How you do one thing is how you do everything. This is a phrase that has been around for a long time, but what does it really mean? In this article, we will explore the meaning of this phrase and how it can be applied to your life.

#design

#product

#ux

#founder

How to source and use expert knowledge for your work

One of the most effective ways to grow as a developer is by tapping into the vast pool of knowledge available in the developer community.

#community

#philosophy

#dev

Debug tips from a lifetime newbie

Debugging problems with code (especially production code) is something that is rarely taught in university classes or code schools. Here are some tips that I've come across from watching smarter people than me debug problems.

#dev

#devx

#indiehacker

You're 8 episodes away from being in the top 20%

A shift in perspective can help you stay motivated on your journey to the top. Set achievable goals and measure your progress to keep moving forward.

#creator

#startup

#seo

Struggling with TypeScript: why not?

One of your biggest skills as a person-on-the-internet is your ability to research and learn new things.

#dev

#startup

#typescript

Open Sourcing my Design System

I'm open sourcing the Figma file I use to design and create images for my personal site.

#design

#ux

#figma

Impostor Syndrome: The monster in your head

Impostor syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.

#psychology

#creator

Statistically, nobody has used your app

People spend most of their time on sites and apps other than yours. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.

#ux

#design

#product

The Aesthetic-Usability Effect

When building something new, what's more important: that it works, or that it looks good? The Aesthetic-Usability Effect says that users perceive more aesthetically pleasing designs as easier to use than less aesthetically pleasing designs.

#ux

#design

#startup

Three things school taught me (and Three things it didn't)

Too often I see chatter online about how studying computer science in school is the only way to have a successful career at a startup or a big company. That definitely isn't the case.

#career

Shrimps is Bugs: Red Lobster ate itself to death

Red Lobster's bankruptcy and the importance of understanding your product's pricing and business model, especially for founders and indiehackers building Saas products.

#product

#marketing

#startup

The Endowment Effect: why useful trials make for sticky products

The endowment effect is a psychological phenomenon where people value things more highly simply because they own them. How can you use this to make your product stickier?

Beyond the walled garden: what Spotify and Substack get wrong

It's natural for big companies to make mistakes - but when they do, it's a great opportunity for smaller companies to build something better.

Simple Habits for a Happier Team

Small changes and management techniques can transform your team's dynamics and boost morale. Explore practices like expressing gratitude, weekly reflections, and eliminating negative behaviors to foster a positive, growing team.

Designing for hospitality

"Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara outlines how to making customers feel exceptionally special. Let's bring these hospitality principles to tech, by creating memorable experiences, and using hospitality to elevate customer satisfaction in product design, engaging with the people using our products.

Keep your tools sharp

The tools we use to get our work done are incredibly important, and taking the time to tune them to work just right can make a huge difference in our productivity and happiness.

#devx

#devrel

#dev

Why new frameworks make better developers

A look at the cognitive science behind the Hierarchy of Competence, and how dabbling with new frameworks and tools can make you a better developer.

Take my money! Some of my favorite tools... and why I pay for them

I'm a huge fan of products that use their a free tier to prove their value, and then convert me to a paying customer. Here are a few tools I pay for, and why I think they're worth it.

3 Tiny tips for better SEO

I hear from a lot of devs that they don't know where to start with SEO. Here are 3 tiny tips about to get you started.

#seo

#nextjs

#webdev

The first year of being a technical startup cofounder

Reflecting on my first year as CTO of Craftwork, and the many things I've learned along the way.

#newsletter

#javascript

#typescript

I hate Tailwind CSS. Here's why I use it.

Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework that I've come to love. Here's why I use it and why I think you should too.

Gestalt: Design principles every developer should know

Ever felt that you've seen a design that just makes sense to you, but you couldn't quite put your finger on why? There's rules for that. Let's talk about Gestalt

#design

#ux

#psychology

Build, measure, listen, rebuild

Building better products involves skills you won't learn in computer science school, or at a boot camp. Find success through testing, learning from real-world feedback, and adapting.

#product

#ux

#startup

Why your favorite apps and creators all pivot in January

The new year is a time for change. But why do so many apps and creators pivot in January? We explore the psychology behind the new year's pivot.

#creators

#startups

#psychology

Fitts' Law and the Beauty of Big Goals

Fitts' Law is a fundamental principle of UX design and usability. It states that the time required to move to a target is a function of the distance to the target and the size of the target. The further away and smaller the target, the longer it takes to reach it. The closer and larger the target, the faster it is to reach it.

The product design spectrum: crowdsourcing, user research, and the myopic approach

In product design, there's a critical difference between crowdsourcing ideas and feedback, and user research.

Learning is an infinite game

As a founder, you're going to need to learn new skills quickly and efficiently. Keeping your skill for learning sharp is a critical skill, and should can be practiced like any other skill.

#community

#founder

#brand

3 Ways to use Annual Pricing to your advantage

Annual pricing is a great way to increase your revenue and decrease your churn. Here are 3 ways to use annual pricing to your advantage.

#product

#startup

The Decoy Effect: More options for an easier choice

The Decoy Effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to have a strong preference between two options, when presented with a third option that is inferior to one of the original options.

#ux

#product

#cognition

There's no right way to do it

Building products comes with a sisyphean paradox: The blessing is that there are so many ways to do it. The curse is that there are so many ways to do it.

#productivity

#product

Chase your interests to build something useful

Explore the power of hyperfixation on the internet, from tech enthusiasts diving deep into topics to engineers creating innovative solutions. Discover how curiosity can lead to expertise and groundbreaking tools.

#product

#design

#ai

Your resume sucks. Here's how to fix it.

A guide to writing a resume that doesn't suck, from a hiring manager's perspective.

#career

Do this with Your Product Waitlist: A Guide for Indiehackers and Startup Founders

Learn strategies to leverage your product waitlist for sustainable growth. Ideal for indiehackers and startup founders, this guide offers actionable tips to convert initial interest into paying customers.

#product

#founder

#startup

Breaking the cycle: Data-driven product descisions

Learn how to escape common product development pitfalls using data-driven decisions. Read how Craftwork used analytics to optimize their user experience.

Reverse DevRel: The core engineering skill you've been missing

DevRel is a core engineering skill that is often overlooked. By turning the DevRel model on its head, we can use it to build better products and better teammates.

Continuous self improvement and the morning ritual

Reflecting on my morning ritual, journaling for clarity, and podcasts for your morning walk

#design

#philosophy

#product

My startup got into Y Combinator

Well, our startup did - Craftwork is a tech-connected home painting company that is making it easier for homeowners to get their homes painted.

#startup

#product

#ycombinator

Two truths and a lie: what Meta got right with the Threads launch

Meta's new app, Threads, is a Twitter clone that launched last week. It's not perfect, but it's a great example of a product launch that went extremely well.

Maximize user retention: the cognitive science approach...

Understand how multitasking affects your customers' memory, and improve your product design and engagement with cognitive psychology and the Zeigarnik effect.

Takeaways from VidCon's creator track

Last week, I went to VidCon in Anaheim, California. It was my first time as a creator at the event. Here are my three takeaways from the conference.

#creator

#community

Intellectual humility: how to be wrong productively

How to use being wrong to improve UX and product design. Learn how to embrace mistakes and create better products for your users.

Cognitive load, UX, and why you should care

Cognitive load is a concept that is important to understand that is often overlooked, and has a huge impact on both UX and the lived experience of building your product.

Reddit as a tool for learning

If you haven't been using reddit as a tool for learning, you are truly missing out. It's time to give it a try.

#newsletter

#javascript

#typescript

Your portfolio is a timeline of your growth

At some point in your life, you will look back on the work you did when you were just getting started with a new skill, and see everything you did wrong. Let's talk about how to channel that feeling for good

#newsletter

#design

#career

We hurled a people into space by building a pool: the case for simplification

Everyone has their moonshot: something that seems impossibly difficult. We can learn a lot from the people who have landed their own moonshots.

#newsletter

#product

Tiny Improvements for big changes

Discover how tiny habits like journaling, language learning, & writing helped me stay grounded during the pandemic & achieve personal growth.

#newsletter

#notes

You are far more influential than you think

You're already marketing yourself every moment. You just need to be aware of it and do it intentionally.

#newsletter

#philosophy

#marketing

The first 90 days as a technical cofounder - building a startup in 2023

I'm building a new company for the first time since 2016. A lot has changed since then. Here's what feels different this time around.

#newsletter

#startup

#founder

Wabi-Sabi - embracing imperfection for tech teams

The products we build are naturally imperfect. We can learn from the flaws and imperfections in our code to create better, more resilient products while nurturing team and personal growth.

#newsletter

#philosophy

An idiot's guide to using ChatGPT to make yourself smarter

ChatGPT is amazing, and quickly finding its way into mainstream use - regardless of how tech-savvy the end user is. This is how I use ChatGPT to learn.

#newsletter

#ai

#note-taking

Why Liquid Death's branding is murderously effective

Discover the science behind naming and branding, and how the Bouba/Kiki effect can help you create a brand identity that resonates with your audience.

The productivity tool I use every day to multiply my output

I've been using networked note taking to organize my thoughts and ideas for years. Here's how it's helped me become more productive and efficient.

#newsletter

#productivity

#notes

The math behind why cafes should have round tables

Though we don't often think of it this way, the objects and buildings around us are the result of a series of design decisions.

#newsletter

#design

#ux

The finicky nature of color in product design

Choosing colors for your product can be a difficult task. There are cultural, historical, contextual, and even physiological factors that can influence how we perceive color.

#newsletter

#color

#design

Perception and unexpected tricks of the mind

Explore the fascinating world of perception and cognition in the Tiny Improvements newsletter. Uncover the unexpected tricks of our minds and learn how to make tiny improvements in our cognitive abilities.

Learn from me: a Dunning-Kruger expert

Drawing on the Dunning-Kruger Effect to propel tech progress is like using a slingshot to travel into space: Leaving our comfort zone to learn from experts gives us the momentum to break through boundaries and break records.

#newsletter

#startups

#philosophy

These are the books that shaped my career

A sampling of books that have had a fundamental impact on my career as a designer, developer and startup founder.

Tools for building a new company

I spent the last week spinning up a new company for the first time since 2017. Here are the tools I used.

#newsletter

#startups

#tools

The case for continued learning, and getting side projects out the door

The end of 2022 brought about a ton of change for me, and a major shift in my career. I'm excited to talk a little about what's next, and to show off a side project I'm readying for release soon.

#react

#product

#dev

Building your brand in the developer community

Learn how to build a personal brand as a developer or product builder to differentiate yourself in the tech industry and gain recognition for your work. Authenticity and consistency are key to attracting the right people and opportunities. Follow these steps to get started.

#newsletter

#creator

#philosophy

Customer experience, quality, and the hype cycle

The Gartner Hype Cycle, and its relationship with customer experience for new products and companies.

#newsletter

#product

#ux

Put a fork in it - how to know when your work is ready to publish

Deciding when your work is "done" can be a crippling decision for creators. Let's talk about that.

#newsletter

#philosophy

#creator

Get started: The trick to publishing online

The biggest benefit about telling people online about what you're learning is the network effect.

#newsletter

#philosophy

#second-brain

What it's like to get laid off and go viral on the same day

Last week may have been the most complicated week of my life. I got laid off from Stripe, and went viral on Twitter. Here's what happened.

#newsletter

#philosophy

#mental-health

What I learned from using AI in my work

Machine learning and AI tools have been making waves in the news lately. Let's take a look at some that you might want to consider using

#newsletter

#ai

Tips for managing burnout and stress

We all experience stress and burnout at some point in our lives. Here are the tools I've found to stay ahead of burnout in my job and my relationships.

#newsletter

#philosophy

5 Design rules everyone should know

For most of my life, I would not have described myself as a creative person. As it works out, nobody is inherently creative. It's all about following rules.

#newsletter

#design

Remember these apps?

This Dispatch of Tiny Improvements dives into some of †he apps we've forgotten, no code tools, and time off.

The way we talk about our things

This we we talk about intentional use of language and how it can affect subconscious behavior.

#newsletter

#design

What I've learned from working in public

I'm a big fan of working in public. It's a great way to get feedback and improve your work... you just have to be ready to deal with The Internet™️

#startup

#indiehackers

#environment

Balance for remote workers

Show up better on video calls, make your writing better by writing more, friction logging, and conferences are back!

#wfh

#video

Has it been four years already?

MLK, presidential inauguration, time illusions, new features in Gatsby, and designing for musicians.

#design

#psychology

Sip your coffee quietly, act kindly

Watching history happen before our eyes, the economic study of bitcoin, accessibility, and drinking coffee in a quiet room.

The Enthusiast's Hidden Superpower

Optimism and the new year, why being an enthusiast can help you build a better product, espresso drinking and daily writing.

#writing

#coffee

#espresso

On seasonal change, open source, and carbon offsets

Cognitive science and the framing effect, Open Source software and Working in Public, language learning, creating online courses, and reforestation.

#psychology

#design

#entrepreneurship

I swear I wrote that down somewhere 🤦‍♂️

Training your brain with networked note-taking, privacy-first analytics for websites, expensive asparagus, speed reading and retention.

#analytics

#newsletter

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