Reading: "Principles" by Ray Dalio

I just finished Ray Dalio's book "Principles". Ray has an incredibly meticulous way of examining things - he sees everything in life and work as a machine that can be studied and optimized.

The way he sees the world is fascinating and enlightening, and this is one of those books that bends your thinking a bit after reading it.

His core principle is that you want to pursue meaningful work and meaningful relationships through an idea meritocracy and radical transparency.

He strongly believes that the best way of making decisions is through an idea meritocracy. Disagreements are put to a believability-weighted vote, where peoples' votes count differently depending on their expertise in the topic at hand.

He also talks a lot about "radical transparency" in work and in life. The main idea here is that people don't keep their opinions to themselves, and that people need to be open and honest in their dealings with one another in order to maximize the chances of making the right decisions and moving together effectively.

For example, if an employee thinks a manager did a poor job of running a meeting that day, the employee is supposed to tell the manager that they did a poor job, and the manager should (ideally) take this as actionable feedback without getting egos involved.

I'd be so interested to observe a day at Bridgewater's offices to see what the culture and dynamic is like. A group would have to buy into this philosophy completely and fearlessly in order for it to work as intended. I imagine that a lot of feelings could be hurt in this kind of environment if people fail to understand that criticism is for their benefit and not a sign of their standing in the company.

Ray goes into detail about his philosophies in designing effective teams and organizations. One key takeaway for me is the importance of understanding what you know and what you don't know - what you're good at and what you're not good at. When you're clear about these things you can deliver maximum value where you are strong, and where you are weak, you can identify other people who are strong in those areas and you can leverage their expertise.

He also gets into some interesting philosophical territory in talking about the best way to approach life and work. I like his perspective that there's no right answer - everyone needs to decide for themselves. For example, some people want to change the world, and others prefer to savor life - there's not necessarily a right answer. I would argue that the two don't have to be mutually exclusive, the those in one camp would do well to explore the other from time to time.

Dalio stresses the importance of understanding the past, because if you have enough historical data, most things you encounter are "just another one of those", and you'll be better equipped to deal with them.

It's a big book filled with a lot of stories and detailed explanations of his philosophies. He often talks about things from first principles, which can make for some robotic-sounding analysis of even the most seemingly simple topics - but this way of dissecting concepts is crucial to Dalio's way of thinking. He can analyze a concept with excruciating detail, but he can also draw simple and plainly-stated conclusions. This alternating between macro and micro-level thinking is important to his ability to see any given thing as a machine that can be optimized: you move to macro-level thinking to clearly define what you're going to optimize for, and then you move to micro-level thinking to decide how you're going do it - all the while documenting your decision-making process so it can be measured at the results phase, and then re-optimized.

Ray is an intense character with common-sense appeal. Overall I'd highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in learning "thinking frameworks" that can be applied to any field.

You can buy Principles on Amazon here.

Reading: "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen

Aside from the outdated (the book was written in 1902) and cringe-worthy use of the word "man" to refer to all of human kind, this short book is a good reset button for the mind. Something to bring your thoughts into alignment with your goals.

The basic message is that your inner thoughts shape your outer world and circumstances. Of course this concept can be extrapolated to form an outlook that ranges from practical and disciplined to wacky and mystical - but the core idea is valuable in optimizing your mental patterns to match your goals. 

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment. With the majority the bark of thought is allowed to drift upon the ocean of life. Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.
...
A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts...he should steadily focus his thought-forces upon the object which he has set before him. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph."

"Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplished anything, and never can. They always lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in."

"Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul and clean".

Shotty featured in Product Hunt's book: "Best Product Launches of 2017"

I received some exciting news today from Product Hunt: Shotty is featured in their new book "Best Product Launches of 2017", alongside lots of other great products including products from Apple, Tesla, Facebook, Google, and more.

I learned an important lesson with Shotty: if you see a problem that you know how to fix, fix it! In a world of 7 billion people, someone else will surely have the same problem and they'll be thrilled to learn that a solution exists.

You can download Product Hunt's book, "Best Product Launches of 2017" here.

How Jerry Seinfeld taught me to finish projects

"Ideas are like rats in your house. You can sit there watching them run around, or you can choose one, and step on it until it's dead."

This is a paraphrased quote from Jerry Seinfeld that I heard once and it changed the way I pursue creative projects. 

As creatives our heads are often filled to the brim with ideas. Ideas about how to improve the world around us. Ideas about new aesthetics we'd like to experiment with. Ideas about new projects to begin, etc.

We all know somebody who always has some Big New Idea™, but the next time you see them, they've simply conjured up another Big New Idea™ rather than pursuing the last one.

Just pick a rat and step on it. 

Do not pick up your foot until it's dead. 

Don't worry about whether the project is too small, or too big.

Pick a project. Start it. Finish it. Repeat.

One of my favorite articulations of this way of thinking.

I'd highly recommend studying Jerry Seinfeld's career as inspiration for your own. Much like designers or artists, we often (mistakenly) assume that these people have some gift. "Well of course he became a famous comedian, he's a funny guy". 

But Jerry Seinfeld became the best in his field through pure discipline and determination. When you hear him talk about crafting a joke, you see he has a meticulous process - a structured way of thinking that he applies to his art over and over again. He learned this process from studying people he admired, and from good old fashioned practice. It reminds me so much of the way good designers work. When you've put in the hours, you see the patterns that others don't. You have a process that you can depend on to get you to the results you're after.

- Jacob

How to design a great user onboarding experience

User onboarding is an art and science that deserves a lot of attention and care. First impressions can make or break your relationship with your user, and as a designer it's your responsibility to be a gracious host to everyone who walks through the door.

A few guiding principles:

Move users to their first "moment of success" as quickly as possible.

Decide what moment in your user experience stands out as a moment of success. For example, one of the first moments of success for a new user on Facebook would be adding their first friend.

This moment of success is where you need to guide your user to. Do this as quickly and pleasantly as possible. 

Teach users both WHY to use your product and HOW.

Assume a new user is about 50% sold on why they should use your product. They're giving it a try, so they must be at least partially convinced, but onboarding is a great time to seal the deal and show the user why they need your product in their life.

Once they're convinced about the "why", they need to know how to use your product. Of course the user interface should be as intuitive as possible, so as to require as little explanation as possible - but a little guidance can go a long way in helping people orient themselves in your product. Do some user testing to identify places where people get stuck in the user experience, and to identify ways you can reduce confusion.

Convey the personality of your brand and product

Just like the lobby in a hotel conveys the general vibe of the hotel, your user onboarding experience will inevitably convey the personality of your product. Think about how you want your users to feel, and use language and visuals that evoke that feeling.

• Don't be boring
• Be friendly
• Establish trust
• Get to the point

For example, in Shotty, the app needs permission from the user to access the folder where their screenshots are stored. This could be done in a very transactional and functional way, but instead, we used it as an opportunity to do a few key things:

• Welcome our users into the app and be friendly
• Describe the end benefit ("To display your recent screenshots") that will result from taking this action
• Give a single, clear call-to-action. 

Talk to your users and refine the experience over time.

By consciously designing an effective and enjoyable onboarding experience, you'll be making a massive improvement to your product. But you won't get it perfect the first time. Be sure to revisit this crucial part of the user experience from time to time with the goal of making it even better. Think of yourself as filing away friction points that are snagging people on the way in. Go through the experience yourself. Watch other people go through the experience. Ask lots of questions. 

Investing in this part of the user experience is always worth it because not only does this impact every user the first time they use the product, but it also shapes their perception of your product and brand long-term.

If you'd like to see a detailed analysis of some of the best onboarding experiences, head over to useronboard.com to see how companies like Slack, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, and others have designed their user onboarding experiences.

Made on Earth: Koh Phi Phi

I'm continuing to enjoy getting back into video production as a hobby. I used to do a lot of video production and motion graphics in 2011-2014, and am rediscovering my love for it. I think a lot of the concepts I've learned in design can be applied to video. Ultimately, both disciplines are a practice in creating an experience for another person, and giving them a certain feeling. To me, it's all about playing with someone's attention. With video, or in product design, someone has trusted you with their attention, and you have a responsibility to take care of it and give them the best possible experience. 

In this video, I take care to change the shot every two seconds, and to keep the video short and sweet. I want the viewer to be left wanting a just a little bit more with each shot, and with the video as a whole. I don't want to dwell on any shot too long because it gets stale, and attention fades.

It also helps that Koh Phi Phi is a gorgeous island with impossibly blue water. 

The tag at the end says "Made on earth." and is something I'll be talking about in a future post. I had fun designing the logo, making the period earth-blue, as a reference to Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot monologue. 

This little blog now has readers in over 50 countries. Just wanted to say thanks.

I've been growing this site day by day since March 2017. In just 5 months it's been amazing to see the response of people visiting the site, reading and sharing articles, and contacting me personally. Now this little blog has readers from 51 countries and counting.

I believe strongly that creativity cannot happen in a vacuum, and that the internet provides an incredible opportunity for ideas to flourish and propagate unhindered by physical location, cultural barriers, and national borders. 

As I type this post on a rainy day in Yangon, it's amazing to think about the growth I've experienced this year both creatively and personally. As a freelance designer, I'm finding that my creative barriers continue to fall away the more I step out of my comfort zone and live life as fearlessly as I can, using every new experience as a learning opportunity.

I'm committed to continue finding ways to deliver value through the skills I've worked hard to develop, and to making that value easily accessible online for others to share and reciprocate. It's been incredible to talk to people from so many different places around the world simply because we share a passion for creating things. Collaboration is the only way forward and I'm excited to continue to deliver value in as many ways as I know how.

- Jacob

Shotty Hits #2 on Product Hunt. #1 Trending in 'Design Tools'.

Shotty (my little app that gives you faster access to your screenshots on Mac) is on Product Hunt today and hit #2 (and #1 Trending in Design Tools)! The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and it's great to see so many people talking about how it solves their problem. 

If you have a second, jump over to Product Hunt and give Shotty an upvote!