The Natural Language Interface
Read in browser It lies in the nature of a user experience designer to think in terms of Human-Computer-Interaction. And if I do, which I am, then natural...
Usability Testing in the Wild
Read in browser Usability testing doesn't have to be complicated. Where are your users? Out there, of course. Chilling in the sun, enjoying life, probably...
Travel Blogging 4
Read in browser It's calm out. The morning air is brisk and I can see shades of red of a sun about to rise. The city is still asleep. Lucky bastards, I...
Two Years of Blogging
Read in browser Several months ago, writing basically fell to the ground and broke into a thousand pieces. Shatter. Oops. Did I break it? I think I did. The...
First Draft
Read in browser Being a perfectionist is hard work. It's bloody awful, really. Perfectionism is the enemy of a good habit, the best friend of a writing...
Vertical Tabs
Read in browser Vertical tabs are the answer. I still tab hoard, of course. But thanks to the verticality of the matter, I get to see the precious page...
Inspiration
Read in browser When inspiration strikes, I'm in an elevated state. I gain a higher level of eloquence. I can express my thoughts perfectly. No wonder that...
Country Emoji Flags
Read in browser We need to talk about country emoji flags. If you take a good look at the abundance of emojis on my website, and the topics I like to write...
Posting Interval
Read in browser Do you have a posting interval? I certainly don't. With this blog it's rather difficult for me. When inspiration strikes, I can publish a...
Reply by email 3
Read in browser In a world that has gotten too fast for its own benefit, email poses a nice counterweight. It's slow. So slow, that in times of instant...
Please Look After My Dog For Me
Read in browser Please Look After My Dog For Me is a short film about late Bruce Taylor, who travelled through South Asia and apparently the Philippines in...
Leaving the Comfort Zone
Read in browser Two days ago, after a decade of reliable service, my TV broke down. The screen started flickering and it flickered some more and suddenly it...
The Mystery of the Duck Costume
Read in browser "Llama 3.3 may display inaccurate or offensive information", says the tiny text shyly in the bottom of the chat input field. You might have...
I broke writing
Read in browser I don't know what I did, but I broke writing. It doesn't work anymore. For the past two months, I've tried to publish a post on this blog. It...
Travel Blogging 3
Read in browser Last week, the anniversary of my travel blog passed by unnoticed. I was too preoccupied with a writing block. Too preoccupied with winter...
Bittersweet Insomnia
Read in browser I woke up. It was the middle of the night. I found myself in my bed, in the alleged birthplace of surfing in the Philippines, in a small...
Blog Questions Challenge
Read in browser Sometimes, in my profound moments, I imagine myself in an interview situation. "Finally, my time has come", I think. Finally, I can pass on...
The Telly Emoji
Read in browser For as long as I can remember, the TV had been sitting in the living room. Since this were the 90ies, it was a square-shaped tube television....
2024 in Travel
Read in browser In 2023, I picked music to become the theme of my yearly reflection. In 2024, however, after travelling for 10 months, guess what theme I...
Arriving in a New Place 3
Read in browser My girlfriend once told me that the sky in this city is remarkable. Before she moved here, she had never seen skies as blue as this. Monday a...
Trip around the World 5
Read in browser "It can be done", I was convinced. "If only I went eastward as far as east takes me", I thought. "All the way around the world - and...
Blog Post Series
Read in browser Blog Post Series connect individual blog posts by creating "series" dedicated to a specific topic. Sometimes, creating a blog post series...
Travel Blogging 2
Read in browser It has become dark [on Phu Quoc island]. After I turn the engine on, it dies off right away, as I'm driving my scooter uphill. Maybe getting...
The CD Emoji
Read in browser For anyone who loves my series about retro emojis as much as I do, I have good news. I plan on featuring so many more and make this series...
British English
Read in browser Due to my obsession with British television this summer (Yes, I've finally watched The Crown), I've decided to adjust my writing to British...
Where Are You? 4
Read in browser Ever since I left uni and started working, I had a strong sense of finding purpose in my career. I sincerely believed that I could find...
Less Web Forms for Everyone
Read in browser I haven't changed. I'm still the same nerd I have been over a year ago. The same nerd that loves web forms, no matter when it comes to...
The Telephone Emoji
Read in browser Shit, I actually forgot about the telephone emoji in the prequel to this post . How could I? Since I'm already here, I might as well talk...
Writing a Blog in Spanish
Read in browser As a working citizen in Austria, you can be so lucky. Every 4 years, you get the opportunity to take up to 1 year off work to educate...
The Bundesland Button
Read in browser It's the most beautiful button I've ever seen. Why? Because it's in the shape of the country I'm from. Austria. The Bundesland Now, what is a...
Taking Sounds 2
Read in browser The idea of taking sounds came to me, when I visited a pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City. In the praying hall stood a golden buddha statue. In front...
A better web
Read in browser I'm a simple guy. All I really want is that people remember the intentions of the web that hit the mainstream some 30ish years ago. A web...
Where Are You? 3
Read in browser I'm sure you're still wondering: Niq, where the bloody hell are you right now, Mr. Worldwide? Please don't call me Mr. Worldwide. Anyway, I'm...
The Design of Visited Links
Read in browser Even websites that go back as far as the early 90ies differentiated visited from unvisited links. How is it possible that this basic feature...
The Continent-based Logo
Read in browser When creators want to have a little fun, they build something, which they don't put on display, but hide away in the details: The app icon of...
I miss video games
Read in browser All my life, I enjoyed being gone. No matter if my brother and I went to summer camp, my classmates and I went on school trips or my family...
Trip Around the World 4
Read in browser There's nothing out of the ordinary about my Tuesdays. Usually, they are just ordinary 24-hour-long Tuesdays. But there was something...
Proper Profile Pictures
Read in browser "Why are people so bad at picking profile pictures?", I thought to myself precociously after picking up my Uber Eats order. It's a phenomenon...
Travel Joker
Read in browser Now, you are about to travel to an unknown place. You want to experience this place and make the best of your time. You're travelling, after...
Driving with Navigation Assistance
Read in browser Even with all the navigation assistance imaginable, the real challenge of driving a scooter in Taiwan is the left turn. In Taiwan, motorbikes...
Declutter your Taskbar
Read in browser A clean and minimalistic UI is what keeps my boat floating. With everything neat and tidy, all distractions are out of the way, leaving me to...
The Fax Emoji
Read in browser The fact that there's a fax emoji shows that someone out there must have had a similar train of thought: Yes! Faxing is still a relevant part...
Contact Book
Read in browser Five years ago, I was finally fed up with the daily quest of locating my keys. I lost them. Every day. I had to locate them. Every day....
Arriving in a New Place 2
Read in browser I've checked all the Airbnbs, all the Booking.coms and all the rest. After travelling for half a year by now, I've been staying in 43 places....
Software Language Wars
Read in browser In German corporage speak © the term „war-deciding“ (kriegsentscheidend) has been floating around for years. As cringe as it is that people...
Where Are You? 2
Read in browser In 1993, introducing the concept of inline images to the web was a revolutionary idea. Even more so, it was highly debated on mailing lists...
Prank notifications
Read in browser Do you remember prank calls from your childhood days? You call the police. The police show up, but it was just a prank call. After they have...
Picking Emojis
Read in browser I love emojis. I can barely write messages without them. Sometimes, picking emojis takes more time than writing the actual message (that's of...
Trip around the World 3
Read in browser OKRs, meetings, deadlines, daily standups. Today, my friend Manu reminded me of the harsh reality of life back home. Just like my girlfriend...
Blog Post Sequels
Read in browser I love the idea of blog post sequels: Write about a certain topic on your blog. Let some time pass. Revisit old ideas of yours and that...