Wooly Mice, Super Shadows, Die in the Pixels, & More
Issue #77
Today at a Glance:
Quote: Details matter
Reading: Reasoning vs. Reactive models
Learning: Wooly mouse
Podcast: Super Shadows
Tweet: Products live and die in the pixels
Product: Pocket Casts
#QUOTE
Quote I'm pondering...
"Details matter. It’s worth waiting to get it right." — Steve Jobs
Speed gets attention but precision earns trust. Every overlooked pixel, every clunky workflow, erodes user confidence. Details are the interface between intent and impact.
#THOUGHTS
What I'm thinking about...
The importance of good design
Listening to users ≠ following users
Great onboarding isn’t a flow, it’s a mindset
Silence is often the best signal something important is happening
#READING
What I'm reading...
o1 isn’t a chat model (and that’s the point)
//latentspace
We’ve gone from prompt engineering with reactive models to needing to write briefs with reasoning models. The more context, the better. This is a good thing.
Reactive Models (e.g. GPT-4): Like a human blurting out the first thing that comes to mind without thinking.
Reasoning Models (e.g. o1): Like a human pausing to think through a problem step-by-step before answering.
#LEARNING
Something I've learned...
Scientists made a wooly mouse in quest to resurrect mammoths
//404media
Today at a Glance:
Quote: Details matter
Reading: Reasoning vs. Reactive models
Learning: Wooly mouse
Podcast: Super Shadows
Tweet: Products live and die in the pixels
Product: Pocket Casts
#PODCASTS
My favorite listens...
Super Shadows | When Strengths Limit Growth
//skip
Superhuman's secret to success: Ignoring most customer feedback, manually onboarding every new user, obsessing over every detail, and positioning around a single attribute: speed
//lennyspodcast
#TWEET
Social media that made me stop and think...
At the end of day, products live and die in the pixels: it's what the users see and tap. And without someone shepherding that process, you are effectively wandering the desert blind. (link)
How to be more emotionally intelligent (without trying so hard) (link)
Design is essential (link)
All you need is two hours/day (link) for your most important goal, that is only 10 hours/week (6%).
AI designers are finally here! Long live AI, bye bye photoshop (link). I’m so excited about being able to generate photos with proper text.
How to design for users (link)
![The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition [Book]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RHzW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F391e7a58-a9e5-4001-a808-948249aa6afe_1000x1500.jpeg "The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition [Book]")
#PRODUCT
A product that I've been loving...
I’ve switched from using Spotify podcasts to Pocket Casts and I’m loving it, it is far superior.
Better episode organization and playlist creation
Ability to rearrange episodes manually
More efficient batch selection of episodes
Improved podcast discovery
The only thing Spotify has over Pocket Casts is the seamlessness to switch between music and podcasts within one ecosystem