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A short burst of monthly information that delivers:

✅ Four thoughts on #DesignInTech
✅ Three recent happenings
✅ Two non-tech suggestions
✅ One monthly hyperlink

In no more than 2019-characters with zero images, no tracking, and in plain-text format.

Thanks for signing up, and as a small courtesy the 2019 #DesignInTech Report PDF link and the 2018 #DesignInTech Report PDF link will be sent to you soon! —@johnmaeda

Sample of my December 2018 briefing

Four Things That I’m Thinking About Design In Tech

  • You can either be a jill of all design-y trades or a master of just one. Nowadays you’re better off being a jill because we don’t know which trades will remain.
  • Fatimah Kabba was spot on with her 2017 point that writing is the most important skill for a designer — especially one who is crafting an experience.
  • Programming isn’t as important as understanding how computing (on a network) operates — the physics of computation is better to master than JavaScript.
  • Knowing all the things one needs to know to work in the tech industry can all be learned with a supporting group around you. Try out the WordPress community.

Three Things I’ve Noticed In The Last 30 Days

  • Accessibility features are more newsworthy these days, and are being heralded as a sign of innovation and good design. Good design for all is now.
  • All the chaos wrought over GDPR in Europe amidst the region’s pre-existing disdain for the American tech industry is healthy. The US is now catching up.
  • I see China everywhere — whether it’s in AI, or in mobile payments, or just unique UX. While we’re quarreling in the US/EU, how’s the Chinese internet doing?

Two Unsolicited Non-Tech Products That I ❤

  • The Midori Travelers Notebook from Japan has a luxurious and nostalgic feel.
  • Moo cards options keep getting better. As online printers go, they totally rock.

One Special Link

https://design.co/holidays2018 For last-minute shoppers, I made a holiday list from my non-tech products that I ❤.

One Final Point

Although creative work is upheld as the one kind of human activity that can never be replaced by machine intelligence, we can’t forget that there’s a lot of shallow creativity out there that’s easy pickings. It’s the deeper stuff that we’re curiously good at — so we need to spend more of our time and attention there. At least that’s what I’m trying to do these days.