Software can theoretically be compared on paper. But in practice, it can only be compared in experience.

Trying to line up this vs. that is just accounting. Consideration and understanding requires trying something out to see how it actually works, feels, and fits.

I know it’s…

References, for reference:
updates.37signals.com/post/new-in-ba…

Some of the most rewarding features to add to products are ones that don’t increase surface area, but increase depth.

This is how you continue to make a product a whole lot better without it feeling like it got a whole lot bigger.

Basecamp’s new References feature is a great…

Basecamp has been the ultimate all-in-one since day one. And it just keeps getting more 'all' while staying almost impossibly simple.

Integration is mostly an empty promise made by marketing departments and technologists. Normal people don't want to have to wire this to that and…

Joan Tollifson is one of my favorite writers and thinkers, and this piece is a partially good one.

open.substack.com/pub/joantollif…

NEW in Basecamp – References!
Keeping up with related activity across your account is now effortless. When you link to a message, to-do, card, event, document, or file, Basecamp automatically creates a Reference, instantly connecting related items.

Simply copy the URL of the…

Big new feature release for Basecamp today. It's called References.

Now linking to a message, to-do, card, event, document, or file automatically creates a Reference, instantly tying related things together.

Basecamp’s always been a library of your company's knowledge. But now…

An unusually simple spin-off story.

It was 2014, and we decided to spin one of our products off into its own company. The product was Know Your Company and knew the perfect person to run it. Her name was Claire Lew.

There are a million ways to spin-off a company. And most of…

In the early 2010s, we built and launched a product called Know Your Company to help business owners like me get to know their own company a bit better. As companies grow past 25 or 30 people, it's natural to begin to lose touch with everything that's happening, how people are…

A little peek at something we're working on. A few clues in this screenshot.

Soren's tweets are among my favorite. His approach to coming up with a daily fun take on popular product designs is not only a wonderful exercise in sustained creativity, it's wonderful marketing.

And now he has his own consultancy.

Good move.

Wishing him all the best.

ONCE/Campfire 1.1.3 is out. Changelog:
once.com/campfire/chang…

The update is free and automatic for all existing Campfire customers.

Pay once, get free automatic 1.x updates as the product improves — not bad! It's like SaaS without the aaS.

🚨non-satirical design alert🚨

Today, I’m excited to share the launch of my design consultancy, Iterate.

After a decade working at agencies, in house, and for myself, I’m stepping out on my own.

If you need help with product, web, or unhinged marketing design, hit me up.

What was true in 2010 remains true in 2024.

Big weekend for HEY with Ezra Klein announcing he switched from Gmail to HEY in this New York Times opinion piece.

HEY isn’t without its weak spots — nothing is, as everything’s a trade off — but glad to hear it’s been working well for you.

nytimes.com/2024/04/07/opi…

Plenty of things are easier done than said.

Mankind constantly analyzes radio waves from outer space in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Since this analysis started, almost all of the signal sources have been identified. 37 signals, however, remain unexplained.

ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1993ApJ...…

I do all my writing on HEY World. It's an amazingly tranquil and low-friction way to publish thoughts in long form. No way I'd otherwise write as much as I do. Oh, and now I can syntax highlight code blocks too. Nice.

Great detailed breakdown of modern CSS patterns and techniques we used when building ONCE / Campfire. via Jason Zimdars

world.hey.com/jz/modern-css-…

So fun to see my old pal Jack Mallers going off on the suits in the fancy studio. You can draw an imaginary line between the desk and the floating square. Old | New. I don't know enough to know who's right in the end, but I sure love watching it unfold like this.