In a world of global mass surveillance and multinational corporations owning what we share and like, the need for an open, independent web has never been greater. It is about time to take back control, reclaim our digital future and rebuild a web for everyone.

Matthias Ott states that what’s deeply worrying about this development is that the idea of a fundamental right to privacy is slowly eroded in Going Indie. Step 1: Securing Privacy. With every new leak, we accept ever more that there seems to be nothing we can do about it, anyway. And if we have nothing to hide, surveillance will only be a threat to those who deserve to be observed, right?

Billions of internet-connected devices upload our most personal data into the cloud where it can be accessed by corporations and governmental services. We have lost control. So the need to act is as real and urgent as ever.

I too agree and would like to quote:

Not only if you are part of a minority, if you care about free speech, or simply want to keep things like your health records private, you need to take action.

Meanwhile, here is another reading list for all of you.

Graphic Design

When people at startups are doing exercises like naming, identity, logos etc, they aren’t wasting time. The point of these exercises, it turns out, is to make the abstract idea of “our brand” into something concrete. After doing the exercises, the team gets a common language to describe what their company is about — and all subsequent squishy decisions about visuals, voice, and identity become way easier. Jake Knapp shares his team’s recipe for getting started on branding in The Three-Hour Brand Sprint. In his 1964 book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, McLuhan wrote about how media affects daily life. But instead of focusing on the content–today, the tweets, Facebook posts, and news articles that many of us regularly consume–he was interested in how the form of the content, that platform that delivers it to you, can impact your psychology in insidious ways. Katharine Schwab writes about how even in the age of Trump, McLuhan’s 50-year-old ideas seem prophetic in An Animated Guide To Marshall McLuhan And “The Medium Is The Message”.

Picture Credit: Fast Co. Design

UI Design

Re-designing an existent product is not an easy task. Many people think when they hear about “re-design” as the process of making the product from scratch again, at least in design terms, but that’s not always the best approach because you’re taking huge risks. Eder Rengifo shares her ideas for a more effective re-design process while taking on Sketch in Re-Designing Sketch. In the world of web design, we tend to become preoccupied with the here and now. In Resilient Web Design, Jeremy Keith emphasises the importance of learning from the past in order to better prepare ourselves for the future. So, perhaps we should stop and think more beyond our present moment? Sometimes we tend to think of our designs as if they are pieces of art. But if we think of them this way, it means they won’t be ready to face the uncertain conditions of the “real world.” However, there is also beauty in designing an interface that is ready for changes — and, let’s admit it, interfaces do change, all the time. Javier Cuello talks about in The Beauty Of Imperfection In Interface Design.

Picture Credit: Smashing Magazine

UX Design

Somewhere along the journey of our teams transitioning to agile practices we picked up user stories. We got incredibly excited — no longer do we have to write long functional requirements documents, but instead, using short sentence format, we could express what our customers intended to do, requirements without the long documents, or at least that was the pitch you heard. Sherif Mansour writes about How We Destroyed User Stories. Scott Jenson writes about his partial reaction to the all too common belief that mobile is the only game in town and that the desktop UX is long past any value in Old Is New: Why Desktop UX Still Inspires. Inspiration can come from anywhere. He strongly believes that the world of machine learning is going to usher in an amazing augmentation of our abilities and that building on top of what we’ve learned from the desktop UX is a great place to start. Cady Wachsman says that, one of their jobs, while working in Uber Driver team, is to take the pressure off of drivers, so that they can focus on smooth and stress-free rides for everybody. They want to make sure that drivers have the best features possible directly in-app, and one of the most important features is a navigation system. She shares the finding in Uber Navigation.

Picture Credit: Medium

News

Elon Musk has a new company — focused on developing the capabilities of the brain through technological augmentation. Neuralink Wants To Boost The Brain To Keep Up With AI. Apple unveils “easy-to-use” video app to rival Snapchat and Instagram called Clips.

Life & Beyond

To most of us, creativity seems like a magical and mysterious force that only comes around once in a blue moon. Occasionally, we get these magical light bulb moments where inspiration pops into our head and suddenly we can create masterpieces. We can create for days on end and then (as if nothing happened) the light bulb will turn off, and we have to wait again to be inspired enough to create something magical. The reality is that’s not how creativity works. Cassius Kiani writes about this and more in Being Brilliant and Creating Amazing Work. Sean D'Auria writes about the importance of both quality and quantity, presentation, never giving up learning and steering clear of trends in Best Design Advice No One Ever Gave Me. Brands today exist in multiple mediums, defined by multiple voices. The media brands inhabit is iterative, with no beginning, no end, and little permanency. In that context, adherence to a big idea and endless repetition of centralised, fixed rules can make a brand seem unresponsive and out of step with its audience. Marc Shillum argues that branding lies in creating patterns that add up to a whole, rather than a single, monolithic message in Branding Is About Creating Patterns, Not Repeating Messages.

Picture Credit: Fast Co Design

And with that, I will close for the week. Also Hey, if you like what you just read, please support me with a donation via Paypal.me or share this resource by hitting the green “Recommend” icon so that other people may also stumble upon this reading list.

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