View this email in your browser

Welcome (back) to 10 Things: eclectic links for purposeful procrastination. 
 

This time in 10 Things, we’re starting off with some stories on getting through the grind of a content job (and this time of year can feel very grind-y, can’t it?). Then we’re moving on to the serendipity of blogging, the blurriness of AI, and the beauty of reviews.

• "Our relationship with hope shapes how we approach research and design"
• "A content job shouldn’t make you feel like you’re being punished by vengeful gods"
• "It is not too hard to grind the souls of your writing team to a fine powder"
• "If we don't know our jobs how can we expect other people to know our contributions?"
• "Why should designers be strategic?"
• "A blog post is a search query to find your people"
• "How IBM considered frogs as a non-human stakeholder"
• "Deciding what to be transparent about"
• "They’ve discovered a “blur” tool for paragraphs instead of photos"
• "Glimpses of humanity in an unlikely corner of the internet"

"Our relationship with hope shapes how we approach research and design"

Vivianne Castillo on how our relationship to hope affects our work.

In response to seeing a lot of disillusionment and burnout in the design world, Vivianne urges us to cultivate hope. She explains that it’s a crucial ingredient in doing inclusive, ethical, and caring work. I love the quote she includes from Mariame Kaba too:

'Hope doesn’t preclude feeling sadness or frustration or anger or any other emotion that makes total sense. Hope isn’t an emotion… Hope is not optimism. Hope is a discipline… we have to practice it every single day.'

"A content job shouldn’t make you feel like you’re being punished by vengeful gods"

A post by me on dealing with the everything everywhere all at once-ness of content.

Sticking with our theme of being overwhelmed, I wrote about why it’s crucial to remember that you can’t and shouldn’t try to fix every issue you spot as a content person. There’s also a model to help you work out what to focus on vs what to put to one side (and maybe what to try and feel hopeful about too).

"It is not too hard to grind the souls of your writing team to a fine powder"

Anna Pickard’s nine-point plan for how to crush the soul of a writer.

A funny read from the brilliant Anna on all the worst things you’ve probably experienced as a writer. (The point about everyone editing everything and changing words was particularly triggering for me.) There’s also some good ideas on how to get through this if you’re a writer, and how to manage writers better if you’re not.

"If we don't know our jobs how can we expect other people to know our contributions?"

A very long read from Relly Annett-Baker on how to prove your value as a UX content person.

5,000 words of good advice on identifying your skills, strengthening them, and using that to make sure everyone knows just how much you’re contributing.

"Why should designers be strategic?"

Catt Small on how and why designers can shift from an execution-focused role to a more strategic one.

While we’re talking about development, I thought this was relevant for people in execution-focused content roles.

"A blog post is a search query to find your people"

A short blog post by Austin Kleon summarising a longer post by Henrik Karlsson on the serendipity of blogging.

The whole post is worth a read, but if you don’t have time, this is a great summary. I love this quote:

‘A blog post is a search query. You write to find your tribe; you write so they will know what kind of fascinating things they should route to your inbox. If you follow common wisdom, you will cut exactly the things that will help you find these people.’

This is why I wish more people wrote about their work - it’s how we find each other and build community. Take this as your nudge to write that post about that weird little aspect of content that you’re really interested in (and send it to me).

"How IBM considered frogs as a non-human stakeholder"

Martin Tomitsch and Isabella Bain on using non-human personas. I loved this story about how creating a persona for a non-human stakeholder - the Litoria bella frog - influenced design decisions.

I’m really interested in this idea of trying to consider the needs of animals, plants and the climate alongside those of users or stakeholders. It reminded me of Patagonia ‘making Earth our only shareholder’. I’d love to hear from you if this is something you’re doing in your work.

"Deciding what to be transparent about"

Natalie Shaw shares her transparency framework for deciding what aspects of a product people need to know about. This is a simple, three-question approach that will help you to think about the right ways to add more transparency for users.

"They’ve discovered a “blur” tool for paragraphs instead of photos"

Ted Chiang on the loss of fidelity and the blurriness that comes with ChatGPT’s paraphrasing.

I know, I know, you’re sick of ChatGPT commentary. But this is a great read, and you’ll also learn about weird photocopier quirks.

"Glimpses of humanity in an unlikely corner of the internet"

Will McCarthy on the strange beauty of Google Reviews.

I have a weird habit - I love reading Google reviews, especially reviews of things in the natural world, like mountains, the sea, lakes. This article gets to the heart of why I love it so much.