Based on a comprehensive usage analysis and the principles of WGV, DIA Dittel Architekten are realizing the insurer’s future-oriented customer...

Heydon Pickering has an intriguing video dealing with the question: “Why is everything binary?” The gist of the video, to me, distills to this insight: The idea that [everything] belongs to one of two archetypes is seductive in its simplicity, so we base everything that we do and make on this false premise. That rings true to me. I tend to believe binary thinking is so prevalent because it’s the intellectual path of least resistance and we humans love to lazy. The fact is, as I’m sure any professional with any experience in any field will tell you, answers are always full of nuance and best explained with the statement “it depends”. The answers we’re all looking for are not found exclusively in one of two binary values, but in the contrast between them. In other words, when you test the accuracy of binary assertions the truth loves to reveal itself somewhere in between.[1] For example: peak design or development is found in the intermingling of form and function. Not form instead of function, nor function instead of form. Working on the web, we’re faced with so many binary choices every day: Do we need a designer or a developer? Do we make a web site or a web app? Should we build this on the client or the server? Are we driven by data or intuition? Does this work online or offline? And answering these questions is not helped by the byproduct of binary thinking, which as Heydon points out, results in intellectually and organizationally disparate structures like “Design” and ”Development”: Design thinking, but not about how to do the thing you are thinking about. Development doing, but without thinking about why the hell anyone would do this in the first place. It’s a good reminder to be consistently on guard for our own binary thinking. And when we catch ourselves, striving to look at the contrast between two options for the answer we seek. There’s a story that illustrates how you can reject binaries and invert the assumption that only two choices exist. It goes like this: A King told a condemned prisoner: “You may make one final statement. If it is true, you will be shot. If it is false, you will be hanged.” The prisoner answered, “I will be hanged.” This results in the King not being able to carry out any sentence. The prisoner manipulates the King’s logic to make both options impossible and reveal a third possible outcome. ⏎ Email · Mastodon · Bluesky

Heni Herbáriuma specializes in delicate yet vivid flower arrangements, bouquets and ceramic reliefs made with plant prints. Their motto, “Just...

Back in 1971, “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappé made it clear the costs of eating meat were far greater than we had assumed. If we wanted the planet to thrive, we needed to shift to a more resource-efficient way to eat. UX Design is going through its own “you cost too […]

Laconicum, the renowned online cosmetics store, recently took a new step into the physical world with its first pop-up: ‘The...