Articles
Everything on this site, newest first.
Designing for people who are offline on purpose
Trail crews, rangers and long-distance hikers do not want a better connection. They want software that never asks for one. Notes from two years of building Ridgeline, from the first field test with a trail crew to the sync model we shipped, and what we would change.
What a 35mm prime taught me about interface density
One focal length for a whole summer made me stop zooming and start walking. Fixed constraints do the same thing for a dense screen: fewer choices, closer looks, and a layout that earns every inch it keeps.
Shipping a map app that works above treeline
Vector tiles, a 40 MB budget and a battery that has to last four days. What we cut, what we kept, and the one test we run on every release before it goes anywhere near a trail.
My field kit for a week in the North Cascades
Two bodies, three lenses, eleven rolls, and the notebook I actually use. Everything weighed, with what I would leave home next time and the one thing I wished I had packed.
A darkroom in a closet, for $180
A blackout curtain, a used tank, three thrift-store trays and a fan from the hardware store. How I develop black and white film at home in a coat closet, and what I would buy first if I started again.
A type scale for cracked screens
Half the phones on a trail crew have a crack across the screen. A small type scale that stays legible through a spiderweb, in full sun, with gloves on.
Two nights at Stevens Pass
A late storm, a borrowed four-season tent, and a roll of slide film that came back better than I deserved. Notes from a cold weekend that doubled as a battery test.
Two days on a trail crew
Before we drew a single screen for Ridgeline, we spent two days with a trail crew in Georgia, carrying tools and taking notes. The first part of a series on building an offline map for the people who keep trails open.
The notebook I keep for every project
One pocket notebook per project, numbered pages, and a rule that nothing gets torn out. Why paper is still the first tool I open, and how it ends up in the repository.
Fog on the fence trail
A slow morning on Mount Tamalpais, one roll of black and white, and the case for walking the same trail until it surprises you.