For the past few years, I’ve been independent — as a consultant, as a contractor, as an indie…

Every few months, my wife and I change around our apartments configuration. The way this manifests…

The skills we develop aren’t permanent. They’re things that develop within a particular context…

Since moving to Copenhagen, one of the things I’ve been experimenting with has been how to learn…

We’re amateurs continuously throughout our lives. For some skills — vital but sporadic skills — we…

I am often “getting started.” Part of the theory of Diverge, to be honest, is being in that frequent…

I was one course away from a minor in Classics when I graduated from the University of Toronto. It…

We’re in a golden age (cue: ominous sound that comes with a loaded word) of prototyping. For most…

I’ve fairly recently changed my mind about virtual reality. Much of my sensibility as an interaction…

One of the pleasures and horrors of modernity is the control of something larger and more powerful…

I’ve had a long term obsession with peripherals. Peripherals are objects (usually interaction…

This is a continuation of the previous post — thinking through research automation — which deals…

(This is part 1 of several posts describing research automation. The following posts will describe…

This is a republish of an article written with Dahna Goldstein for the Chronicle of Philanthropy. A…

As a forewarning, this is one of those “I’m working through something” posts and trying to wrangle…

What does it mean to design for the propagation of security? In a way, this is one of the grand…

“You are not connected to a network.” When flashed across a screen on any range of devices, these…

There are professional Cassandras out there and their curse isn't coming from Apollo this time — but…

Like our bodies need oxygen, our businesses need a constant supply of knowledge and understanding to…

It’s really hard to understand the value of expertise in a discipline from the outside. Or put…

(Originally written March 23, 2020) Why is it that we can see something coming and still not prepare…

Design is a weird drug, and at least in the software world, we’re collectively high. Since I got…

The zombie genre is a compelling lens on the world despite its bleak premise. The dead rise and…

I love Rick Owens’ runway shows. They’re a consistent (and he is remarkably consistent) source of…

Sometime earlier this year, I think I had reached a personal threshold for managing information…

We adorn ourselves in technology. Whether it's the shrunken screens of today's smartwatches or the…

With a reflective approach to narrative storytelling, Hamcus builds familiar yet foreign worlds…

The practice of design has fragmented and spread in so many different directions that it can be hard…

A new research project has come along and you need to recruit some research participants. Castiron…

How much of what I just discovered is my own beliefs reflecting back on me — lightly but…

We have spent a decade building the consumer Internet of Things with an ethos of “fail fast…

Building a research practice is intimidating. You’re basically embarking on a path of creating a…

Designing a research program is a pretty difficult task. It requires a level of introspection and…

Since I run an app that has its roots in the world of Design Research, I spend a fair bit of time…

Constant progress without being certain you’re getting anywhere. Reflecting on the adrenal dropkick…

We all operate on cycles. Circadian, seasonal, fiscal, and academic — oscillating across frequencies…

Whenever we see modern militaries, we’re witnessing industrialized production and movement of things…

This essay was originally published on the TCHWR blog . Hamcus is not a techwear brand in the…

The past few years have been a conversation about power like I’ve never seen before. When Black…

Well, that was a year. My family and I were more fortunate than most, but not as fortunate as some…

Originally published as a guest blog on Sage Ocean . “We haven’t met yet. Do you trust me?” This is…

As the exogenous force of coronavirus has pummeled the globe, America has had its own endemic…

Being a creator of things — software, products, services, policy, etc — means navigating a world of…

It’s been 70 days since my family and I hit “go” on our particular lockdown, only preceding the…

First, I want to share a point of gratitude. My small business, Knowsi , was awarded the Sage…

This interview was originally published on May 11, 2020, by Sage Ocean . SAGE has announced the…

First, thank you and welcome to all the new subscribers, and to Hillary Predko for sharing Diverge…

Everyone I talk to lately is tired. For those of us in countries with a nominal “flattened” curve…

My son had his first day back at daycare today (I’m writing this on Monday). When he left, he wasn’t…

I’ve been reading and thinking about foresight — especially as it relates to the current pandemic…

We’re going to try something a little bit different this week and reflect a bit about this project…

Design is a cyclical action. While individual artifacts are ejected from the process (like this…

Last week, I wrote about the balance of intervention and foresight in a design-based response to…

This past week we’ve seen the “exponential” part of exponential growth hit the world like a tidal…

For most of my adult life, my country (one of them anyway, being a dual citizen between the US and…

With the coronavirus probably hitching a ride in one of your co-workers, it’s possible that your…

Welcome to the “preview” issue of Diverge Weekly, a weekly look at systemic design around the world…

This was my term paper for the first module in my Security Studies MA, written December 201…

I wrote a rudimentary python script to bulk import your Audible library to Goodreads. I’ll caveat…

I have an affinity for jackets and bags. The two central functions to protect and to carry somehow…

2019 has been a weird combination of my most exhausting, fulfilling, chaotic, and structured year to…

Design research is about sensing and synthesizing the needs of your stakeholders: a fundamentally…

One of my more traumatic design research moments is something I barely remember. I had flown from…

At the heart of great design research is note taking. Our job is to go into new environments, learn…

We can’t predict the future, but that shouldn’t stop us from designing for it! Designers today have…

If you’ve ever worked with a designer facilitating a workshop, or a supplicant of design thinking…

In design teams, the “Brief” is often a shared understanding of the challenge the team is facing. It…

With some luck and a generous vacation policy at my work, I was finally able to do a Wilderness…

These tools were taught as a workshop to the first   Code for Canada fellowship   team in November…

How do you know that a software business with a social mission is actually a Social Product Venture…