Exploring the intersection of software design, culture, and place.

Digital Terroir — software with a sense of place

The value that a design system brings to an early-stage product or a small organization is clear. early-stage products and smaller organizations is evident, ...

The Value Proposition of Design Systems for a Mature Enterprise | Jordan Koschei

https://jordankoschei.com/design-systems-in-mature-enterprises/

‎Show Big Technology Podcast, Ep Foursquare's Founder on Making the Internet Fun Again + His New App — With Dennis Crowley - Feb 21, 2024

‎Big Technology Podcast: Foursquare's Founder on Making the Internet Fun Again + His New App — With Dennis Crowley on Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/big-technology-podcast/id1522960417?i=1000646237664

Reading | Jordan Koschei

📚 What’s the last book you read that you loved?

Free idea: an app that lets you upload a full-body picture, uses AI to show you how you’d look at different levels of fitness, and generates a plan to get you there.

My latest work — an art-directed, single-page manifesto detailing my vision and aims for my side project — is possibly my favorite website I've ever designed.

https://about.connecthv.com

I want to be more reliable in responding to messages, so I'm exploring setting up a personal CRM.

Anyone have any experience using Notion for something like this?

The first edition of my newsletter, Digital Terroir, just went out to 645 (!) initial subscribers.

Join us in exploring whether software can be invested with a sense of place: https://digitalterroir.org

This is my favorite picture I’ve taken with my drone — straight down over an algae-filled pond, summertime.

Tomorrow, the first edition of my newsletter drops 🌱

I’ll be writing about how software can reinforce and enhance the real-world’s sense of placiness, rather than replace it.

I’ve published two introductory pieces so far; check them out at https://digitalterroir.org

I haven't written regularly since the old days of The Industry, where I was the opinion editor. I've been getting back in the groove lately and it feels *really, really good*.

Not boilerplate writing, either, but thinking-in-public about big ideas I find compelling. Refreshing.

There was a last time you used Proxima Nova for a project and you didn’t even realize.

The pavilion of the Morgan Library in NYC is one of my favorite buildings ever. It’s a modern, airy building that connects the three surrounding historical buildings into a single complex.

Don’t underestimate the power of the Side Project Learnings ➡️ Day Job Breakthroughs feedback loop.

Anyone else have a nagging feeling they’re not using AI to its full potential?

I recently canceled my ChatGPT pro subscription bc I wasn’t getting $20/mo out of it… now I just have GitHub Copilot left.

I wrote up some thoughts on the value that a design system can bring to a mature enterprise:

https://jordankoschei.com/design-systems-in-mature-enterprises/

I really wish LinkedIn had something more granular than "New York Metro Area" for the Hudson Valley.

Yes, we are the New York Metro Area, but so is Northern NJ and so is Long Island.

We don't have to smush all our regional distinctiveness into one umbrella term ☂

The marketing side of building a solo project is SO HARD.

I know all the maxims — build in public, market early and often, always be launching, etc.

For someone who's more comfortable making stuff than talking about it, it's still tough.

Anyone have a handle on this?

Excellent interview with Dennis Crowley (founder, Foursquare) about how the web used to be fun when things were more niche. He could’ve been talking about Posts.cv:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/big-technology-podcast/id1522960417?i=1000646237664

I’ve been sweating the details on the latest iteration of my side project, an online directory for the Hudson Valley creative community: ConnectHV.com

In a design system, the craft quality is *everything*.

Not just what it looks like — the developer ergonomics, accessibility support, test coverage, ability to use components out-of-the-box without detaching, etc.

How do you ensure your system keeps the bar high?

I updated my Reading page with the latest books I’ve finished: https://jordankoschei.com/reading/

The drop shadows on these cards in the Starbucks iOS app are really blunt — this would look so much nicer with Stripe-style smooth shadows!

Little known fact: “AI” is short for “Albert.”

I'm spending a lot of time lately contemplating whether we can design & build software with "a sense of place."

The web makes everything feel big and growth-minded and generic. But does it have to?

I've started a newsletter to explore this in public: https://digitalterroir.org