There’s no secret knowledge: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich are joined by Postlight managing partner Gina Trapani to do a follow up on our previous episode about intranets. Gina explains why she was annoyed that we didn't know we had an intranet. From there we discuss why management and employees often need different tools and talk about what makes a good leader. Protip: a good leader is someone who knows how to limit stress, not spread it. Links: Gina Trapani The Private Network: Pau...
Mar 03, 2020•33 min•Ep. 207
Campaign Design: On this week’s episode of Track Changes Paul and Rich chat with political reporter Hunter Schwarz about political design trends. He breaks down the forms of visual design he’s seeing in political campaigns today and gives us an overview of the evolution of political design. He also tells us about how the Obama campaign in 2008 changed political visual branding and about the rise of grassroots political design. Links: Tiny Month Tiffany’s Harry Winston Mike Bloomberg Hunter Schwa...
Feb 25, 2020•32 min•Ep. 206
People want to be heard: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich bring on their design team to talk about The Design Elephants -- Poslight’s quarterly event dedicated to tackling difficult issues within design. From there we go onto discuss one of the main ways agencies find their clients, the RFP. Paul and Rich share their thoughts on the process as a whole and how they prefer a more genuine and empathetic approach to sales. Links Eventbrite - The Design Elephants Aimée Reed - website Nora Va...
Feb 18, 2020•34 min•Ep. 205
Keep it simple: There are a million different to-do apps, what makes one stand out? This week on Track Changes Paul and Rich chat with Doist founder Amir Salihefendic. He tells us about how he grew Todoist from a side project he would work on in his dorm room to an app that now reaches 20 million people. He also tells us about his struggle with venture capitalists and about the importance of persistence and simplicity. Links: Hello, World! - Wikipedia Todoist Amir Salihefendic - Twitter Wunderli...
Feb 11, 2020•26 min•Ep. 204
Action Items: On this week’s episode of Track Changes Paul and Rich sit down and share their top 5 tools that keep them productive. We chat about our favorite to-do apps, calorie counting apps and about apps that will make your meetings more productive. From simple tools to complex tools, we share our secrets for staying sane and productive at work. Whimsical OmniGraffle Visio Navigator Bloomberg - What is Code? by Paul Ford Basecamp Emacs Org mode FatSecret CalorieKing Google Fit Todoist Tinysh...
Feb 04, 2020•24 min•Ep. 203
Control your data: This week on Track Changes Paul and Rich sit down to chat about storage and subscriptions. We talk about Paul’s new network attached storage setup and why we consider it to be the third wave of computing. We also talk about ongoing and annoying online software subscriptions and Rich gives us some good tips on how to remember to cancel those subscriptions before your free months run out. Links: Basecamp SeaGate Ironwolf Pro QNap Thunderbolt 4 drive Nas CommonCrawl Flickr Google...
Jan 28, 2020•28 min•Ep. 202
Tools to manage your tools: This week on Track Changes Paul and Rich discuss the best way to keep track of company communications and tools. Our verdict, an Intranet. We lay out what an Intranet actually is, what it should and could look like and why it’s so important in an age of using too many apps at once. We also make a pact to build a functional intranet in the next six months. Wish us luck! Trello Basecamp Github TriNet Pingboard Slack Abacus Airtable Dropbox Paper Whimsical Jira Pipedrive...
Jan 21, 2020•30 min•Ep. 201
Still in reactive mode: On this week’s episode of Track Changes we continue off from last week to talk about broad trends in information technology in 2020. This week we dig into the more unsettling trends, like foreign interference in elections, a need for better and more proactive laws that govern internet use and cloud service confusion. We also chat about the return of bundled content creation and break down an unprecedented year in information technology. Ivanka Trump’s Appearance at CES Te...
Jan 14, 2020•27 min•Ep. 200
The year to come: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss some of the top trends to look for in 2020. From codeless platforms to Product Led Growth we chat about some of the biggest trends in tech right now. We share our thoughts on new products and discuss whether some of these trends should actually be trends. We also talk about the craziness that could be 2020. Gina Trepani Lifehacker Jobs to be Done Hasura GraphQL PostGraphile MySQL PostgreSQL Elixir Erlang...
Jan 07, 2020•28 min•Ep. 199
Friction is introspection: How did the iPhone come to feel like an intuitive thing to use? This week on Track Changes Paul and Rich sit down with UX designer Cliff Kuang and co-founder of Dalberg Design Robert Fabricant to talk about their new book User Friendly: How the hidden rules of design are changing the way we live, work and play . We discuss the history of the concept and how it’s become something that we demand yet often take for granted. We also chat about the greater paradigm shift th...
Dec 17, 2019•34 min•Ep. 198
Catering to the masses: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the mess that is app stores. We chat about how the race to produce more and more content and why trying to cater to as wide an audience as possible is making for frustrating user experience. We also discuss our dreams of getting rid of in-app micro-purchases and the need for better app reviews. Links: Apple Arcade Google Play Pass Monument Valley Cut the Rope Netflix The Verge iCloud Apple TV Pages...
Dec 10, 2019•24 min•Ep. 197
Answer the question: On this week's episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich share some interview advice they've learned after conducting hundreds of job interviews. We give some straight-forward tips on what to do in job interviews. We chat about the importance of listening, keeping your answers concise and being able to have a conversation with your interviewer. We also talk about what you shouldn’t do. For starters, don’t act like you don’t want the job. Links: Careers at Postlight See Privacy...
Dec 03, 2019•27 min•Ep. 196
Facilitating a digital mindset: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to chat about the current job description for the Chief Digital Officer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We go over the demands of the job and talk about the many complexities that come with being a CDO at such a large and political organization. We also talk about why it can be difficult joining a new organization and why you might have to accept that people will hate you for a while. Sadly it’s pa...
Nov 26, 2019•27 min•Ep. 194
Accountability is friction: On this week’s episode of Track Changes Paul and Rich sit down to chat about different types of accountability software. Whether it’s a CRM, a to-do list or an app, we discuss what works best for staying on track and getting things done. We talk about the importance of empathy and support and why tactics based on fear never work in the long run. We also discuss why some software is moving away from adding accountability into its workflows despite it’s importance. Link...
Nov 19, 2019•27 min•Ep. 193
The new entertainment system: On this week’s episode of Track Changes Paul is flying solo without Rich. He is joined by New York Times writer Taylor Lorenz. Taylor answers all of Paul’s questions about influencers, including how they actually monetize their brand in such a crowded online market. Taylor addresses stereotypes about influencers being vapid and shallow and shows us just how hard influencers work. LINKS New York Times - Taylor Lorenz Tumblr Tyler Oakley - Youtube Hannah Hart - Youtub...
Nov 12, 2019•30 min•Ep. 193
Software is like people: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss software baggage. We chat about how a simple software idea can morph into layers and layers of product features and about how implementing use-cases can lead to confusing and bloated software. We also share our many HR software gripes. Links: Recruitment Software Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis - Fortune Business Insights Scala JQuery Jira SAP Basecamp Slack Dash for Slack - Postlight See...
Nov 05, 2019•31 min•Ep. 191
Removing Friction: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down with Noah Brier and James Gross ahead of a Postlight event to talk about the new trend that is taking enterprise software by storm, product-led growth. We discuss why the shift to PLG is as big as a transition for enterprise as the switch from on-premise to cloud software and how this move to more user-centric products removes friction from all levels of product implementation. Links: Salesforce Lattice Pingboard ...
Oct 29, 2019•29 min•Ep. 190
Listen, don’t tell: Having trouble convincing your boss to invest in new software? On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich teach you everything you need to know about selling software services. We chat about changing the narrative to be about selling growth instead of products, and give some great sales tactics. Paul also shares some interesting car purchasing tips he learned from his brother. Links: Sarbanes Oxley - Wikipedia Chevy Blazer CarMax Google Analytics J.P. Morgan Amnes...
Oct 22, 2019•26 min•Ep. 190
Adjust the quirks: On this week’s episode of Track Changes we ask the question, “is programming becoming obsolete?”. As user-friendly visual interfaces continue to get more and more popular, we discuss why programming remains so important to tackle complex tasks and long-term software challenges. Paul and Rich also come up with a new, nicer, way to talk about bugs. In this week’s Hello Postlight segment, we hear from product manager Jorge Mir Alvarez, who tells us how he went from a Track Change...
Oct 15, 2019•32 min•Ep. 189
Constant tweaking and improving: This week on Track Changes we are joined by friend and tech writer Clive Thompson, to talk about his most recent book Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World . We chat about coder culture, its influence on society, and why the search for efficiency can sometimes be a double-edged sword. Paul and Rich also share their worst bug stories. Links: Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World Shift Magazine This Magazine The N...
Oct 08, 2019•31 min•Ep. 188
Beware the low-hanging fruit: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich share some industry warning signs. We chat about why you should be wary of long research phases and of people who have total faith in the product funnel. We also share some tips on how you can tell if your deadline is slipping and chat about the importance of long term product thinking. In this week’s Hello Postlight segment we meet Stephen Koch, a lead engineer who joins us to talk about his transition from mar...
Oct 01, 2019•35 min•Ep. 187
To scrape or not to scrape: In this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the recent verdict in the hiQ v LinkedIn lawsuit. We chat about the importance of this case and how it helped solidify a basic aspect of the web: public information access. But first, in this week’s Hello Postlight segment we hear from Thomas Rudczynski, our Director of Product Management, who shares advice on how to be a good product manager and how to get into the field. Links: Huge LinkedIn ...
Sep 24, 2019•35 min•Ep. 185
The Fun of the Struggle: On this week’s episode of Track Changes we are joined by Netflix’s first CEO and co-founder, Marc Randolph. Marc talks about the origins of Netflix and how he helped grow the company from a Patsy Cline CD to a billion dollar publicly traded media provider. He shares some tips on how to stay flexible in the face of changing demands and talks about the importance of timing and luck when starting a business. He also shares some details about why he left the company and talk...
Sep 17, 2019•30 min•Ep. 185
There is no perfect freedom: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss internet censorship on a global scale. We chat about how power impacts technology and information access and whether global software can really exist when countries have such different approaches to the internet. Also in this week’s Hello Postlight segment we meet Liran Okanon, a Senior Product Designer at Postlight, who talks about the importance of empathy in his work. Links: Life in an Internet Shutdown...
Sep 10, 2019•35 min•Ep. 183
Trojan Horse: Ever wonder why some web pages take forever to load? On today’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich explore the mess that is the internet. We take a look at three different websites to see what’s hiding behind them, and what we find is not pretty. From ad-tech to unknown JSON files, the results are surprising and confusing. Links: New York Post The Atlantic Chartbeat Mixpanel New Relic New York Times Scroll Wirecutter AMP uBlock Privacy Badger Ghostery See Privacy Policy at htt...
Sep 03, 2019•30 min•Ep. 183
We Need Guardrails: On this week’s episode of Track Changes we sit down to discuss the big question of regulating online content. Could a class action lawsuit be brought against sites that encourage violence? How can content be screened to ensure it doesn’t lead to harm? What is the role of government in all this? We discuss these questions and many more and Paul and Rich share some online privacy tips. We also chat with Engineer, John Holdun! LINKS LGBTQ creators accuse YouTube of discriminatio...
Aug 27, 2019•39 min•Ep. 182
Follow the Data: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, tech journalist Adrianne Jeffries sits down with us to talk about The Markup, a new non-profit data driven newsroom. She talks about the importance of using data to combat bias and about how using data in journalism can bring about greater change. She also addresses the shake up that happened at The Markup in its beginnings and tells us about her personal podcast Underunderstood. Links: - The Markup - Propublica - Machine Bias by Propubli...
Aug 20, 2019•29 min•Ep. 180
Without the user there is no product: When Twitter rolled out its new design, many users were upset with the new changes, but what comes first, the product or the user? On this week’s episode Paul and Rich sit down to chat about Twitter’s redesign. We share our reactions to the changes and delve into questions of user consultation. Also featured in this week’s episode is the second installment of our new segment Hello Postlight. In it we hear from Aimée Reed, Postlight’s Director of Product Desi...
Aug 13, 2019•34 min•Ep. 180
What's the purpose of Email today? This week Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the monster that email has become. Email has transitioned away from a place to have conversation and become a function that eventually moves to another platform (usually Slack). So what is email's real purpose? Do all meaningful conversations need to happen face-to-face? Can we collectively put an end to the eight-paragraph email? We answer these questions and share the top 5 worst email subject lines (Hint: "You have...
Aug 07, 2019•36 min•Ep. 178
To ship or not to ship: Software is never ready, but sometimes you have to ship it. This week Paul and Rich sit down to talk about the difficulties of shipping software. We share tips on how to deal with numerous stakeholders and engineers so that you can release software on time. We also talk about the importance of setting deadlines and draw some parallels between software and Las Vegas buffets. Links: General Magic Tinysheet by Postlight See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Cal...
Jul 30, 2019•29 min•Ep. 177
