-05-21 14:45:56 UTC

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Any company that doesn't assert the purpose of their product as concretely as Literature and Latte does for Scrivener should be expected to turn that product against its users in the future.
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/114/546/359/400/940/961/original/876615a5ec152af3.png

2025-05-21 13:06:21 UTC

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I'm being a bit more reflective lately.
In this one I use google search as an example of how projecting our own understanding of a product's purpose leaves us struggling to understand why the product evolves in really annoying and unusable directions.

2025-05-21 11:54:44 UTC

Dispatch #23: Projecting Purpose
When we define our own purpose for their product
Podcast episode: https://pnc.st/s/faster-and-worse/572a10f9/projecting-purpose
Video dispatch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SdG8a5HcCs
If you enjoy it please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, or writing a review

2025-05-03 08:19:55 UTC

I posted this on twitter ~3y ago and it struck a chord.
Still relevant?
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/114/442/919/980/965/637/original/39f3428a4459d994.png

2025-04-17 07:39:59 UTC

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When all the tech products try to be general purpose enough to satisfy business *and* personal needs, the business needs will inevitably be dominant because that's where the big money is. The result is the workification of everything.
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/114/352/166/393/428/043/original/85aa93cf0f7053ab.png

2025-04-17 07:39:08 UTC

Dispatch #21: Everything Is Work Now
Tech products have a work/life balance problem
Podcast episode: https://pnc.st/s/faster-and-worse/7cdb9dc1/everything-is-work-now
Video dispatch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_os9Pp3AYW4
If you enjoy it please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, or writing a review

2025-04-06 14:07:34 UTC

should be on the FAQ accordion of all the open source graphics apps
Q: “Is this shitty like gimp?”
A: “no”

2025-03-30 06:46:42 UTC

"gaslight testing"
when you put a controversial feature out there for a small random batch of users to see if it elicits absurd sounding complaints that others dismiss as being a user problem

2025-03-19 19:42:38 UTC

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The gist: Tech products are never *removing* difficulty in tasks, they are always *moving* it and changing its form.
The idea that a tech product like generative AI can *remove* the need for effort is a kind of magical thinking that needs to die.
2/4

2025-03-19 19:42:25 UTC

Video Dispatch #20: Kill Magic Thinking
Bulls**t isn't created or destroyed, it just takes on different forms
Podcast episode: https://pnc.st/s/faster-and-worse/968a91dd/kill-magic-thinking
Video dispatch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLHmtYWzHz8
If you enjoy it please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, or writing a review
1/4
https://storage.googleapis.com/hci-social-storage/media_attachments/files/114/190/798/717/652/828/original/fbcd2f48f191dedb.mp4

2025-03-14 16:42:35 UTC

If you're looking for a bite-sized podcast about tech product design (mostly critical but sometimes not) here's mine https://pnc.st/s/faster-and-worse

2025-03-14 12:24:46 UTC

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the back of the camera looks like a frustrating "which one do I press" every time you need to do something

2025-03-12 16:50:47 UTC

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To defend generative AI as being a "tool" is to misrepresent useful tools which are made for particular purposes as if they were found objects, incidentally useful in some situations.
Like a butter knife as a screwdriver in a pinch, it's taking the adequate instead of the optimal.
3/4

2025-03-12 16:50:38 UTC

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The gist: Generative AI products are so painfully general purpose that people say "it's a tool, like a hammer".
When people find purpose for themselves in these products they fill the gap for the makers who don't know, or don't want to admit, what the thing is for.
2/4

2025-03-12 16:50:26 UTC

Video Dispatch #18: Finding Purpose is the Fool's Errand
If they don't say what it's for, don't help them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5MQb-uNf2U
1/4

2025-03-10 17:05:54 UTC

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A product *capable* of servicing a niche purpose is not the same as a product designed to specifically satisfy that niche purpose.
Only the latter will be developed with continual effort to further satisfy the purpose as effectively as possible.
4/6

2025-03-10 17:05:43 UTC

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When a general purpose product uses an edge case as the subject of its marketing it ignores the other aspects of the product which, for that niche purpose, will be on a spectrum from irrelevance to interference.
3/6

2025-03-10 17:05:30 UTC

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The gist: In the production of a tech product an "edge case" is seen as a hindrance to delivering on the core purpose of the product.
For marketing an "edge case" can be seen as an opportunity to exploit a purpose that the product was not designed for and will never be optimised to satisfy.
2/6

2025-03-10 17:05:17 UTC

Video Dispatch #17: Edge-case Marketing
Products that are marketed with purposes they can't be optimised for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzUNy90ghWw
1/6

2025-03-07 08:08:43 UTC

I have a question for a thing I'm working on:
When you find yourself having to say "don't get me wrong, I love tech", what are the tech products that you love(d) that come to mind?
(retoot if you can)

2025-02-21 19:40:40 UTC

inaccuracy should be the ultimate embarrassment in computing

2025-02-19 19:21:37 UTC

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cheesecake or pavlova, one of the two

2025-02-19 19:20:44 UTC

If I make it to 20 episodes I'm gonna celebrate with cake

2025-02-19 15:56:19 UTC

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The gist: Computation and digital automation fucks with our ability to tell the difference between inconvenient effort and effort that is contributing to an outcome in subtle ways.
1/8