Thoughts.

I write about the messy place where technology and humanity smash into each other – and how we can make both better.
Here are some my favorite pieces:

The art and science of the perfect vacation length

It’s a big vacation week in America. Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, and with it, millions of Americans are on the road right now – myself included. With paltry holidays and leave, America doesn’t do vacationing great. That being said, I’d argue that we could use what we do have better. Both science and my personal opinion say that we should prioritize two types of trips.

May 26, 2023

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So, you're graduating. Here's some advice.

After I wrap up my final lesson, I tack on a few minutes to talk about this very special moment in my students' lives. Here's what I say: this is the day the escalator stops. Nuances of personal circumstances aside, up until this point, life keeps pushing upwards and forwards. Not anymore – you have to figure out where life goes now. Since I can't answer that for you, I'll provide some others.

May 19, 2023

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Brands can't stay cool forever

The ceaseless march of time comes for us all, and it has come for these hallmarks of millennial culture. To varying degrees many of the things that were at one point nominally “cool” or at least somewhat popular are now, as the reigning tastemaking generation would call it, cheugy. Is there a way out of this coolness death spiral?

May 16, 2023

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Is a million a lot?

We often use the word “million” to mean something big – but in an era of inflationary everything, do we need to size up our language as well? What does a million dollars mean? A million views? A million users? While most of us would be pretty excited to achieve any of those tallies, today this milestone falls somewhere in the middle more often than not – and that might be causing some issues.

May 9, 2023

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How to make the most of your hard-earned social proof

Why should I believe you? The way we answer that question is called social proof: reviews, testimonials, awards, rankings, and other forms of validation that show you can be trusted. But all this hard-earned validation doesn't do us any good if we keep it hidden. Here are four principles to keep in mind as you're building and deploying your proof.

May 2, 2023

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