Last revision: Nørrebro, Oct 7, 2020
Well, fuck.
Pandemic aside, 2020 shouldn’t surprise any of us. We can’t go on like this.
I’m thankful for my luck in living up here. We get by. And yet, it could have all been changed by now.
I think a lot about that. And how those who can, must. Change is coming.
This is your preemptive reminder that 2020 was the year it all changed.
Whatever *it* means to you, make the change.
What got us here won’t get us there. But we are now, and *we* can change things. Not our patents, not our children. Us.
Let’s go make history. All of us. Now.
— Casper Klenz-Kitenge (@cabgfx) July 24, 2020
( *parents 🤦♂️ )
I’m leaving last revision below this time. Most of what focus one can muster in this godforsaken year is still where it was earlier in 2020.
Basically, what I’m doing now is
- Boring Tech without gatekeepers
- Low-code memberships, communities and personal platforms
- WordPress and Rails enabling more humans than ever, both on the cusp of renaissance
- Shape Up + Barbell UX + JTBD — more on that to come…
Also, I can be reached now at casper@hey.com 🕶️
Last revision: Nørrebro, Jan 21, 2020
So we sold Wallo in 2019. That’s something.
Took a great deal to get it finalized, but I’m happy to see Wallo blossom already, just months after the new stewardship’s taken over.
One day, I might even find the time to share all the crazy stunts I pulled off in the backend to make it happen 😅
Wow, adding that last sentence to my little 'folio hit harder than I thought it would… Funny how time flies.
Anyway, here's to new horizons in 2020! 🚀
Working on a lot of exciting stuff, trying to find headspace to share a bit more. Maybe even get the ole newsletter going 😅 pic.twitter.com/AdGgel221u
— Casper Klenz-Kitenge (@cabgfx) January 21, 2020
2020 🚀
What I’m betting on for 2020:
– Personal sites and communities (https://t.co/atYnfA5UzE as guinea pig since jan 19)
– Boring tech (WordPress, Rails)
– No/Low code services to grow my businesses (@readymag, @thunkable and @NotionHQ)
– Pilotprojects as productized service(s)You?
— Casper Klenz-Kitenge (@cabgfx) January 5, 2020
Personal communities, and Memberships – a lot of things went well over on madforlivet.com in 2019, and we’re almost at 20.000 members. This year, we’ll be experimenting further around the core jobs that people are trying to get done, specifically centered around habit forming and tools to live healthy. Oh, and I have a great feeling around this new concept of Seasons, which we’re currently chalking up — related thread:
Most CMS driven sites present their content like they have it: Here's our Articles, News, Category A, etc.
And it serves our purpose, in terms of navigation and finding one piece of content, a Page. But we're trying to tell stories here — or, simply:Turn visitors into regulars.
— Casper Klenz-Kitenge (@cabgfx) November 25, 2019
Invisible Systems in UX and Product
I’ve noticed how most everyone I work with have this notion of a ‘system’ that sits in between the product and the people who work with said system. I’ve been thinking and tinkering around the methods to how I work, and how we might gain from visualizing these systems. A few thoughts:
But what’s more interesting, and what I think will really make an impact, is how the proliferation of low/no-code tools is seeping into UI and prototyping. This enables people on the “edge” of Product to do more, independently of the core team of designers, devs, etc
— Casper Klenz-Kitenge (@cabgfx) December 3, 2019
I believe 2020 will bring new tools and methods to enhance this view of ‘the system’, and the components (process) that glue product and people together within that system.
See also: Gall’s Law
Shaping the work and deciding what to build
Reading Shape Up in 2019 (from @rjs and the Basecamp crew) was quite inspiring, and I’ve gained a new perspective on how process can inform work, and vice versa. To that end, I’ve been working on a refinement of client services, with an increased focus on the demand-side of things: Seeing what’s next and prototyping to learn.
Sketch > Wireframe
Breadboard > UI mock
Flow/Statechart > Journey mapAll are useful, but those on the right usually steal time and warp decisions, those on the left usually create time and enable decisions.
— Casper Klenz-Kitenge (@cabgfx) January 8, 2020
T(r)ying it all together
One thing I’ve learned over the past five years of running a tiny agency, building – and selling – a B2C brand, launching a community of learners, and experimenting in new media: The bricks need to stack. My focus has been too scattered, but since ~2018, I’ve been reigning it in. I’m in a process of extracting and glue-ing (hint, hint) together all of what I’ve built, learned and observed the past couple years, and will soon be posting more about this, and how it relates to the portfolio.
Cleaning out my closet 😬
Step 1 in consolidating a ton of thoughts, research, experiments, cases/project material, halfbaked mental models and ideas. Tying patterns up, gathering themes and ammo for what’s next.
Not too sure where this chaos is headed, but lots of💡so far! pic.twitter.com/1uxgCcvQCT
— Casper Klenz-Kitenge (@cabgfx) September 19, 2019
Also, I’m thinking of posting more like this to my newsletter, you can sign up here.