Founding/Fractional Product Designer. Design partner for founders, scientists, & engineers. Founder @ Manmade. Sometimes plays records. Yes, that Jon.
Joined April 2008
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“Twenty years of articulating direction turned out to be the whole skill.”
I felt that in my bones. Being a “Design Director” has never been more valuable.
Not just 20 years of articulating and critiquing design work, but managing hand-off to engineering as well, has provided me with an unparalleled framework and vocabulary to direct models.
Working on a library of micro-charts for a reporting platform.
I’ve started adding “Director Mode” to Claude builds so I can share animated overviews of the work alongside the clickable prototypes.
Jon Williams retweeted
UI and math time! UI = f(props) is the most famous line in React. But that f is JavaScript, not math.
Inspired by @_chenglou’s Handwired project, I compiled a <Dashboard/> component into a real math function, and asked what becomes possible.
calculus-of-interfaces.verce…
This week’s side project is a Pomodoro timer with a generative soundtrack that’s designed to improve focus, combining soft synths with environmental ambience.
Inspired by an ensō, the Zen circle brushed in a single stroke, the timer draws a circle for the amount of time specified, pauses for a break and draws again. The brush stroke and the soundtrack are all dynamically generated, with the stroke responding to the audio. Like a true ensō, it’s never the same twice.
What started as a simple menu bar timer now has me evaluating chime sensitivity and bristle lag simulation.
This has been my experience building with AI. I might start with a simple idea, but as I delve into the optimal solution the product evolves with the learning and capabilities that are revealed.
For me, this is all still design.
Guidance and prompt for helping agents get closer to parity between builds and design systems in Figma
Works well with the Web Typography skill
github.com/thatjonwilliams/w…
I talk to my Mac all day long.
I used Wispr then Monologue, but any network latency caused a drop out that ruined the flow.
So I switched to Megaphone – github.com/Kuberwastaken/meg… – which uses Apple Intelligence to transcribe on-device. The only issue was that it was that it read pauses as punctuation, requiring manual clean up.
But… it's open-source. So I grabbed the repo and added a setting. Magical!
Props to @kuberwastaken
Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono is an open-source monospaced font designed specifically for readability and users with low vision.
Or just really tired developers.
fonts.google.com/specimen/At…
Asset from the identity work for FlyBetter, a carbon-conscious travel calculator.
The mark was derived from the letters FB, leaving a plane symbol in the negative space. After all, the most carbon-conscious way to fly is not to fly at all.
Experimenting with a tool that analyzes websites based on aesthetic – hue, brightness, density, composition, typography, etc. – allowing people that don't have the vocabulary (e.g. clients) to articulate their preferences through navigation and selection.
This test uses 1,200 websites. I already have collections of artworks and interiors for the next pass. What other imagery should I try?
