2010
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Environmental Modeling – Part 2
Jul 2
Pair Neale Martin’s habitual and executive minds with the mental model we each carry of the world, and product design gets simpler: don’t move the power button. Make your product feel different only where it’s better.
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Environmental Modeling
Jun 25
We build mental models of the world from our senses, then use them to predict what happens next. A theory on how programs can do the same, and how I’ve started using it in JavaScript.
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Paper Prototyping
Jun 4
The first thing I build for any new software is a prototype, often on paper. Skipping that step once cost me a month of UI rework; two hours with a legal pad and a ballpoint pen saved me on the next project.
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Google Reader API – A Brief Tutorial
May 21
I wanted my Google Reader feeds in my WordPress dashboard, but the best tutorial I could find was written in C#. So I built my own Google Reader client in PHP. Here’s how to authenticate and start making calls.
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Ten Reasons eReaders Will Never Replace Paper Books
Mar 19
I love my eReader (it already holds almost 200 books), but I’ll never give up paper. Ten reasons why, from autographs and dog-ears to coffee spills, bathtubs and first editions.
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When Community Software Becomes Community Property
Mar 12
WordPress belongs to the community that uses it. Facebook doesn’t, no matter how many people live on it. Community software becomes community property only when developers start listening to users.
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XML-RPC
Mar 3
Last night I built a custom XML-RPC server so my WordPress plug-ins, running on several hundred sites, can phone home when they break. I’m calling it “Elliot,” after the main character in E.T.
2009
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Bayesian Statistics – Conclusion
Dec 12
Most marketing decisions come down to numbers. Revisit yesterday’s case study without assuming everyone rated every product, and Bayesian averages flip the result: the product that looked weakest turns out to be the highest rated.
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Bayesian Statistics – Part IV
Dec 11
Simple averages say drop Product C. Weighted averages say drop Product A. A Bayesian average says drop Product B. A case study in comparing product ratings across market segments, and why the method you choose changes the answer.
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Bayesian Statistics – Part III
Dec 10
A simple average breaks down when the room holds both small children and basketball players. How a Bayesian average makes product ratings comparable no matter how many people rated them — no statistics course required.
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Bayesian Statistics – Part II
Dec 9
The Monty Hall problem drove me crazy through high school and college. Then a colleague introduced me to Bayesian statistics, which accounts for what the host knows, and why you should always switch doors.
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Bayesian Statistics – Part I
Dec 8
When one widget gets eighty ratings and another gets five, a simple average lies to you. Thomas Bayes, an 18th-century statistician, offers a way to weight those ratings fairly — the first in a short series on putting his method to work in marketing.