Many words we have to describe this factor don’t come from English:

In German we have the “zeitgeist,” and the “gestalt” of a thing

If something is not well-made, we have “kludge,” which may have been a portmanteau of “hodge-podge” and the German “kluge” (cleverness, clever ones)

#etymology

Closely related fields, UX & branding both rely on human factors—the human element—to generate value for #business

Sitting between these two worlds (or standing astride them), most of my work aims to translate one to the other to allow people to flourish, and prosper

www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/new...

The French call this intangible the “je ne sais quoi” —literally adapted in English, or translated literally as “I don’t know what,” or “the X factor.”

It’s the missing ingredient, or puzzle piece 🧩, that makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts

#humanity

www.sfgate.com/travel/artic...

The difference between design and #art is: design harnesses aesthetic beauty in the pursuit of specific aims —whether it’s selling people on a product in #branding, or guiding people along the path in a well-crafted #ux (user experience) in software products

Like music, it aims to evoke a feeling

For a U.S. administration that claimed to care about “efficiency,” casting modern fonts as “woke” risks us further retrenching as a luddite nation while the world keeps advancing into the future

But an overly glorified past is what #fascism was always about

www.fastcompany.com/91458062/bri...

A later study claimed no benefit, but I noticed transportation departments tended to use Clearview with too-far letter spacing (kerning) or larger than normal sizes—which makes letters stand out, inhibiting recognition of word forms

www.wired.com/2016/03/amer...

www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/m...

I’ve noticed resistance to updating typefaces on #tech projects too. One of my recent clients is using a typeface from the 1990s for no discernible reason—but at least it was made for screens

Another client of mine wanted to use Din, a road sign typeface, when Barlow had similar forms made for UI

Unlike Highway Gothic, Clearview’s wider ligatures were shown to improve recognition time by several milliseconds, improving safety and reaction time at freeway speeds

A similar principle exists for screen #design, especially at smaller sizes

It’s the #ux of reading

The company shrank the image to preview size to trigger people less 😂

… and while we’re at it: caffeine doesn’t dehydrate you, and you don’t need to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Americans’ overconsumption could be a factor in the obesity crisis: your stomach habituates

www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...

www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/u...

Brain health suffers too, as these foods and environmental contaminants have an effect on the microbiome in your gut

#science studies factors in isolation; synthesis and inference could save your life

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

I haven’t even mentioned diet yet. SF has launched a lawsuit against food manufacturers (“Big Food”) over the health effects of ultra processed foods, or UPFs

And we wonder where the cancer epidemic is coming from

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

The link between contaminants in the #environment and personal #health cannot be overstated. While much of it is beyond our control, “all #politics is local.” It’s much easier to start with your local water authority

In France, they use UV-C light and ozone

theconversation.com/can-drinking...

I’ve been drinking mostly bottled for the last 10+ years, since I haven’t lived anywhere yet it made sense to get an at-home reverse osmosis filter

Definitely notice a difference when I drink tap

www.foodandwine.com/water-chlori...

#health