dba

New portfolio website for Humans and Agents dba.computer

@zoink Evolution is beautiful. Especially when it’s expressed through human craft—art, design, and engineering. Onward and upward.

I have been thinking about whether to comment on this. Not clear if Gal is serious, rage baiting, etc. Whatever the case, it has spread enough in the design community that I want to share some thoughts. The psychological journey people go through with AI is quite fascinating to me. A new model launches, people think the world has changed, they sometimes have an existential crisis, then they play with the model, they understand its strengths and limitations and then they settle down. A few weeks later, the cycle repeats. On top of this, even before AI, designers have often shown insecurity and imposter syndrome. There are probably many reasons for this. First, before ~2010 design wasn't valued by the tech industry in the way it is today. Second, the people attracted to working in the field of design are often very open to new ideas and have high empathy. Third, there is no "one path" to working as a designer and designer backgrounds are often pretty random. Ironically, despite the insecurity + imposter syndrome so many designers feel, design is more important than ever. I truly believe this. And yes, I have an incentive to believe this. But just think about it... the logic couldn't be more clear. More design is entering the world, the attention economy is real and therefore creativity / design / point of view is how you will stand out. Your brand, marketing, product design, moments of delight and overall customer journey must be excellent. Some companies already get this and are fighting wild battles over design talent. Other companies are still figuring it out. Everyone will get there and it will be obvious in retrospect. This isn't a new trend with AI. It is a trend that we've seen over the last decade. Designers used to complain about not having a seat at the table. Now designers have a seat at the table. And many of the businesses I speak with are pulling from their design bench when looking for new leaders for their business... they know that design thinking and the design process is what they need to adopt everywhere to win. I'm not saying that every stakeholder gets it. But so many are trying to learn right now. Designers need to do more than create great work, they have to spend a lot more effort educating. Showing work can also trigger anxiety. Sometimes the best solution to a design challenge is the first thing you think of. And other times you have to explore for quite a long time to come up with something great. Inputs to a design process might include things that feel like traditional office work and are easy to point to... reading docs, talking with teammates, formal research, etc. Inputs might also include a walk in the park, an interesting dream you had the night before, a good song you listened to on the radio during your commute, a painting from the 1800's or all sorts of other cultural / emotional input. In summary, I've never been more confident in the role of design and impact design can have. I wish designers felt the same confidence. This is the moment to be more bold, to take more creative risk, to double down on the power of design. Everyone is on their own journey, and there are lots of fascinating ways to move through life, so if Gal is serious about "quitting design" then I wish him the best in his adventures ahead. But I hope if others follow they do it because there are other things they are so excited about spending time on vs fear of AI.

@jainarvind So human centered design. Wasn't this originally labeled "design thinking" now rebranded with AI like it's new. AI has forced truth. The timeline is finally understanding the value of solving real human pain points

The approach here is exactly right. Pairing builders with domain experts, and grounding the work in the company’s real knowledge, systems, and workflow context. Most AI initiatives don't stall for a lack of ambition or model capability, but because the people building the tools or workflows are too far removed from the friction of the actual work. The breakthrough happens when you combine technical builders, domain experts, and the scattered knowledge, workarounds, context behind the workflow itself. You can’t redesign the future if you’re too far removed from the friction of the present.

@mikethrussell @NotionMail @Superhuman will give it a go

@dbacomputer @NotionMail @Superhuman is for you

We’re winding down the Notion Mail inbox across web, desktop, and iOS on September 22. We launched Notion Mail with a belief that your inbox should think like you—more personal to how you work and over time, more capable with AI. As Notion agents have gotten more capable, we’ve seen more users hand off email workflows to them. Today, more than half of Notion Mail users manage emails without ever opening their inbox. So, we’re going all in on using agents to run your inbox. We’re grateful to each and every one of you for building your routine around Notion Mail and trusting us with something that mattered as much as your email. More to come! The Notion Mail Team.

@kurissuuu The hardest part is figuring out how to stand out when you’ve always been the person who fits that description. Unfortunately, that part hasn’t changed.

The ideal designer profile has changed SO much in the last year. I was talking to a design recruiter friend about it—the best companies want effectively a designer who is 60% designer, 40% engineer. Investing in your craft is good, but I’d argue investing in your understanding of the material you’re designing is just as important. And yes…im also getting PTSD from early design twitter topics😉

"Those cars were designed with love." Real design lives in the details. Building trust without saying a word.

@evilrabbit_ ✅

I miss the days when we really cared about branding. When a brand presentation was crafted with so much care and intention: how it feels, what it does, and what it doesn’t. Interviewing a former OG designer from R/GA brought me back in time. We MUST spend more time DESIGNING.

More Imagination, Shipped linkedin.com/pulse/more-ima… via @LinkedIn

@fortelabs markdown.zip

Can anyone recommend a dead simple, easy to use notetaking app based on markdown files? Obsidian is far too complicated for me. I'm looking for Apple Notes, but with markdown storage

@pablostanley Wrote a little about this recently x.com/dbacomputer/st…

taste.md pablostanley.substack.com/p/tastemd

When Anyone Can Build, Craft Is the Differentiator linkedin.com/pulse/when-any… via @LinkedIn

@raul_dronca 👋

Built a page featuring people working at the intersection of design and engineering. People I consider design engineers based on their public work here on x. I’ll keep adding more. Who else should be on the list? 🙂 design-engineers-x.vercel.app

Starting fresh here 💚 Reflecting on two decades working as an artist, designer, and engineer, not much has changed. Like a chameleon, we learn and adapt...