Category: Blog

Season 3 show 3 of Yellowjackets skilfully crossed the line between thriller and pure scary, building suspense as we ponder whether or not the Wilderness is truly inhabited by supernatural forces. Trying to determine how much is true and how.

The article Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 3 Review: Don’t Overlook the Wilderness appeared second on Den of Geek.

In his own thoughts, writer Steven Knight “does mythology”. The Peaky Blinders, Taboo, and SAS: Rogue Heroes father takes aspects of real-life background and turns them into swaggering tales.

With an eye for unusual names and a talent for making flesh-and-blood symbols out of historical figures that appear in newspaper reports and survey columns, Knight has revived the British working-class time episode. He’s taken the love and drudgery outside, and written passion, beauty and civilization in. In his newest play A Thousand Punches, he made famous figures out of Birmingham gangs in Peaky Blinders and he’s about to do the same with East-End athletes and women criminals The Forty Elephants.

Let’s get an overview of the real history of A Thousand Blows, as well as some pointers on where you can find out more as the six-episode first series ( a second has already been filmed ) debuts on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

Hezekiah Moscow, Alec Munroe &amp, Sugar Goodson Were All True

To learn about the actual Hezekiah, Alec, Sugar, Treacle and more, go no further than the traditional analysis that inspired A Thousand Punches, conducted by the show’s fighting scholar and traditional expert Sarah Elizabeth Cox. First published online in 2019 on her Grappling With History site and now being expanded into a reserve, Cox’s results include photos, posters, magazine articles, population entries and more detailing the lives and careers of the actual people who inspired the show’s characters. According to Cox,” A Thousand Blows is not a documentary; the writers ‘ creations are fantastic, and the only places they cross paths with reality are in the smallest snippets.”

Hezekiah Moscow, a West-Indian immigrant who worked as a bear and lion tamer and competed in various boxing competitions, including at the real Blue Coat Boy pub in Shoreditch, London, is one of those who crossed the lines with reality. Real was also his West-Indian cornerman and trainer Alec Munroe. There was indeed a fighter from the East End known as” Sugar” Goodson, but according to Cox, the real Sugar was thought to have only one eye.

Mary Carr and The Forty Elephants Were a Real Criminal Gang, Were They?

Steven Knight, the creator of A Thousand Blows, explained to the BBC how he combined the two real-life stories to create the Disney +/ Hulu drama. With their company Matriarch Productions, actor-producers Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham approached Knight to film the life of boxer Hezekiah Moscow, and he incorporated a story about female thief gang The Forty Elephants into another that was based on historical fact.

A true story of a real person who immigrated from Jamaica with the goal of becoming a lion tamer and became a very well-known boxer? That&#8217, s pretty much irresistible.

&#8220, And when I dug into it and found out about this person and his experiences, it was very compelling. Before then, for a long time, I&#8217, d wanted to tell the story of the Forty Elephants. Both of those incredible true stories took place at the same time and place, which is amazing. If Mary and Hezekiah had met, and that’s what this show is about, I thought it would be interesting to consider what might have happened. &#8221,

Around the time of A Thousand Blows, in the 1880s, Mary Carr was both the Queen of the Forty Elephants and a model for model artist Frederic Leighton. The BBC has more information on the strategies and lifestyle of the Elephant and Castle-based gang here.

Mild Spoiler warning: references to plot details in A Thousand Blows below.

An infamous Part of Jamaican history was the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Hezekiah’s traumatic flashbacks from his early years in Jamaica elliptically represent a true, violent historical incident in colonial history. The Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 was a revolt by the people of Jamaica’s southeast coast to protest cruel treatment by British colonial oppressors. The national archives website has more information about its origins and impact.

Real Chinese Diplomats Were Li Hongzhang and Lo Feng Luh.

The Chinese dignitaries in A Thousand Blows are based on actual diplomats who traveled to London during ^the Opium Wars of ^the 19^th century. Chike Chan’s performance as Lo Feng Luh is depicted in an artist’s drawing, as well as a contemporary newspaper report about ^the Chinese minister.

The 5^th Earl of Lonsdale Was a Real Boxing Enthusiast

Hugh Cecil Lowther was a true Englishman and sportsman at the time when A Thousand Blows was set. He is the” Lonsdale” behind the well-known British sports brand of the same name, and he was a founding member of the National Sporting Club, who is credited with providing the first Lonsdale Boxing Belts for the boxing championship trophy.

Aerialist &#8220, Miss La La&#8221, Was Real

The real Black Polish historical figure, also known as” Miss La La,” is the inspiration for the acrobat Mary and Hezekiah see performing at a West End music venue. In his 1879 painting” Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando” she performed on a swing that was high above the crowd. You can read more about her here. She was the subject of an exhibition at London’s National Gallery in 2024.

Queen Victoria Did Have a Black Goddaughter

The A Thousand Blows character Victoria Davies must be inspired by the real Nigerian-born woman known as Sara” Sally” Forbes Bonetta (originally called Aina, before she was renamed by the English captain to whom she was “discharged” by enslaved people trader King Ghezo of Dahomey ), who became Queen Victoria’s goddaughter. Although the actual Aina died young of tuberculosis and didn’t live into the 1880s period where A Thousand Blows was set, the timeline is very similar. See portraits of her here, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Blue Coat Boy Pub, its Boxing Ring, and its Landlord Were Real

The Blue Coat Boy Pub had an MC who owned a boxing saloon nicknamed William” Punch” Lewis, just like Daniel Mays &#8217, character in the TV show. Thanks to Sarah Elizabeth Cox’s thorough analysis, you can read more about them all here.

A Thousand Blows is currently available for streaming on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

The original post on Den of Geek was A Thousand Blows True Story: The Real People Behind the Historical Drama.

A set 65 million years in the making. The biggest Jurassic Park LEGO collection of all time has only leaked, which is good news for dragon enthusiasts and LEGO enthusiasts alike. Allegedly just 25 more items than the 2019 set 75936: T. rex Rampage, the 76968: Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus is rumored to be the new set joining the]… ]

The article LEGO Jurassic Park 76968 Set Leaks and Rumors: The New 2025 T-rex Skeleton appeared second on Den of Geek.

In his own thoughts, writer Steven Knight “does traditions”. The Peaky Blinders, Taboo, and SAS: Rogue Heroes father takes aspects of real-life background and turns them into swaggering tales.

The American working group period drama has been rehabilitated thanks to Knight’s talent for coming up with strange names and talent for making flesh-and-blood icons out of historical figures that appear in newspapers reports and census columns. He’s taken the love and drudgery outside, and written passion, beauty and civilization in. In his newest play A Thousand Punches, he made famous figures out of Birmingham gangs in Peaky Blinders and he’s about to do the same with East-End athletes and women criminals The Forty Elephants.

Let’s get an overview of the true story behind A Thousand Blows, as well as some locations where you can find out more as the six-episode first series ( a second has already been filmed ) debuts on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

Hezekiah Moscow, Alec Munroe &amp, Sugar Goodson Were All True

To learn about the actual Hezekiah, Alec, Sugar, Treacle and more, go no further than the traditional analysis that inspired A Thousand Punches, conducted by the show’s fighting scholar and traditional expert Sarah Elizabeth Cox. First published online in 2019 on her Grappling With History site and now being expanded into a reserve, Cox’s results include photos, posters, magazine articles, population entries and more detailing the lives and careers of the actual people who inspired the show’s characters. A Thousand Blows is not a video, as Cox writes, “because the characters and stories are the product of a great staff of writers, and it is only in a few snippets that they occasionally cross roads with reality.”

Hezekiah Moscow, a West-Indian immigrant who worked as a bear and cat gentler and competed in several boxing matches, including at the real Blue Coat Boy restaurant in Shoreditch, London, is one of those who crossed the lines with reality. Real was also his West-Indian cornerman and coach Alec Munroe. There was however a warrior from the East End known as” Sugar” Goodson, but according to Cox, the actual Sugar was thought to have only one eye.

The Forty Elephants Were a True Criminal Gang, Mary Carr, and They Were a Real Group

Steven Knight, the creator of A Thousand Blows, explained to the BBC how he combined two real-life stories to create the Disney +/ Hulu drama. With their business Matriarch Productions, actor-producers Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham approached Knight to film the existence of boxer Hezekiah Moscow, and he paired that account with a story about sexual criminal gang The Forty Elephants, which he had been wanting to tell.

A true story of a Jamaican man who wanted to fight like a cat and became a boxer who was actually popular? That&#8217, s very much attractive.

&#8220, And when I dug into it and found out about this man and his views, it was very powerful. Before then, for a long time, I&#8217, d wanted to tell the tale of the Forty Elephants. Even though both of those genuine stories happened at the same time and place, they are incredible. If Mary and Hezekiah had met, and that’s what this display is on, I thought it would be interesting to consider what might have happened. &#8221,

Around the time of A Thousand Punches, in the 1880s, Mary Carr was both the Queen of the Forty Elephants and a model for design artist Frederic Leighton. Read more about the strategies and life of the Elephant and Castle-based gang below.

Mild Spoiler alert: recommendations to plot information in A Thousand Blows above.

An renowned Part of Caribbean history was the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Hezekiah’s tragic Jamaican childhood memories obliquely represent a violent, actual historical incident from colonial history. The Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 was a revolt by the people of Jamaica’s east coast to protest cruel treatment by European colonial oppressors. The regional archives webpage has more information about its origins and effect.

Authentic Chinese officials were Li Hongzhang and Lo Feng Luh.

The Chinese officials in A Thousand Blows are based on actual officials who traveled to London during ^the Opium Wars of ^the 19^th centuries. Chike Chan’s performance as Lo Feng Luh is depicted in an artist’s carving, as well as a modern newspaper report about ^the Taiwanese minister.

The 5th Earl of Lonsdale Was a True Boxing Enthusiast

In the era that A Thousand Blows was set in, Hugh Cecil Lowther was a true English gaze and golfer. He is the” Lonsdale” behind the well-known British sporting model of the same name, and he was a founding member of the National Sporting Club, who is said to have donated the initial Lonsdale Boxing Belts for the boxing tournament prize.

Aerialist &#8220, Miss La La&#8221, Was True

A true Black Polish traditional number, also known as” Miss La La,” is the inspiration for the artist Mary and Hezekiah see performing at a West End music venue. In his 1879 painting” Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando” she performed on a swing that was higher above the crowd. You can read more about her ok. She was the subject of an show at London’s National Gallery in 2024.

Queen Victoria Did Had a Black Goddaughter

The A Thousand Blows figure Victoria Davies had been inspired by the actual Nigerian-born woman known as Sara” Sally” Forbes Bonetta (originally called Aina, before she was renamed by the English captain to whom she was “discharged” by oppressed people trader King Ghezo of Dahomey ), who became Queen Victoria’s daughter. The timeline is not quite accurate because the real Aina died young of tuberculosis and didn’t live into the 1880s period where A Thousand Blows is set, but it does come very close. See portraits of her here, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Blue Coat Boy Pub, its Boxing Ring, and its Landlord Were Real

The Blue Coat Boy Pub had an MC who owned a boxing saloon nicknamed William” Punch” Lewis, just like Daniel Mays &#8217, character in the TV show. Thanks to the research of Sarah Elizabeth Cox, you can read more about them all here.

A Thousand Blows is currently available for streaming on Disney + in the US and Hulu in the UK.

The first post on Den of Geek was A Thousand Blows True Story: The Real Characters Behind the Historical Drama.

If you’re a fan of Star Wars and have experienced the numerous highs and lows of the company since Disney acquired the rights to George Lucas ‘ dynasty, a century isn’t really that long ago. That must go double for Daisy Ridley, who in that span of time has ]… ]

Daisy Ridley Considers the Legacy of Rey and Star Wars: The Force Awakens a decade after appeared initially on Den of Geek.

In his own thoughts, writer Steven Knight “does mythology”. The Peaky Blinders, Taboo, and SAS: Rogue Heroes father takes aspects of real-life background and turns them into swaggering tales.

With an eye for unusual names and a talent for making flesh-and-blood symbols out of historical figures that appear in newspaper reports and population columns, Knight has revived the British working-class time episode. He’s taken the love and drudgery outside, and written passion, beauty and civilization in. In his newest play A Thousand Punches, he made famous figures out of Birmingham gangs in Peaky Blinders and he’s about to do the same with East-End athletes and women criminals The Forty Elephants.

Let’s get an overview of the true story behind A Thousand Blows, as well as some locations where you can find out more as the six-episode first series ( a second has already been filmed ) debuts on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

Hezekiah Moscow, Alec Munroe &amp, Sugar Goodson Were All True

To learn about the actual Hezekiah, Alec, Sugar, Treacle and more, go no further than the traditional analysis that inspired A Thousand Punches, conducted by the show’s fighting scholar and traditional expert Sarah Elizabeth Cox. First published online in 2019 on her Grappling With History site and now being expanded into a reserve, Cox’s results include photos, posters, magazine articles, population entries and more detailing the lives and careers of the actual people who inspired the show’s characters. A Thousand Blows is not a documentary, as Cox writes, “because the characters and storylines are the product of a wonderful team of writers, and it is only in a few snippets that they occasionally cross paths with reality.”

The real Hezekiah Moscow, a West-Indian immigrant who worked as a bear and lion tamer and competed in various boxing fights, including at the real Blue Coat Boy pub in Shoreditch, London, is one of those crosses-paths with reality. Realized was his West-Indian trainer and cornerman Alec Munroe. There was indeed a fighter from the East End known as” Sugar” Goodson, but according to Cox, the real Sugar was thought to have only one eye.

The Forty Elephants Were a Real Criminal Gang, Mary Carr, and

Steven Knight, the creator of A Thousand Blows, explained to the BBC how he combined two real-life stories to create the Disney +/ Hulu drama. When actors Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham approached him to film the life of boxer Hezekiah Moscow with their company Matriarch Productions, Knight merged that story with a story about female thief gang The Forty Elephants, which he had been wanting to tell.

A true story of a Jamaican man who wanted to fight like a lion and became a boxer who was actually famous? That&#8217, s pretty much irresistible.

&#8220, And when I dug into it and found out about this person and his experiences, it was very compelling. Before then, for a long time, I&#8217, d wanted to tell the story of the Forty Elephants. Even though both of those true stories happened at the same time and place, they are amazing. If Mary and Hezekiah had met, which is what this show is about, I thought it would be interesting to consider what might have happened. &#8221,

Around the 1880s period in which A Thousand Blows is set, Mary Carr was actually the Queen of the Forty Elephants, and she served as an artist’s model for painter Frederic Leighton. The BBC has more information on the strategies and lifestyle of the Elephant and Castle-based gang here.

Mild Spoiler warning: references to plot details in A Thousand Blows below.

Jamaican history was notoriously impacted by the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Hezekiah’s traumatic Jamaican childhood memories elliptically represent a violent, actual historical incident from colonial history. The Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 was a revolt by the people of Jamaica’s southeast coast to protest cruel treatment by British colonial oppressors. The national archives website has more information about its origins and impact.

Real Chinese diplomats were Li Hongzhang and Lo Feng Luh.

The Chinese dignitaries in A Thousand Blows are based on actual diplomats who traveled to London during ^the Opium Wars of ^the 19^th century. You can see here a contemporary newspaper report about ^the Chinese minister and here an artist’s drawing of Lo Feng Luh ( played by Chike Chan in ^the show ).

The 5^th Earl of Lonsdale Was a Real Boxing Enthusiast

In the era that A Thousand Blows was set in, Hugh Cecil Lowther was a true English peer and sportsman. He is the” Lonsdale” behind the well-known British sports brand of the same name, and he was a founding member of the National Sporting Club, who is credited with providing the first Lonsdale Boxing Belts for the boxing championship trophy.

Aerialist &#8220, Miss La La&#8221, Was Real

A real Black Polish historical figure, also known as” Miss La La,” is the inspiration for the acrobat Mary and Hezekiah see performing at a West End music venue. In his 1879 painting” Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando” she performed on a swing that was high above the crowd. You can read more about her here. She was the subject of a 2024 exhibition at London’s National Gallery.

Queen Victoria Did Have a Black Goddaughter

The A Thousand Blows character Victoria Davies must be inspired by the real Nigerian-born woman known as Sara” Sally” Forbes Bonetta (originally called Aina, before she was renamed by the English captain to whom she was “discharged” by enslaved people trader King Ghezo of Dahomey ), who became Queen Victoria’s goddaughter. The timeline is not quite accurate because the real Aina died young of tuberculosis and didn’t live into the 1880s period where A Thousand Blows is set, but it does come very close. See portraits of her here, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Blue Coat Boy Pub, its Boxing Ring, and its Landlord Were Real

The Blue Coat Boy Pub had an MC who owned a boxing saloon nicknamed William” Punch” Lewis, just like Daniel Mays &#8217, character in the TV show. Thanks to Sarah Elizabeth Cox’s thorough analysis, you can read more about them all here.

A Thousand Blows is currently available for streaming on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

The first post on Den of Geek was A Thousand Blows True Story: The Real Characters Behind the Historical Drama.

The actors in the new Disney +/ Hulu drama A Thousand Blows don’t so much introduce themselves as smash their way onto the screen [in the case of Sugar and Treacle Goodson, Hezekiah Moscow, and Alec Munroe, the two young Jamaican boxers who take the East Enders on in the backroom ]…

The first article on Den of Geek‘s A Thousand Blows Cast: Join the Characters of the Historical Boxing and Crime Gang Drama appeared second.

In his own thoughts, writer Steven Knight “does mythology”. The Peaky Blinders, Taboo, and SAS: Rogue Heroes father takes aspects of real-life background and turns them into swaggering tales.

The American working group period drama has been rehabilitated thanks to Knight’s talent for coming up with strange names and talent for making flesh-and-blood icons out of historical figures that appear in newspapers reports and census columns. He’s taken the love and drudgery outside, and written passion, beauty and civilization in. In his newest play A Thousand Punches, he turned the real-world Birmingham criminals into images and he’s about to do the same with East-End athletes and women criminals The Forty Elephants.

Let’s get an overview of the real history of A Thousand Blows, as well as some pointers on where you can find out more as the six-episode first series ( a second has already been filmed ) debuts on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

Hezekiah Moscow, Alec Munroe &amp, Sugar Goodson Were All True

To learn about the actual Hezekiah, Alec, Sugar, Treacle and more, go no further than the traditional analysis that inspired A Thousand Punches, conducted by the show’s fighting scholar and traditional expert Sarah Elizabeth Cox. First published online in 2019 on her Grappling With History site and now being expanded into a reserve, Cox’s results include photographs, posters, magazine articles, population entries and more detailing the lives and careers of the actual people who inspired the show’s characters. A Thousand Blows is not a documentary, as Cox writes, “because the characters and storylines are the product of a wonderful team of writers, and it is only in a few snippets that they occasionally cross paths with reality.”

The real Hezekiah Moscow, a West-Indian immigrant who worked as a bear and lion tamer and competed in various boxing fights, including at the real Blue Coat Boy pub in Shoreditch, London, is one of those crosses-paths with reality. Realized was his West-Indian trainer and cornerman Alec Munroe. Although according to Cox, the real Sugar was thought to have only one eye, there was in fact an East-End fighter known as” Sugar” Goodson.

The Forty Elephants Were a Real Criminal Gang, Mary Carr, and

Steven Knight, the creator of A Thousand Blows, explained to the BBC how he combined two real-life stories to create the Disney +/ Hulu drama. With their company Matriarch Productions, actor-producers Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham approached Knight to film the life of boxer Hezekiah Moscow, and he incorporated a story about female thief gang The Forty Elephants into another that was based on historical fact.

A true story of a real person who immigrated from Jamaica with the goal of becoming a lion tamer and became a very well-known boxer? That&#8217, s pretty much irresistible.

&#8220, And when I dug into it and found out about this person and his experiences, it was very compelling. Before then, for a long time, I&#8217, d wanted to tell the story of the Forty Elephants. Both of those incredible true stories took place at the same time and place, which is amazing. Imagine what would have happened if Mary and Hezekiah had gotten together, and that’s what this show is about. &#8221,

Around the time of A Thousand Blows, in the 1880s, Mary Carr was both the Queen of the Forty Elephants and a model for model artist Frederic Leighton. Read more about the strategies and lifestyle of the Elephant and Castle-based gang here.

Mild Spoiler warning: references to plot details in A Thousand Blows below.

Jamaican history was notoriously impacted by the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Hezekiah’s traumatic flashbacks from his early years in Jamaica elliptically represent a true, violent historical incident from colonial history. The Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 was a revolt by the people of Jamaica’s southeast coast to protest cruel treatment by British colonial oppressors. The National Archives website contains information on its history and impact.

Real Chinese Diplomats Were Li Hongzhang and Lo Feng Luh.

The Chinese dignitaries in A Thousand Blows are based on actual diplomats who traveled to London during ^the Opium Wars of ^the 19^th century. Here is a contemporary newspaper report about ^the Chinese minister, as well as an artist’s drawing of Lo Feng Luh ( played by Chike Chan in ^the show ).

The 5^th Earl of Lonsdale Was a Real Boxing Enthusiast

Hugh Cecil Lowther was a true Englishman and sportsman at the time when A Thousand Blows was set. He is the” Lonsdale” behind the well-known British sports brand of the same name, and he was a founding member of the National Sporting Club, who is said to have donated the first Lonsdale Boxing Belts for the boxing championship trophy.

Aerialist &#8220, Miss La La&#8221, Was Real

A real Black Polish historical figure, also known as” Miss La La,” is the inspiration for the acrobat Mary and Hezekiah see performing at a West End music venue. In his 1879 painting” Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando” she performed on a swing that was high above the crowd. You can read more about her here. She was the subject of a 2024 exhibition at London’s National Gallery.

Queen Victoria Did Have a Black Goddaughter

The A Thousand Blows character Victoria Davies must be inspired by the real Nigerian-born woman known as Sara” Sally” Forbes Bonetta (originally called Aina, before she was renamed by the English captain to whom she was “discharged” by enslaved people trader King Ghezo of Dahomey ), who became Queen Victoria’s goddaughter. The timeline is not quite accurate because the real Aina died young of tuberculosis and didn’t live into the 1880s period where A Thousand Blows is set, but it does come very close. See portraits of her here, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Blue Coat Boy Pub, its Boxing Ring, and its Landlord Were Real

The Blue Coat Boy Pub had an MC who owned a boxing saloon nicknamed William” Punch” Lewis, just like Daniel Mays &#8217, character in the TV show. Thanks to the research of Sarah Elizabeth Cox, you can read more about them all here.

A Thousand Blows is currently available for streaming on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

The first post on Den of Geek was A Thousand Blows True Story: The Real Characters Behind the Historical Drama.

Batman isn’t just the country’s greatest inspector. He’s even a king of branding, one who understands the importance of symbolism. But while he’s worn a number of different outfits throughout the ages, Batman also realizes that some things must remain the same. Such is the situation with the Caped Crusader’s newest Batsuit, which was introduced by DC ]…]

The first article on Den of Geek was titled” Batman Comics Only Confirmed the Biggest Change to the Dark Knight in Ages.”

In his own thoughts, writer Steven Knight “does mythology”. The Peaky Blinders, Taboo, and SAS: Rogue Heroes father takes aspects of real-life background and turns them into swaggering tales.

Knight has revived the American working class period theatre with an eye for unusual names and a talent for making flesh-and-blood icons out of historical figures that appear in news reports and population columns. He’s taken the love and drudgery outside, and written passion, beauty and civilization in. In his newest play A Thousand Punches, he made famous figures out of Birmingham gangs in Peaky Blinders and he’s about to do the same with East-End athletes and women criminals The Forty Elephants.

Let’s get an overview of the true story behind A Thousand Blows, as well as some locations where you can find out more as the six-episode first series ( a second has already been filmed ) debuts on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

Hezekiah Moscow, Alec Munroe &amp, Sugar Goodson Were All True

To learn about the actual Hezekiah, Alec, Sugar, Treacle and more, go no further than the traditional analysis that inspired A Thousand Punches, conducted by the show’s fighting scholar and traditional expert Sarah Elizabeth Cox. First published online in 2019 on her Grappling With History site and now being expanded into a reserve, Cox’s results include photos, posters, magazine articles, population entries and more detailing the lives and careers of the actual people who inspired the show’s characters. According to Cox,” A Thousand Blows is not a documentary; the writers ‘ creations are fantastic, and the only places they cross paths with reality are in the smallest snippets.”

Hezekiah Moscow, a West-Indian immigrant who worked as a bear and lion tamer and competed in various boxing matches, including at the real Blue Coat Boy pub in Shoreditch, London, is one of those who crossed the lines with reality. Real was also his West-Indian cornerman and trainer Alec Munroe. There was indeed a fighter from the East End known as” Sugar” Goodson, but according to Cox, the real Sugar was thought to have only one eye.

The Forty Elephants Were a Real Criminal Gang, Mary Carr, and They Were a Real Gang

Steven Knight, the creator of A Thousand Blows, explained to the BBC how he combined two real-life stories to create the Disney +/ Hulu drama. With their company Matriarch Productions, actor-producers Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham approached Knight to film the life of boxer Hezekiah Moscow, and he incorporated a story about female thief gang The Forty Elephants into another that was based on historical fact.

A true story of a Jamaican man who wanted to fight like a lion and became a very well-known boxer is a story about &#8220. That&#8217, s pretty much irresistible.

&#8220, And when I dug into it and found out about this person and his experiences, it was very compelling. Before then, for a long time, I&#8217, d wanted to tell the story of the Forty Elephants. Even though both of those true stories happened at the same time and place, they are amazing. If Mary and Hezekiah had met, and that’s what this show is about, I thought it would be interesting to consider what might have happened. &#8221,

Around the 1880s period in which A Thousand Blows is set, Mary Carr was actually the Queen of the Forty Elephants, and she served as an artist’s model for painter Frederic Leighton. The BBC has more information on the strategies and lifestyle of the Elephant and Castle-based gang here.

Mild Spoiler warning: references to plot details in A Thousand Blows below.

An infamous Part of Jamaican history was the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Hezekiah’s traumatic flashbacks from his early years in Jamaica elliptically represent a true, violent historical incident in colonial history. The Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 was a revolt by the people of Jamaica’s southeast coast to protest cruel treatment by British colonial oppressors. The National Archives website contains information on its history and impact.

Real Chinese Diplomats Were Li Hongzhang and Lo Feng Luh.

The Chinese dignitaries in A Thousand Blows are based on actual diplomats who traveled to London during ^the Opium Wars of ^the 19^th century. You can see here a contemporary newspaper report about ^the Chinese minister and here an artist’s drawing of Lo Feng Luh ( played by Chike Chan in ^the show ).

The 5^th Earl of Lonsdale Was a Real Boxing Enthusiast

Hugh Cecil Lowther was a true Englishman and sportsman at the time when A Thousand Blows was set. He is the” Lonsdale” behind the well-known British sports brand of the same name, and he was a founding member of the National Sporting Club, who is alleged to have donated the first Lonsdale Boxing Belts for the boxing championship trophy.

Aerialist &#8220, Miss La La&#8221, Was Real

The real Black Polish historical figure, also known as” Miss La La,” is the inspiration for the acrobat Mary and Hezekiah see performing at a West End music venue. In his 1879 painting” Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando” she performed on a swing that was high above the crowd. You can read more about her here. She was the subject of an exhibition at London’s National Gallery in 2024.

Queen Victoria Did Have a Black Goddaughter

The A Thousand Blows character Victoria Davies must be inspired by the real Nigerian-born woman known as Sara” Sally” Forbes Bonetta (originally called Aina, before she was renamed by the English captain to whom she was “discharged” by enslaved people trader King Ghezo of Dahomey ), who became Queen Victoria’s goddaughter. The timeline is very close, but it doesn’t quite match up because the real Aina died young of tuberculosis and didn’t live into the 1880s period in which A Thousand Blows was set. See portraits of her here, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Blue Coat Boy Pub, its Boxing Ring, and its Landlord Were Real

The Blue Coat Boy Pub had an MC who owned a boxing saloon nicknamed William” Punch” Lewis, just like Daniel Mays &#8217, character in the TV show. Thanks to Sarah Elizabeth Cox’s thorough analysis, you can read more about them all here.

A Thousand Blows is currently available for streaming on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

The first post on Den of Geek was A Thousand Blows True Story: The Real Characters Behind the Historical Drama.

In his own thoughts, writer Steven Knight “does mythology”. The Peaky Blinders, Taboo, and SAS: Rogue Heroes father takes aspects of real-life background and turns them into swaggering tales. With an eye for unusual names and a talent for making flesh-and-blood symbols out of historical figures that appear in population and magazine articles […]…

The first article on Den of Geek was A Thousand Blows Real Story: The True Characters Behind the Traditional Drama.

In his own thoughts, writer Steven Knight “does mythology”. The Peaky Blinders, Taboo, and SAS: Rogue Heroes father takes aspects of real-life background and turns them into swaggering tales.

Knight has revived the American working class period theatre with an eye for unusual names and a talent for making flesh-and-blood icons out of historical figures that appear in news reports and population columns. He’s taken the love and drudgery outside, and written passion, beauty and civilization in. In his newest play A Thousand Punches, he turned the real-world Birmingham criminals into images and he’s about to do the same with East-End athletes and women criminals The Forty Elephants.

Let’s get an overview of the real history of A Thousand Blows, as well as some pointers on where you can find out more as the six-episode first series ( a second has already been filmed ) debuts on Disney + in the UK and Hulu in the US.

Hezekiah Moscow, Alec Munroe &amp, Sugar Goodson Were All True

To learn about the actual Hezekiah, Alec, Sugar, Treacle and more, go no further than the traditional analysis that inspired A Thousand Punches, conducted by the show’s fighting scholar and traditional expert Sarah Elizabeth Cox. First published online in 2019 on her Grappling With History site and now being expanded into a reserve, Cox’s results include pictures, posters, magazine articles, population entries and more detailing the lives and careers of the actual people who inspired the show’s characters. According to Cox,” A Thousand Blows is not a documentary; the characters and storylines were the product of a fantastic team of writers, and it is only in a few snippets that they occasionally cross paths with reality.”

Hezekiah Moscow, a West-Indian immigrant who worked as a bear and lion tamer and competed in various boxing matches, including at the real Blue Coat Boy pub in Shoreditch, London, is one of those who crossed the lines with reality. Realized was his West-Indian trainer and cornerman Alec Munroe. There was indeed a fighter from the East End known as” Sugar” Goodson, but according to Cox, the real Sugar was thought to have only one eye.

Mary Carr and The Forty Elephants Were a Real Criminal Gang, Were They?

Steven Knight, the creator of A Thousand Blows, explained to the BBC how he combined two real-life stories to create the Disney +/ Hulu drama. When actors Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham approached him to film the life of boxer Hezekiah Moscow with their company Matriarch Productions, Knight merged that story with a story about female thief gang The Forty Elephants, which he had been wanting to tell.

A true story of a Jamaican man who wanted to fight like a lion and became a boxer who was actually famous? That&#8217, s pretty much irresistible.

&#8220, And when I dug into it and found out about this person and his experiences, it was very compelling. Before then, for a long time, I&#8217, d wanted to tell the story of the Forty Elephants. Both of those incredible true stories took place at the same time and place, which is amazing. If Mary and Hezekiah had met, which is what this show is about, I thought it would be interesting to consider what might have happened. &#8221,

Around the time of A Thousand Blows, in the 1880s, Mary Carr was both the Queen of the Forty Elephants and a model for model artist Frederic Leighton. Read more about the strategies and lifestyle of the Elephant and Castle-based gang here.

Mild Spoiler warning: references to plot details in A Thousand Blows below.

An infamous Part of Jamaican history was the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Hezekiah’s traumatic flashbacks from his early years in Jamaica elliptically represent a true, violent historical incident from colonial history. The Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865 was a revolt by the residents of Jamaica’s southeast coast to protest brutal treatment by British colonial oppressors. The National Archives website has more information about its history and impact, as can be read here.

Real Chinese diplomats were Li Hongzhang and Lo Feng Luh.

The Chinese dignitaries in A Thousand Blows are based on actual diplomats who traveled to London during ^the Opium Wars of ^the 19^th century. You can see here a contemporary newspaper report about ^the Chinese minister and here an artist’s drawing of Lo Feng Luh ( played by Chike Chan in ^the show ).

The 5^th Earl of Lonsdale Was a Real Boxing Enthusiast

In the era that A Thousand Blows was set in, Hugh Cecil Lowther was a true English peer and sportsman. He is the” Lonsdale” behind the well-known British sports brand of the same name, and he was a founding member of the National Sporting Club, who is said to have donated the first Lonsdale Boxing Belts for the boxing championship trophy.

Aerialist &#8220, Miss La La&#8221, Was Real

The real Black Polish historical figure, also known as” Miss La La,” is the inspiration for the acrobat Mary and Hezekiah see performing at a West End music venue. In his 1879 painting” Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando” she performed on a swing that was high above the crowd. You can read more about her here. She was the subject of a 2024 exhibition at London’s National Gallery.

Queen Victoria Did Have a Black Goddaughter

The A Thousand Blows character Victoria Davies must be inspired by the real Nigerian-born woman known as Sara” Sally” Forbes Bonetta (originally called Aina, before she was renamed by the English captain to whom she was “discharged” by enslaved people trader King Ghezo of Dahomey ), who became Queen Victoria’s goddaughter. The timeline is very close, but it doesn’t quite match up because the real Aina died young of tuberculosis and didn’t live into the 1880s period in which A Thousand Blows was set. See portraits of her here, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Blue Coat Boy Pub, its Boxing Ring, and its Landlord Were Real

The Blue Coat Boy Pub had an MC who owned a boxing saloon nicknamed William” Punch” Lewis, just like Daniel Mays &#8217, character in the TV show. Thanks to the research of Sarah Elizabeth Cox, you can read more about them all here.

A Thousand Blows is currently available for streaming on Disney + in the US and Hulu in the UK.

The first article on Den of Geek was A Thousand Blows Real Story: The True Characters Behind the Traditional Drama.

We concur that computer-generated eyes had make excellent personas, but not for the purpose you might think. Ironically, the website highlights the core issue of this very common design method: the person ( a ) does not exist. Personas are deliberately created, just like in the pictures. Information is combined into an isolated snapshot that is detached from reality and taken out of the normal context.

But strangely enough, manufacturers use personalities to encourage their style for the real world.

A step up, identities

Most manufacturers have at least once in their careers created, used, or encountered identities. In their content” Personas- A Plain Introduction”, the Interaction Design Foundation defines profile as “fictional characters, which you create based upon your study in order to reflect the unique user types that might use your service, product, site, or brand”. Personas typically consist of a name, profile picture, quotes, demographics, goals, needs, behavior in relation to a particular service/product, emotions, and motivations ( for instance, see Creative Companion’s Persona Core Poster ). According to design firm Designit, the goal of personas is” to make the research relatable, ]and ] easy to communicate, digest, reference, and apply to product and service development.”

The decontextualization of personalities

Personalities are well-known because they make “dry” research information more realistic and people. However, this approach places a cap on the study’s ability to analyze the data in a way that excludes the subjects from their particular contexts. As a result, personalities don’t describe important factors that make you realize their decision-making method or allow you to connect to users ‘ thoughts and behavior, they lack stories. You are aware of the persona’s actions, but you lack the knowledge to know why. You end up with less human-like user images.

This “decontextualization” we see in identities happens in four way, which we’ll discuss below.

People are assumed to be stable, according to individuals.

Here’s a painfully obvious truth: people are not a fixed set of features. Although many businesses still try to box in their employees and customers with outdated personality tests ( referring to you, Myers-Briggs ), You act, think, and feel different according to the conditions you experience. You may work helpful to some people, or you might act rude to others because you appear distinct to different people. And you constantly change your mind about the choices you’ve made.

Modern psychology agree that while persons usually behave according to certain styles, it’s actually a combination of history and culture that determines how people act and take decisions. The context determines the kind of person you are at each particular time, including the environment, the effect of other persons, your mood, and the whole story that led up to a situation.

Personas do not account for this variability in their attempt to simplify reality; instead, they present a user as a fixed set of features. Like personality tests, personas snatch people away from real life. Even worse, people are labeled as” that kind of person” with no means to exercise their innate flexibility. This behavior lowers diversity, reinforces stereotypes, and doesn’t reflect reality.

Personas focus on individuals, not the environment

In the real world, you’re creating content for a situation, not an individual. There are environmental, political, and social factors to consider when a person lives in a family, a community, or an ecosystem. A design is never meant for a single user. Instead, you create a design for one or more specific situations where a large number of people might use that product. However, personal experiences don’t explicitly describe how a user feels about the environment. Instead, they show the user only.

Would you always make the same decision over and over again? Possibly you’ve made a commitment to veganism but still want to buy some meat when your relatives visit. Your decisions, including your behavior, opinions, and statements, are not only completely accurate but highly contextual because they vary with various circumstances and variables. The persona that “represents” you wouldn’t take into account this dependency, because it doesn’t specify the premises of your decisions. It doesn’t provide a justification for why you act in the way you do. People practice the well-known attribution error, which states that they too often attribute others ‘ behavior to their personalities and not to the circumstances.

As mentioned by the Interaction Design Foundation, personas are usually placed in a scenario that’s a” specific context with a problem they want to or have to solve “—does that mean context actually is considered? Unfortunately, what frequently occurs is that you choose a fictional character to play with a particular circumstance based on the fiction. How could you possibly comprehend how someone you want to represent behave in new circumstances given that you haven’t even fully investigated and understood the current context of the people you want to represent?

Personas are meaningless averages

A persona is depicted as a specific person in Shlomo Goltz’s introduction to Smashing Magazine, according to Shlomo Goltz’s introduction article. It is instead made up of observations from numerous people. The famous example of the USA Air Force designing planes based on the average of 140 of their pilots ‘ physical dimensions and not a single pilot actually fit within that average seat is a well-known criticism of this aspect of personas.

The same limitation applies to mental aspects of people. Have you ever heard a famous person say something was taken out of context? They uttered my words, but I didn’t mean it that way. The celebrity’s statement was reported literally, but the reporter failed to explain the context around the statement and didn’t describe the non-verbal expressions. The intended purpose was lost as a result. You do the same when you create personas: you collect someone’s statement ( or goal, or need, or emotion ), whose meaning can only be understood if you give its own particular context, and then report it as an isolated finding.

But personas go a step further, extracting a decontextualized finding and joining it with another decontextualized finding from somebody else. The resultant set of findings frequently does not make sense because it is unclear or even contradictory because it lacks the underlying causes for and how that finding came about. It lacks any significance. And the persona doesn’t give you the full background of the person ( s ) to uncover this meaning: you would need to dive into the raw data for each single persona item to find it. What then is the persona’s usefulness?

People’s relatability can be deceiving.

To a certain extent, designers realize that a persona is a lifeless average. Designers invent and add “relatable” details to personas to make them resemble real people in order to overcome this. Nothing better captures the absurdity of this than a phrase from the Interaction Design Foundation:” Add a few fictional personal details to make the persona a realistic character.” In other words, you add non-realism in an attempt to create more realism. Wouldn’t it be much more responsible to emphasize that John is only an abstraction while deliberately obscuring the fact that” John Doe” is an abstract representation of research findings? Let’s say something is artificial, and let’s say it’s that.

It’s the finishing touch of a persona’s decontextualization: after having assumed that people’s personalities are fixed, dismissed the importance of their environment, and hidden meaning by joining isolated, non-generalizable findings, designers invent new context to create ( their own ) meaning. They do so by introducing a number of biases, as with everything they create. As designers, as Designit puts it, we can” contextualize]the persona” based on our experience and reality. We create connections that are familiar to us“. With every new detail added, this practice furthers stereotypes, doesn’t reflect real-world diversity, and gets further away from people’s actual reality.

To conduct effective design research, we must report the actual situation and make it relatable for our audience, so that everyone can use their own empathy and develop their own interpretation and emotional response.

Dynamic Selves: The alternative to personas

What should we do instead if we shouldn’t use personas?

Designit suggested utilizing mindsets rather than personas. Each Mindset is a” spectrum of attitudes and emotional responses that different people have within the same context or life experience”. It challenges designers to avoid becoming fixated on just one person’s way of life. Unfortunately, despite being a step in the right direction, this proposal disregards the fact that people are influenced by how their personality, behavior, and, yes, mindset are shaped by their surroundings. Therefore, Mindsets are also not absolute but change in regard to the situation. What determines a certain Mindset, is the question still unanswered.

Margaret P., the author of the article” Kill Your Personas,” who has argued for the use of persona spectrums that include a range of user abilities, offers an alternative. For example, a visual impairment could be permanent ( blindness ), temporary ( recovery from eye surgery ), or situational (screen glare ). Persona spectrums are very helpful for more inclusive and context-based design because they are based on the understanding that the context is the pattern, not the personality. However, their only drawback is that they have a very functional perspective on users that misses the relatability of a real person taken from within a spectrum.

In developing an alternative to personas, we aim to transform the standard design process to be context-based. Similar to how we previously dealt with people, contexts are generalizable and have patterns that we can identify. How can we identify these patterns, then? How do we ensure truly context-based design?

Understand real people in a variety of contexts

Nothing about reality can be more relatable and inspiring. Therefore, we have to understand real individuals in their multi-faceted contexts, and use this understanding to fuel our design. We refer to this method as Dynamic Selves.

Let’s take a look at how the approach looks based on an illustration of how one of us used it in a recent study that examined Italians ‘ habits around energy consumption. We drafted a design research plan aimed at investigating people’s attitudes toward energy consumption and sustainable behavior, with a focus on smart thermostats.

1. Select the appropriate sample.

When we argue against personas, we’re often challenged with quotes such as” Where are you going to find a single person that encapsulates all the information from one of these advanced personas]? ]” You don’t need to, which is the simple answer. You don’t need to know a lot about everyone to have deep and meaningful insights.

In qualitative research, validity does not derive from quantity but from accurate sampling. You pick the people who best fit the “population” you’re designing for. You can infer how the rest of the population thinks and acts if this sample is chosen wisely and you have a deep understanding of the sampled people. There’s no need to study seven Susans and five Yuriys, one of each will do.

In fifteen different situations, Susan is not necessary. Once you’ve seen her in a few different settings, you’ve grasped Susan’s general scheme of action. Not Susan as an atomic being but Susan in relation to the surrounding environment: how she might act, feel, and think in different situations.

It becomes clear why each person should be portrayed as an individual because each already represents an abstraction of a larger group of people in similar circumstances because each person is representative of a portion of the total population you’re researching. You don’t want to see abstracts of them! These selected people need to be understood and shown in their full expression, remaining in their microcosmos—and if you want to identify patterns you can focus on identifying patterns in contexts.

However, the question persists: how do you choose a representative sample? First of all, you must consider who the target market is for the product or service you are designing. It might be helpful to examine the company’s objectives and strategy, the current customer base, and/or a potential future target audience.

In our example project, we were designing an application for those who own a smart thermostat. Everyone in their home could have a smart thermostat in the future. However, only early adopters currently own one. To build a significant sample, we needed to understand the reason why these early adopters became such. We then recruited by enticing people to explain why and how they obtained a smart thermostat. There were those who had chosen to purchase it, those who had been influenced by others, and those who had discovered it in their homes. So we selected representatives of these three situations, from different age groups and geographical locations, with an equal balance of tech savvy and non-tech savvy participants.

2. Conduct your research

After having chosen and recruited your sample, conduct your research using ethnographic methodologies. This will give you more examples and anecdotes to enrich your qualitative data. Given COVID-19 restrictions, we transformed an internal ethnographic research project into remote family interviews conducted at home and accompanied by diary research for our example project.

To gain an in-depth understanding of attitudes and decision-making trade-offs, the research focus was not limited to the interviewee alone but deliberately included the whole family. Each interviewee would provide a story that would then become much more interesting and precise with the additions made by their spouses, husbands, kids, or occasionally even pets. We also paid attention to the behaviors that came from having relationships with other meaningful people ( such as coworkers or distant relatives ) and the relationships that came from those relationships. This wide research focus allowed us to shape a vivid mental image of dynamic situations with multiple actors.

It is crucial that the research’s scope remain broad enough to cover all potential actors. Therefore, broad research areas with broad questions are typically best defined. Interviews are best set up in a semi-structured way, where follow-up questions will dive into topics mentioned spontaneously by the interviewee. This “plan to be surprised” will allow for the most enlightening findings. One of our participants responded,” My wife doesn’t have the thermostat’s app installed; she uses WhatsApp instead,” when we asked how his family controlled the temperature in the house. If she wants to turn on the heater and she is not home, she will text me. I serve as her thermostat.

3. Analysis: Create the Dynamic Selves

You begin to represent each individual with several Dynamic Selves, each” Self” representing one of the circumstances you have examined throughout the research analysis. A quote serves as the foundation of each Dynamic Self, which is supported by a photo and a few relevant demographics that help to illustrate the larger context. The research findings themselves will show which demographics are relevant to show. The key demographics were family type, number and type of homes owned, economic status, and technological maturity in our case because our research focused on families and their way of life to understand their needs for thermal regulation. We also included the individual’s name and age, but they’re optional; they’ll help the stakeholders transition from personas and allow them to connect multiple actions and contexts to the same person.

To capture exact quotes, interviews need to be video-recorded and notes need to be taken verbatim as much as possible. This is crucial to ensuring that each participant’s various selves are truthful. Photos of the setting and anonymized actors are necessary to create realistic Selves in the case of real-life ethnographic research. Ideally, these photos should come directly from field research, but an evocative and representative image will work, too, as long as it’s realistic and depicts meaningful actions that you associate with your participants. One of our interviewees, for instance, shared a story of his mountain home where he used to spend weekends with his family. Therefore, we depicted him taking a hike with his young daughter.

At the end of the research analysis, we displayed all of the Selves ‘” cards” on a single canvas, categorized by activities. Each card featured a situation with a quote and a distinctive image. Each participant had several cards about themselves.

4. Identify potential designs

You will notice patterns beginning to appear once you have taken all of the main quotes from the interview transcripts and diaries and written them down as self-cards. These patterns will highlight the opportunity areas for new product creation, new functionalities, and new services—for new design.

There was a particularly intriguing insight around the concept of humidity in our example project. We became aware of the importance of humidity monitoring for health and how an environment that is too dry or wet can cause respiratory problems or worsen already existing ones. This highlighted a big opportunity for our client to educate users on this concept and become a health advisor.

Benefits of Dynamic Selves

When you conduct your research using the Dynamic Selves method, you start to notice peculiar social relations, peculiar circumstances that people face, and the consequences of their actions, as well as the fact that people are surrounded by constantly changing environments. In our thermostat project, we have come to know one of the participants, Davide, as a boyfriend, dog-lover, and tech enthusiast.

Davide is a person we might have once referred to as a “tech enthusiast.” However, there are also those who are wealthy or poor who are tech enthusiasts, whether they are single or have families. Their motivations and priorities when deciding to purchase a new thermostat can be opposite according to these different frames.

Once you have fully grasped the underlying causes of Davide’s behavior and have understood them in detail, you can then generalize how he would act in a different circumstance. You can infer what he would think and do in the circumstances ( or scenarios ) you design for using your understanding of him.

The Dynamic Selves approach aims to dismiss the conflicted dual purpose of personas—to summarize and empathize at the same time—by separating your research summary from the people you’re seeking to empathize with. This is crucial because scale affects how we feel about people and how difficult it is to feel empathy for others. We have the deepest sympathy for people who are able to relate to us.

If you take a real person as inspiration for your design, you no longer need to create an artificial character. No more creating new plot devices to “realize” the character, no more implausible biases. This is exactly how this person lives out. In fact, in our experience, personas quickly become nothing more than a name in our priority guides and prototype screens, as we all know that these characters don’t really exist.

Another significant benefit of the Dynamic Selves approach is that it raises the stakes of your work: if you ruin your design, someone you and the team know and have met will suffer the consequences. It might prompt you to check your designs every day and might prevent you from making shortcuts.

And finally, real people in their specific contexts are a better basis for anecdotal storytelling and therefore are more effective in persuasion. Real research documentation is necessary to obtain this result. The circumstances of your design proposals resound in your mind when you encounter Alessandra. Noise, bad ergonomics, lack of light, you name it. I’m afraid that if we choose to use this functionality, she’ll find her life more complicated.

Conclusion

In their article on Mindsets, Designit mentioned that “design thinking tools provide a shortcut to deal with reality’s complexities, but this process of simplification can occasionally flatten out people’s lives into a few general characteristics.” Unfortunately, personas have been culprits in a crime of oversimplification. They fail to account for the complexity of the decision-making processes of our users and don’t take into account the contexts that humans are immersed in.

Design needs to be simplified, not necessarily generalized. You have to look at the research elements that stand out: the sentences that captured your attention, the images that struck you, the sounds that linger. Use those to characterize the person in all of their contexts, and portray them. People and insights both come with a context, but they cannot be removed because it would detract from the context’s meaning.

It’s high time for design to move away from fiction, and embrace reality—in its messy, surprising, and unquantifiable beauty—as our guide and inspiration.

One of the most successful soft knowledge we have at our disposal is the ability to work together to improve our patterns while developing our own abilities and opinions, in whatever form it takes, and whatever it may be called.

Feedback is also one of the most underestimated equipment, and generally by assuming that we’re now great at it, we settle, forgetting that it’s a skill that can be trained, grown, and improved. Bad feedback can lead to conflict on projects, lower confidence, and long-term, undermine trust and teamwork. Quality opinions can be a revolutionary force.

Practicing our knowledge is absolutely a good way to enhance, but the learning gets yet faster when it’s paired with a good base that programs and focuses the exercise. What are some fundamental components of providing effective opinions? And how can suggestions be changed for isolated and distributed workplaces?

On the web, we may discover a long history of sequential suggestions: from the early weeks of open source, script was shared and discussed on email addresses. Developers and sprint masters discuss draw requests, designers make comments on their beloved design tools, and other things.

Design analysis is frequently used as a term for a type of collaborative feedback that is provided to improve our work. So it shares a lot of the rules with comments in public, but it also has some variations.

The information

The content of the feedback serves as the foundation for every effective analysis, so we need to start there. There are many versions that you can use to design your information. This one from Lara Hogan is the one I privately like best because it’s obvious and actionable.

Although this formula is typically used to provide feedback to individuals, it likewise fits really well in a style criticism because it finally addresses some of the main inquiries that we work on: What? Where? Why? How? Imagine that you’re giving some comments about some pattern function that spans several screens, like an onboard movement: there are some pages shown, a stream blueprint, and an outline of the decisions made. You notice a flaw in the situation. You’ll have a mental model that can help you be more precise and effective if you keep the three components of the equation in mind.

Here is a comment that could be given as a part of some feedback, and it might look reasonable at a first glance: it seems to superficially fulfill the elements in the equation. But does it exist?

Not sure about the hierarchy and styles of the buttons; it seems off. Can you change them?

Observation for design feedback also refers to providing a perspective that is as specific as possible, not just by pointing out which portion of the interface your feedback refers to. Do you offer the user’s viewpoint? Your expert perspective? from a business perspective? From the perspective of the project manager? A first-time user’s perspective?

I anticipate that one of these two buttons will go forward and the other will go back when I see them.

Impact is about the why. Just pointing out a UI element might sometimes be enough if the issue may be obvious, but more often than not, you should add an explanation of what you’re pointing out.

I anticipate that one of these two buttons will go forward and the other will go back when I see them. But this is the only screen where this happens, as before we just used a single button and an “×” to close. This seems to be breaking the consistency in the flow.

The question approach is intended to give open guidance by encouraging the designer to think critically while receiving the feedback. Notably, Lara’s equation includes a second approach: request, which instead provides instructions for a particular solution. While that’s a viable option for feedback in general, for design critiques, in my experience, defaulting to the question approach usually reaches the best solutions because designers are generally more comfortable in being given an open space to explore.

For the question approach, the difference between the two can be demonstrated as an illustration:

I anticipate that one of these two buttons will go forward and the other will go back when I see them. But this is the only screen where this happens, as before we just used a single button and an “×” to close. This seems to be breaking the consistency in the flow. Would it make sense to unify them?

Or, for the request approach:

I anticipate that one of these two buttons will go forward and the other will go back when I see them. But this is the only screen where this happens, as before we just used a single button and an “×” to close. This seems to be breaking the consistency in the flow. Let’s make sure that all screens have the same pair of forward and back buttons.

In some situations, it might be helpful to include an additional reason why: why you think the suggestion is better.

I anticipate that one of these two buttons will go forward and the other will go back when I see them. But this is the only screen where this happens, as before we just used a single button and an “×” to close. This seems to be breaking the consistency in the flow. Let’s make sure that all screens have the same two forward and back buttons so that users don’t get confused.

Choosing the question or the request approach may also sometimes be a matter of personal preference. I did rounds of anonymous feedback and I reviewed feedback with other people a while back when I was putting a lot of effort into improving my feedback. After a few rounds of this work and a year later, I got a positive response: my feedback came across as effective and grounded. until I switched companies. Surprise surprise, one particular person gave me a lot of negative feedback. The reason is that I had previously tried not to be prescriptive in my advice—because the people who I was previously working with preferred the open-ended question format over the request style of suggestions. However, there was a person in this other team who had always preferred specific guidance. So I changed my feedback so that it included requests.

One comment that I heard come up a few times is that this kind of feedback is quite long, and it doesn’t seem very efficient. No, but also yes. Let’s look at both sides.

No, this style of feedback is actually efficient because the length here is a byproduct of clarity, and spending time giving this kind of feedback can provide exactly enough information for a good fix. Additionally, if we zoom out, it may lessen misunderstandings and back-and-forth conversations in the future, thereby increasing overall effectiveness and efficiency of collaboration beyond the single comment. Consider the following example:” Let’s make sure that all screens have the same two forward and back buttons” instead. The designer receiving this feedback wouldn’t have much to go by, so they might just apply the change. The interface might change in later iterations or they might add new features, and perhaps that change no longer makes sense. Without explaining the why, the designer might assume that the change is one of consistency, but what if it wasn’t? So there could now be an underlying concern that changing the buttons would be perceived as a regression.

Yes, this type of feedback is not always effective because some comments don’t always need to be thorough, some times because some changes are made because they don’t always follow our instructions, and others because the team may have extensive internal knowledge, which makes some of the whys possible be implied.

Therefore, the equation above is intended to serve as a mnemonic to reflect and enhance the practice rather than a strict template for feedback. Even after years of active work on my critiques, I still from time to time go back to this formula and reflect on whether what I just wrote is effective.

The atmosphere

The foundation of feedback is well-rounded content, but that’s not really enough. The soft skills of the person who’s providing the critique can multiply the likelihood that the feedback will be well received and understood. It has been demonstrated that only positive feedback can lead to sustained change in people, and tone alone can determine whether content is rejected or welcomed.

Tone is crucial to work on because our goal is to be understood and to have a positive working environment. Over the years, I’ve tried to summarize the required soft skills in a formula that mirrors the one for content: the receptivity equation.

Respectful feedback comes across as constructive, solid, and grounded. It’s the kind of feedback that is viewed as useful and fair, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative.

Timing refers to when the feedback happens. If given at the wrong time, to-the-point feedback has little chance of receiving well. When a new feature’s entire high-level information architecture is about to go live, it might still be relevant if the questioning raises a significant blocker that no one saw, but those concerns are much more likely to have to wait for a later revision. So in general, attune your feedback to the stage of the project. Early iteration? Iteration that was later? Polishing work in progress? Each of these needs a different one. The ideal setting will increase the likelihood that your feedback will be appreciated.

Attitude is the equivalent of intent, and in the context of person-to-person feedback, it can be referred to as radical candor. That entails checking whether what we have in mind will actually help the person and improve the overall project before writing. Sometimes it might be difficult to reflect on this because we might not want to admit our deep appreciation for that person. Hopefully that’s not the case, but that can happen, and that’s okay. How would I write if I really cared about them? Acknowledging that and owning that can help you make up for it. How can I stop being a passive tyrant? How can I be more constructive?

Form is important because having great content, perfect timing, and the right attitude might not be effective if our writing is interpreted as misunderstandings, especially in diverse and cross-cultural workplaces. There could be many reasons for this, including the fact that occasionally certain words may cause specific reactions, that nonnative speakers may not be able to comprehend all thenuances of some sentences, that our brains may be different and that our world may be perceived differently; hence, neurodiversity must be taken into account. Whatever the reason, it’s important to review not just what we write but how.

A few years ago, I asked for some suggestions for how to give feedback. I was given some sound advice, but I also got a surprise comment. They pointed out that when I wrote” Oh, ]… ]”, I made them feel stupid. That’s not what I meant to say! I just realized that I had been giving them feedback for months and that I had always made them feel foolish. I was horrified … but also thankful. I quickly changed my situation by adding “oh” to my list of replaced words (your choice between aText, TextExpander, or others ) so that when I typed “oh,” it was immediately deleted.

Something to keep in mind because it’s quite common, especially in teams with a strong group spirit, is that people frequently beat around the bush. It’s important to remember here that a positive attitude doesn’t mean going light on the feedback—it just means that even when you provide hard, difficult, or challenging feedback, you do so in a way that’s respectful and constructive. You can help someone grow the best way you can.

Giving feedback in written form can be reviewed by someone else who isn’t directly involved, which can help to reduce or eliminate any bias that might exist. I found that the best, most insightful moments for me have happened when I’ve shared a comment and I’ve asked someone who I highly trusted,” How does this sound”?,” How can I do it better”, and even” How would you have written it” ?—and I’ve learned a lot by seeing the two versions side by side.

The format

Asynchronous feedback also has a significant inherent benefit: it allows us to spend more time making sure that the suggestions ‘ clarity and actionability meet two main objectives.

Let’s imagine that someone shared a design iteration for a project. You are re-reading it and leaving a comment. There are many ways to accomplish this, and context is of course important, but let’s try to think about some things that might be worthwhile to take into account.

In terms of clarity, start by grounding the critique that you’re about to give by providing context. This includes specifically describing where you’re coming from: do you know the project well, or do you just see it for the first time? Are you bringing in a high-level perspective, or are you just learning the ins and outs? Are there regressions? Which user’s point of view are you addressing when offering feedback? Is the design iteration ready to ship this, or are important issues still to be addressed first?

Providing context is helpful even if you’re sharing feedback within a team that already has some information on the project. And context is absolutely necessary when providing cross-team feedback. If I were to review a design that might be directly connected to my work, I would say that, underlining my opinion as external, and if I had no idea how the project came to that conclusion.

We often focus on the negatives, trying to outline all the things that could be done better. That’s obviously important, but it’s even more crucial to concentrate on the positive aspects, especially if you saw improvement in the previous iteration. Although this may seem superfluous, it’s important to keep in mind that design is a field with hundreds of possible solutions to each problem. So pointing out that the design solution that was chosen is good and explaining why it’s good has two major benefits: it confirms that the approach taken was solid, and it helps to ground your negative feedback. Sharing positive feedback can help prevent regressions in the long run because those things will have been identified as crucial. Positive feedback can also help, as an added bonus, prevent impostor syndrome.

There’s one powerful approach that combines both context and a focus on the positives: frame how the design is better than the status quo ( compared to a previous iteration, competitors, or benchmarks ) and why, and then on that foundation, you can add what could be improved. There is a significant difference between a critique of a design that is already in good shape and one that isn’t quite there yet.

Depersonalizing your feedback is another way to make it better: it should never be about the creator of the piece of art. It’s” This button isn’t well aligned” versus” You haven’t aligned this button well”. Just before sending, review your writing to make changes to this.

One of the best ways to assist the designer who is reading through your feedback in terms of actionability is to divide it into bullet points or paragraphs, which are simpler to review and analyze one by one. For longer pieces of feedback, you might also consider splitting it into sections or even across multiple comments. Of course, it’s also possible to include screenshots or indicators for the specific area of the interface you’re referring to.

I’ve personally used emojis to enhance the bullet points in some situations. So a red square � � means that it’s something that I consider blocking, a yellow diamond � � is something that I can be convinced otherwise, but it seems to me that it should be changed, and a green circle � � is a detailed, positive confirmation. A blue spiral is also used for either an exploration, an open alternative, or just a note for something I’m not sure about. However, I’d only use this strategy on teams where I’ve already established a high level of trust because it might turn out to be quite demoralizing if I deliver a lot of red squares, and I’d have to reframe how I’d communicate that.

Let’s see how this would work by reusing the example that we used earlier as the first bullet point in this list:

• 🔶 Navigation—I anticipate that one of these two buttons will go forward and the other will go back when I see them. But this is the only screen where this happens, as before we just used a single button and an “×” to close. This seems to be breaking the consistency in the flow. Let’s make sure that all screens have the same two forward and back buttons so that users don’t get confused.
• Overall, I believe the page is strong, and this is a good candidate for our release candidate for a version 1. 1.0.
• � � Metrics—Good improvement in the buttons on the metrics area, the improved contrast and new focus style make them more accessible.
• Button Style: Using the green accent in this context gives the impression that it’s a positive action because green is typically seen as a confirmation color. Do we need to look for a different shade?
• 🔶Tiles—Given the number of items on the page, and the overall page hierarchy, it seems to me that the tiles shouldn’t be using the Subtitle 1 style but the Subtitle 2 style. This will maintain consistency in the visual hierarchy.
• Background: Using a light texture is effective, but I’m not sure if doing so will cause too much noise on this kind of page. What is the thinking in using that?

What about using Figma or another design tool that allows in-place feedback to provide feedback directly in Figma? These are generally difficult to use because they conceal discussions and are harder to follow, but in the right setting, they can be very effective. Just make sure that each of the comments is separate so that it’s easier to match each discussion to a single task, similar to the idea of splitting mentioned above.

One last word: avoid the obvious. Sometimes we might feel that something is clearly right or wrong, and we don’t say it. Or sometimes we might have a doubt that we don’t express because the question might sound stupid. Say it, that’s fine. Don’t hold it back, though. You might have to reword it a little to make the reader feel more at ease. Good feedback is transparent, even when it may be obvious.

Another benefit of asynchronous feedback is that written feedback automatically monitors decisions. Why did we do this, especially in large projects? could be a question that pops up from time to time, and there’s nothing better than open, transparent discussions that can be reviewed at any time. I advise using software to prevent these discussions from being hidden after they have been resolved for this reason.

Content, tone, and format are all present. Each one of these subjects provides a useful model, but working to improve eight areas—observation, impact, question, timing, attitude, form, clarity, and actionability—is a lot of work to put in all at once. One effective way to approach them is to start with the area you lack the most, either from your point of view or from other people’s feedback. Then the second, followed by the third, and so on. At first you’ll have to put in extra time for every piece of feedback that you give, but after a while, it’ll become second nature, and your impact on the work will multiply.

Thanks to Mike Shelton and Brie Anne Demkiw for their contributions to the initial draft of this article.

Are you like me, reading about people fading away as they burn out, and feeling unable to relate? Do you feel like your feelings are invisible to the world because you’re experiencing burnout differently? When burnout starts to push down on us, our core comes through more. Beautiful, peaceful souls get quieter and fade into that distant and distracted burnout we’ve all read about. But some of us, those with fires always burning on the edges of our core, get hotter. In my heart I am fire. When I face burnout I double down, triple down, burning hotter and hotter to try to best the challenge. I don’t fade—I am engulfed in a zealous burnout. 

So what on earth is a zealous burnout?

Imagine a woman determined to do it all. She has two amazing children whom she, along with her husband who is also working remotely, is homeschooling during a pandemic. She has a demanding client load at work—all of whom she loves. She gets up early to get some movement in (or often catch up on work), does dinner prep as the kids are eating breakfast, and gets to work while positioning herself near “fourth grade” to listen in as she juggles clients, tasks, and budgets. Sound like a lot? Even with a supportive team both at home and at work, it is. 

Sounds like this woman has too much on her plate and needs self-care. But no, she doesn’t have time for that. In fact, she starts to feel like she’s dropping balls. Not accomplishing enough. There’s not enough of her to be here and there; she is trying to divide her mind in two all the time, all day, every day. She starts to doubt herself. And as those feelings creep in more and more, her internal narrative becomes more and more critical.

Suddenly she KNOWS what she needs to do! She should DO MORE. 

This is a hard and dangerous cycle. Know why? Because once she doesn’t finish that new goal, that narrative will get worse. Suddenly she’s failing. She isn’t doing enough. SHE is not enough. She might fail, she might fail her family…so she’ll find more she should do. She doesn’t sleep as much, move as much, all in the efforts to do more. Caught in this cycle of trying to prove herself to herself, never reaching any goal. Never feeling “enough.” 

So, yeah, that’s what zealous burnout looks like for me. It doesn’t happen overnight in some grand gesture but instead slowly builds over weeks and months. My burning out process looks like speeding up, not a person losing focus. I speed up and up and up…and then I just stop.

I am the one who could

It’s funny the things that shape us. Through the lens of childhood, I viewed the fears, struggles, and sacrifices of someone who had to make it all work without having enough. I was lucky that my mother was so resourceful and my father supportive; I never went without and even got an extra here or there. 

Growing up, I did not feel shame when my mother paid with food stamps; in fact, I’d have likely taken on any debate on the topic, verbally eviscerating anyone who dared to criticize the disabled woman trying to make sure all our needs were met with so little. As a child, I watched the way the fear of not making those ends meet impacted people I love. As the non-disabled person in my home, I would take on many of the physical tasks because I was “the one who could” make our lives a little easier. I learned early to associate fears or uncertainty with putting more of myself into it—I am the one who can. I learned early that when something frightens me, I can double down and work harder to make it better. I can own the challenge. When people have seen this in me as an adult, I’ve been told I seem fearless, but make no mistake, I’m not. If I seem fearless, it’s because this behavior was forged from other people’s fears. 

And here I am, more than 30 years later still feeling the urge to mindlessly push myself forward when faced with overwhelming tasks ahead of me, assuming that I am the one who can and therefore should. I find myself driven to prove that I can make things happen if I work longer hours, take on more responsibility, and do more. 

I do not see people who struggle financially as failures, because I have seen how strong that tide can be—it pulls you along the way. I truly get that I have been privileged to be able to avoid many of the challenges that were present in my youth. That said, I am still “the one who can” who feels she should, so if I were faced with not having enough to make ends meet for my own family, I would see myself as having failed. Though I am supported and educated, most of this is due to good fortune. I will, however, allow myself the arrogance of saying I have been careful with my choices to have encouraged that luck. My identity stems from the idea that I am “the one who can” so therefore feel obligated to do the most. I can choose to stop, and with some quite literal cold water splashed in my face, I’ve made the choice to before. But that choosing to stop is not my go-to; I move forward, driven by a fear that is so a part of me that I barely notice it’s there until I’m feeling utterly worn away.

So why all the history? You see, burnout is a fickle thing. I have heard and read a lot about burnout over the years. Burnout is real. Especially now, with COVID, many of us are balancing more than we ever have before—all at once! It’s hard, and the procrastinating, the avoidance, the shutting down impacts so many amazing professionals. There are important articles that relate to what I imagine must be the majority of people out there, but not me. That’s not what my burnout looks like.

The dangerous invisibility of zealous burnout

A lot of work environments see the extra hours, extra effort, and overall focused commitment as an asset (and sometimes that’s all it is). They see someone trying to rise to challenges, not someone stuck in their fear. Many well-meaning organizations have safeguards in place to protect their teams from burnout. But in cases like this, those alarms are not always tripped, and then when the inevitable stop comes, some members of the organization feel surprised and disappointed. And sometimes maybe even betrayed. 

Parents—more so mothers, statistically speaking—are praised as being so on top of it all when they can work, be involved in the after-school activities, practice self-care in the form of diet and exercise, and still meet friends for coffee or wine. During COVID many of us have binged countless streaming episodes showing how it’s so hard for the female protagonist, but she is strong and funny and can do it. It’s a “very special episode” when she breaks down, cries in the bathroom, woefully admits she needs help, and just stops for a bit. Truth is, countless people are hiding their tears or are doom-scrolling to escape. We know that the media is a lie to amuse us, but often the perception that it’s what we should strive for has penetrated much of society.

Women and burnout

I love men. And though I don’t love every man (heads up, I don’t love every woman or nonbinary person either), I think there is a beautiful spectrum of individuals who represent that particular binary gender. 

That said, women are still more often at risk of burnout than their male counterparts, especially in these COVID stressed times. Mothers in the workplace feel the pressure to do all the “mom” things while giving 110%. Mothers not in the workplace feel they need to do more to “justify” their lack of traditional employment. Women who are not mothers often feel the need to do even more because they don’t have that extra pressure at home. It’s vicious and systemic and so a part of our culture that we’re often not even aware of the enormity of the pressures we put on ourselves and each other. 

And there are prices beyond happiness too. Harvard Health Publishing released a study a decade ago that “uncovered strong links between women’s job stress and cardiovascular disease.” The CDC noted, “Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing 299,578 women in 2017—or about 1 in every 5 female deaths.” 

This relationship between work stress and health, from what I have read, is more dangerous for women than it is for their non-female counterparts.

But what if your burnout isn’t like that either?

That might not be you either. After all, each of us is so different and how we respond to stressors is too. It’s part of what makes us human. Don’t stress what burnout looks like, just learn to recognize it in yourself. Here are a few questions I sometimes ask friends if I am concerned about them.

Are you happy? This simple question should be the first thing you ask yourself. Chances are, even if you’re burning out doing all the things you love, as you approach burnout you’ll just stop taking as much joy from it all.

Do you feel empowered to say no? I have observed in myself and others that when someone is burning out, they no longer feel they can say no to things. Even those who don’t “speed up” feel pressure to say yes to not disappoint the people around them.

What are three things you’ve done for yourself? Another observance is that we all tend to stop doing things for ourselves. Anything from skipping showers and eating poorly to avoiding talking to friends. These can be red flags. 

Are you making excuses? Many of us try to disregard feelings of burnout. Over and over I have heard, “It’s just crunch time,” “As soon as I do this one thing, it will all be better,” and “Well I should be able to handle this, so I’ll figure it out.” And it might really be crunch time, a single goal, and/or a skill set you need to learn. That happens—life happens. BUT if this doesn’t stop, be honest with yourself. If you’ve worked more 50-hour weeks since January than not, maybe it’s not crunch time—maybe it’s a bad situation that you’re burning out from.

Do you have a plan to stop feeling this way? If something is truly temporary and you do need to just push through, then it has an exit route with a
defined end.

Take the time to listen to yourself as you would a friend. Be honest, allow yourself to be uncomfortable, and break the thought cycles that prevent you from healing. 

So now what?

What I just described is a different path to burnout, but it’s still burnout. There are well-established approaches to working through burnout:

• Get enough sleep.
• Eat healthy.
• Work out.
• Get outside.
• Take a break.
• Overall, practice self-care.

Those are hard for me because they feel like more tasks. If I’m in the burnout cycle, doing any of the above for me feels like a waste. The narrative is that if I’m already failing, why would I take care of myself when I’m dropping all those other balls? People need me, right? 

If you’re deep in the cycle, your inner voice might be pretty awful by now. If you need to, tell yourself you need to take care of the person your people depend on. If your roles are pushing you toward burnout, use them to help make healing easier by justifying the time spent working on you. 

To help remind myself of the airline attendant message about putting the mask on yourself first, I have come up with a few things that I do when I start feeling myself going into a zealous burnout.

Cook an elaborate meal for someone! 

OK, I am a “food-focused” individual so cooking for someone is always my go-to. There are countless tales in my home of someone walking into the kitchen and turning right around and walking out when they noticed I was “chopping angrily.” But it’s more than that, and you should give it a try. Seriously. It’s the perfect go-to if you don’t feel worthy of taking time for yourself—do it for someone else. Most of us work in a digital world, so cooking can fill all of your senses and force you to be in the moment with all the ways you perceive the world. It can break you out of your head and help you gain a better perspective. In my house, I’ve been known to pick a place on the map and cook food that comes from wherever that is (thank you, Pinterest). I love cooking Indian food, as the smells are warm, the bread needs just enough kneading to keep my hands busy, and the process takes real attention for me because it’s not what I was brought up making. And in the end, we all win!

Vent like a foul-mouthed fool

Be careful with this one! 

I have been making an effort to practice more gratitude over the past few years, and I recognize the true benefits of that. That said, sometimes you just gotta let it all out—even the ugly. Hell, I’m a big fan of not sugarcoating our lives, and that sometimes means that to get past the big pile of poop, you’re gonna wanna complain about it a bit. 

When that is what’s needed, turn to a trusted friend and allow yourself some pure verbal diarrhea, saying all the things that are bothering you. You need to trust this friend not to judge, to see your pain, and, most importantly, to tell you to remove your cranium from your own rectal cavity. Seriously, it’s about getting a reality check here! One of the things I admire the most about my husband (though often after the fact) is his ability to break things down to their simplest. “We’re spending our lives together, of course you’re going to disappoint me from time to time, so get over it” has been his way of speaking his dedication, love, and acceptance of me—and I could not be more grateful. It also, of course, has meant that I needed to remove my head from that rectal cavity. So, again, usually those moments are appreciated in hindsight.

Pick up a book! 

There are many books out there that aren’t so much self-help as they are people just like you sharing their stories and how they’ve come to find greater balance. Maybe you’ll find something that speaks to you. Titles that have stood out to me include:

• Thrive by Arianna Huffington
• Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
• Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis
• Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

Or, another tactic I love to employ is to read or listen to a book that has NOTHING to do with my work-life balance. I’ve read the following books and found they helped balance me out because my mind was pondering their interesting topics instead of running in circles:

• The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart
• Superlife by Darin Olien
• A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived by Adam Rutherford
• Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway 

If you’re not into reading, pick up a topic on YouTube or choose a podcast to subscribe to. I’ve watched countless permaculture and gardening topics in addition to how to raise chickens and ducks. For the record, I do not have a particularly large food garden, nor do I own livestock of any kind…yet. I just find the topic interesting, and it has nothing to do with any aspect of my life that needs anything from me.

Forgive yourself 

You are never going to be perfect—hell, it would be boring if you were. It’s OK to be broken and flawed. It’s human to be tired and sad and worried. It’s OK to not do it all. It’s scary to be imperfect, but you cannot be brave if nothing were scary.

This last one is the most important: allow yourself permission to NOT do it all. You never promised to be everything to everyone at all times. We are more powerful than the fears that drive us. 

This is hard. It is hard for me. It’s what’s driven me to write this—that it’s OK to stop. It’s OK that your unhealthy habit that might even benefit those around you needs to end. You can still be successful in life.

I recently read that we are all writing our eulogy in how we live. Knowing that your professional accomplishments won’t be mentioned in that speech, what will yours say? What do you want it to say? 

Look, I get that none of these ideas will “fix it,” and that’s not their purpose. None of us are in control of our surroundings, only how we respond to them. These suggestions are to help stop the spiral effect so that you are empowered to address the underlying issues and choose your response. They are things that work for me most of the time. Maybe they’ll work for you.

Does this sound familiar? 

If this sounds familiar, it’s not just you. Don’t let your negative self-talk tell you that you “even burn out wrong.” It’s not wrong. Even if rooted in fear like my own drivers, I believe that this need to do more comes from a place of love, determination, motivation, and other wonderful attributes that make you the amazing person you are. We’re going to be OK, ya know. The lives that unfold before us might never look like that story in our head—that idea of “perfect” or “done” we’re looking for, but that’s OK. Really, when we stop and look around, usually the only eyes that judge us are in the mirror. 

Do you remember that Winnie the Pooh sketch that had Pooh eat so much at Rabbit’s house that his buttocks couldn’t fit through the door? Well, I already associate a lot with Rabbit, so it came as no surprise when he abruptly declared that this was unacceptable. But do you recall what happened next? He put a shelf across poor Pooh’s ankles and decorations on his back, and made the best of the big butt in his kitchen. 

At the end of the day we are resourceful and know that we are able to push ourselves if we need to—even when we are tired to our core or have a big butt of fluff ‘n’ stuff in our room. None of us has to be afraid, as we can manage any obstacle put in front of us. And maybe that means we will need to redefine success to allow space for being uncomfortably human, but that doesn’t really sound so bad either. 

So, wherever you are right now, please breathe. Do what you need to do to get out of your head. Forgive and take care.

We’ve been conversing for many thousands of years. Whether to present information, perform transactions, or just to check in on one another, people have yammered aside, chattering and gesticulating, through spoken discussion for many generations. Only recently have we begun to write our conversations, and only recently have we outsourced them to the system, a system that exhibits a far greater affection for written communications than for the vernacular rigors of spoken speech.

Laptops have issues because conversation is more important than written language, between spoken and written. To have productive conversations with us, machines may struggle with the messiness of mortal speech: the disfluencies and pauses, the gestures and body language, and the variations in word choice and spoken dialect that is stymie even the most carefully crafted human-computer interaction. Speaking English also has the advantage of face-to-face contact, which enables us to view visual social cues in the human-to-human scenario.

In contrast, written language develops its own fossil record of dated terms and phrases as we report it and retain utilization long after they are no longer relevant in spoken communication ( for example, the welcome” To whom it may concern” ). Because it tends to be more consistent, smooth, and proper, written word is necessarily far easier for devices to interpret and know.

Spoken language is not a pleasure in this regard. There are verbal cues and vociferous behaviors that mimic conversation in nuanced ways, including how something is said, never what. These are also included in conversational cues that emphasize and enhance emotional context. Whether rapid-fire, low-pitched, or high-decibel, whether satirical, awkward, or groaning, our spoken speech conveys much more than the written word had ever muster. But as designers and content strategists, we face exciting challenges when it comes to voice interfaces, the machines we use to perform spoken conversations.

Voice-to-text relations

We interact with voice interfaces for a variety of reasons, but according to Michael McTear, Zoraida Callejas, and David Griol in The Conversational Interface, those motivations by and large mirror the reasons we initiate conversations with other people, too ( ). We typically strike up a dialogue as a result:

• we require something to be done ( such as a transaction ),
• we want to know something ( information of some sort ), or
• We are sociable creatures, and we need a talk partner.

These three categories, which I refer to as interpersonal, technical, and prosocial, also apply to virtually every voice interaction: a solitary conversation that begins with the voice interface’s initial greeting and ends with the user leaving the interface. Notice here that a discussion in our individual sense—a talk between people that leads to some result and lasts an arbitrary length of time—could encompass many interpersonal, technical, and interpersonal voice interactions in succession. In other words, a voice interaction is a conversation, but it is not always just one voice interaction.

Most voice interfaces are more gimmicky than captivating in pure prosocial conversations because most people find it difficult to trust their machines to actually understand how we’re doing and to give them the kind of glad-handing we crave. There’s also ongoing debate as to whether users actually prefer the sort of organic human conversation that begins with a prosocial voice interaction and shifts seamlessly into other types. In Voice User Interface Design, Michael Cohen, James Giangola, and Jennifer Balogh advise sticking to user expectations by imitating how they interact with other voice interfaces rather than trying too hard to be human, which could lead to alienation ( ).

That leaves two different types of conversations we can have with one another that a voice interface can also have easily, such as one that focuses on a transactional voice interaction ( buying iced tea ) and another on learning something new ( discuss a musical ).

Transactional voice interactions

When you order a Hawaiian pizza with extra pineapple, you’re typically having a conversation and a voice interaction when you’re tapping buttons on a food delivery app. The conversation quickly shifts from a brief smattering of neighborly small talk to ordering a pizza ( generously topped with pineapple, as it should be ) when we walk up to the counter and place an order.

Alison: Hey, how’s it going?

Burhan: Hello and welcome to Crust Deluxe! It’s chilly outside. How can I help you?

Alison, can I get a pineapple-onion pizza in Hawaii?

Burhan: Yes, but what size?

Alison: Large.

Burhan: Anything else?

Alison: No, that’s it.

Burhan: Something to drink?

I’ll have a bottle of Coke, Alison.

Burhan: You know it. That’ll be$ 13.55 and about fifteen minutes.

A service rendered or a product delivered: each progressive disclosure in this transactional conversation reveals more and more of the desired outcome of the transaction. Conversations that are transactional have certain characteristics: they are direct, concise, and cost-effective. They quickly dispense with pleasantries.

Informational voice interactions

In the meantime, some conversations are primarily about getting information. Though Alison might visit Crust Deluxe with the sole purpose of placing an order, she might not actually want to walk out with a pizza at all. She might be interested in trying kosher or halal dishes, trying gluten-free dishes, or something else entirely. Even though we have a prosocial mini-conversation once more at the beginning to practice politeness, we are after much more.

Alison: Hey, how’s it going?

Burhan: Hello and welcome to Crust Deluxe! It’s chilly outside. How can I help you?

Alison: Can I ask a few questions?

Burhan: Of course! Continue straight ahead.

Alison: Do you have any halal options on the menu?

Burhan: Totally! On request, we can make any pie halal. We also have lots of vegetarian, ovo-lacto, and vegan options. Do you have any other dietary restrictions in mind?

Alison, what about pizzas that are gluten-free?

Burhan: We can definitely do a gluten-free crust for you, no problem, for both our deep-dish and thin-crust pizzas. Anything else I can say to you to help?

Alison: That’s it for the moment. Good to know. Thank you!

Burhan: Anytime, come back soon!

This is a very different dialogue. Here, the goal is to obtain a particular set of facts. Informational conversations are research expeditions to gather data, news, or facts, or they are investigative quests for the truth. Voice interactions that are informational might be more long-winded than transactional conversations by necessity. In order for the customer to understand the key takeaways, responses are typically longer, more in-depth, and carefully communicated.

Voice Interfaces

At their core, voice interfaces employ speech to support users in reaching their goals. However, just because an interface has a voice component doesn’t mean that every user interaction with it is mediated through voice. We’re most concerned with pure voice interfaces, which are completely dependent on spoken conversation and lack any visual component, making them much more nuanced and challenging to deal with because multimodal voice interfaces can lean on visual components like screens as crutches.

Though voice interfaces have long been integral to the imagined future of humanity in science fiction, only recently have those lofty visions become fully realized in genuine voice interfaces.

IVR ( interactive voice response ) systems

Written conversational interfaces have been used for computing for many years, but voice interfaces first started to appear in the early 1990s with text-to-speech ( TTS ) dictation programs that recited written text aloud and speech-enabled in-car systems that gave directions to a user-provided address. With the advent of interactive voice response ( IVR ) systems, intended as an alternative to overburdened customer service representatives, we became acquainted with the first true voice interfaces that engaged in authentic conversation.

IVR systems made it easier for businesses to cut down on call centers, but they soon gained notoriety for their clunkiness. These systems, which are commonplace in the corporate world, were primarily intended as metaphorical switchboards to direct customers to real phone agents (” Say Reservations to book a flight or check an itinerary” ), and it is likely that when you call an airline or hotel conglomerate, you will have the opportunity to have a conversation with one. Despite their functional issues and users ‘ frustration with their inability to speak to an actual human right away, IVR systems proliferated in the early 1990s across a variety of industries (, PDF).

IVR systems have a reputation for having less scintillating conversations than we’re used to in real life ( or even in science fiction ), despite being extremely repetitive and monotonous conversations that typically don’t veer from a single format.

Screen readers are the norm

Parallel to the evolution of IVR systems was the invention of the screen reader, a tool that transcribes visual content into synthesized speech. For Blind or visually impaired website users, it’s the predominant method of interacting with text, multimedia, or form elements. Screen readers are the norm represent perhaps the closest equivalent we have today to an out-of-the-box implementation of content delivered through voice.

Among the first screen readers known by that moniker was the Screen Reader for the BBC Micro and NEEC Portable developed by the Research Centre for the Education of the Visually Handicapped (RCEVH) at the University of Birmingham in 1986 ( ). In the same year, Jim Thatcher created the first IBM Screen Reader for text-based computers, which was later reworked for computers with graphical user interfaces ( GUIs ) ( ).

The demand for accessible website tools exploded as a result of the web’s explosive growth in the 1990s. Thanks to the introduction of semantic HTML and especially ARIA roles beginning in 2008, screen readers started facilitating speedy interactions with web pages that ostensibly allow disabled users to traverse the page as an aural and temporal space rather than a visual and physical one. Screen readers for the web, in other words, “provide mechanisms that translate visual design constructs—proximity, proportion, etc.. —into useful information,” according to Aaron Gustafson in A List Apart. ” At least they do when documents are authored thoughtfully” ( ).

Although incredibly instructive for voice interface designers, screen readers have a major flaw: they’re challenging to use and consistently verbose. Sometimes awkward pronouncements that name every manipulable HTML element and announce every formatting change are made because the visual structures of websites and web navigation don’t translate well to screen readers. For many screen reader users, working with web-based interfaces exacts a cognitive toll.

Chris Maury, an advocate for voice quality and voice engineer, examines why the screen reader experience is not appropriate for users who rely on voice in Wired:

I hated the way Screen Readers operated from the beginning. Why are they designed the way they are? It makes no sense to present information visually and then only to have that information translated into audio. All the time and effort put into creating the ideal user experience for an app is wasted, or worse, it has a negative effect on blind users ‘ experience. ( ) _ _ _

Well-designed voice interfaces can often be more effective than long-winded screen reader monologues in guiding users to their destination. After all, users of the visual interface have the advantage of freely scurrying around the viewport to find information without worrying about it. Blind users, meanwhile, are obligated to listen to every utterance synthesized into speech and therefore prize brevity and efficiency. Users with disabilities who have long had no choice but to use clumsy screen readers might benefit from more streamlined user interfaces, especially more advanced voice assistants.

Voice-overseers

When we think of voice assistants (the subset of voice interfaces now commonplace in living rooms, smart homes, and offices), many of us immediately picture HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey or hear Majel Barrett’s voice as the omniscient computer in Star Trek. Voice-overseers are akin to personal concierges that can answer questions, schedule appointments, conduct searches, and perform other common day-to-day tasks. And they’re rapidly gaining more attention from accessibility advocates for their assistive potential.

Before the earliest IVR systems found success in the enterprise, Apple published a demonstration video in 1987 depicting the Knowledge Navigator, a voice assistant that could transcribe spoken words and recognize human speech to a great degree of accuracy. Then, in 2001, Tim Berners-Lee and others created their vision for a Semantic Web “agent” that would carry out routine tasks like” checking calendars, making appointments, and finding locations” (, behind paywall ). Apple’s Siri only became a reality until 2011 when it finally made voice assistants a reality for consumers.

Thanks to the plethora of voice assistants available today, there is considerable variation in how programmable and customizable certain voice assistants are over others ( Fig 1.1 ). At one extreme, everything but vendor-provided features are locked down. For instance, when Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana were released, they couldn’t extend their existing capabilities. There are no other means by which developers can interact with Siri at a low level, aside from predefined categories of tasks like sending messages, hailing rideshares, making restaurant reservations, and other things, which are still unavoidable today.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home offer a core foundation on which developers can build custom voice interfaces. For this reason, developers who feel stifled by the limitations of Siri and Cortana are increasingly using programmable voice assistants that allow for customization and extensibility. Google Home enables arbitrary Google Assistant skills generation, while Amazon offers the Alexa Skills Kit, a developer framework for creating custom voice interfaces for Amazon Alexa. Today, users can choose from among thousands of custom-built skills within both the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant ecosystems.

As businesses like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google continue to occupy their positions, they are also selling and open-sourcing an unheard array of tools and frameworks for designers and developers, aiming to make creating voice interfaces as simple as possible, even without code.

Often by necessity, voice assistants like Amazon Alexa tend to be monochannel—they’re tightly coupled to a device and can’t be accessed on a computer or smartphone instead. In contrast, many development platforms, such as Google’s Dialogflow, have omnichannel capabilities that allow users to create a single conversational interface that then manifests as a voice interface, textual chatbot, and IVR system upon deployment. In this design-focused book, I don’t recommend any particular implementation strategies, but in Chapter 4 we’ll discuss some of the possible effects that these variables might have on how you construct your design artifacts.

Voice Content

Simply put, voice content is voice-transmitted content. Voice content must be free-flowing, organic, contextless, and concise in order to preserve what makes human conversation so compelling in the first place.

Our world is replete with voice content in various forms: screen readers reciting website content, voice assistants rattling off a weather forecast, and automated phone hotline responses governed by IVR systems. We’re most concerned with the content in this book being delivered auditorically, not as an option but as a necessity.

Our initial foray into informational voice interfaces will likely be to provide user content, for many of us. There’s only one problem: any content we already have isn’t in any way ready for this new habitat. So how can we make the content on our websites more conversational? And how do we create fresh copy that works with voice-recognition?

Lately, we’ve begun slicing and dicing our content in unprecedented ways. Websites are, in many ways, massive vaults of what I call macrocontent: lengthy prose that can last for miles in a browser window while being viewed in microfilm format in newspaper archives. Microcontent was defined as permalinked pieces of content that could be read in any environment, such as email or text messages back in 2002, well before the present-day ubiquity of voice assistants.

A day’s weather forcast]sic], the arrival and departure times for an airplane flight, an abstract from a long publication, or a single instant message can all be examples of microcontent. ( ) _ _ _

I would update Dash’s definition of microcontent to include all instances of bite-sized content that transcends written communiqués. After all, today we encounter microcontent in interfaces where a small snippet of copy is displayed alone, unmoored from the browser, like a textbot confirmation of a restaurant reservation. The best way to learn how your content can be stretched to the limits of its potential is through microcontent, which will inform both established and new delivery channels.

Voice content stands out as being unique because it’s an illustration of how content is experienced in space rather than time. We can glance at a digital sign underground for an instant and know when the next train is arriving, but voice interfaces hold our attention captive for periods of time that we can’t easily escape or skip, something screen reader users are all too familiar with.

We must ensure that our microcontent performs well as voice content because it is essentially composed of individual blobs without any connection to the channels in which they will eventually end up. This means focusing on the two most crucial characteristics of robust voice content: voice content legibility and voice content discoverability.

Our voice content’s legibility and discoverability in general both depend on how it manifests in terms of perceived space and time.