Industry News

This has been shared around quite a bit over the past couple of weeks, but Anil Dash has written another[1] modern classic in Make better documents. Excellent advice all around, including:

Similar to the importance of sequencing and order, you almost always want to start by clearly and simply stating your conclusion, or declaring your request or question. Very often, people feel a lot of anxiety about the need to preface their big dramatic point with lots of build-up. But you almost...

This is a good reminder about micro-management from Judd Antin. He says that maybe You’re Not Managing Enough (a big climbing analogy runs through the whole post):

As managers, we can be so afraid of micro-management that we risk moving into passive territory. We’re made to believe our main job is putting people in position to grow, and then going hands off to give them the space to do it. But that’s like encouraging a climber to take on a harder route, cheering them as they start while...

I like this alternative approach to the old “disagree and commit” adage. That idea always struck me as a little passive aggressive (“sure, I’ll do this stupid thing you want me to do…”), whereas this seems like a more active, helpful approach:

It’s much healthier to “have concerns and commit.” Some decisions you can agree with, some you can disagree with, but most you should either just “have concerns about” or “be supportive of”. […] If you’re not sure of the answer but have concerns,...

I found this essay on why we do things that are bad for us really interesting. First, I learned the word “akrasia”, which means “the state of mind in which someone acts against their better judgment through weakness of will.” Second, this is not exactly a new thing. From Romans 7:18–19:

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

Anyway, I thought this was helpful...

This is a solid essay (and book review) on social media and teen mental health that includes much-needed academic research receipts. In short:

Two things can be independently true about social media. First, that there is no evidence that using these platforms is rewiring children’s brains or driving an epidemic of mental illness. Second, that considerable reforms to these platforms are required, given how much time young people spend on them.

This point is especially important:...

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...

This week, I posted the big Google Webmaster Report for April; it is an excellent place to catch up quickly on the news. Google's March 2024 core update had some volatility this week, and it is still rolling out. There are still no....

Google's Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, explained that while SEOs hate to see Reddit and other forum threads show up so often in the Google Search results, searchers like seeing them. In fact, he said that searchers seek content out from these forums, and this is why Google shows them so often in the search results.

Google is testing labeling product images in the product grid search results with a label that says "product." I am unsure if this is Google mislabeling the percent discount tag and sticking "product" there instead or if this is a real feature test.

Microsoft is testing showing more grouped cards in the Bing Search knowledge panel design that it launched earlier this year. Bing is showing four more cards, by splitting some of the cards in half, to make room for these knowledge bits.