Hey y'all! This month, I want to talk to you about what I've been seeing on the internet.

There's a lot happening in technology today, and many folks in tech have been writing some wonderfully reflective pieces. So I've split up all the best links into sections where I expand on that topic a bit in my own words before dropping you into the things I've found this month. Also in this newsletter - an update on The Party!

I've been talking about it a lot but now it's finally becoming real. I've got a few folks joining me in The Party this July to help me test and iterate on what this playful community of care looks like. Each month will feature a theme and events around that theme. This month's theme is:

Tiny Acts of Rebellion

I've spent time curating and designing the community for this alpha stage: making an intro course, building resources, planning events, and creating the best channels to start with for testing. I'm hoping to have some more info on direction within a month or two, and then The Party will go into beta! I'll be opening up the community for up to 25 more peeps at that time.

I'm very thankful for those helping out in alpha community with their feedback, ideas, and energy. Community builds community and I think that's a perfect model (think co-design).

Here's a sneak peek into The Party!

How we approach our work shapes not only how we feel, but how we make others feel.

We talk a lot about soft skills as niceties or interpersonal nice to haves, but they're also about ethics and the craft of our work. Care and curiosity are the foundations for ensuring that what we build is truly for people, something that will be a value-add for the world, and not just a company's bottom line.

With that said, the following links (with tiny commentary from me) dive into care as a design practice (anyone can practice design methodology), the creativity needed to resist crap solutions and the enshittification of the everything (that's a real word now, sadly), and the need for staying open to constant learning (yes, even in reinventing the wheel). They also make the case that accessibility isn't an afterthought, but a core responsibility for all of us.

​Design is Care​

How the two are interwoven.

​Good Design is Imagination and Inspiration​

Creativity and imagination are soft skills linked to more humane, thoughtful tech.

​You're not an Accessibility Specialist Until...​

All of these have happened to me, and I'm sure you have your own "You're not an N until..." version. Hit reply and tell me yours!

​Accessible Rick-Rolling​

Yes, you read that right!

I know I say this often, but we spend 1/3 of our lives working. Home is our #1 social space, and our second social space is our workplace. Work is never just a job; it's a relationship with ourselves, others, and meaning.

We often get sold the idea that work should be easy to define with a role, a title, or transaction. The truth is more complex. It's emotional and full of expectations we don't talk about as much as we should.

These articles invite us to think and reflect about the unspoken emotional labor of our jobs and understanding our own needs in the workplace.

​The Relationship is the Job​

Start here for some reflection on workplace expectations and needs.

​On How Long It Takes to Know if a Job is Right for You or Not

Facing uncertainty? Afraid to make the wrong choice? TL;DR - you already know what you have to do.

​The Designer's Hierarchy of Career Needs​

A three step visual for design career progression.

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Like I've talked about earlier in this newsletter, tech isn't neutral. We're building something that shapes our futures for better or for worse. As folks working in tech, what we build reflects our values, our blind spots, and our ethics (or perhaps, lack of ethics). From the market's shifting priorities to the risks and hype cycles around AI, these articles ask us to look at the tech industry through a critical lens. Where are we going....or more importantly, where will we arrive?

​SignalFire State of Talent Report - 2025​

A look at intense market shifts using data from the Beacon AI platform

​The First Big AI Disaster is Yet to Happen​

The train's in motion, but no one's at the helm.

​How Tech Workers Really Feel About Work Right Now​

Insights from over 8,200 tech workers

​ChatGPT May be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills​

According to a new study by MIT.

On a less serious note, here are some playful things I've found this month.

Strong Password Generator

This isn't just any password generator...check it out for yourself!

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Vystery

My new morning game! Challenge your pattern recognition, decision making under uncertainty, and problem solving by guessing the image in the least amount of moves.

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