ch. 02 — thinking

Thinking

Principles I live by and questions I can't stop returning to.

p. 23

10 principles, in pencil.

  1. 01.
    Build for a real pain point.
    I rarely start with technology. I start with an annoyance that refuses to leave me alone.
  2. 02.
    Small problems deserve software too.
    Software can be a tiny thing that removes a tiny annoyance. Sometimes that's enough.
  3. 03.
    Every project starts in a notebook.
    User flows, wireframes, observations, sketches, bad ideas — everything goes there first.
  4. 04.
    Research before code.
    Understanding the problem deeply usually saves more time than writing code faster.
  5. 05.
    AI is a tool, not a replacement.
    I use it to explore and review, but I still want to understand what I'm building.
  6. 06.
    Metrics beat opinions.
    Users are usually more honest through behavior than through feedback.
  7. 07.
    The best software disappears.
    If users spend more time thinking about the interface than solving their problem, something is wrong.
  8. 08.
    Ideas are cheap. Capturing them isn't.
    That's why I keep a morgue of ideas.
  9. 09.
    Curiosity is more important than completion.
    I don't finish books because I started them. I finish them if they keep teaching me something.
  10. 10.
    Every good product starts with noticing.
    Most people walk past small frustrations. I can't stop noticing them.

Things I keep returning to.

The gap between intention and action

Why do people often know exactly what they should do, but end up doing something else? The YouTube distraction extension started here. The goal isn't to stop people. It's to help them stay aligned with what they intended to do.

Making annoying things disappear

Most of my projects begin with the same sentence: "This shouldn't be this annoying." ShareBoard, FlowForge, and many unfinished ideas in my notebook started this way.

Small software for small problems

Most people think software has to be massive to matter. I don't. Sometimes a simple tool that saves five minutes every day is more valuable than a giant platform nobody uses.

Systems behind everyday experiences

Whenever I use a product, I end up wondering how it was built. I sketch user flows, alternative interfaces, architectures, and invisible systems long before I think about implementation.

Collecting ideas before they're useful

I write down more ideas than I build. Most of them end up in my morgue of ideas. Some stay dead forever. Some come back years later as something completely different.

Books should earn my attention

Reading isn't a task. It's a conversation. If a book keeps teaching me something, I'll happily spend hours with it. If it loses me halfway through, I move on. Curiosity matters more than completion.

still thinking about
this week
Why do some products quietly become part of someone's daily life while others are forgotten after a week?
last week
The difference between what users say and what users actually do.
He didn't mind being alone. But sometimes, he couldn't sleep.
— Piyush Mishra, Tumhari Aukat Kya Hai
— reminder
Most of what I "think" is actually just reading something and disagreeing with it on the page.