Delightful Reveal #41

“You know how sometimes you get your bones vibrated?”

What we did:

• Untangled a mess of spaghetti code that handled everything involving the “scope” of a “collection” in a client app (i.e. the search, filtering, pagination, and sorting of a list).
• Described (and visualized) how users might maintain their data imports beyond the import to prompt conversation in our data working group.
• Drafted and discussed objectives and key results (OKRs) to track the product team’s progress towards helping our first customer adopt our system (and deprecate their old one).
• Continued analyzing last cycle’s user research for users planning multi-destination trips. Cut/shared highlight reels with the team, and scheduled time to discuss and agree takeaways.
• Reworked a design storyboard to reflect a fundamental change in our approach to templating.
• Identified outstanding questions blocking our ecosystem working group.
• Began user interviews!
• Attended user research session.
• Held a project based team roles & responsibilities meeting in preparation for our upcoming scope of work.
• Took a vacation to Montreal and stayed at a museum hotel (Hotel Uville).
• Worked on sticker designs.
• Designed and revised banners for an event.
• Designed a table runner for Flagrant.
• Created SVG bugs and dirt.
• Animated marching ants for Madison+ Ruby.
• Started on a process for uploading and processing a CSV import.
• Started looking at designs for an HTTP(s) redirection explainer.
• Started implementing a front end redesign that involved a responsive nav, and a turbo frame fueled flyout.
• Getting excited about RubyConf! We’re proud to be a sponsor and look forward to connecting with folks at our booth #6. Shout out to Val on her awesome designs for RubyConf!

What we’re reading:

• In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari
• The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
• Giving a Shit as a Service
• Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
• Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri
• Coda Handbook for Planning and OKRs
• Confusing Git Terminology
• Answers to Common Web Design Questions
• Yes, It’s Time To Order The Turkey
• Batavia’s Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History’s Bloodiest Mutiny by Mike Dash
• Soviet Bus Stops

What we’re watching:

• Of an Age
• Battle Bots
• Warrior S3
• Lower Decks S4
• Our Flag Means Death S2
• Kitchen Nightmares (new season)
• Last days of Summer in Tokyo vlog by Sol Life
• Next In Fashion
• We Have a Ghost

What we’re listening to:

• Fresh Air: “A ‘Practical Guide’ for People with Long COVID”
• Fresh Air: “Why Our Allergies are Getting Worse”
• Articles of Interest: “A few shoes (live)”
• Decoder Ring: “When Art Pranksters Invaded Melrose Place”
• Arlo Parks: Tiny Desk Concert
• Lawrence Lessig Decoder Interview
• Not Over You by Taemin
• Pop Goes Punk: Somebody That I Used To Know - Mayday Parade
• God of Music by Seventeen
• Sokkar by Elyanna
• From Eden  by Hozier

What we’re interested in:

• Finding a place to sell prints
• Finding a new winter coat
• Evoker wizards’ ability to sculpt spells (namely, Fireball)
• Housing
• OXO Good Grips Smooth Edge Can Opener, Black (amazon)
• The Chinese Canadian museum in Vancouver, BC
• Chinatown in Vancouver, BC, and The Chinese Tea Shop there
• Makesensemess: An Annual Celebration of Sensemaking
• YouTube ad blocker crackdown
• The art of Parviz Tanavoli
• Spell Caster by Steve Gardner
• Ad-hoc pottery nerd tours of ceramics studios in every city I visit (shout out to Morning Ceramics and Radius Art Studio in Portland)

What we’re struggling with:

• Low spoons
• Shower faucet broke
• Brother is going through a health scare
• Sleep

What we’re buying:

• A replacement keyboard
• Paxlovid
• New shower faucet
• Blue Lotus Chai - Traditional Masala Chai - Makes 100 Cups - 3 Ounce Masala Spiced Chai Powder with Organic Spices - Instant Indian Tea No Steeping - No Gluten (amazon)
• Baby Stuff! Stroller, car seat, etc.
• Polyhedral dice
• Moving butterfly cat toy
• Art by Paper Puffin of cute cats making pottery
• Work by Bang Bang Crafts

What we’re celebrating:

• Therapy
• It’s cold enough to turn the heater on
• My husband having a spare keyboard for me to switch into after spilling milk tea on my old one and it made the keys sticky
• Sweaters
• Stuffed bao buns from T&T supermarket in Vancouver, BC
• Talk proposal accepted by the WI Safety Council
• The existence of Collage, a curated art/craft suppliers/collectibles/curiosities store in Portland, OR
• Amanda’s blog post getting featured in Hotwire Weekly #3!

If you’re looking for a team to help you discover the right thing to build and help you build it, get in touch.