#human-computer-interaction
58 episodes
#4586: Fixing Stale UI: The 4-Link Chain of Data Flow
Why does a number on screen stay frozen after an upload? We trace the 4-link chain from response to redraw — and where it breaks.
#4568: Building a Smarter Text Expansion Library
Move beyond addresses and signatures — build snippets that shape how you think, decide, and communicate on mobile.
#4469: The Missing Protocol for AI Software Development
No one has built a software development protocol designed for AI agents. Here's what that would require.
#4443: Terminal Navigation Beyond cd: Favorites, Recents & Agentic Workflows
Why cd isn't broken — our spatial memory is. A tour of zoxide, broot, and what's missing for power users.
#4374: How AI Agents Finally Made the Terminal Accessible
How Claude Code removes the memory tax that kept neurodivergent users from living in the terminal.
#4340: Building an AI Tutor That Teaches You to Code Without Writing It For You
How to build an AI tutor that assigns projects, reviews code, and remembers what you've learned — without writing your code for you.
#4289: Spreadsheets vs. SQL: Is the Grid Dying?
Airtable's AI agent just collapsed the usability gap. Does the spreadsheet still have a purpose?
#4179: Why Your Phone Number Link Is Costing You Customers
That non-clickable phone number on your site is quietly bleeding leads. Here’s the five-minute fix.
#4157: Prompt Engineering Is a Misnomer — Managing Ambiguity in AI
Why the best AI outputs come not from tighter prompts, but from knowing where to leave room for surprise.
#4122: Why No AR App for Infant CPR?
A parent at 2AM needs visuals, not a PDF from 2014. Why doesn't the app exist?
#3835: Slack's Accidental AI Agent Superpower
The tool that failed to kill email is now thriving as the notification backbone for AI agents. Here's why.
#3718: AI Babysitters Already Exist—What We Learned
Tens of thousands of Chinese families already use robot babysitters. What actually happened, and what's next?
#3221: Why Can't Your Partner Reach You? The Family Pager Problem
Smartphones have no reliable urgent notification channel for families. Here's why — and what might fix it.
#3198: Why Architects Still Use 1963 Pens
Why architects still use isographic pens and parallel rules in 2026 — and what that teaches us about thinking through our hands.
#2592: The Market That Never Went Away
From IBM terminals to Stream Decks — how macro keyboards evolved under the radar for decades.
#2577: Fixing Hidden UI Bugs on Real Devices
Tools and strategies to catch layout failures across devices before users abandon your app.
#2567: Beyond Pixels: Controlling Apps Without Vision
How MCP agents can use accessibility APIs and COM to control Windows and macOS apps at the protocol level.
#2558: Should You Say Please to AI?
The surprising cost, technical tradeoffs, and ethical dilemmas of saying "please" to chatbots.
#2549: Jakob's Law: Why Users Think Your App Is Broken
Why broken keyboard shortcuts destroy user trust — and what Jakob's Law reveals about design expectations.
#2507: The AI Design Engineer: Your New Job Title?
What happens when product thinking meets AI agents? The future of software work is here.
#2493: Are You Writing for Humans or AI Agents?
How GitHub repos, JSON formats, and competing standards are reshaping who (and what) you're publishing for.
#2463: Tmux vs Modern Terminals: What Multiplexing Actually Gets You
What multiplexing actually means, why tmux still matters, and how WezTerm and Ghostty changed the calculus.
#2453: Escaping the AI Doom Loop in Hiring
What if job matching was built on desire, not desperation? How one signal outperforms 100 applications.
#2330: Offloading Attention: The Case for Ambient Notifications
How USB lights and DIY setups are rethinking notifications to reduce screen overload and tap into your peripheral vision.