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Daniel De Laney

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Ideal failures The way I used to design UI was to sit with paper sketches, or Figma, or a React prototype with no...
13th May 2026
1

Ideal failures

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

13th May 2026
The way I used to design UI was to sit with paper sketches, or Figma, or a React prototype with no back end. Imagine every failure mode. Design beautiful flows for each. I slipped into this mistake while working on LanWhisper, a voice dictation app. I designed for the failure...
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I built a timer I can’t fail to set Have you ever gotten to the end of a long work day and realized you’re no closer to your goals? I...
2nd Dec 2025
1

I built a timer I can’t fail to set

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

2nd Dec 2025
Have you ever gotten to the end of a long work day and realized you’re no closer to your goals? I have. Sure, I was doing a lot of stuff. But I wasn’t pausing to ask whether I was doing the right stuff. Or whether my approach was working. Or if I was spending the right amount of...
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Free software scares normal people I’m the person my friends and family come to for computer-related help. (Maybe you, gentle reader,...
30th Oct 2025
1

Free software scares normal people

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

30th Oct 2025
I’m the person my friends and family come to for computer-related help. (Maybe you, gentle reader, can relate.) This experience has taught me which computing tasks are frustrating for normal people. Normal people often struggle with converting video. They will need to watch,...
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Objectivity is superstition An objective, external world is a non-falsifiable assumption. The prevailing theory is that our...
17th Mar 2025
1

Objectivity is superstition

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

17th Mar 2025
An objective, external world is a non-falsifiable assumption. The prevailing theory is that our subjective experiences correspond to an external reality. However, they may simply be subjective through and through. That which we claim to be evidence of external reality is actually...
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Chat is a bad UI pattern for development tools Code forces humans to be precise. That’s good. Computers need precision. But it also forces humans...
3rd Feb 2025
1

Chat is a bad UI pattern for development tools

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

3rd Feb 2025
Code forces humans to be precise. That’s good. Computers need precision. But it also forces humans to think like machines. For decades we tried to fix this by making programming more human-friendly. Higher-level languages. Visual interfaces. Each step helped, but we were still...
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Atomic Design in 1998 When you hear “atomic design,” you probably think of Brad Frost. Interestingly, he was not the first...
8th Feb 2018
1

Atomic Design in 1998

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

8th Feb 2018
When you hear “atomic design,” you probably think of Brad Frost. Interestingly, he was not the first person to develop that method of delivering design as components, or even the terminology. Brad published his atomic design article in 2013. While digging through the archives at...
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There is Definitely a Grid Grids are the best thing to ever happen to graphic design. They form a rational basis for organizing...
10th Jun 2016
1

There is Definitely a Grid

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

10th Jun 2016
Grids are the best thing to ever happen to graphic design. They form a rational basis for organizing information. They support the harmonious distribution of elements and visual weight. We don’t design things with grids because it’s easy, or because everyone else is doing it....
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The Eli Schiff Problem Fellow members of The International Cabal to Destroy Design, I write you today because we stand atop...
19th May 2016
1

The Eli Schiff Problem

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

19th May 2016
Fellow members of The International Cabal to Destroy Design, I write you today because we stand atop a precipice, faced with the threat of annihilation. The rogue Eli Schiff has been systematically exposing our wicked deeds in an attempt to derail the Modern Minimalist plot. I’m...
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The Fear of Being Right The best designs often look wrong. They appear unexceptional. They don’t show off. They don’t push...
7th Oct 2015
1

The Fear of Being Right

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

7th Oct 2015
The best designs often look wrong. They appear unexceptional. They don’t show off. They don’t push our technical skills to the limit. They leave out things we expect. They don’t reflect the latest trends. “It just doesn’t look right.” “It almost looks unfinished.” “Nobody does...
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Never Use the Confirm Dialog It’s a standard function of all browsers, it’s everywhere, and it’s time to retire it. Here’s an...
8th Sep 2015
1

Never Use the Confirm Dialog

from Daniel De Laney [alt+shift+b] in technology

8th Sep 2015
It’s a standard function of all browsers, it’s everywhere, and it’s time to retire it. Here’s an example from JIRA. Trying to “Cancel” a comment brings up the confirm dialog: Even if we assume confirmation is necessary, the standard confirm dialog is a bad way to get it: Most of...
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