Website homepage - Benjamin Parry @benjamin.parry.is.web.brid.gy

Weeknotes? More like weak notes! I love the idea or weeknotes. As a reader of other’s notes, I enjoy finding out what other people are working on whether that be personal or client projects. I love the serendipity of discovering a new tool or approach for problem solving, discovering new authors or content creators. As a writer of my own notes, I find them a useful way to reflect on my own challenges and successes, document and celebrate them for a future date. Most of all, I find writing distills my current thought process on a topic, emerging idea or concept. But weeknotes clearly don’t work for me. Similar to other well-meaning habits, I have a successful few months at the start of the year. Weekly entries start to wane to fortnightly notes, then monthly notes and beyond. As the timeframe between notes increases, the quality of recall plummets, which often results in the dreaded listicle. Progress and change rarely coincides within the seven-day cadence of a week. Likewise, downtime doesn’t require or is worthy of an update. On my website, weeknotes currently share the same directory of other longform content in writing. I don’t think this is the correct place for weeknotes. On reflection, I think weeknotes are largely a personal writing activity which deserve their own category on a personal website. In other words, and somewhat contradictory to my above point as a reader of other’s weeknotes, I think the audience of my weeknotes is primarily me. My worry is that over time weeknotes will dilute the overall quality of less-frequent, longer, more researched and developed ideas of my writing. I’ve also struggled with maintaining a consistent content framework. While this isn’t necessarily a problem, I think some degree of prescribed boundaries would help as an author but also for a reader. This will hopefully help me focus on my interests and the areas I want to develop in my career and personal life. ## Weeknotes are dead, long live cycles ¶Section titled Weeknotes are dead, long live cycles My current thinking is to collect content under cycles. But why cycles? * Cycles to refocus my attention on seasonal writing. Inspired somewhat from the 72 micro-seasons of Japan, a collection of poetic seasons observing the micro changes of Japan’s natural environment. I appreciate how this calendar is led by natural changes around us. I hope that my own writing will become more attuned to my own sense of place and be reflected in its cadence. * Cycles to focus on gardening; organic and digital. * Cycles to reflect the natural milestones, progress and learning of my working world. * Cycles, or (bi)cycles, to encourage me to be more adventurous on two wheels. But most importantly, cycles for more flexibility, less guilt and forced content.

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Where I get my podcasts I’ve recently got back into the habit of listening to podcasts. As a kinaesthetic learner, I find the portable nature of audio content fits perfectly into my daily routine. Whether it be completing humdrum daily chores or traveling from A to B, I can use that time positively for learning. Also, my dyslexic brain can consume audio content much faster than it can written content. Yet access to podcast audio files has become increasingly tedious of late. The once fertile and free-roaming lands of content have now been fenced off by a plethora of walled-garden digital land owners and content traps. Finding a mp3 file or RSS feed within the page source is so overly complicated it feels like trespassing. Back in 2010 I signed up for Jeremy Keith’s Huffduffer: a service for finding, curating and consuming podcasts. If you’re unfamiliar with Huffduffer, here is how it works: 1. Visit a webpage for a podcast episode you want to listen to. 2. Add the episode to your feed by selecting the handy bookmarklet. 3. Huffduffer generates a unique podcast RSS feed in your account. 4. Subscribe to the feed in whatever app or service you choose to listen to it. This feels more like content foraging. Huffduffer doesn’t scrape the audio files from the original server and store a copy on huffduffer.com. That would be a waste of bandwidth and storage. Instead it provides a service between the countless podcasts available online and your preferred method of consuming them. Its a great example of interoperability in action, benefiting both content creators (reach) and content consumers (freedom). Open web _for the win!_ But interoperability can’t work with closed systems. Apple podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, embedded javascript-based players intentionally obfuscate the mp3 file and fail to provide a RSS feed: locking in content creators and consumers within their platforms. Enshittification _ge’te’fuck!_ While it’s still possible to find mp3 files within the depths of the page source, it’s a laborious process that doesn’t always work. I’ve noticed Spotify seems to host a ~1 min mp3 file that is either a honeytrap or a slice of audio that is stitched together by the in-page player. In the spirit of Solarpunk and tech re-adoption, I’ve experimented with using an old iPhone 4S as a dedicated audio player for podcasts, audiobooks and music. However the Apple Podcasts app, seemingly developed on an ancient Indian burial ground, was far too much trouble to persist with. Luckily, for each intentionally exclusive technology built, there’s a developer determined to reverse-engineer a workaround. Enter PodGrab: an open-source self-hosted service for downloading podcasts. I’m a big fan of self-hosting. There’s a stack of Raspberry Pis plugged into my home network making life slightly better for my family and I; ad blocking (PiHole), home media centre (Jellyfin), network storage (Open Media Centre), file sharing (qbittorrent) and now telemetry-free podcast management (PodGrab). I’m currently subscribed to about 20 podcasts via the in-built search. You can also directly subscribe to a RSS URL. I’ve done that for my Huffduffer RSS feed. This enables me to still collect individual podcast episodes without adding the full feed to PodGrab. This is useful when I’m not interested in the full podcast back catalogue but am interested a guest speaker or specific show topic. This workflow works really well for me. Audio files are downloaded to a folder on my NAS which is also synced to Jellyfin. This means I can listen to episodes on Jellyfin at home or download them to a mobile device for on-the-go listening. Syncing between these instances isn’t automatic but I quite like the manual step here. It forces me to reflect on what I’ve listened to. Manually combing through the content might result in a few actions; mark it as played, bookmark it for a re-listen, add it to the links section of my website, share it with someone. Earlier this year I also added MeTube to the self-hosting stack. I was looking for a more intentional way of interacting with the content on YouTube. MeTube and its browser extension enables you to download YouTube content locally, away from the manipulative endless auto-play algorithm. Content is similarly downloaded and synced to Jellyfin, providing a customised feed of interesting and distraction-free content. I recently discovered MeTube has an option for exporting video content as an audio file. Even better! There’s an option to specify a custom file path for these downloads which now sits in a directory alongside my podcasts. I’m really happy with the results so far but I’d love to push this workflow further: * Self-host an RSS or json feed of podcast activity that is dynamically added to my website. * Sync activity between PodGrab and Jellyfin. * Add unplayed/played metadata to audio files to make syncing to mobile devices easier. * Auto generate transcripts using whisper.io for note-taking.

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I’m curating a research conference! Over the last few weeks Clearleft have been teasing out some social media posts about a new 1-day research conference happening in late February 2025. If you’re on their mailing list you’ve likely received an email with the announcement too. ## Introducing: Research by the Sea ¶Section titled Introducing: Research by the Sea You might already know about Clearleft’s flagship multi-day conferences UX London and Leading Design. They also host hugely-popular 1-day events; dConstruct, Patterns Day, Responsive Day Out, Ampersand. Not to mention one-off events such as Sofa Conf, retreats, workshops, online and in-person community panels, and the Service Design Breakfast Club hosted at their studio in Brighton. Research by the Sea is the newest addition to their 1-day events, this time focusing on research. If you’ve been to UX London before you’ll know that day 1 typically consists of speakers from the research community talking about research. That’s how you can think of Research by the Sea. There’s a slight difference to the format of this conference though. Firstly, it’ll be hosted it down in Brighton, the home of Clearleft HQ and the newly refurbished Brighton Dome Studio Theatre where the conference will be hosted. Secondly, Research by the Sea is technically 2 days of content; Thursday 27th will be a day of talks and discussion, Friday 28th will be a set of half-day workshops. Separate tickets are available for the the day of talks and each workshop. _At the time of writingEarly-bird tickets are still available which gets you ~15% off the final ticket price._ ## The future of research ¶Section titled The future of research The theme for the conference is **the future of research** , where we’ll be discussing the topics of **people** , **culture** and **planet**. We’ve invited some of the best thinkers and doers from from in the research space to explore how researchers might respond to today’s most gnarly and pressing problems. They’ll challenge current perspectives, tools, practices and thinking styles, and provide practical steps for getting started today to shape a better tomorrow. In essence: come to the conference for the ‘you’ of now but also come for the ‘you’ you want to be. ## More to come ¶Section titled More to come From now until February I’ll be sharing more about the story behind the conference; my process for curating, the content that has influenced my thinking and why I’ve chosen the speakers. In the meantime: * Save the date of 27th and 28th February 2025 for Research by the Sea, Brighton. * Read more about the first three speakers Priyanca, Tamsin and John on the conference website. * Grab yourself a ticket. I really hope to see you there!

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Research by the Sea: A Research Plan ## Background and context ¶Section titled Background and context _Hold your breath._ The last few years have been traumatic. As individuals and researchers, we’ve weathered a perfect storm of wicked problems that have left us exhausted with the status quo and pessimistic about what is to come. * The economic downturn, mass layoffs, the UX research reckoning and threat of skills atomisation. * The post-pandemic optimisation of working methods and short-term thinking of austerity service design. * The enshitification of digital products with features consuming vast amounts of energy, built on stolen data. * The increasing societal division, polarisation and loneliness. * The real and tragic consequences of the climate crisis. Faced with so much uncertainty, * where might we find sources of hope? * Who can be our beacons for change? * What new mindsets and methods should we adopt? * How might we begin to imagine positive futures for **people** , our **cultures** and our **planet**? _Now breathe._ ## Learning objectives ¶Section titled Learning objectives Research by the Sea aims to explore some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities in our careers as researchers and broader societal, and global contexts. ### What is the future of research? ¶Section titled What is the future of research? Our central research question – what is the future of research? - aims to probe at the futures we are moving toward, the futures we actually want, and how we as researchers are best placed to shape them. We will examine this question from three different topics: * **People** – the people included in our process and recipients of what we create. * **Culture** – the cultural systems our practice, products and services interface within. * **Planet** – the natural environment and our responsibilities toward it. As Judd Antin wrote: > It’s time for us to lean into the future, to realize the last 15 years was more fools golden than golden age. That’s ok. Researchers are learners — we know how to adapt. So let’s get busy. ### Questions to answer ¶Section titled Questions to answer #### People ¶Section titled People * How might we become more inclusive in our research practice? * How might we design for people who actively choose not to engage with digital services? * How might we use alternative solutions spaces to solve user needs? #### Culture ¶Section titled Culture * How might we make more impact by better understanding our organisation’s culture? * How might we use new methods to identify future insights and opportunities? * How might we confidently navigate ethical design decisions? * How might we responsibly use the currency of data to solve user needs? #### Planet ¶Section titled Planet * How might we use futures storytelling to inspire restorative action? * How might we approach our research activities with a regenerative mindset? ## Participants ¶Section titled Participants * **12 experts within the field of research.** * Mix of career backgrounds * UX and design researchers * UX, content and service designers * Anthropologists * Academics * Ethicists * Mix of service perspectives * In-house * Agency * Consultancy * Mix of lived experiences, heritages and genders * **175 curious, futures thinking industry peers.** ## Methodology ¶Section titled Methodology * 7 20/25 minute in-person talks * 1 Q&A session, addressing the questions surveyed during the day * 1 after-party of socialising and discussion * 3 half-day workshops ## Timeline ¶Section titled Timeline * 1 day of talks – Thursday 27th February 2025 * 1 day of workshops – Friday 28th February 2025 ## Resources ¶Section titled Resources * Visit the conference website and learn more about the speakers and their talks * Purchase your tickets, _currently Early-bird discounted at the time of writing (2024-11-19)_ * Add the event to your calendar (usercalendar.com) * Read about the story behind this year’s theme (more posts coming soon) * Subscribe and listen to the podcasts that inspired this year’s theme (huffduffer.com – content updated periodically) * Connect with me on LinkedIn and ask me more about the conference

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Research by the Sea: Why Michael? Over the past decade or so, the wave of digital transformation has converted old and broken processes into connected and efficient systems. During this time we’ve seen the slow erosion of trust from digital platforms and services; our personal data compromised, the enshittification of service and experience, the creep of disinformation, lock-in, addictive and deceptive design patterns. “There’s an app for that!” no longer feels optional but mandatory. Is it any wonder the people are starting to say “no”? ## What if people refuse? ¶Section titled What if people refuse? How should we as researchers and designers respond to refusal? How can we serve people through products and services that exist outside of our glass-fronted distraction rectangles? I'm delighted that Michael is joining us in Feb 2025 with his new talk – The Spirit of Bartleby: In defence of refusal – to explore this topic. He’ll take a critical lens of how we got here, how to actively push back against the norms in place, and explore new solution spaces. ## Next steps ¶Section titled Next steps * Grab your ticket for Michael’s talk and the other 6 speakers. * Read more about Michael’s talk on the Research by the Sea website. * Connect with Michael on LinkedIn. * Subscribe to Michael’s newsletter First & Fifteenth.

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Research by the Sea: Why Tamsin? There’s a moment during the design of a research study that always gives me pause for thought. The tension between three variables: the research goals, the duration of the session and the experience of the participant. As I write a discussion guide, I assign time estimates against sections, individual questions and tasks. These aren’t set in stone though, after all a discussion guide is just that, a guide. Likewise, any skilled researcher should be constantly aware of a participant’s needs and experience, and adapt accordingly. I still find this approach to be somewhat at odds with our user-centred practice. When dividing up time against a human being I can’t help but think of another guide. One that you might find hanging on the back wall of a butcher’s shop. During a session, we do our best to put our participants at ease, build rapport and trust. We may not use the word ‘interview’ in our introduction but we ultimately lead the session: ask the majority of questions and, if required, segueing between topics. We tend to be sat opposite or adjacent to our participants, unintentionally creating a power dynamic. We host our sessions indoors, in unfamiliar surroundings with artificial light sounds and smells. ## What if? ¶Section titled What if? What if there was another way? What if we turned this largely static, unnatural and unfamiliar process on its head? What kind of stories would be shared with us? How might these stories help us shape the future? I’m delighted that Tamsin is joining us at Research by the Sea to explore some of these themes and questions. She’ll outline a research method that will help us push back against destructive norms and help us on our first steps toward an inclusive and restorative future practice. ## Next steps ¶Section titled Next steps * Grab your ticket for Tamsin’s talk and the other 6 speakers. _Tickets currently Early-bird discounted, prices change on 30th Nov._ * Read more about her talk on the Research by the Sea website. * Connect with her on LinkedIn. * Check out her own conference Content Rising happening in June 2025.

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

My new festive habit Over the past few years I’ve been turning to open source software to escape the deluge of enshittification and pernicious data mining that is the reality of so much of today’s software. In January of 2024 I took a short-term bet on Readwise to nurture a more frequent and meaningful reading habit. I hoped that paying an annual fee upfront would give the the monetary motivation to make the investment worthwhile. Needless to say, I’ll be renewing my subscription again this year. Since then, I’ve felt a pang of guilt every time I’m presented with the donations page of an open source project. _“I’ll do it next time”_ I say, knowing full well I’ve never delivered on this promise. Sure, open source software is free to the consumer but they are labours of love by the people who make them who pour countless hours of their own time. **It’s about time I put my money where my mouth is.** So from now on, around the festive period or shortly afterwards, I’m going to give back to the open source developers that have made life more productive and less intrusive. The first of which is Paul Robert Lloyd’s Indiekit – the utterly superb IndieWeb server. Paul has designed and built an beautiful and accessible product, written excellent documentation and is incredibly responsive. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in IndieWeb and the Activity Pub protocol. It’s a small gesture, which will change with my circumstances, but it feels good to spread a bit of joy to those who deserve it.

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Indieweb Carnival Jan 2025: Friction > Within the realms of a company; don't exploit anyone, don't manufacture terrible awful products that go into landfill or are unsafe and hurt people, don't use exploit workers in factories… – Camilla and Jason Iftakhar, Swifty Scooters A heartfelt manifesto from Camilla and Jason Iftakhar, the founders of design-led company Swifty Scooters. In their podcast they explain how their brand values drive every aspect of their company; product design, product experience, customer service, staff satisfaction and environmental impact. I was deeply saddened this week to read that Camilla and Jason were recently forced to close the doors of their business. A decade of defiantly defending their ethical process in the pursuit of quality, against the relentless friction of external circumstances has eventually taken its toll. I’m absolutely gutted for them. At this difficult time, I hope they recognise, and hold close, their courage of doing the right thing for their product, customers and planet. I’m hopeful that Swifty Scooters will return as Phoenix Scooters in the not to distant future. ## Quality, Speed, Cost: pick two ¶Section titled Quality, Speed, Cost: pick two Camilla and Jason’s admirable approach is almost a challenge to the Unobtainable Triangle. Their unwavering resistance to compromise, ensuring their processes and products aren’t exploitative, and yet still delivering a “superior experience”. > Quality design and quality process allows you to execute and deliver a quality product which delivers a superior experience (that people fall in love with) – Jason Iftakhar Jason’s emphasis on experience is an interesting one. As designers of products and services, whether physical or digital, we focus on improving the end experience. UX designers have been rallying the cry of “Don’t Make Me Think” since 2000. The pursuit of ease and simplicity has mostly in good faith, _mostly_. At the opposite end of the brand values spectrum, there’s a company that has bent the unforgiving rigidity of the Iron Triangle through sheer brutality. Amazon. As an Amazon customer, you no longer have to think. From one-click payments, self-adhesive ordering buttons, to customer-deployed surveillance snitches: Amazon has optimised every last micron of decision-making into oblivion. Zero friction, zero thought. By some defiance of logic, Amazon are able to sell quality like-for-like products cheaper than any other retailer and have them delivered to your door the same day. I suppose the established belief behind the phrase “Quality, Speed, Cost: pick two” was yet another one of Jeff’s ’opportunities‘. Too good to be true, huh? ## Hidden consequences ¶Section titled Hidden consequences Yes, too good to be true. I know it, you know it, we all know it. Perhaps this triangle isn’t quite as it seems. Perhaps we need to take a new perspective to reveal what has been hidden beneath. If not an Iron Triangle, perhaps a Penrose triangle. Friction helps us slow down, reorient ourselves in our surroundings, and recognise the complexity and impact of our actions upon others, human or otherwise. This feels like what we need right now. Add some friction into your world.

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Research by the Sea: Why Cennydd? I feel sorry for anyone tasked with writing a talk about ethics in digital technology in early 2025. The smorgasbord of negative examples are enough to make anyone feel nauseous and light-headed. If the menu doesn’t trigger your gag reflexes, then I’m afraid to say, you might have taken the wrong pill. Let’s rewind a quarter of a decade. ‘Don’t be evil’ they said. So what happened? Clearly Larry and Sergey didn’t make a Ulysses pact. Or perhaps the carrot, or stick, weighed too on their wallets or minds. Within that time the slow creep of bad actors, subtle but nefarious approaches to privacy, data and persuasion has permeated into most of our daily lives. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying the entire tech sector and everyone in it has knowingly acted in bad faith. But we’ve undoubtedly seen the warning signs and we clearly haven’t been taking our Red Team pills enough. In our pursuit to save people from lamenting ‘Don’t make me think!’ – _a phrase coined the same year as Larry and Sergey’s no less_ – have we neglected to consider the consequences of a lack of friction? I'm delighted that Cennydd is joining us at Research by the Sea with his new talk – Picking up the pieces – to explore this topic. He’ll set the scene for a future of technology that exhibits qualities of compassion and responsibility. * Grab your ticket for Cennydd’s talk and the other 6 speakers **(save 20% on ticket prices with this link!)**. * Read more about Cennydd’s talk on the Research by the Sea website. * Connect with Cennydd on LinkedIn. * Check out Cennydd’s book Future Ethics.

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Interview tips from Tim & Eric Comedians Tim & Eric are well known for their irreverent approach to press interviews. The duo use them as another stage for their absurdist style of humour. Amongst the anarchic trolling of this interview clip their lies some timeless advice for research practitioners. * Don’t waste your qualitative research time by asking quantitative questions. * Quickly establish a rapport so that people’s time and input feels valued. * Keep questions brief and to the point. * Avoid closed questions to minimise one-word responses, use open-ended questions instead. * Be polite and encouraging with your participants even if they appear impatient or terse at first. Blatant offensiveness is not acceptable though! * If a participant gives you the opportunity to fix a challenging interview, don’t waste it! Take your time to reflect and turn it around with confidence. Lastly, pray you never have to interview Tim & Eric. “I don’t hate you. I just want you to do better.”

07.08.2025 03:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I’m curating a research conference! Over the last few weeks Clearleft have been teasing out some social media posts about a new 1-day research conference happening in late February 2025. If you’re on their mailing list you’ve likely received an email with the announcement too. ## Introducing: Research by the Sea ¶Section titled Introducing: Research by the Sea You might already know about Clearleft’s flagship multi-day conferences UX London and Leading Design. They also host hugely-popular 1-day events; dConstruct, Patterns Day, Responsive Day Out, Ampersand. Not to mention one-off events such as Sofa Conf, retreats, workshops, online and in-person community panels, and the Service Design Breakfast Club hosted at their studio in Brighton. Research by the Sea is the newest addition to their 1-day events, this time focusing on research. If you’ve been to UX London before you’ll know that day 1 typically consists of speakers from the research community talking about research. That’s how you can think of Research by the Sea. There’s a slight difference to the format of this conference though. Firstly, it’ll be hosted it down in Brighton, the home of Clearleft HQ and the newly refurbished Brighton Dome Studio Theatre where the conference will be hosted. Secondly, Research by the Sea is technically 2 days of content; Thursday 27th will be a day of talks and discussion, Friday 28th will be a set of half-day workshops. Separate tickets are available for the the day of talks and each workshop. _At the time of writingEarly-bird tickets are still available which gets you ~15% off the final ticket price._ ## The future of research ¶Section titled The future of research The theme for the conference is **the future of research** , where we’ll be discussing the topics of **people** , **culture** and **planet**. We’ve invited some of the best thinkers and doers from from in the research space to explore how researchers might respond to today’s most gnarly and pressing problems. They’ll challenge current perspectives, tools, practices and thinking styles, and provide practical steps for getting started today to shape a better tomorrow. In essence: come to the conference for the ‘you’ of now but also come for the ‘you’ you want to be. ## More to come ¶Section titled More to come From now until February I’ll be sharing more about the story behind the conference; my process for curating, the content that has influenced my thinking and why I’ve chosen the speakers. In the meantime: * Save the date of 27th and 28th February 2025 for Research by the Sea, Brighton. * Read more about the first three speakers Priyanca, Tamsin and John on the conference website. * Grab yourself a ticket. I really hope to see you there!

02.08.2025 01:25 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Weeknotes? More like weak notes! I love the idea or weeknotes. As a reader of other’s notes, I enjoy finding out what other people are working on whether that be personal or client projects. I love the serendipity of discovering a new tool or approach for problem solving, discovering new authors or content creators. As a writer of my own notes, I find them a useful way to reflect on my own challenges and successes, document and celebrate them for a future date. Most of all, I find writing distills my current thought process on a topic, emerging idea or concept. But weeknotes clearly don’t work for me. Similar to other well-meaning habits, I have a successful few months at the start of the year. Weekly entries start to wane to fortnightly notes, then monthly notes and beyond. As the timeframe between notes increases, the quality of recall plummets, which often results in the dreaded listicle. Progress and change rarely coincides within the seven-day cadence of a week. Likewise, downtime doesn’t require or is worthy of an update. On my website, weeknotes currently share the same directory of other longform content in writing. I don’t think this is the correct place for weeknotes. On reflection, I think weeknotes are largely a personal writing activity which deserve their own category on a personal website. In other words, and somewhat contradictory to my above point as a reader of other’s weeknotes, I think the audience of my weeknotes is primarily me. My worry is that over time weeknotes will dilute the overall quality of less-frequent, longer, more researched and developed ideas of my writing. I’ve also struggled with maintaining a consistent content framework. While this isn’t necessarily a problem, I think some degree of prescribed boundaries would help as an author but also for a reader. This will hopefully help me focus on my interests and the areas I want to develop in my career and personal life. ## Weeknotes are dead, long live cycles ¶Section titled Weeknotes are dead, long live cycles My current thinking is to collect content under cycles. But why cycles? * Cycles to refocus my attention on seasonal writing. Inspired somewhat from the 72 micro-seasons of Japan, a collection of poetic seasons observing the micro changes of Japan’s natural environment. I appreciate how this calendar is led by natural changes around us. I hope that my own writing will become more attuned to my own sense of place and be reflected in its cadence. * Cycles to focus on gardening; organic and digital. * Cycles to reflect the natural milestones, progress and learning of my working world. * Cycles, or (bi)cycles, to encourage me to be more adventurous on two wheels. But most importantly, cycles for more flexibility, less guilt and forced content.

02.08.2025 01:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Research by the Sea: A Research Plan ## Background and context ¶Section titled Background and context _Hold your breath._ The last few years have been traumatic. As individuals and researchers, we’ve weathered a perfect storm of wicked problems that have left us exhausted with the status quo and pessimistic about what is to come. * The economic downturn, mass layoffs, the UX research reckoning and threat of skills atomisation. * The post-pandemic optimisation of working methods and short-term thinking of austerity service design. * The enshitification of digital products with features consuming vast amounts of energy, built on stolen data. * The increasing societal division, polarisation and loneliness. * The real and tragic consequences of the climate crisis. Faced with so much uncertainty, * where might we find sources of hope? * Who can be our beacons for change? * What new mindsets and methods should we adopt? * How might we begin to imagine positive futures for **people** , our **cultures** and our **planet**? _Now breathe._ ## Learning objectives ¶Section titled Learning objectives Research by the Sea aims to explore some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities in our careers as researchers and broader societal, and global contexts. ### What is the future of research? ¶Section titled What is the future of research? Our central research question – what is the future of research? - aims to probe at the futures we are moving toward, the futures we actually want, and how we as researchers are best placed to shape them. We will examine this question from three different topics: * **People** – the people included in our process and recipients of what we create. * **Culture** – the cultural systems our practice, products and services interface within. * **Planet** – the natural environment and our responsibilities toward it. As Judd Antin wrote: > It’s time for us to lean into the future, to realize the last 15 years was more fools golden than golden age. That’s ok. Researchers are learners — we know how to adapt. So let’s get busy. ### Questions to answer ¶Section titled Questions to answer #### People ¶Section titled People * How might we become more inclusive in our research practice? * How might we design for people who actively choose not to engage with digital services? * How might we use alternative solutions spaces to solve user needs? #### Culture ¶Section titled Culture * How might we make more impact by better understanding our organisation’s culture? * How might we use new methods to identify future insights and opportunities? * How might we confidently navigate ethical design decisions? * How might we responsibly use the currency of data to solve user needs? #### Planet ¶Section titled Planet * How might we use futures storytelling to inspire restorative action? * How might we approach our research activities with a regenerative mindset? ## Participants ¶Section titled Participants * **12 experts within the field of research.** * Mix of career backgrounds * UX and design researchers * UX, content and service designers * Anthropologists * Academics * Ethicists * Mix of service perspectives * In-house * Agency * Consultancy * Mix of lived experiences, heritages and genders * **175 curious, futures thinking industry peers.** ## Methodology ¶Section titled Methodology * 7 20/25 minute in-person talks * 1 Q&A session, addressing the questions surveyed during the day * 1 after-party of socialising and discussion * 3 half-day workshops ## Timeline ¶Section titled Timeline * 1 day of talks – Thursday 27th February 2025 * 1 day of workshops – Friday 28th February 2025 ## Resources ¶Section titled Resources * Visit the conference website and learn more about the speakers and their talks * Purchase your tickets, _currently Early-bird discounted at the time of writing (2024-11-19)_ * Add the event to your calendar (usercalendar.com) * Read about the story behind this year’s theme (more posts coming soon) * Subscribe and listen to the podcasts that inspired this year’s theme (huffduffer.com – content updated periodically) * Connect with me on LinkedIn and ask me more about the conference

02.08.2025 01:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

My new festive habit Over the past few years I’ve been turning to open source software to escape the deluge of enshittification and pernicious data mining that is the reality of so much of today’s software. In January of 2024 I took a short-term bet on Readwise to nurture a more frequent and meaningful reading habit. I hoped that paying an annual fee upfront would give the the monetary motivation to make the investment worthwhile. Needless to say, I’ll be renewing my subscription again this year. Since then, I’ve felt a pang of guilt every time I’m presented with the donations page of an open source project. _“I’ll do it next time”_ I say, knowing full well I’ve never delivered on this promise. Sure, open source software is free to the consumer but they are labours of love by the people who make them who pour countless hours of their own time. **It’s about time I put my money where my mouth is.** So from now on, around the festive period or shortly afterwards, I’m going to give back to the open source developers that have made life more productive and less intrusive. The first of which is Paul Robert Lloyd’s Indiekit – the utterly superb IndieWeb server. Paul has designed and built an beautiful and accessible product, written excellent documentation and is incredibly responsive. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in IndieWeb and the Activity Pub protocol. It’s a small gesture, which will change with my circumstances, but it feels good to spread a bit of joy to those who deserve it.

02.08.2025 01:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Interview tips from Tim & Eric Comedians Tim & Eric are well known for their irreverent approach to press interviews. The duo use them as another stage for their absurdist style of humour. Amongst the anarchic trolling of this interview clip their lies some timeless advice for research practitioners. * Don’t waste your qualitative research time by asking quantitative questions. * Quickly establish a rapport so that people’s time and input feels valued. * Keep questions brief and to the point. * Avoid closed questions to minimise one-word responses, use open-ended questions instead. * Be polite and encouraging with your participants even if they appear impatient or terse at first. Blatant offensiveness is not acceptable though! * If a participant gives you the opportunity to fix a challenging interview, don’t waste it! Take your time to reflect and turn it around with confidence. Lastly, pray you never have to interview Tim & Eric. “I don’t hate you. I just want you to do better.”

02.08.2025 01:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Research by the Sea: Why Cennydd? I feel sorry for anyone tasked with writing a talk about ethics in digital technology in early 2025. The smorgasbord of negative examples are enough to make anyone feel nauseous and light-headed. If the menu doesn’t trigger your gag reflexes, then I’m afraid to say, you might have taken the wrong pill. Let’s rewind a quarter of a decade. ‘Don’t be evil’ they said. So what happened? Clearly Larry and Sergey didn’t make a Ulysses pact. Or perhaps the carrot, or stick, weighed too on their wallets or minds. Within that time the slow creep of bad actors, subtle but nefarious approaches to privacy, data and persuasion has permeated into most of our daily lives. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying the entire tech sector and everyone in it has knowingly acted in bad faith. But we’ve undoubtedly seen the warning signs and we clearly haven’t been taking our Red Team pills enough. In our pursuit to save people from lamenting ‘Don’t make me think!’ – _a phrase coined the same year as Larry and Sergey’s no less_ – have we neglected to consider the consequences of a lack of friction? I'm delighted that Cennydd is joining us at Research by the Sea with his new talk – Picking up the pieces – to explore this topic. He’ll set the scene for a future of technology that exhibits qualities of compassion and responsibility. * Grab your ticket for Cennydd’s talk and the other 6 speakers **(save 20% on ticket prices with this link!)**. * Read more about Cennydd’s talk on the Research by the Sea website. * Connect with Cennydd on LinkedIn. * Check out Cennydd’s book Future Ethics.

02.08.2025 01:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Research by the Sea: Why Michael? Over the past decade or so, the wave of digital transformation has converted old and broken processes into connected and efficient systems. During this time we’ve seen the slow erosion of trust from digital platforms and services; our personal data compromised, the enshittification of service and experience, the creep of disinformation, lock-in, addictive and deceptive design patterns. “There’s an app for that!” no longer feels optional but mandatory. Is it any wonder the people are starting to say “no”? ## What if people refuse? ¶Section titled What if people refuse? How should we as researchers and designers respond to refusal? How can we serve people through products and services that exist outside of our glass-fronted distraction rectangles? I'm delighted that Michael is joining us in Feb 2025 with his new talk – The Spirit of Bartleby: In defence of refusal – to explore this topic. He’ll take a critical lens of how we got here, how to actively push back against the norms in place, and explore new solution spaces. ## Next steps ¶Section titled Next steps * Grab your ticket for Michael’s talk and the other 6 speakers. * Read more about Michael’s talk on the Research by the Sea website. * Connect with Michael on LinkedIn. * Subscribe to Michael’s newsletter First & Fifteenth.

02.08.2025 01:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Where I get my podcasts I’ve recently got back into the habit of listening to podcasts. As a kinaesthetic learner, I find the portable nature of audio content fits perfectly into my daily routine. Whether it be completing humdrum daily chores or traveling from A to B, I can use that time positively for learning. Also, my dyslexic brain can consume audio content much faster than it can written content. Yet access to podcast audio files has become increasingly tedious of late. The once fertile and free-roaming lands of content have now been fenced off by a plethora of walled-garden digital land owners and content traps. Finding a mp3 file or RSS feed within the page source is so overly complicated it feels like trespassing. Back in 2010 I signed up for Jeremy Keith’s Huffduffer: a service for finding, curating and consuming podcasts. If you’re unfamiliar with Huffduffer, here is how it works: 1. Visit a webpage for a podcast episode you want to listen to. 2. Add the episode to your feed by selecting the handy bookmarklet. 3. Huffduffer generates a unique podcast RSS feed in your account. 4. Subscribe to the feed in whatever app or service you choose to listen to it. This feels more like content foraging. Huffduffer doesn’t scrape the audio files from the original server and store a copy on huffduffer.com. That would be a waste of bandwidth and storage. Instead it provides a service between the countless podcasts available online and your preferred method of consuming them. Its a great example of interoperability in action, benefiting both content creators (reach) and content consumers (freedom). Open web _for the win!_ But interoperability can’t work with closed systems. Apple podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, embedded javascript-based players intentionally obfuscate the mp3 file and fail to provide a RSS feed: locking in content creators and consumers within their platforms. Enshittification _ge’te’fuck!_ While it’s still possible to find mp3 files within the depths of the page source, it’s a laborious process that doesn’t always work. I’ve noticed Spotify seems to host a ~1 min mp3 file that is either a honeytrap or a slice of audio that is stitched together by the in-page player. In the spirit of Solarpunk and tech re-adoption, I’ve experimented with using an old iPhone 4S as a dedicated audio player for podcasts, audiobooks and music. However the Apple Podcasts app, seemingly developed on an ancient Indian burial ground, was far too much trouble to persist with. Luckily, for each intentionally exclusive technology built, there’s a developer determined to reverse-engineer a workaround. Enter PodGrab: an open-source self-hosted service for downloading podcasts. I’m a big fan of self-hosting. There’s a stack of Raspberry Pis plugged into my home network making life slightly better for my family and I; ad blocking (PiHole), home media centre (Jellyfin), network storage (Open Media Centre), file sharing (qbittorrent) and now telemetry-free podcast management (PodGrab). I’m currently subscribed to about 20 podcasts via the in-built search. You can also directly subscribe to a RSS URL. I’ve done that for my Huffduffer RSS feed. This enables me to still collect individual podcast episodes without adding the full feed to PodGrab. This is useful when I’m not interested in the full podcast back catalogue but am interested a guest speaker or specific show topic. This workflow works really well for me. Audio files are downloaded to a folder on my NAS which is also synced to Jellyfin. This means I can listen to episodes on Jellyfin at home or download them to a mobile device for on-the-go listening. Syncing between these instances isn’t automatic but I quite like the manual step here. It forces me to reflect on what I’ve listened to. Manually combing through the content might result in a few actions; mark it as played, bookmark it for a re-listen, add it to the links section of my website, share it with someone. Earlier this year I also added MeTube to the self-hosting stack. I was looking for a more intentional way of interacting with the content on YouTube. MeTube and its browser extension enables you to download YouTube content locally, away from the manipulative endless auto-play algorithm. Content is similarly downloaded and synced to Jellyfin, providing a customised feed of interesting and distraction-free content. I recently discovered MeTube has an option for exporting video content as an audio file. Even better! There’s an option to specify a custom file path for these downloads which now sits in a directory alongside my podcasts. I’m really happy with the results so far but I’d love to push this workflow further: * Self-host an RSS or json feed of podcast activity that is dynamically added to my website. * Sync activity between PodGrab and Jellyfin. * Add unplayed/played metadata to audio files to make syncing to mobile devices easier. * Auto generate transcripts using whisper.io for note-taking.

02.08.2025 01:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Indieweb Carnival Jan 2025: Friction > Within the realms of a company; don't exploit anyone, don't manufacture terrible awful products that go into landfill or are unsafe and hurt people, don't use exploit workers in factories… – Camilla and Jason Iftakhar, Swifty Scooters A heartfelt manifesto from Camilla and Jason Iftakhar, the founders of design-led company Swifty Scooters. In their podcast they explain how their brand values drive every aspect of their company; product design, product experience, customer service, staff satisfaction and environmental impact. I was deeply saddened this week to read that Camilla and Jason were recently forced to close the doors of their business. A decade of defiantly defending their ethical process in the pursuit of quality, against the relentless friction of external circumstances has eventually taken its toll. I’m absolutely gutted for them. At this difficult time, I hope they recognise, and hold close, their courage of doing the right thing for their product, customers and planet. I’m hopeful that Swifty Scooters will return as Phoenix Scooters in the not to distant future. ## Quality, Speed, Cost: pick two ¶Section titled Quality, Speed, Cost: pick two Camilla and Jason’s admirable approach is almost a challenge to the Unobtainable Triangle. Their unwavering resistance to compromise, ensuring their processes and products aren’t exploitative, and yet still delivering a “superior experience”. > Quality design and quality process allows you to execute and deliver a quality product which delivers a superior experience (that people fall in love with) – Jason Iftakhar Jason’s emphasis on experience is an interesting one. As designers of products and services, whether physical or digital, we focus on improving the end experience. UX designers have been rallying the cry of “Don’t Make Me Think” since 2000. The pursuit of ease and simplicity has mostly in good faith, _mostly_. At the opposite end of the brand values spectrum, there’s a company that has bent the unforgiving rigidity of the Iron Triangle through sheer brutality. Amazon. As an Amazon customer, you no longer have to think. From one-click payments, self-adhesive ordering buttons, to customer-deployed surveillance snitches: Amazon has optimised every last micron of decision-making into oblivion. Zero friction, zero thought. By some defiance of logic, Amazon are able to sell quality like-for-like products cheaper than any other retailer and have them delivered to your door the same day. I suppose the established belief behind the phrase “Quality, Speed, Cost: pick two” was yet another one of Jeff’s ’opportunities‘. Too good to be true, huh? ## Hidden consequences ¶Section titled Hidden consequences Yes, too good to be true. I know it, you know it, we all know it. Perhaps this triangle isn’t quite as it seems. Perhaps we need to take a new perspective to reveal what has been hidden beneath. If not an Iron Triangle, perhaps a Penrose triangle. Friction helps us slow down, reorient ourselves in our surroundings, and recognise the complexity and impact of our actions upon others, human or otherwise. This feels like what we need right now. Add some friction into your world.

02.08.2025 01:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Research by the Sea: Why Tamsin? There’s a moment during the design of a research study that always gives me pause for thought. The tension between three variables: the research goals, the duration of the session and the experience of the participant. As I write a discussion guide, I assign time estimates against sections, individual questions and tasks. These aren’t set in stone though, after all a discussion guide is just that, a guide. Likewise, any skilled researcher should be constantly aware of a participant’s needs and experience, and adapt accordingly. I still find this approach to be somewhat at odds with our user-centred practice. When dividing up time against a human being I can’t help but think of another guide. One that you might find hanging on the back wall of a butcher’s shop. During a session, we do our best to put our participants at ease, build rapport and trust. We may not use the word ‘interview’ in our introduction but we ultimately lead the session: ask the majority of questions and, if required, segueing between topics. We tend to be sat opposite or adjacent to our participants, unintentionally creating a power dynamic. We host our sessions indoors, in unfamiliar surroundings with artificial light sounds and smells. ## What if? ¶Section titled What if? What if there was another way? What if we turned this largely static, unnatural and unfamiliar process on its head? What kind of stories would be shared with us? How might these stories help us shape the future? I’m delighted that Tamsin is joining us at Research by the Sea to explore some of these themes and questions. She’ll outline a research method that will help us push back against destructive norms and help us on our first steps toward an inclusive and restorative future practice. ## Next steps ¶Section titled Next steps * Grab your ticket for Tamsin’s talk and the other 6 speakers. _Tickets currently Early-bird discounted, prices change on 30th Nov._ * Read more about her talk on the Research by the Sea website. * Connect with her on LinkedIn. * Check out her own conference Content Rising happening in June 2025.

02.08.2025 01:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Weeknotes? More like weak notes! I love the idea or weeknotes. As a reader of other’s notes, I enjoy finding out what other people are working on whether that be personal or client projects. I love the serendipity of discovering a new tool or approach for problem solving, discovering new authors or content creators. As a writer of my own notes, I find them a useful way to reflect on my own challenges and successes, document and celebrate them for a future date. Most of all, I find writing distills my current thought process on a topic, emerging idea or concept. But weeknotes clearly don’t work for me. Similar to other well-meaning habits, I have a successful few months at the start of the year. Weekly entries start to wane to fortnightly notes, then monthly notes and beyond. As the timeframe between notes increases, the quality of recall plummets, which often results in the dreaded listicle. Progress and change rarely coincides within the seven-day cadence of a week. Likewise, downtime doesn’t require or is worthy of an update. On my website, weeknotes currently share the same directory of other longform content in writing. I don’t think this is the correct place for weeknotes. On reflection, I think weeknotes are largely a personal writing activity which deserve their own category on a personal website. In other words, and somewhat contradictory to my above point as a reader of other’s weeknotes, I think the audience of my weeknotes is primarily me. My worry is that over time weeknotes will dilute the overall quality of less-frequent, longer, more researched and developed ideas of my writing. I’ve also struggled with maintaining a consistent content framework. While this isn’t necessarily a problem, I think some degree of prescribed boundaries would help as an author but also for a reader. This will hopefully help me focus on my interests and the areas I want to develop in my career and personal life. ## Weeknotes are dead, long live cycles ¶Section titled Weeknotes are dead, long live cycles My current thinking is to collect content under cycles. But why cycles? * Cycles to refocus my attention on seasonal writing. Inspired somewhat from the 72 micro-seasons of Japan, a collection of poetic seasons observing the micro changes of Japan’s natural environment. I appreciate how this calendar is led by natural changes around us. I hope that my own writing will become more attuned to my own sense of place and be reflected in its cadence. * Cycles to focus on gardening; organic and digital. * Cycles to reflect the natural milestones, progress and learning of my working world. * Cycles, or (bi)cycles, to encourage me to be more adventurous on two wheels. But most importantly, cycles for more flexibility, less guilt and forced content.

28.07.2025 21:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Where I get my podcasts I’ve recently got back into the habit of listening to podcasts. As a kinaesthetic learner, I find the portable nature of audio content fits perfectly into my daily routine. Whether it be completing humdrum daily chores or traveling from A to B, I can use that time positively for learning. Also, my dyslexic brain can consume audio content much faster than it can written content. Yet access to podcast audio files has become increasingly tedious of late. The once fertile and free-roaming lands of content have now been fenced off by a plethora of walled-garden digital land owners and content traps. Finding a mp3 file or RSS feed within the page source is so overly complicated it feels like trespassing. Back in 2010 I signed up for Jeremy Keith’s Huffduffer: a service for finding, curating and consuming podcasts. If you’re unfamiliar with Huffduffer, here is how it works: 1. Visit a webpage for a podcast episode you want to listen to. 2. Add the episode to your feed by selecting the handy bookmarklet. 3. Huffduffer generates a unique podcast RSS feed in your account. 4. Subscribe to the feed in whatever app or service you choose to listen to it. This feels more like content foraging. Huffduffer doesn’t scrape the audio files from the original server and store a copy on huffduffer.com. That would be a waste of bandwidth and storage. Instead it provides a service between the countless podcasts available online and your preferred method of consuming them. Its a great example of interoperability in action, benefiting both content creators (reach) and content consumers (freedom). Open web _for the win!_ But interoperability can’t work with closed systems. Apple podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, embedded javascript-based players intentionally obfuscate the mp3 file and fail to provide a RSS feed: locking in content creators and consumers within their platforms. Enshittification _ge’te’fuck!_ While it’s still possible to find mp3 files within the depths of the page source, it’s a laborious process that doesn’t always work. I’ve noticed Spotify seems to host a ~1 min mp3 file that is either a honeytrap or a slice of audio that is stitched together by the in-page player. In the spirit of Solarpunk and tech re-adoption, I’ve experimented with using an old iPhone 4S as a dedicated audio player for podcasts, audiobooks and music. However the Apple Podcasts app, seemingly developed on an ancient Indian burial ground, was far too much trouble to persist with. Luckily, for each intentionally exclusive technology built, there’s a developer determined to reverse-engineer a workaround. Enter PodGrab: an open-source self-hosted service for downloading podcasts. I’m a big fan of self-hosting. There’s a stack of Raspberry Pis plugged into my home network making life slightly better for my family and I; ad blocking (PiHole), home media centre (Jellyfin), network storage (Open Media Centre), file sharing (qbittorrent) and now telemetry-free podcast management (PodGrab). I’m currently subscribed to about 20 podcasts via the in-built search. You can also directly subscribe to a RSS URL. I’ve done that for my Huffduffer RSS feed. This enables me to still collect individual podcast episodes without adding the full feed to PodGrab. This is useful when I’m not interested in the full podcast back catalogue but am interested a guest speaker or specific show topic. This workflow works really well for me. Audio files are downloaded to a folder on my NAS which is also synced to Jellyfin. This means I can listen to episodes on Jellyfin at home or download them to a mobile device for on-the-go listening. Syncing between these instances isn’t automatic but I quite like the manual step here. It forces me to reflect on what I’ve listened to. Manually combing through the content might result in a few actions; mark it as played, bookmark it for a re-listen, add it to the links section of my website, share it with someone. Earlier this year I also added MeTube to the self-hosting stack. I was looking for a more intentional way of interacting with the content on YouTube. MeTube and its browser extension enables you to download YouTube content locally, away from the manipulative endless auto-play algorithm. Content is similarly downloaded and synced to Jellyfin, providing a customised feed of interesting and distraction-free content. I recently discovered MeTube has an option for exporting video content as an audio file. Even better! There’s an option to specify a custom file path for these downloads which now sits in a directory alongside my podcasts. I’m really happy with the results so far but I’d love to push this workflow further: * Self-host an RSS or json feed of podcast activity that is dynamically added to my website. * Sync activity between PodGrab and Jellyfin. * Add unplayed/played metadata to audio files to make syncing to mobile devices easier. * Auto generate transcripts using whisper.io for note-taking.

28.07.2025 21:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I’m curating a research conference! Over the last few weeks Clearleft have been teasing out some social media posts about a new 1-day research conference happening in late February 2025. If you’re on their mailing list you’ve likely received an email with the announcement too. ## Introducing: Research by the Sea ¶Section titled Introducing: Research by the Sea You might already know about Clearleft’s flagship multi-day conferences UX London and Leading Design. They also host hugely-popular 1-day events; dConstruct, Patterns Day, Responsive Day Out, Ampersand. Not to mention one-off events such as Sofa Conf, retreats, workshops, online and in-person community panels, and the Service Design Breakfast Club hosted at their studio in Brighton. Research by the Sea is the newest addition to their 1-day events, this time focusing on research. If you’ve been to UX London before you’ll know that day 1 typically consists of speakers from the research community talking about research. That’s how you can think of Research by the Sea. There’s a slight difference to the format of this conference though. Firstly, it’ll be hosted it down in Brighton, the home of Clearleft HQ and the newly refurbished Brighton Dome Studio Theatre where the conference will be hosted. Secondly, Research by the Sea is technically 2 days of content; Thursday 27th will be a day of talks and discussion, Friday 28th will be a set of half-day workshops. Separate tickets are available for the the day of talks and each workshop. _At the time of writingEarly-bird tickets are still available which gets you ~15% off the final ticket price._ ## The future of research ¶Section titled The future of research The theme for the conference is **the future of research** , where we’ll be discussing the topics of **people** , **culture** and **planet**. We’ve invited some of the best thinkers and doers from from in the research space to explore how researchers might respond to today’s most gnarly and pressing problems. They’ll challenge current perspectives, tools, practices and thinking styles, and provide practical steps for getting started today to shape a better tomorrow. In essence: come to the conference for the ‘you’ of now but also come for the ‘you’ you want to be. ## More to come ¶Section titled More to come From now until February I’ll be sharing more about the story behind the conference; my process for curating, the content that has influenced my thinking and why I’ve chosen the speakers. In the meantime: * Save the date of 27th and 28th February 2025 for Research by the Sea, Brighton. * Read more about the first three speakers Priyanca, Tamsin and John on the conference website. * Grab yourself a ticket. I really hope to see you there!

28.07.2025 21:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Research by the Sea: A Research Plan ## Background and context ¶Section titled Background and context _Hold your breath._ The last few years have been traumatic. As individuals and researchers, we’ve weathered a perfect storm of wicked problems that have left us exhausted with the status quo and pessimistic about what is to come. * The economic downturn, mass layoffs, the UX research reckoning and threat of skills atomisation. * The post-pandemic optimisation of working methods and short-term thinking of austerity service design. * The enshitification of digital products with features consuming vast amounts of energy, built on stolen data. * The increasing societal division, polarisation and loneliness. * The real and tragic consequences of the climate crisis. Faced with so much uncertainty, * where might we find sources of hope? * Who can be our beacons for change? * What new mindsets and methods should we adopt? * How might we begin to imagine positive futures for **people** , our **cultures** and our **planet**? _Now breathe._ ## Learning objectives ¶Section titled Learning objectives Research by the Sea aims to explore some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities in our careers as researchers and broader societal, and global contexts. ### What is the future of research? ¶Section titled What is the future of research? Our central research question – what is the future of research? - aims to probe at the futures we are moving toward, the futures we actually want, and how we as researchers are best placed to shape them. We will examine this question from three different topics: * **People** – the people included in our process and recipients of what we create. * **Culture** – the cultural systems our practice, products and services interface within. * **Planet** – the natural environment and our responsibilities toward it. As Judd Antin wrote: > It’s time for us to lean into the future, to realize the last 15 years was more fools golden than golden age. That’s ok. Researchers are learners — we know how to adapt. So let’s get busy. ### Questions to answer ¶Section titled Questions to answer #### People ¶Section titled People * How might we become more inclusive in our research practice? * How might we design for people who actively choose not to engage with digital services? * How might we use alternative solutions spaces to solve user needs? #### Culture ¶Section titled Culture * How might we make more impact by better understanding our organisation’s culture? * How might we use new methods to identify future insights and opportunities? * How might we confidently navigate ethical design decisions? * How might we responsibly use the currency of data to solve user needs? #### Planet ¶Section titled Planet * How might we use futures storytelling to inspire restorative action? * How might we approach our research activities with a regenerative mindset? ## Participants ¶Section titled Participants * **12 experts within the field of research.** * Mix of career backgrounds * UX and design researchers * UX, content and service designers * Anthropologists * Academics * Ethicists * Mix of service perspectives * In-house * Agency * Consultancy * Mix of lived experiences, heritages and genders * **175 curious, futures thinking industry peers.** ## Methodology ¶Section titled Methodology * 7 20/25 minute in-person talks * 1 Q&A session, addressing the questions surveyed during the day * 1 after-party of socialising and discussion * 3 half-day workshops ## Timeline ¶Section titled Timeline * 1 day of talks – Thursday 27th February 2025 * 1 day of workshops – Friday 28th February 2025 ## Resources ¶Section titled Resources * Visit the conference website and learn more about the speakers and their talks * Purchase your tickets, _currently Early-bird discounted at the time of writing (2024-11-19)_ * Add the event to your calendar (usercalendar.com) * Read about the story behind this year’s theme (more posts coming soon) * Subscribe and listen to the podcasts that inspired this year’s theme (huffduffer.com – content updated periodically) * Connect with me on LinkedIn and ask me more about the conference

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Research by the Sea: Why Tamsin? There’s a moment during the design of a research study that always gives me pause for thought. The tension between three variables: the research goals, the duration of the session and the experience of the participant. As I write a discussion guide, I assign time estimates against sections, individual questions and tasks. These aren’t set in stone though, after all a discussion guide is just that, a guide. Likewise, any skilled researcher should be constantly aware of a participant’s needs and experience, and adapt accordingly. I still find this approach to be somewhat at odds with our user-centred practice. When dividing up time against a human being I can’t help but think of another guide. One that you might find hanging on the back wall of a butcher’s shop. During a session, we do our best to put our participants at ease, build rapport and trust. We may not use the word ‘interview’ in our introduction but we ultimately lead the session: ask the majority of questions and, if required, segueing between topics. We tend to be sat opposite or adjacent to our participants, unintentionally creating a power dynamic. We host our sessions indoors, in unfamiliar surroundings with artificial light sounds and smells. ## What if? ¶Section titled What if? What if there was another way? What if we turned this largely static, unnatural and unfamiliar process on its head? What kind of stories would be shared with us? How might these stories help us shape the future? I’m delighted that Tamsin is joining us at Research by the Sea to explore some of these themes and questions. She’ll outline a research method that will help us push back against destructive norms and help us on our first steps toward an inclusive and restorative future practice. ## Next steps ¶Section titled Next steps * Grab your ticket for Tamsin’s talk and the other 6 speakers. _Tickets currently Early-bird discounted, prices change on 30th Nov._ * Read more about her talk on the Research by the Sea website. * Connect with her on LinkedIn. * Check out her own conference Content Rising happening in June 2025.

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My new festive habit Over the past few years I’ve been turning to open source software to escape the deluge of enshittification and pernicious data mining that is the reality of so much of today’s software. In January of 2024 I took a short-term bet on Readwise to nurture a more frequent and meaningful reading habit. I hoped that paying an annual fee upfront would give the the monetary motivation to make the investment worthwhile. Needless to say, I’ll be renewing my subscription again this year. Since then, I’ve felt a pang of guilt every time I’m presented with the donations page of an open source project. _“I’ll do it next time”_ I say, knowing full well I’ve never delivered on this promise. Sure, open source software is free to the consumer but they are labours of love by the people who make them who pour countless hours of their own time. **It’s about time I put my money where my mouth is.** So from now on, around the festive period or shortly afterwards, I’m going to give back to the open source developers that have made life more productive and less intrusive. The first of which is Paul Robert Lloyd’s Indiekit – the utterly superb IndieWeb server. Paul has designed and built an beautiful and accessible product, written excellent documentation and is incredibly responsive. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in IndieWeb and the Activity Pub protocol. It’s a small gesture, which will change with my circumstances, but it feels good to spread a bit of joy to those who deserve it.

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Research by the Sea: Why Michael? Over the past decade or so, the wave of digital transformation has converted old and broken processes into connected and efficient systems. During this time we’ve seen the slow erosion of trust from digital platforms and services; our personal data compromised, the enshittification of service and experience, the creep of disinformation, lock-in, addictive and deceptive design patterns. “There’s an app for that!” no longer feels optional but mandatory. Is it any wonder the people are starting to say “no”? ## What if people refuse? ¶Section titled What if people refuse? How should we as researchers and designers respond to refusal? How can we serve people through products and services that exist outside of our glass-fronted distraction rectangles? I'm delighted that Michael is joining us in Feb 2025 with his new talk – The Spirit of Bartleby: In defence of refusal – to explore this topic. He’ll take a critical lens of how we got here, how to actively push back against the norms in place, and explore new solution spaces. ## Next steps ¶Section titled Next steps * Grab your ticket for Michael’s talk and the other 6 speakers. * Read more about Michael’s talk on the Research by the Sea website. * Connect with Michael on LinkedIn. * Subscribe to Michael’s newsletter First & Fifteenth.

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Research by the Sea: Why Cennydd? I feel sorry for anyone tasked with writing a talk about ethics in digital technology in early 2025. The smorgasbord of negative examples are enough to make anyone feel nauseous and light-headed. If the menu doesn’t trigger your gag reflexes, then I’m afraid to say, you might have taken the wrong pill. Let’s rewind a quarter of a decade. ‘Don’t be evil’ they said. So what happened? Clearly Larry and Sergey didn’t make a Ulysses pact. Or perhaps the carrot, or stick, weighed too on their wallets or minds. Within that time the slow creep of bad actors, subtle but nefarious approaches to privacy, data and persuasion has permeated into most of our daily lives. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying the entire tech sector and everyone in it has knowingly acted in bad faith. But we’ve undoubtedly seen the warning signs and we clearly haven’t been taking our Red Team pills enough. In our pursuit to save people from lamenting ‘Don’t make me think!’ – _a phrase coined the same year as Larry and Sergey’s no less_ – have we neglected to consider the consequences of a lack of friction? I'm delighted that Cennydd is joining us at Research by the Sea with his new talk – Picking up the pieces – to explore this topic. He’ll set the scene for a future of technology that exhibits qualities of compassion and responsibility. * Grab your ticket for Cennydd’s talk and the other 6 speakers **(save 20% on ticket prices with this link!)**. * Read more about Cennydd’s talk on the Research by the Sea website. * Connect with Cennydd on LinkedIn. * Check out Cennydd’s book Future Ethics.

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Indieweb Carnival Jan 2025: Friction > Within the realms of a company; don't exploit anyone, don't manufacture terrible awful products that go into landfill or are unsafe and hurt people, don't use exploit workers in factories… – Camilla and Jason Iftakhar, Swifty Scooters A heartfelt manifesto from Camilla and Jason Iftakhar, the founders of design-led company Swifty Scooters. In their podcast they explain how their brand values drive every aspect of their company; product design, product experience, customer service, staff satisfaction and environmental impact. I was deeply saddened this week to read that Camilla and Jason were recently forced to close the doors of their business. A decade of defiantly defending their ethical process in the pursuit of quality, against the relentless friction of external circumstances has eventually taken its toll. I’m absolutely gutted for them. At this difficult time, I hope they recognise, and hold close, their courage of doing the right thing for their product, customers and planet. I’m hopeful that Swifty Scooters will return as Phoenix Scooters in the not to distant future. ## Quality, Speed, Cost: pick two ¶Section titled Quality, Speed, Cost: pick two Camilla and Jason’s admirable approach is almost a challenge to the Unobtainable Triangle. Their unwavering resistance to compromise, ensuring their processes and products aren’t exploitative, and yet still delivering a “superior experience”. > Quality design and quality process allows you to execute and deliver a quality product which delivers a superior experience (that people fall in love with) – Jason Iftakhar Jason’s emphasis on experience is an interesting one. As designers of products and services, whether physical or digital, we focus on improving the end experience. UX designers have been rallying the cry of “Don’t Make Me Think” since 2000. The pursuit of ease and simplicity has mostly in good faith, _mostly_. At the opposite end of the brand values spectrum, there’s a company that has bent the unforgiving rigidity of the Iron Triangle through sheer brutality. Amazon. As an Amazon customer, you no longer have to think. From one-click payments, self-adhesive ordering buttons, to customer-deployed surveillance snitches: Amazon has optimised every last micron of decision-making into oblivion. Zero friction, zero thought. By some defiance of logic, Amazon are able to sell quality like-for-like products cheaper than any other retailer and have them delivered to your door the same day. I suppose the established belief behind the phrase “Quality, Speed, Cost: pick two” was yet another one of Jeff’s ’opportunities‘. Too good to be true, huh? ## Hidden consequences ¶Section titled Hidden consequences Yes, too good to be true. I know it, you know it, we all know it. Perhaps this triangle isn’t quite as it seems. Perhaps we need to take a new perspective to reveal what has been hidden beneath. If not an Iron Triangle, perhaps a Penrose triangle. Friction helps us slow down, reorient ourselves in our surroundings, and recognise the complexity and impact of our actions upon others, human or otherwise. This feels like what we need right now. Add some friction into your world.

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Interview tips from Tim & Eric Comedians Tim & Eric are well known for their irreverent approach to press interviews. The duo use them as another stage for their absurdist style of humour. Amongst the anarchic trolling of this interview clip their lies some timeless advice for research practitioners. * Don’t waste your qualitative research time by asking quantitative questions. * Quickly establish a rapport so that people’s time and input feels valued. * Keep questions brief and to the point. * Avoid closed questions to minimise one-word responses, use open-ended questions instead. * Be polite and encouraging with your participants even if they appear impatient or terse at first. Blatant offensiveness is not acceptable though! * If a participant gives you the opportunity to fix a challenging interview, don’t waste it! Take your time to reflect and turn it around with confidence. Lastly, pray you never have to interview Tim & Eric. “I don’t hate you. I just want you to do better.”

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