Omar Yacoubi
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omaryak.net
Omar Yacoubi
@omaryak.net
What I’m reading about the news, #urbanism, #tech & the zeitgeist. UX designer / strategist @omyk.co and 2x Big 5, Cisco alum thinking globally 🌐 posting locally in the
 📍SF Bay Area, CA
┃ Opinions mine (not shared at work)
🔗 linktr.ee/omaryak
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
December 12, 2025 at 8:49 PM
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...
December 12, 2025 at 8:40 PM
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...
Intimidated?Just say 'Vive la difference’
Take cheese, for example, which I used to think of as a yellow square wrapped in...
www.sfgate.com
December 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
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
Marc Gobé literally wrote the book on emotional #branding, the modern way companies drive value by connecting with customers. The was the role he saw for #design in that process

(slides from a visual communications class by Professor McKeeman)
December 12, 2025 at 8:31 PM
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 brief history of Calibri, the 'woke' font the Trump administration is replacing
The secretary of state called Calibri 'informal' and blamed 'radical' DEI programs for its use in official State Department documents.
www.fastcompany.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:16 AM
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...
America's Highway Fonts Got More Drama Than The Bachelor
There's a war being waged over America's highway fonts, and it's pretty fascinating.
www.wired.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:15 AM
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
December 12, 2025 at 5:53 AM
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
December 12, 2025 at 5:51 AM
The company shrank the image to preview size to trigger people less 😂
December 11, 2025 at 10:52 PM
… 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...
Why you don’t need to drink 8 cups of water a day
The well-known advice is outdated, and recent research has shown that many factors influence how much water we need.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:04 AM
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...
How gut bacteria are controlling your brain
Looking after the multitudes of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms living in our guts could help us think better and even offer new ways of treating mental health conditions.
www.bbc.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:00 AM
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/...
Why one city is suing Big Food over cereals, snacks and other ultra-processed products
A first-of-its-kind government lawsuit targets Big Food companies over the health risks of ultra-processed products.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 11, 2025 at 2:58 AM
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...
Can drinking water be delivered without disinfectants like chlorine and still be safe?
Unlike the U.S., some European countries have stopped using chlorine to disinfect drinking water to avoid changing the taste and potential health problems. Which approach is better?
theconversation.com
December 11, 2025 at 2:55 AM
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
A New Study Suggests Water Chlorination Levels in the US Could Increase the Risk of Certain Cancers
Chlorination is a widely used method to disinfect drinking water, but new research suggests its byproducts may pose cancer risks — with a meta-analysis finding a significant link between higher exposu...
www.foodandwine.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:17 AM