Acknowledgements
Endeavoring to write one book may be regarded as naïveté. To write a second is just ridiculous. This book would not have been possible without the unwavering faith, advice, and encouragement emanating from the bright shining light that is Katel LeDû. Gratitude is due as well to the steadfast Jeffrey Zeldman and Jason Santa Maria, who are truly gentlemen apart. Words cannot express what I owe to the exacting fortitude, compassion, and wit of my editors, Lisa Maria Martin, Kate Towsey, and Sue Apfelbaum, whom I would gladly endorse on LinkedIn for remote psychotherapy. Jon Long created the delightful illustrations from some rather tragic diagrams.
The ideas encapsulated here evolved from wisdom accrued through many hours of more or less enthusiastically shouty exchanges in every possible channel with Kristina Halvorson, Joshua A. Cagan, Ben Brown, Ross Floate, Austin Kleon, Jesse Taggert, Arjun Basu, and Anna Picard. Stewart Scott-Curran’s invitation to speak caused some key ideas to coalesce. Larisa Berger was a steady source of both ideas and encouragement. Kio Stark stayed by my side in cyberspace. Kayla Cagan is a first-rate, no-drama dramaturge, writer, poet, and all-around inspiration. Amy Jo Kim kept me energized. And I found that Bill deRouchey and I share strong opinions about buttons.
Huge gratitude to the big-hearted lovers of language Erin McKean, Margo Stern, Karen Wickre, Shauna Wright, and Sam Soma. Long ago, Jeff Tidwell admonished me to “ride the wave” and I’ve striven ever since to follow his advice.
It turns out that developers often have the best way with words. David McCreath, Steph Monette, Jim Ray, Liam Campbell, and Miguel Ceja are fluent in lyrics, polemics, and jokes, as well as code. Mike Essl, Tom Carmony, Amber Costley, Andy Davies, and John Hanawalt demonstrate that visual designers are tremendous conversationalists. And Sonia Harris is always there with the perfect swear.
Over the years, I’ve had the great fortune to work with clients who made me a better designer and communicator through the benefit of their collaboration, including Heather Walls, Zack McCune, Melody Kramer, Katherine Maher, Ashley Budd, Thomas Deneuville, Susan McConkey, Jarrod Bell, Mark Jannot, John Mahoney, Kevin Cosgrove, John Hassell, Chipp Winston, Laura Silber, Scott Stocker, Alex Bloomingdale, Brad Satoris, Chris Westfall, and Albert McMurry. So many conversations, and not a few drinks.
In everything I do, I am just following in the footsteps of my design heroes and colleagues Jared Spool, Dana Chisnell, Alan Cooper, Laura Klein, Khoi Vinh, Dan Brown, and Louis Rosenfeld. John Maeda is the soul of graciousness. Jennifer Daniel, the emoji GOAT, is a force of nature and style. Robyn Kanner just plain kicks ass. There are so many more people to mention, I could fill another hundred pages.
Henry Monteiro always inspires me with his fearless approach to writing. And, of course, this wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Mike Monteiro, who stayed positive even when I was at my most annoying. He made many dinners for me, saw a whole lot of movies without me, and always made sure Rupert had a walk. (Mike is going to say I made this about the dog.)