Michael McWatters

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q2500.jpg

The population of a Q

April 19, 2018 by Michael McWatters in Ideas, Opinions, Quirk

A city on wheels

This Q is packed to the gunwales. I can’t breathe. I feel strange lumps in the bodies pressed against mine. I need a distraction, but I can’t move my arms, much less look at my phone. A question comes to mind: How many people are in this damn train car anyway?
 Guess I’ll wait for another Q

Guess I’ll wait for another Q

I try look around but all I can see is a guy’s arm about three inches from my face. I try to suss it out anyway. I make a mental measurement of the size of the subway car in square feet, and guesstimate how many people might fit in that space. My math tells me there are around 200 people in this car, a figure that astounds me so much I make a mental note to research it later.

 A rare sight: an empty R160. How many people can it hold?

A rare sight: an empty R160. How many people can it hold?

240–246

Later that night, I hit Wikipedia. The Q train uses two nearly identical train cars, the R160A and the R160B. They are fascinating in many ways, but I’m interested in passenger capacity. I learn that the R160A holds 240 people (42 seated, 198 standing) while the R160B holds 246 people (44 seated, 202 standing). My guesstimate was low. Each train car holds almost ten NYC public school classrooms worth of students. No wonder it’s cramped.

r160 plans.png

2,400–2,460

The next night, I count the cars coming into the Canal Street station: ten. With nearly 250 people in each car, there are about 2,500 people on each Q. This number astounds me more than the first. For days, I’m obsessed. I keep creating these little comparisons in my mind.

 2,500 people

2,500 people

For example, there are 108 units in my seven-story, half-block long Brooklyn apartment building. Assuming an average of two occupants per apartment, 11.6 apartment buildings like mine would fit in a single Q train.


 Passengers from four 747s would fit on one Q train

Passengers from four 747s would fit on one Q train

Another: a 747 jumbojet carries up to 600 people. Each Q train, therefore, carries the same number of passengers as four 747s.


 All these people, plus 700 more, would fit on one Q train

All these people, plus 700 more, would fit on one Q train

I recently saw a show at Brooklyn Steel, a concert venue with a capacity of 1,800 people. That’s only 72% of one full Q train.


Or this: a friend lives in a small but robust town in South Dakota. The local chamber of commerce touts a 9-hole golf course, public swimming pool…a progressive school district, modern health care campus, vibrant agriculture and business community, plus a variety of dining and shopping options. Population:950. Each Q train could carry almost three of his towns at once!


 his theater holds the same number of people as one Q train.

his theater holds the same number of people as one Q train.

The entire audience in Salt Lake City’s Eccles Theater, capacity 2,500, could fit in one Q train.


One Q train could carry everyone killed in the World Trade Towers on 9/11. Sorry, that went dark.

During rush hour, up to 25,000 people will pass through a Q train station in each direction. Maybe that’s not so surprising when you consider that, in 2016, the MTA reported 5,655,755 subway riders per weekday. The numbers, though, stagger me.

The (nearly) invisible crowd

Now when a Q rolls into the station, my mind is jumping. I’m thinking of all the people whooshing past. I’m wondering where they’re each going, what they’re up to. I wonder how many just had sex, how many are on their way to have sex. With 2,500 people on each train, some must be high, a couple may be suicidal, maybe one is a genius. (I wonder if any are murderers on board.)

Western_Melbourne_interchange.jpg

Does your mind also work like this? When I’m in an airplane, I look down and try to imagine how many people I’m seeing at once—if they were each distinguishable—and what their lives are like. How many people down there are about to die, how many are newly born? I want a sky microscope.

I often look at buildings and imagine opening up the walls, x-ray style, peeling them away like a Richard Scarry book, to see all the occupants at once. What tableaus would unfold before my eyes? These lifeless facades house human hives just as the shiny shell of a single Q train carries so many lives at once. Visible but invisible, innumerable but numerable.


William Carlos Williams wrote that “so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow.” Even more depends on a single Q train.

April 19, 2018 /Michael McWatters
Ideas, Opinions, Quirk
internet.jpeg

A dark day for the Internet

December 15, 2017 by Michael McWatters in Opinions

My professional trajectory over the past 20 years was shaped and, in fact, made possible by an open, neutral Internet, a place where all ideas and content could compete regardless of the wealth of the individuals or groups behind them. One of the things that drew me to this profession was the fact that anyone could have a Web presence. Anyone could create a space to speak their mind, share an idea, connect with others, start a business. It felt like the purest form of freedom.

 Hampsterdance c. 1998

Hampsterdance c. 1998

The sonic boom of creativity that brought us everything from Wikipedia to Hampsterdance to iPhones to Google to…you name it…happened because the pipes didn’t discriminate. A byte from one place was treated the same as any other. This openness spurred an economic and technological revolution, and inspired fierce competition.

Killing net neutrality is not only a blow against creativity and innovation, it’s a blow against free markets, although GOP leadership will tell you otherwise. The truth is most of us have access to one, maybe two, ISPs. These ISPs, therefore, have local and regional monopolies; killing net neutrality means they are now allowed to double-dip, charging not only end-users for the pipe, but content producers, too. Those who don’t pay could be throttled or blocked. That’s not a way to encourage innovation and competition, nor is it a way to do what’s right for consumers.

Furthermore, it’s hardly democracy. According to a recent study by the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland:

  • 83% of respondents oppose repealing net neutrality
  • 75% of Republicans oppose repealing net neutrality
  • 89% of Democrats oppose repealing net neutrality
  • 86% of independents oppose repealing net neutrality

But, a few minutes ago, it happened. So in the future, when you want to visit a site and you can’t because it costs extra or it’s not on your ISP’s plan or your ISP throttles the speed so it’s basically unusable, remember this day, a day when yet another corporate shill sold your freedom to the highest bidders. And if you have a Web presence — and really, who doesn’t these days?—get ready. Maybe ISPs won’t discriminate against you, but after today, there are no regulations saying they can’t.

Not angry yet? Watch this condescending, self-serving, disingenuous and, frankly, cringeworthy video FCC Chairman Ajit Pai created to try to convince you everything will be a-okay. (I don’t usually recommend reading YouTube comments, but in this case I’ll make an exception. People aren’t buying it.)

December 15, 2017 /Michael McWatters
Opinions
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TED is featured in Smashing Magazine’s new book, Design Systems

October 23, 2017 by Michael McWatters in Design Thinking, UX, TED

Pattern libraries are all the hotness right now. Every org that values quality UX has one. Except us.

About a year ago, designer and writer Alla Kholmatova reached out to ask me if I’d be willing to share insights about TED’s UI pattern library for a Smashing Magazine book she was writing. She said her book was going to feature an interesting variety of orgs including AirBnB, Atlassian, Eurostar, Sipgate, and, if we agreed, TED. That’s pretty nice company to be in!

Nonetheless, my first response to the request was, “Well, we don’t actually have a pattern library.” I figured that was that, but she was intrigued. She’d assumed, given the quality and consistency of our site, we must have a well-developed, codified pattern library. She thought our story was worthy of note, if only because it was different from the other organizations she was planning on featuring. And, she was more interested in design systems, and systems thinking, than a strict focus on pattern libraries.

We agreed, and several months ago Alla interviewed me, my UX colleague Aaron Weyenberg, and our lead front-end developer, Joe Bartlett about the ways in which we maintain brand and UI consistency without relying on a detailed pattern library. We stressed that we’re not anti-pattern; we’re just a small, scrappy team working for a non-profit. We noted that it’s easier to keep things codified and consistent when you have a tiny team and not several dozen designers and developers working across different time zones.

“Among the people who support TED, a small handful of UX practitioners and front-end developers are responsible for design system decisions. The team has a deep shared knowledge of their patterns, which are documented in a simple way. So far they haven’t felt a need to establish a comprehensive pattern library.”—Design Systems

We also talked about the simplicity and timelessness of TED’s visual system, and how its reductive nature makes it easier to keep things from going off the rails—mostly.

 We’re rarely re-inventing the wheel, mostly inflating the tires

We’re rarely re-inventing the wheel, mostly inflating the tires

“Instead of detailed specs, TED’s team can often use a whiteboard or low-fi paper sketch with rudimentary notes. It is then shared in person or posted in Dropbox or InVision, where the team exchanges comments and feedback.”—Design Systems

Of course, we do employ some tricks to keep things consistent and repeatable. For example, I’ve created Sketch libraries for our internal and external sites, and we tend to share our work with each other as often as possible. Plus, we’re fortunate to work with developers who have a solid sense of design and a passion for good UX. Oh, and while it’s not a pattern library per se, we do have our own set of core swatches.

TED Swatches

Behold, an animated gif of our design swatches in Sketch! This Sketch file serves as a library from which we can pull standardized UI components.

It’s also worth noting that consistency is good only insofar as it doesn’t prevent you from trying new things or breaking out of your box when the context justifies it. Like rules, patterns are occasionally meant to be ignored.

“Design acumen and sensitivity to context will always come first, even if it means that in some cases patterns will be ignored or modified.” —Me, trying to sound smart for a book
 It’s still pretty neat to see my name in actual ink

It’s still pretty neat to see my name in actual ink

After 18 months of research and writing, Alla finished the book and Smashing Magazine is actively promoting it. Last week, I received my very own copy, and am about a third of the way through. It’s a beautiful book, and well written to boot.

Seeing how the other orgs are approaching their design systems and pattern libraries is inspiring and informative. I particularly like the way the book is broken down into two major parts: Foundations (the fundamentals of designs sytems) and Process (practical steps and techniques to establish and maintain a design system). Woven throughout the book are case studies and examples from the various design teams Alla interviewed, including us. These are the topics Design Systems aims to address:

  1. How to get support for a design system in your organization
  2. How to conduct a purpose directed interface audit
  3. How to establish and evolve a shared design language within your team
  4. How to think in patterns without losing sight of the whole
  5. How to shift your team’s design process from thinking in pages to connected systems
  6. How to define effective design principles
  7. How to identify patterns early in the design process
  8. How to strike a balance between reusability, consistency, and creative expression of the brand
  9. How to eliminate duplicates and inconsistencies
  10. How to establish foundations for a pattern library
  11. How to define patterns and integrate them into the system
  12. How to document and evolve design patterns.
 Image via Smashing Magazine

Image via Smashing Magazine

So while we don’t currently have a rigorous design system or pattern library, we are always looking for ways to bring consistency and scalability to our work. While I haven’t finished Design Systems,so far I’ve gleaned some great insights and ideas that will definitely be of use even to our small team. As Smashing Mag says, “The book is aimed mainly at small and medium-sized product teams trying to integrate modular thinking into their organization’s culture.” That’s us!

Design Systems is available in both digital and print versions.

October 23, 2017 /Michael McWatters
Design Thinking, UX, TED
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Some thoughts on the experience design implications of rating systems

October 02, 2017 by Michael McWatters in TED, UX

Last week my colleague, Emily McManus, Managing Editor of TED, wrote How to rate complicated content? It's a fascinating piece that ponders the challenges and options a content creator has when trying to openly rate their own content. Give it a read.

After reading Emily's piece, I wanted to look at the question from a user perspective. I wanted to think about what factors might motivate a person to rate a bit of content, as that should inform the rating system's design. Based on past and general experience with ratings systems, I came up with the following possible motivators. Ultimately, of course, I'd want to do research with actual users to vet my thoughts.

Note: none of these possible motivators are necessarily mutually exclusive: 

Self-interest

A person may rate something in the hopes that doing so will result in better future recommendations for themselves. They will perceive that a downvote will result in fewer similar recommendations, while an upvote will result in more. The design implication here is a clear mental model: the user should understand that their rating is self-serving.

Altruism

The act of rating may stem from a sense of altruism. Hard to believe these days, but some people are genuinely motivated to help others—even online! They may see a positive rating as a way to help people find something good, and a negative rating as a way to protect someone from making a mistake. The implication here is to design a system that encourages trust and good behavior, and offers a meaningful ego play for thoughtful ratings. Likewise, it should discourage bad or disingenuous actors from gaming the system.

Ego

Egos may be involved. Depending on the context, people like the halo offered by rating something they love. They may hope the rating confers the cool factor of the item being rated back onto themselves. In these cases, people usually want to broadcast what they love rather than what they hate, though there can be exceptions. An obvious design implication is that the ego play should have appropriate reach; a cloistered system without reach is going to be problematic (see, for example, Apple’s failed Ping social network built into iTunes).

Feedback

People may want to rate things as a way to leave feedback for an org. They perceive the rating as a way to encourage the good and punish the bad. There may be a bit of altruism here depending on the context and the organization—people might see their feedback as a form of guidance. But there is also a bit of self-interest here as well; users might see a negative rating, for example, as a way to discourage the org from doing something they find objectionable. A design implication is that the act of rating should be portrayed as valuable to, and appreciated by, the org. Moreover, this kind of rating system might benefit from a feedback-response loop: rather than the rating being a terminus, it might be the beginning of an exchange between the org and the user.

In short, a good rating system not only helps the platform on which it exists, it should have meaning for the people who use it. It should feel transparent, honest, usable, and engaging. Mostly, it should have a perceived and real value for the user.

October 02, 2017 /Michael McWatters
TED, UX

What’s in my Mac’s menu bar right now

September 18, 2017 by Michael McWatters in Recommendations, Tips, Writing

14 productivity apps worthy of note

Maybe you’ve had people make fun of your love of productivity apps. Fear not; this is a safe space. (Haters gonna be—inefficient.) Some of my favorite productivity apps inhabit my Mac’s menu bar. Here are14 worthy of note.

In alphabetical order

 1Password

1Password

1Password

Not really a menu bar app, but it lives in my menu bar. Anyway…you’re using a password manager, right? Right? I’ve been using 1Password almost since it was a baby, and I can’t imagine life without it. It’s so much more than passwords, too: you can store important documents, notes, files, credit cards, IDs, etc. It generates passwords for you, and it warns you when there’s been a hack or one of your passwords is old or weak. It’s cross-platform, cross device, and supports TouchID on the Mac. Super duper.

 Alfred

Alfred

Alfred

I can’t imagine life without chocolate, coffee and Alfred. Truth. Alfred surpasses the Mac’s native Spotlight feature, but does so much more, especially if you use third-party workflows. Calculator, weather, search, shopping—these are just the tip of the productivity iceberg. (Like 1Password, Alfred’s menu bar app doesn’t do much other than get you to its prefs, but I wanted to give it a shout-out as a great productivity app.)

 ColorSnapper

ColorSnapper

ColorSnapper

ColorSnapper is the best utility I’ve found for capturing colors anywhere onscreen. It copies color codes to your clipboard in any format you like, and stores them in a handy palette. Customizable keyboard shortcuts make grabbing colors a snap (sorry, couldn’t resist).

 Contrast

Contrast

Contrast

This one-trick pony is handy if you’re concerned about making sure your designs meet the accessibility standards outlined in the WCAG 2.0, and provide sufficient contrast for all users. And I know you are! You can use the color picker anywhere on your screen, or enter color codes manually. Little big detail: the left picker sets the widget’s text color, while the right picker sets the widget’s background color. Neat.

 Craft

Craft

Craft

If your workflow includes Sketch + Invision, then Craft from Invision is a must-have plugin. A blurb can’t begin to do justice to all this hydra-like utility offers, so check it out for yourself. Note: like Alfred and 1Password, Craft’s menu bar widget is just a glorified preference pane, but worth knowing about.

 DayOne

DayOne

DayOne

I’ve always kept a journal, and for the past several years, I’ve done so with DayOne. It has support for multiple journals (for me it’s Ideas, Projects, Family, Personal), a beautiful UI, and cross-device syncing…what’s not to love? DayOne’s menu bar widget lets you make quick entries without bringing up the full app. And, you can set DayOne to remind you to make entries; when you do, the menu bar widget opens automatically to guilt you, er, prompt you, into writing something.

 Dropbox

Dropbox

Dropbox

You’re probably thinking this is just another menu bar widget that doesn’t do much — and you’d mostly be right. Except that it’s a powerful shortcut for finding recent files. Much quicker than going to Finder anyway.

 Droplr

Droplr

Droplr

I came late to the Droplr game. I wondered why people didn’t just stick files in Dropbox and share the link? But with TED’s corporate Droplr account, I had to give it a shot, and now I’m a convert. I’m Option-D’ing all over the place: in many apps and, of course, Finder, clicking Option-D uploads whatever you’ve selected automatically to Droplr, and generates a shareable URL that’s copied automatically to your clipboard. Multiple files are uploaded as an archive. On top of that, you can take and annotate screenshots, screencasts, and more. The menu bar widget offers shortcuts, as well as a recent history of items.

 Fantastical

Fantastical

Fantastical

Apple’s Calendar app shed its Pleather™ skin years ago, but it still can’t compete with the admittedly pricey Fantastical. Not only is it a gorgeous app, Fantastical is feature-packed, but in an intuitive way. Each update offers useful, thoughtful improvements. And unlike some of the other menu bar apps I’ve mentioned here, Fantastical’s menu bar app is actually a full-fledged, miniature version of the full Fantastical app. You can search for or add events and reminders, and (natch) view your calendar. The menu bar window can be detached, and you can set it to float above other windows so it’s always present. I often use it instead of the full app, in fact.

 LittleIpsum

LittleIpsum

LittleIpsum

Every decent designer knows you never, ever design until you have actual copy. HAHAHA-OMG-ROTFL-LMAO! Whew, that was fun! Anyway. For those times when you have to design without real copy, LittleIpsum is quite handy. It generates any amount of copy you want — specify number of words, sentences, or paragraphs — and it copies a plain text version right to your clipboard. This one-trick-pony rocks.

 Noizio

Noizio

Noizio

Noizio is my favorite white noise app. It’s fun to mix your own ambient sounds. I mean, Deep Space + On The Farm + Coffee House? Sailing Yacht + Campfire? Oh, and there’s an iOS version, too.

 Paste

Paste

Paste

I really shouldn’t include Paste in a write-up of menu bar apps because its widget really does nothing more than get you to its preferences. But damn, do I love Paste. It’s by far the best and most beautiful clipboard manager I’ve used. Paste has a customizable history; entries are stored in a very visual format; they can be filed for future reference; and it supports iCloud sync so you can access your history across devices. The only thing missing is a mobile version — and the developer says that’s in the works!

 Pixelwinch

Pixelwinch

Pixelwinch

Pixelwinch is a gem. Capture any portion of your screen and make pixel-perfect measurements of even the smallest interface elements. It stores a history of recent clippings, too.

 Pixelsnap

Pixelsnap

PixelSnap

Update—19 Feb, 2018: Add another amazing screen measurement tool to my menubar arsenal: PixelSnap. Invoked by a system-wide hotkey, you can drag a marquee around anything on your screen (yes, anything), and PixelSnap will return the measurements instantly. It does a fantastic job finding boundaries, but you can adjust the settings if you like. It’s like magic! I find myself invoking PixelSnap more often than Pixel Winch, above, but one feature I like about Pixel Winch is its clipboard history. Caveat: PixelSnap isn’t cheap. Thanks for the tip, Steve.

 Todoist

Todoist

Todoist

It kind of makes sense to close out a list of productivity apps with a to-do app. I’ve used them all—or most of them, anyway. Things was my favorite, but lack of a mobile version combined with infrequent updates caused me to bail. I left for Todoist, which is supported on any platform you can imagine (including a Web-based version). It’s one of those apps that can be deep or shallow, depending on your needs. (I’m somewhere in the middle). In this case, you could use it for everything from daily chores and reminders to light project management. Or both. The app gets frequent updates, and it features a fun little productivity Karma / leaderboard, if you’re into that kind of thing. (Again, the menu bar app is mostly prefs.)

And finally…

Some random Mac menu bar facts:

  • You can set your menu bar to hidden. I have, and I love it: more screen!
  • You can invert the colors on your menu bar to create a dark mode. (I think it’s ugly.)
  • Option-clicking the Notification Center icon in the far right corner of the menu bar sets it to Do Not Disturb mode. (Why did I only learn this recently?)
  • If your menu bar becomes overpopulated, try Bartender, a handy little utility that lets you show or hide apps as you like.

So, what’s in your menu bar? I’d love to know.

September 18, 2017 /Michael McWatters
Recommendations, Tips, Writing
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