Posts in ‘post’ Category

Recipes are a critical — and often misunderstood! — layer in the design system ecosystem. First of all, what exactly are recipes? As the name suggests, recipes combine ingredients to create UI experiences that are complex, delicious, nutritious. The design […]

Ah yes, this old chestnut. It pops up as reliably as daffodils in early spring. My perspective has changed very little over the years. Telling web designers they don't need to worry about code is like telling architects they don't […]

One video phenomenon that has me enthralled hook, line, and sinker is people hearing music for the first time. Watching vicariously as others experience amazing music for the first time brings me so much joy. Sure, it’s entertaining, but it […]

I recently published an article outlining the need for a Global Design System. In my post I stated: A Global Design System would improve the quality and accessibility of the world’s web experiences, save the world’s web designers and developers […]

We’ve all watched with simultaneous fascination and trepidation as a flood of AI-powered tools continues to wash over the digital landscape. At Big Medium, we help complex organizations design at scale and pragmatically adopt new technologies, so naturally we’ve been […]

Woohoo! I am so incredibly excited to announce that Frostapalooza is now live! The show is on August 17th at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA, and you can see the event on Mr. Smalls’ website and get tickets at […]

Exciting news! My Big Medium colleagues and I are launching a newsletter called “A Little Big Medium”. The website does a good job explaining what it’s all about: Love email? Neither do we! But we really, really, really love sharing […]

TL;DR: This is a call to action to create a Global Design System that provides the world’s web designers & developers a library of common UI components. A Global Design System would improve the quality and accessibility of the world’s […]

OUT: Pattern Police IN: Empathic Sherpas OUT: An overstuffed design system libraryIN: A thoughtful, layer-cake design system ecosystem  OUT: Unnecessarily verbose documentationIN: Just enough, just-in-time documentation  OUT: Single discipline-focused design systemsIN: Cross-disciplinary design systems that serve the entire org OUT: Rushing […]

There’s no doubt about it; 2023 was objectively way better than 2022. And 2021. And 2020. Our family has been through a lot over the last 5-ish years, and I’m happy to report that 2023 contained no major medical emergencies, […]

Well I’ll be, I’ve now been running my own business for over a decade! In January 2013 I left agency life and set out into the world of self employment. When I announced I was going to start my own company, here’s […]

I’ve discovered — or rather rediscovered — that playing music is one of the biggest sources of joy and fulfillment in my life. I play music — usually by myself — every day, but it’s the connection with other musicians […]

What does a mature, end-to-end design system look like in a big, complex organization? What are all the moving pieces, and how do they hang together as a well-considered architecture? What’s required and what’s optional? Hold onto your butts, because […]

I’m elated to announce that on August 17th, 2024 — exactly one year from now — I’m throwing a big-ass charity concert/party/happening in Pittsburgh, PA featuring an array of my talented musical collaborators, friends, and family. I’d love for you […]

Why hello there! I’m over three weeks into my 3-month sabbatical. Or Sabbradical as several people have pointed out (which, holy shit why didn’t I think of that!). Imagine waking up in the morning and saying “I wonder what I’m […]

I’m taking a three-month sabbatical! It feels really weird to write that sentence, and it feels even weirder to add an exclamation mark at the end of it. But that’s what’s happening, even if it hasn’t sunk in yet. I’ve […]

A few years ago I got way into birds. I wouldn’t dare call myself a die-hard birder (yet), but it’s been a lot of fun to learn about the birds that show up in my back yard. I backed Bird […]

Today marks the 1-year anniversary of Ziggy leaving us. We had a hell of a 2022 and so I’m only just now getting the opportunity to write about my best bud. Thankfully, I’ve had a year to work through my […]

In what I hope becomes a series, I’ve been recording myself as I drive home from dropping my daughter off at school. Shifting away from more heady topics like AI’s impact on design and development, I felt like talking about […]

I had the great opportunity to chat with Behrad Mirafshar on the Lean Cast podcast. We covered a lot of ground about design systems and AI’s impact on the field of digital design. I really welcomed the opportunity to dig […]

I wish I was better at journaling. I love it and love having documentation of the things I’ve done, feelings I’ve felt, experiences I’ve had, etc. I just haven’t built the habit yet. I’d like to change that. While I […]

I’ve spent the last two years thinking about doing these two projects, and the actual effort to bring them into existence only took two weekends. I arrived at an important insight: if you find yourself frequently revisiting an idea you […]

I drive my kiddo to school in the morning, and my 12-minute return trip home is a fruitful time to think and prepare for my day. I had the realization that my little drive home is a nice window of […]

Once upon a time, I had the word “artist” in my bio. Somewhere along the line, I removed it. Maybe it was because I was preoccupied with what I do for money. Maybe it was because I’m not a professional […]

I’m terrible at focusing. I flit around from task to task like a goddamn hummingbird, never stopping too long on one thing to make too much progress. Flow state? More like “no state”, amirite? I’ve got many legitimate things contributing […]

There’s so much truth to this tweet by Masato: At face value, design system jobs look quite similar to other design/development jobs; designers use design tools to design stuff and developers use front-end code to build stuff. Design systems work […]

The mental health and vision analogy Stigma The mind/body connection Support Therapy Meditation and mindfulness Medication Psychedelics The big picture Resources Note: I am not a mental health professional, so take all of this with a grain of salt. Please […]

It’s been absolutely wild to witness the rise of the new crop of AI tools. This moment feels equally exciting and terrifying, but given humans’ track record of driving promising technologies off the rails, I’m erring on the side of […]

Late last year, our friends at An Event Apart brought down the curtain of running conferences after an impressive 17-year run. It’s difficult to articulate exactly how An Event Apart changed the trajectory of my life, but it did in […]

A pattern is emerging: even years are nightmare years. 2018 was a nightmare year. 2020 was a real fucking nightmare year. And now 2022 was a nightmare year. 2022 was a year of death, organizing chaos, once again putting our […]