Rachel Donnat
@pppunky.bsky.social
User centered design & education: interaction design, information architecture, system design, lifelong learning, work based learning
Childless cat lady / she/her / french
Childless cat lady / she/her / french
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
à chaque fois que j'aide mes proches âgés pour des formalités en ligne, je mesure combien le monde est devenu extraordinairement inhospitalier pour tant de gens, la violence sourde des injonctions souvent incompréhensibles : serveurs vocaux, identification à 2 facteurs, autoriser la localisation...
September 21, 2025 at 6:14 PM
à chaque fois que j'aide mes proches âgés pour des formalités en ligne, je mesure combien le monde est devenu extraordinairement inhospitalier pour tant de gens, la violence sourde des injonctions souvent incompréhensibles : serveurs vocaux, identification à 2 facteurs, autoriser la localisation...
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview.
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
August 14, 2025 at 1:24 AM
As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview.
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
As someone very critical of AI, I'm pretty depressed that most critics don't seem to understand thar there's no experiance more perfectly personalized and targetable for ad tech than a chat box where you're telling a machine what you want.
July 31, 2025 at 4:54 AM
As someone very critical of AI, I'm pretty depressed that most critics don't seem to understand thar there's no experiance more perfectly personalized and targetable for ad tech than a chat box where you're telling a machine what you want.
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
It's amazing to have the book in my hand now, after several years of working on it with Kasper and Per Ola.
In a nutshell, it's a new textbook for introductory-level HCI courses:
✅ 10 parts, covering the whole HCI process
✅ 864 pages and 1.9 kgs
✅ Open access (!)
In a nutshell, it's a new textbook for introductory-level HCI courses:
✅ 10 parts, covering the whole HCI process
✅ 864 pages and 1.9 kgs
✅ Open access (!)
July 31, 2025 at 11:53 AM
It's amazing to have the book in my hand now, after several years of working on it with Kasper and Per Ola.
In a nutshell, it's a new textbook for introductory-level HCI courses:
✅ 10 parts, covering the whole HCI process
✅ 864 pages and 1.9 kgs
✅ Open access (!)
In a nutshell, it's a new textbook for introductory-level HCI courses:
✅ 10 parts, covering the whole HCI process
✅ 864 pages and 1.9 kgs
✅ Open access (!)
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
Every designer and programmer you’ve ever met has had to turn down some fucking asshole’s “killer app” idea where they asked us to work for free, for the exposure, and we said no instantly because the idea was self evidently bad.
That’s why there’s a demand for AI. To realize terrible ideas.
That’s why there’s a demand for AI. To realize terrible ideas.
July 30, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Every designer and programmer you’ve ever met has had to turn down some fucking asshole’s “killer app” idea where they asked us to work for free, for the exposure, and we said no instantly because the idea was self evidently bad.
That’s why there’s a demand for AI. To realize terrible ideas.
That’s why there’s a demand for AI. To realize terrible ideas.
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
A big problem I have with all the AI boosters is when they say things like, "if you just use them right, they're great!"
Buddy, after 30 years in tech I can tell you that the one thing people will NOT do is use anything right.
Buddy, after 30 years in tech I can tell you that the one thing people will NOT do is use anything right.
June 22, 2025 at 8:51 PM
A big problem I have with all the AI boosters is when they say things like, "if you just use them right, they're great!"
Buddy, after 30 years in tech I can tell you that the one thing people will NOT do is use anything right.
Buddy, after 30 years in tech I can tell you that the one thing people will NOT do is use anything right.
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
a friend of mine shared this ai-generated "emotion wheel" and unfortunately i have been laughing my ass off at it for like 15 minutes now. today i am feeling Fnliinneon
June 5, 2025 at 2:46 PM
a friend of mine shared this ai-generated "emotion wheel" and unfortunately i have been laughing my ass off at it for like 15 minutes now. today i am feeling Fnliinneon
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
As many of us people who study or work in tech tried to tell y’all, move fast & break things was always about POWER, not progress.
June 5, 2025 at 9:44 AM
As many of us people who study or work in tech tried to tell y’all, move fast & break things was always about POWER, not progress.
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
The most important UX skill in live meetings is not facilitation. It's elicitation. The ability to actively listen, allow people to participate in the way that's comfortable for them, and strategically ask questions that guide toward better understanding. That sometimes means ignoring the agenda.
May 19, 2025 at 2:55 PM
The most important UX skill in live meetings is not facilitation. It's elicitation. The ability to actively listen, allow people to participate in the way that's comfortable for them, and strategically ask questions that guide toward better understanding. That sometimes means ignoring the agenda.
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
'Support humane managers....As a sector, we have a habit of appointing narcissists & sociopaths to senior roles...When we do get humane managers...they deserve...support even if we don’t agree with every decision. Because if we don’t, the...leaders we’ll get are the narcissists and sociopaths.' 3/3
April 15, 2025 at 9:26 AM
'Support humane managers....As a sector, we have a habit of appointing narcissists & sociopaths to senior roles...When we do get humane managers...they deserve...support even if we don’t agree with every decision. Because if we don’t, the...leaders we’ll get are the narcissists and sociopaths.' 3/3
On a tous appris que "anticonstitutionnellement" était le mot le plus long de la langue française, on a lu la définition, des exemples de phrases en contexte.
Et voilà que des années plus tard, enfin, on peut l'utiliser dans plein de conversations.
Et voilà que des années plus tard, enfin, on peut l'utiliser dans plein de conversations.
February 16, 2025 at 11:18 PM
On a tous appris que "anticonstitutionnellement" était le mot le plus long de la langue française, on a lu la définition, des exemples de phrases en contexte.
Et voilà que des années plus tard, enfin, on peut l'utiliser dans plein de conversations.
Et voilà que des années plus tard, enfin, on peut l'utiliser dans plein de conversations.
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
Refreshing piece by Amy Fleming in The Guardian, where I joined scholars to unpack misconceptions that disempower parents & young people around tech. Evidence doesn’t support fear—our approach shouldn’t either. Let’s pause panic & do better for families in 2025!
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
All in the mind? The surprising truth about brain rot
Is screen use really sapping our ability to focus and lowering our IQs? The scientists who have actually analysed the data give their verdict
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Refreshing piece by Amy Fleming in The Guardian, where I joined scholars to unpack misconceptions that disempower parents & young people around tech. Evidence doesn’t support fear—our approach shouldn’t either. Let’s pause panic & do better for families in 2025!
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Ne me demandez pas quels centres culturels sont installés autour de Montpellier a l'époque carolingienne. J'en sais rien, c'est au fond du pli.
January 22, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Ne me demandez pas quels centres culturels sont installés autour de Montpellier a l'époque carolingienne. J'en sais rien, c'est au fond du pli.
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
sometimes I think social media is uniquely polarizing and then I read the Wikipedia article about "French Wars of Religion" and I'm like hoooooly shit
January 17, 2025 at 2:59 PM
sometimes I think social media is uniquely polarizing and then I read the Wikipedia article about "French Wars of Religion" and I'm like hoooooly shit
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
Has anyone seen an ASL video explaining the design thinking process? Looking for one to use with deaf high school students.
January 14, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Has anyone seen an ASL video explaining the design thinking process? Looking for one to use with deaf high school students.
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
A Month in System Seeing: Journal Starter Kit (2025 edition)
This pulls the #AdventOfSystemSeeing prompts together in one place, and adds several more to make it a month.
PDF: www.ruthmalan.com/systems/2025...
This pulls the #AdventOfSystemSeeing prompts together in one place, and adds several more to make it a month.
PDF: www.ruthmalan.com/systems/2025...
January 5, 2025 at 11:35 PM
A Month in System Seeing: Journal Starter Kit (2025 edition)
This pulls the #AdventOfSystemSeeing prompts together in one place, and adds several more to make it a month.
PDF: www.ruthmalan.com/systems/2025...
This pulls the #AdventOfSystemSeeing prompts together in one place, and adds several more to make it a month.
PDF: www.ruthmalan.com/systems/2025...
... but... but i was told information architecture wasn't important? /s
I really think there’s too little attention being paid to the changes in usability — paid accounts getting pushed to the top, algorithm changes, MASSIVE ad load, the disappearance of verification. Like … it’s not that the political mix hasn’t changed, but many other things have changed too.
December 2, 2024 at 7:07 AM
... but... but i was told information architecture wasn't important? /s
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
I really think there’s too little attention being paid to the changes in usability — paid accounts getting pushed to the top, algorithm changes, MASSIVE ad load, the disappearance of verification. Like … it’s not that the political mix hasn’t changed, but many other things have changed too.
December 1, 2024 at 3:52 PM
I really think there’s too little attention being paid to the changes in usability — paid accounts getting pushed to the top, algorithm changes, MASSIVE ad load, the disappearance of verification. Like … it’s not that the political mix hasn’t changed, but many other things have changed too.
Reposted by Rachel Donnat
In The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, after hearing about a massive & deadly scapegoating, the narrator asks why the peasants didn't attack the landlords, their true enemies, & is told, "When your real enemies are too strong, you get weaker enemies," & every day I think about this & also see it
November 16, 2024 at 7:25 PM
In The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, after hearing about a massive & deadly scapegoating, the narrator asks why the peasants didn't attack the landlords, their true enemies, & is told, "When your real enemies are too strong, you get weaker enemies," & every day I think about this & also see it