The Alexandria Newsletter #001
“Humble Beginnings”
Welcome to Alexandria, a bi-weekly newsletter dedicated to bringing you the best content related to design, technology, and entrepreneurship. Each edition will contain a collection of content that covers pressing issues, offers advice from the best, or tools and resources that will make life a little bit easier.
I’d also love to use to this platform to spotlight good people doing great things, so if you’d like to be featured, let’s talk.
If you enjoy this newsletter and its contents I would be honored if you’d share it with friends or colleagues. Thanks for reading!
Articles & Essays
“Ethics” and Ethics
ia.net
The discussion around “ethics” in technology is mostly smoke. The rest is mirrors. There is this expectation of a specialist coming in, the ethicist, the tech ethicist, the AI ethicist, or the design ethicist, that will tell these companies how to be better. The ethicist will solve their ethical dilemmas, logically, with a set of algorithmic rules, and then the corporations will be able to decide which rules their code or “AI” should follow — or not.
4 key trends in designing for privacy and data protection | Inside Design Blog
In a tech-driven world, our economy runs on data. It has surpassed oil as the world’s most valuable resource, and we’re handing it over more readily than ever. Designing for privacy and data protection has never been so important, and there are some interesting trends emerging as a result.
The Secrets to Designing a Curiosity-Driven Career | First Round Review
firstround.com
Zainab Ghadiyali’s extraordinary career has taken her from nonprofit work in Peru to life as Product Lead at Airbnb. With tactical advice on building transferable skills and beating impostor syndrome, she shows entrepreneurs how to embrace the unconventional path and forge a career fueled by curiosity.
Lightning Decision Jam — Solve Problems Without Discussion
medium.muz.li
Creative problem solving is a cornerstone skill that separates good designers from the best designers. Everything else is production work. Here’s an exercise to train that most important skill.
15 Things You Should Know About Product Managers — John Cutler — Medium
medium.com
This post is meant to build empathy for product managers, and to understand their world just a bit better. I’ve focused on the hard stuff, so don’t expect too many feel-good stories. Don’t assume these are universal, but always be on the lookout for ways to connect more deeply with their challenges (and turn those challenges into opportunities for progress). Empathy goes a very long way.
Prioritize Opportunities, Not Solutions | Product Talk
www.producttalk.org
Prioritizing solutions is a left-over side effect of being output focused. When we are judged by what we deliver, the key decisions are focused on what to build when. But when we are judged by what outcomes we drive, it’s less about what solutions we deliver and more about what problems we solve for our customers.
Is every company destined for freemium?
www.profitwell.com
What we found: Freemium will be a pillar of everyone’s growth strategies in the future. This doesn’t mean you’ll have a free plan related to your current product, but you’ll still have some element of free.
You Have To Live It To Believe It · Collaborative Fund
www.collaborativefund.com
Investor Michael Batnick says, “some lessons have to be experienced before they can be understood.” We are all victims, in different ways, to that truth. This report digs into the effect difference experiences we’ve had have on our ability to make smart decisions about business and investing risk.
Resources & Tools
FromScratch — auto saving scratchpad
fromscratch.rocks
A simple but smart note-taking app FromScratch is a little app that you can use as a quick note taking or todo app.
Colorblind Simulation
getstark.co
Your job done properly from the start Baked right into the software you love to use, Stark empowers you to design with accessibility in mind from conception of brand to fruition of product.
Checklist Design — best UI elements for the best UX practice
www.checklist.design
Checklist Design is a collection of best UI and UX you need to provide a complete, honest and rewarding experience for your users.
