March 2019 | The shape of sound
1
CANCELING SHAPE
As ever, math solves the puzzle and saves the day. Researchers at Boston University have devised an acoustic material that blocks enough sound that the human ear can’t hear it. Would it be rude if I surrounded my office seat with these 3D-printed tubes? I (sometimes (often?)) crave silence. Bonus: it might save my hearing from tuning-out-the-din headphone-related damage.
Okay, yes, I know it would be rude to make myself a tiny sound-canceled environment in the midst of my coworkers (who, seriously, are amazing and delightful people). Maybe I can install some some sound-canceled rooms nearby.
2
ALL TOGETHER NOW
I work on a robust and engaged content design team (it’s awesome), and one of the advantages of working with so many brilliant word nerds is that we collaborate. A lot. (You haven’t lived until you’ve spent an hour merrily debating the distinction between bridge, crossing, span, and connection. We sent a lot of gifs and devolved into designing Hobbit-related fan art, so, yeah, my job is the best.) I have no fewer than four peer review connections per week on my calendar, and I’m usually able to prioritize attending at least three, which gives me the opportunity to get my work critiqued, help others on my team refine their work, and improve consistency all around.
It’s easy to make the argument that individual disciplines need to connect regularly. How else would you guarantee consistency and share knowledge? But I’m a big fan of cross-discipline integration. Another beautiful thing about my work: writers, designers, researchers, and data scientists are embedded in their product teams. I’m co-located with the designers on my product, plus another content designer, a couple user researchers, and our data scientist. And our PM and engineer partners sit one building away, connecting being a great excuse to take a jaunt across the courtyard.
All that collaboration—we routinely whiteboard and bounce ideas off each other—improves the product. Every time. I’ll work in my own little bubble for a while, scribbling notes, making synonym lists, researching standards, consulting style guides, but it’s when I poke that hole in my bubble and invite some people in that things really coalesce. Then my work sings.
3
GOOD FORM
We’re attracted to beauty, and we assign higher value to beautiful things (even when that higher value is unearned or unmerited). Why not apply this logic to forms and delight your customers?
The rules: Simple. Clear. Consistent. Skimmable.
Note: This was written by someone talking about his company’s snazzy form software.
The percentage of Americans having regular sex is dropping, particularly among younger folks. Why? Phones and TV are diverting. Who needs real intimacy when fake intimacy is a click away and requires so much less vulnerability?
4
SEX ISN’T HAPPENING
5
A WEE BIT OF PRIVACY
The first generation of kids whose whole lives have been shared online by their doting parents are coming of age, and some of them are pissed.
As a staunch privacy advocate and person who doesn’t want my photo shared without my permission, I’m a fan of France’s photo privacy law, which doesn’t allow people to publish pictures of others without their consent. This includes parent-child relationships—parents could face large fines or even prison time for publishing photos or private details of their kids without getting consent first. Let’s do that in the US. It’s tiring wondering how far and wide your photo or personal story will go anytime you attend an event.