Health Checks and Graceful Degradation in Distributed Systems

A ping can only convey whether a service is up or down, whereas end-to-end tests are a proxy for whether the system can perform a certain unit of work, where the work could be something like execute a database query or perform a certain computation.

What I learned from dissecting The Web Developer Roadmap

Being able to communicate ideas that I have learned is important to me. I rely on others to be able to communicate ideas to me, and I have differences in my learning.

Basically, this was as much an exercise in learning and understanding as it was web development. And I knew that going into it. It made me want to do it even more.

The authoritative guide to blockchain development

Since I left Airbnb to work full-time on blockchain, many people have reached out to me asking how to get into the blockchain space full-time. Consider this my authoritative (and inevitably incomplete) guide on how to get into blockchain engineering.

The Psychology Principles Every UI/UX Designer Needs to Know

Solid principles that still hold up.

Psychology plays a big part in a user’s experience with an application. By understanding how our designs are perceived, we can make adjustments so that the apps we create are more effective in achieving the goals of the user.

Fake UX Jobs and how to Spot Them (and avoid them)

Manager: “We aren’t going to involve users with this project or do any user research, lets just go with ‘gut feel’ and flesh it out”

I’m not sure why some companies are hiring for ‘UX Design’ or ‘User Experience Research’ or (the dreaded) ‘UX/UI’ roles when there aren’t any resources in place or basic organisational understanding of the field of human-centered research and design as a whole.

Design Thinking for Blockchain Development

Good design emphasizes a good user experience. Discover why and how design thinking for blockchain development will influence adoption rates of new applications.

10 Cognitive Distortions That Mess Up Your Brain And Will Hurt Your 2018

Your mind is filled with random things every day. They scroll through your mind automatically and have a huge impact on how you feel. They create thoughts that spur into feelings and determine how you respond to a situation.

Effective User Interviews

Learn how to conduct effective user interviews as a product manager. We break down user interview best practices and provide concrete examples.

How to Make Git History Useful to Humans

Think like git: Build git history that will be useful for future readers. Write with a human audience in mind, and pay attention to your version control.