Collecting

1. Required reading indeed

   Starting day 1 of 02026 with a BIG coffee and the optional.is 02025 omnibus written by @briansuda@mastodon.social https://optional.is/required/2026/01/01/omnibus-02025/ required reading indeed! Feed your brain during this year by signing up to their RRS feed!

2. Build community centres, not data centres!

   Build community centres, not data centres!

3. Future value in a Design History

   Reading Benjy Stanton’s notes on working in the open https://www.benjystanton.co.uk/blog/govcamp-cymru-2025-working-in-the-open/ reminded me of design histories so now rewatching Paul Robert Lloyd’s UX London’s talk https://vimeo.com/841887944. I’m thinking this might be a potential solution for a challenge in my team.

4. Ep.370: Deep Work in the Age of AI

   In this episode, Cal dives deep into the study and argues that when it comes to efforts that require deep work, AI can sometimes make things worse.

5. Cycles: 20250616-20250924

   Cycles: my new, no-pressure weeknotes. The seasons reverse.

6. Antiseptic Leona

   I support Antiseptic Leona!

7. My future self and me

   I’m really excited for this afternoon’s Waitrose Online shaping session hosted by the brilliant Jason Mesut. I’m finding the time to write this at his online writing club. I’ve missed opportunities like these to have an accountabilibuddy for writing. The seal has been broken!

   

8. Unstuck with story glue

   This week I volunteered to give an update at Waitrose Online’s Design Deli, our weekly sharing of work in progress. Instead of a chain of ‘and then’ I decided to dig out my notes from Ben Sauer’s Practical Strategic Storytelling workshop and add some story glue for a more compelling story. If you’re looking to raise your storytelling game or your team’s, I highly recommend getting in touch with Ben! https://bensauer.net/workshop/

9. Bored of it

   MY GOD MAKE IT STOP! Paul perfectly expresses the increasing frustration caused by the monotonous creep of AI gobshite.

10. Happy World Emoji Day

    Happy World Emoji Day… oh wait because the date on the calendar emoji is 17th July… HA! 😀🌍📆