Incredibly proud of the work we’re doing at Automattic to make the web a better place. Just as we did last year, we created a reel to showcase the highlights from the past twelve months. What a treat as I head out on a sabbatical. Love this team.
kelly.blog
life, work, etc.
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I went on an incredible ride around Lake Como in Italy with my friend and co-worker Filipe. It was 120k / 76 miles and took us a solid day, leaving at 9:30am and getting back to the hotel at around 6pm. The loop stayed close to the lake almost the entire time.It was my first time in Italy and felt like I was in a movie; riding through small villages that seemed stuck in time. It was cold, rainy, I couldn’t feel my feet for most of it, but had a smile on my face the entire time. Not quite Type 2 fun, but close. We took a ferry to make it back in time before dark. It was an incredible experience and one I will not forget.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10835683234
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I took a photo of my desk with my new camera for an upcoming blog post on automattic.design. I love seeing the other side of Zoom from everyone I work with.
- Art by Michael Kempen, Jaclyn Cane, Kristin Texeira, Jeroen Erosie, myself.
- Books from my favorite Seattle book store, Peter Miller: Are We Human?, Design as Art, The Beauty of Everyday Things, Ways of Seeing, Art as Therapy, In Praise of Shadows.
- Midori MD Notebook with Stalogy pen.
- Analog to-do list note cards and laptop stand by Ugmonk.
- Japanese calendar from KOBO Seattle.
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We just got back from spending a couple weeks in Sedona, AZ. The idea, location, and plan came together in less than two days. It checked all of our boxes: close to trails, decent food options, warm-enough weather, drive-able over a weekend, good wifi so we can both work, and somewhere completely different. I was especially excited to mountain bike.
- 2,756 miles, round trip.
- 14 days in Sedona.
- 8 hikes.
- 5 rides.
- 1 trip to the vet.
Food and shops.
- Coffee. Best coffee was Freeform. Closed on Tuesdays, so went to Black Potion those days, which also was a crystal shop.
- Mexican. Our favorite restaurant overall was Tortas de Fuego. We went there the most. Another good place was Elote. Always booked.
- Bike shop. Thunder Mountain. Super nice people, gave me a bunch of ideas for rides.
- Garlands. Found a very cool, 100-year-old Navajo rug here.
- Everything else. We had a good sandwich at Hilltop Deli, tried a “fancy” place that was solid called Mariposa, and had good pizza and salad at Pisa. Walked around tourist traps one day for fun. Excellent people watching.
Rides and hikes.
We stayed across the street from trail access and hiked or biked every day but the day we had to go to the vet. (Jojo had what I thought was a thorn that got infected in her paw, but it turned out to be a growth that she had to get removed.) The network of trails by our Airbnb was pretty incredible so we did a new route every time we went out.
Rides
- Hogs. Backyard trails. Did this one a few times, a few different ways. Some combination of: High on the Hog, Hog Wash, Pigtail, Broken Arrow, Twin Buttes, Peccary, Mystic. Added Submarine Rock out-and-back one day. Double black, very exposed, technical. Beautiful views.
- Slim Shady. Also rode this one from the house by connecting some trails and a small bit on the road. Amazing views, a bit more flow-y. Black.
- Rabbit Ears. Super hot this day. Rode quite far on an green trail to access the route from the house. Less technical (Blue) but very different than previous rides. Felt a bit more Moab-like.
Hikes
- Hogs. We really explored our backyard. So many versions by connecting all the trails we had such easy access to. It was truly stunning and never got sick of them. Broken Arrow, High on the Hog, Hog Wash, Hog Heaven, Twin Buttes, Peccary, Mystic.
Next time.
Definately going back. It was the perfect trip. We’d stay for three weeks to get an additional weekend, try to take some time off work, and/or stay in Park City a week to break up the drive. It was an insane amount of driving, even for me. I’d also bring a bell for my bike, which I forgot at home, to give hikers more of a heads up.
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Claudiabasel is a Basel-based design office focused on graphic and interaction design.
Monday inspiration. Lovely posters in their shop.
claudiabasel.ch/ -
Highlights from the design team at Automattic. Really proud of all the work we’ve done and everything that is in store for this year! Stay tuned for the video reel.
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Four years ago, I wrote my thoughts on what makes a good design lead. I thought it would be a good time to revisit it as I recently hired a lead for our largest design teams at Automattic. During the process, I made an important shift inspired by a conversation with Matt. (Happy Birthday!)
Instead of hiring someone who I think would be a great person that could work for me, I looked for someone that I would be excited to work for. Someone I can learn and grow from, along with the team they will lead. We won’t improve our products, our designs, our organization, or ourselves, if we aren’t hiring and surrounding ourselves by people who are markedly better.
There’s also the very real fact of keeping great people. We now know that, by in large, people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers. A great lead is someone you are excited to work for. Regardless if that person works for you or you work for them.
A great design lead:
- Leads by example.
- Clearly articulates and upholds a bar for quality.
- Stays close to the customer and the product.
- Is focused on the work.
- Regularly moves through altitudes, from setting design direction to details like widows & orphans.
- Knows the strengths & weaknesses of each designer (including themselves!) and provides opportunities that are compatible yet challenging in order to facilitate growth and product excellent results.
- Is resilient and can lead through change.
- Gives ample feedback, both praise and constructive.
- Is always learning.
- Is someone you want to work for.
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If you ever find yourself asking the question “how can we increase Daily Active Users?” instead of “how can we make our product better for people?”, you’ve already lost. Metrics are trailing indicators of qualitative improvements or degradations you’ve made for your customers… they are not the point of the work.
From Mike Davidson on One year at Microsoft
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Pavement, gravel, & dirt.
Ferry rides. Hot chocolate, hot dog.
Hills, aching quads. 3 jackets.
Biography of X.
A real camera.
Happy 24. -
Animated show. Stunning visual style. Delightfully weird. Engrossing story. On
HBO MaxNetflix.
