Notes
What have I been noticing?
Growing short observations from travel, work, photography, and everyday life. The smallest observations often reveal the largest patterns.
Observations from the Shenzhen Metro
What can a subway system teach an organization?
5 min read · N-01
A Day in New York
What does one day in one city actually contain?
4 min read · N-02
Three Hours in Union Station
What does a station do with the people who are not going anywhere?
4 min read · N-03
Every City Has a Different Relationship with Time
Why does an hour feel different in different cities?
4 min read · N-04
Walking Is an Underrated Research Method
What does a city tell you at three miles an hour?
4 min read · N-05
Coffee Shops as Behavioral Design
Who is a coffee shop designed to move, and who is it designed to keep?
4 min read · N-06
Libraries Understand Attention Better Than Most Apps
Why does focus come easily in a building full of strangers?
4 min read · N-07
Waiting Rooms Reveal More Than Waiting
What does an organization believe about you while you wait?
4 min read · N-08
Three Things I Learned About Organizations from Editing a Yearbook
What does a yearbook staff know about deadlines that companies don't?
4 min read · N-09
The Same Machine
Why do donors and customers churn for the same reasons?
7 min read · N-10
How Shenzhen Changed My Understanding of Innovation
What does innovation look like when it is a place instead of a pitch?
4 min read · N-11
The Quiet Confidence of Public Libraries
Why do libraries never have to advertise their trustworthiness?
4 min read · N-12