Cennydd Bowles
Cennydd Bowles is a digital product designer and writer based in Brighton, UK. He speaks at design and user experience conferences across the globe and is a regular mentor of new design talent. He writes for his popular blog and influential design publications, and is the author of Undercover User Experience Design and the upcoming Designing the Wider Web. Pronounce his name Ken-ith, with a hard th to rhyme with ‘with’.
You can find him on Twitter @Cennydd.
More thoughts by Cennydd Bowles:
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Mobile is an ideological minefield. The insults are barbed and the indignation disproportionate. Take a stance on mobile product choices and design approach, and you’ll soon receive the vitriol of your opponents.
The mobile app vs. native app debate is still one of the most contentious. I find this daft. No one has this problem about native desktop apps vs. web apps. The same people that decry native mobile apps use Coda, Photoshop, and OmniFocus. Native enthusiasts use FreeAgent, Google Docs, and Basecamp without a second thought. In the desktop world, we already know that whether a native or web app is better depends on what it’s for.
I long for a similar rapprochement in the mobile world. Sloganeering and feigned fanaticism are fun, but reality is always more nuanced. Is our mobile future native or web? No. It’s native and web. Now let’s stop arguing, and build the damn thing.
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Sure, “It depends” is a valid answer to any worthwhile question, but it’s also vague and patronizing. It’s far more helpful to explain what it depends on.
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Process is for fast food restaurants. I’m much more interested in skill.
Skilled people without a process will always find a way to get things done. Skill begets process. But process doesn’t beget skill. Following a recipe won’t make you a great chef – it just means you can make a competent bolognese. Great chefs don’t need cookery books. They know their medium and their ingredients so well that they can find excellent combinations as they go. The recipe becomes a natural by-product of their work.
Sure, if you have a low-skilled team, or inefficiencies and costs are your top priority, process matters. But for knowledge workers, skill is more important. The best people don't care whether agile/waterfall/lean is the flavor of the month, or what job title they should hold. Instead, they care about practicing their craft, and being better than they were yesterday.
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The French have a phrase for it. "Reculer pour mieux sauter": to step backward for a better run-up.
Once you've clambered up the learning curve, the easy terrain of the plateau is a blessed relief. But look closely and you may see another summit in the distance. If you want to reach it, you'll have to climb down first.
Sometimes the best option is to throw away what's made you successful. Your next ascent may be more punishing and even risky, but that adrenaline hit is intoxicating.
Here are the dates of Cennydd Bowles's future thoughts:
- Wednesday, 23 May
- Saturday, 30 June
- Monday, 16 July
- Tuesday, 28 August
- Friday, 21 September
- Sunday, 21 October
- Wednesday, 28 November
- Friday, 28 December