When an idea has to work
An idea is easy until it has a job to do. Then it gets interesting.
Read the essayThe notebookPerspective / Essay 03 / 1 min read
From their side.
I can be certain about my own direction and still be interested in someone else’s.
What feels obvious to me may be exactly where someone else needs an explanation.
What makes sense to them?
Before I argue with a choice, I want to know why it made sense to the person who made it. Someone might be protecting something, working around a constraint or using a word differently. I want to understand that reasoning before I assume I know what they mean.
That matters in conversations. It matters even more when I build something another person will use. I always know more about my own project than they do, and that is exactly the problem.
Bring it into the details
What feels obvious to me may be exactly where someone else needs an explanation.
So I watch for things like a label that only makes sense once you know the idea. Those small details decide whether someone can use the thing at all.
Thanks for reading.