David Cole

Selected writing

• Why Mechanics Design I describe a new type of work that sets product design apart from UI design, and forms the basis for the design role at Quora.
• Mechanics Case Study: Twitter I apply concepts from mechanics design to look at the extreme trade-offs Twitter makes in its product.
• Atoms vs. Sessions Analyzing the structure of satisfying experiences with foundational game design concepts.
• Designing Quora An attempt to describe the central challenge of designing Quora: the strength of a close community, but at internet scale.
• What questions should I ask when interviewing for a product design position at a startup? Many product designers are ill-equipped to distinguish the good opportunities from the bad ones, which I try to help correct.
• Made to Measure My piece for Issue 4 of The Manual. A destructive model positions data and design in opposition, but redefining and embracing data opens up deeper understanding and greater ability to design for reality.
• Applied Discovery The materials from the talk I gave at Build 2013, in which I ask designers to reconsider their identity and broaden their impact.
• Metagames and Containers Playing with the effects of structure on the reading experience. I promise I wrote this before “gamification” was a thing.
• The Momentary Compression of Design I speculate that we’re in the middle of a confusing, temporary phase in design that will soon end with a rapid expansion of the field.
• What can software product designers learn from game designers? Game design is ahead of product design in a number of areas, which I detail here.
• Does the Apple logo really adhere to the golden ratio? I investigate and hopefully debunk the widely-believed myth that Apple’s logo is derived from the Fibonacci sequence.
• The Myth of the Myth of the Unicorn Designer I argue that so-called “unicorn” designers are very real, and that the generalist approach has underappreciated benefits.