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Jorge Arango

Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course: Week 3 I’m undertaking a year-long crash course in the humanities. These are my notes for week 3. Following...
2 months ago
50
2 months ago
I’m undertaking a year-long crash course in the humanities. These are my notes for week 3. Following Ted Gioia’s curriculum, this week I read the remainder of the Odyssey. On the audiovisual front, I watched a movie that made me think differently about the poem’s...
Jorge Arango
LLMs Give You Power User Abilities LLMs are a general-purpose technology with seemingly endless use cases. Among my favorite is...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
LLMs are a general-purpose technology with seemingly endless use cases. Among my favorite is unlocking the potential of other technologies. For example, all modern “desktop” OSs come with shell environments. If you know a bit of scripting, you can automate tasks in ways that go...
Jorge Arango
New Podcast: “Traction Heroes” I’m excited to share with you a new podcast: Traction Heroes. The first episode is now up on the...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
I’m excited to share with you a new podcast: Traction Heroes. The first episode is now up on the major podcasting platforms. You can also see show notes and get the RSS feed at www.tractionheroes.com. Here’s the backstory. My previous podcast, The Informed Life, originated as a...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course: Week 4 I’m undertaking a year-long crash course in the humanities. These are my notes for week 4. Following...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
I’m undertaking a year-long crash course in the humanities. These are my notes for week 4. Following Ted Gioia’s curriculum, this week I read the Analects of Confucius. As I did last week, ChatGPT helped me select a movie to complement this reading – albeit...
Jorge Arango
Gall’s Law Strikes Again: the Sonos Debacle Update: in the afternoon of January 14, news emerged that Sonos CPO Maxime Bouvat-Merlin is also...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Update: in the afternoon of January 14, news emerged that Sonos CPO Maxime Bouvat-Merlin is also leaving the company. Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is out, felled by last year’s disastrous app launch. I have no inside track on what happened, but from what I’ve read, Sonos’s leaders...
Jorge Arango
Horsey Horseless and the Challenge of AI-native Products Disruptive technologies call for rethinking product design. We must question assumptions about...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Disruptive technologies call for rethinking product design. We must question assumptions about underlying infrastructure and mental models while acknowledging neither change overnight. For example, self-driving cars don’t need steering wheels. Users direct AI-driven vehicles by...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course: Week 2 I’m embarking on a year-long crash course in the humanities. These are my notes for week...
3 months ago
32
3 months ago
I’m embarking on a year-long crash course in the humanities. These are my notes for week 2. Following Ted Gioia’s curriculum, I tackled a small volume of early Greek poetry and the first ten books of the Odyssey. I also heard music from recent descendents of these ancient bards...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course: Week 1 I’m embarking on a year-long crash course in the humanities. These are my notes for week...
3 months ago
31
3 months ago
I’m embarking on a year-long crash course in the humanities. These are my notes for week 1. Readings Following Gioia’s plan, I read six of Plato’s dialogues: Euthypro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Books I and VII of The Republic. I used the beautiful edition published (for free)...
Jorge Arango
Traction Heroes Ep. 2: Unprecedented In episode 2 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry shared an extreme personal experience in service...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
In episode 2 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry shared an extreme personal experience in service to exploring the question: How can we act skillfully in unfamiliar circumstances? I considered adding a trigger warning – Harry’s story made me wince. That said, we landed in a...
Jorge Arango
The User Research Strategist Podcast Nikki Anderson interviewed me for her User Research Strategist podcast. Our focus was AI’s impact on...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Nikki Anderson interviewed me for her User Research Strategist podcast. Our focus was AI’s impact on research and informaton architecture – and how practitioners can take advantage of this new technology. See the episode page, which includes show notes. If you want to learn...
Jorge Arango
Traction Heroes Ep. 2: Unprecedented In episode 2 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry shared an extreme personal experience in service...
2 months ago
27
2 months ago
In episode 2 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry shared an extreme personal experience in service to exploring the question: How can we act skillfully in unfamiliar circumstances? I considered adding a trigger warning – Harry’s story made me wince. That said, we landed in a...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 6: Herodotus Week 6 of my humanities crash course included four books from Herodotus’s Histories and Plato’s...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Week 6 of my humanities crash course included four books from Herodotus’s Histories and Plato’s Symposium. I also listened to gorgeous music from exotic (to me) ports of call, learned about Persian art and architecture, and watched a new documentary about René...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 7: Gilgamesh Week 7 of my humanities crash course had me exploring ancient Mesopotamia with a side trip to...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Week 7 of my humanities crash course had me exploring ancient Mesopotamia with a side trip to northern India. I also watched an Iranian film that had me pondering the meaning of life. Readings This week, I read two short ancient texts: the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Dhammapada....
Jorge Arango
AI Needs Architects – That’s Why I’m Pivoting In over thirty years in business, two technological shifts have fundamentally changed my work. The...
a month ago
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a month ago
In over thirty years in business, two technological shifts have fundamentally changed my work. The first was the web in the mid 1990s, which led me to leave architecture and focus on what we now call UX. The second is happening now – and it may be bigger. AI is poised to reshape...
Jorge Arango
Jorge’s Wager: Why AI Needs Information Architecture One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “is information architecture still relevant now that...
a month ago
24
a month ago
One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “is information architecture still relevant now that we have AI?” Of course, not everyone puts it like that. Instead, they’ll say things like “we won’t need navigation if we have chat” or “AI will organize the website” or “in a world...
Jorge Arango
Book Notes: “Co-Intelligence” Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick Portfolio, 2024 Over the weekend, I...
2 months ago
24
2 months ago
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick Portfolio, 2024 Over the weekend, I caught up with a friend I hadn’t seen in years. When I explained that most of my work these days is focused on AI, he asked if there was one book he could read to understand how to...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 9: The Bible For week 9 of the humanities crash course, I revisited the most important text in Western culture:...
a month ago
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a month ago
For week 9 of the humanities crash course, I revisited the most important text in Western culture: the Bible. Of course, I didn’t read the whole book – only a small subset. Still, it was a lot. As I’ve done in previous weeks, I followed Gioia’s suggestions for the...
Jorge Arango
Solsbury Hill Today is Peter Gabriel’s 75th birthday. He’s contributed much through his music and by bringing...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Today is Peter Gabriel’s 75th birthday. He’s contributed much through his music and by bringing people together through the arts. But today, I want to celebrate one of his songs that’s had a profound impact on my life: Solsbury Hill. Solsbury Hill was Gabriel’s debut single as...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 8: Ancient Egypt Week 8 of my humanities crash course focused on ancient Egypt with musical excursions to modern...
a month ago
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a month ago
Week 8 of my humanities crash course focused on ancient Egypt with musical excursions to modern North Africa. I also finally saw an astonishing opera I’d heard countless times but had never seen. The internet delivers! Readings Rather than a specific text, like the Odyssey or the...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 10: Greek Drama Week 10 of the humanities crash course had me reading (and listening to) classic Greek plays. I also...
a month ago
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a month ago
Week 10 of the humanities crash course had me reading (and listening to) classic Greek plays. I also listened to the blues and watched a movie starring a venerable recently departed actor. How do they connect? Perhaps they don’t. Let’s find out. Readings The plan for this week...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 5: Eudaemonia In week 5 of my humanities crash course, I read Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Poetics. I also...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
In week 5 of my humanities crash course, I read Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Poetics. I also listened to more Bach, looked at Italian Baroque sculpture, and watched a classic – if somewhat boring – movie. Getting through it despite the difficulties was part of the...
Jorge Arango
Book Notes: “A Thousand Brains” A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence By Jeff Hawkins Basic Books, 2021 If you’re...
a month ago
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a month ago
A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence By Jeff Hawkins Basic Books, 2021 If you’re interested in artificial intelligence (and you should be,) it behooves you to learn about intelligence in general. While there’s still lots to learn, neuroscience has made lots of...
Jorge Arango
A Crash Course in the Humanities My education has lots of gaps. “Youth is wasted on the young” is an apt cliché: I wasted lots of...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
My education has lots of gaps. “Youth is wasted on the young” is an apt cliché: I wasted lots of opportunities as a young person. After graduation, I committed to ongoing learning. Alas, it’s been scattered and undirected. This year, I’m doing something about it: immersing myself...
Jorge Arango
The New Leverage: AI and the Power of Small Teams This weekend, a small team in Latvia won an Oscar for a film they made using free software. That’s...
a month ago
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a month ago
This weekend, a small team in Latvia won an Oscar for a film they made using free software. That’s not just cool — it’s a sign of what’s coming. Sunday night was family movie night in my home. We picked a recent movie, FLOW. I’d heard good things about it and thought we’d enjoy...
Jorge Arango
Traction Heroes Ep. 4: Mental Models In episode 4 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry and I discussed mental models. It’s a tricky...
a month ago
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a month ago
In episode 4 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry and I discussed mental models. It’s a tricky phrase: we brought up two different, yet common, uses: Mental models as individuals’ internal understandings of a particular things and situations – i.e., the “Indi Young”...
Jorge Arango
Traction Heroes Ep. 3: Beyond Data In episode 3 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry and I discussed the relationship between...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
In episode 3 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry and I discussed the relationship between decision-making and data. Is it ok for some decisions to be made intuitively? What role do emotions play in decision-making? How do you deal with stakeholders who demand that decisions be...
Jorge Arango
What’s the Object of Information Architecture? Ironically, information architects haven’t explained how we create value in terms most people...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Ironically, information architects haven’t explained how we create value in terms most people understand. If I tell someone at a party that I’m an IA, they won’t know what I do. It’s a problem: if others don’t understand how we can help, they won’t hire us. The main challenge is...
Jorge Arango
IA Fail: Which Kindle Edition? One of the goals of information architecture is making it possible for people to easily find what...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
One of the goals of information architecture is making it possible for people to easily find what they’re looking for. As a large and complex information environment, Amazon.com provides lots of examples of how to do it right – and how to do it wrong. This post highlights one of...
Jorge Arango
Prescriptive and Descriptive Information Architectures There are two stances you can take toward language in your website or app: prescriptive or...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
There are two stances you can take toward language in your website or app: prescriptive or descriptive. Which you choose influences the system’s understandability and findability. The terms come from linguistics. I heard about them in a radio show (or was it a podcast?) many...
Jorge Arango
One Year of “Duly Noted” Duly Noted just celebrated its first birthday. It’s an opportunity for me to reflect on what’s...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Duly Noted just celebrated its first birthday. It’s an opportunity for me to reflect on what’s changed since it came out. The book’s central premise is evergreen: thinking isn’t limited to the spongy mass between your ears. Instead, you think by interacting with your environment...
Jorge Arango
AI and Taxonomies: Creating vs. Applying Recently, I wrote about using AI to solve taxonomy drift — the all-too-common problem of lists of...
a month ago
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a month ago
Recently, I wrote about using AI to solve taxonomy drift — the all-too-common problem of lists of terms (tags, categories) falling out of sync with the content they describe. A response to that post raised an important distinction worth clarifying: the difference between creating...
Jorge Arango
Why Website Taxonomies Drift (and What to Do about It) AI is everywhere, but most websites are still managed manually by humans using content management...
a month ago
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a month ago
AI is everywhere, but most websites are still managed manually by humans using content management systems like WordPress and Drupal. These systems provide means for tagging and categorizing content. But over time, these structures degrade. Without vigilance and maintenance,...
Jorge Arango
Traction Heroes Ep. 5: Strategic Priorities Episode 5 of the Traction Heroes podcast featured a conversation about strategic priorities. What do...
a month ago
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a month ago
Episode 5 of the Traction Heroes podcast featured a conversation about strategic priorities. What do I mean by that? I’m referring to prioritizing at two levels: When you’re thinking about what to focus on now – what you should and shouldn’t do next. When you’re thinking about...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 12: Suetonius It’s hard to believe, but we’re almost at the first quarter mark for the humanities crash course. Up...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
It’s hard to believe, but we’re almost at the first quarter mark for the humanities crash course. Up this week: Suetonius’s The Twelve Caesars. I doubled down on the Republic’s fall by watching a classic movie set in this time. Readings The Twelve Caesars is a collection of...
Jorge Arango
How AI Is Built Podcast Nicolay Gerold interviewed me for his How AI is Built podcast. Our conversation focused on...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
Nicolay Gerold interviewed me for his How AI is Built podcast. Our conversation focused on information architecture – with an interesting angle: Nicolay’s audience consists primarily of engineers developing AI products. What can these folks learn from IA to create better AI...
Jorge Arango
AI is Probabilistic – That’s Why It Needs Constraints For as long as we’ve had computers, they’ve produced predictable outputs. But AI – in the form of...
a month ago
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a month ago
For as long as we’ve had computers, they’ve produced predictable outputs. But AI – in the form of large language models – represents a new kind of unpredictable computing. The key to implementing useful AI solutions is making the most of both paradigms. One of the oldest known...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 13: The Qur’an This week, I sampled one of the world’s great spiritual texts: the Qur’an. I also read poems by Rumi...
2 weeks ago
14
2 weeks ago
This week, I sampled one of the world’s great spiritual texts: the Qur’an. I also read poems by Rumi and saw a movie that led me to question my understanding of both. Readings As with many other people in the West, my understanding of Islam mostly comes from the news — often, in...
Jorge Arango
Rosenfeld Review: “Traction Heroes” Louis Rosenfeld interviewed Harry Max and me for his Rosenfeld Review podcast. The subject? Harry...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
Louis Rosenfeld interviewed Harry Max and me for his Rosenfeld Review podcast. The subject? Harry and my podcast, Traction Heroes. We recorded this conversation late in 2024, before we’d shared the first episode. This interview lays out Traction Heroes’s backstory. It’s fitting...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 11: Stoicism In week 11 of the humanities crash course, I revisited one of the most influential philosophies of...
a month ago
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a month ago
In week 11 of the humanities crash course, I revisited one of the most influential philosophies of the ancient world: Stoicism. I was already familiar with this material, so I also took the opportunity to revisit another text: the Book of Job. Heavy stuff – and I paired it with...
Jorge Arango
Traction Heroes Ep. 6: Chesterton’s Fence In Episode 6 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry and I explored Chesterton’s fence — a simple yet...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
In Episode 6 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry and I explored Chesterton’s fence — a simple yet profound idea that has important implications for leaders navigating complex, high-stakes changes. The gist: when change is needed, don’t start by destroying what you don’t...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 14: Roman Decadence During week 14 of the humanities crash course, I explored foundational myths of Western Culture —...
a week ago
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a week ago
During week 14 of the humanities crash course, I explored foundational myths of Western Culture — written during the Roman Empire when decadence was setting in. I paired them with a classic film about social decadence set in mid-20th century Rome. Readings Gioa’s recommendations...
Jorge Arango
Don’t Let the Drawings Distract You: AI is Not About the Output Last week, I spoke with a business leader who’s excited about AI. But as we talked, it became clear...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
Last week, I spoke with a business leader who’s excited about AI. But as we talked, it became clear that there’s a wide gulf between enthusiasm and creating value for a particular business. Most people’s impression of AI is based on limited use and media hype. Take the recent...
Jorge Arango
Traction Heroes Ep. 7: Better Questions Conversations on the Traction Heroes podcast are proving highly relevant. To wit, episode 7 delves...
a week ago
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a week ago
Conversations on the Traction Heroes podcast are proving highly relevant. To wit, episode 7 delves into how the questions we ask ourselves influence our ability to act skillfully. This came up in the context of dealing with uncertainty. Specifically, Harry brought to the...
Jorge Arango
VUCA Revisited: Acting Skillfully in Uncertain Times Alas, it’s time once again to revisit VUCA. Early in the pandemic, I gave two presentations about...
a week ago
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a week ago
Alas, it’s time once again to revisit VUCA. Early in the pandemic, I gave two presentations about dealing with uncertainty. Institutions were struggling to respond to COVID. Many people were freaking out. But not me: I had a conceptual framework that helped me make sense of what...
Jorge Arango
Book Notes: “Masters of Uncertainty” Masters of Uncertainty: The Navy SEAL Way to Turn Stress into Success for You and Your Team By Rich...
6 days ago
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6 days ago
Masters of Uncertainty: The Navy SEAL Way to Turn Stress into Success for You and Your Team By Rich Diviney  Amplify Publishing, 2025 We’re dealing with unprecedented levels of uncertainty. But that shouldn’t disempower us. Diviney, a former Navy SEAL, provides insights for...
Jorge Arango
Humanities Crash Course Week 15: Boethius In week 15 of the humanities crash course, we started making our way out of classical antiquity and...
4 days ago
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4 days ago
In week 15 of the humanities crash course, we started making our way out of classical antiquity and into the Middle Ages. The reading for this week was Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy, a book perhaps second only to the Bible in influencing Medieval thinking. I used the...
Jorge Arango
Smarter AI Begins With Your Business’ Knowledge Pipeline A common question I’m hearing from leaders is “how can I best use AI in my business?” They expect...
2 days ago
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2 days ago
A common question I’m hearing from leaders is “how can I best use AI in my business?” They expect concrete, practical answers — not the platitudes and hype that dominate the media. It’s a fair question: businesses stand to gain significant advantages from judicious use of AI. But...
Jorge Arango
Using AI to Illuminate My Blind Spots I’ve worked a lot with ChatGPT over the last couple of years. Recently, OpenAI enabled the ability...
yesterday
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yesterday
I’ve worked a lot with ChatGPT over the last couple of years. Recently, OpenAI enabled the ability for the LLM to work with past chat transcripts. This opens lots of interesting possibilities. I just tried a prompt that taps into these possibilities. The response is 100% spot on,...