… has too many hobbies.

Topic:

Design

6 posts
Aug 2011 – Feb 2024

Fixing bad design with a label maker

There are now two objects in my house that look odd but work 1000% better than when I bought them. I quite like my alarm clock overall, but the buttons you use to control the light, volume, snooze, and alarm are tiny and it's nearly impossible to tell …

iOS 15 & Safari 15

Part of the iOS 15 Bugs series. iOS 15 is out. Overall I'm happy-ish with it, but I've run into some bugs/annoyances. A lot of these are around Focus Modes, which is maybe the iOS 15 feature I've played with most so far. …

API Design Reading List

A friend recently asked if I had any recommended reading on designing APIs in general. I found some time today to dig through my Pinboard, and these are the relevant links I found. Many/most of them are language- or technology-specific, but I think it's useful to read …

Why I’m selling my Apple Watch

Back Buttons for Web View Controllers

If Zawinski's Law applies to desktop software, then I propose a corollary for iPhone apps: every app expands until it includes a web browser. In-app browser design is something I care deeply about, mostly because everybody gets it wrong.

How Rdio Can Kill Spotify (and vice-versa)

A couple cool new subscription music services have recently appeared: Rdio and Spotify. There are a ton of similarities between the two – they offer instant access to a world of music, they have capable mobile apps, and they share a nearly-identical pricing structure. There are several notable differences between them, …