When you were designing your website, you may not have been focused on the experience of an anxious user. But crafting clear and calm experiences is better for *everyone.*

Turns out even the most powerful AI is no match for making a backup, saving it to a hard drive, and hiding it in your sock drawer.

If you also love a good backstory, this piece from designer and typographer @aresluna.org is today's must-read. Let's go deep on the cursor: Where did it come from? Why is it the way it is?

We do digital differently than most agencies—because we don’t want to gatekeep. In other words: We'll happily teach you how to post content, fix little issues, or otherwise generally work on a website. Because what we really want is to to ideate and build, fix novel problems, and be a resource.

Don't worry: You don't need to manage your Cloudflare account alone. Here are some quick instructions for creating an account—and giving your developer access.

In this month's Bethink Bee: a treasure trove of talks from the archives, a whole lot of color theory, and the power of perspective in web design—and social justice.

The next time you shrink a window slightly and end up looking at a view meant for a cell phone, let it be a reminder that your website projects need more breakpoints.

Before we began using the word to describe our devices, "computer" was a job title for a human being. It's a fact that pokes a hole in the idea that those devices could ever replace us—because we built them to think *like us.*

If you're looking for evidence that good design is all in the details—then look no further.

Calling all self-taught front-end developers! Don't skip these insights into writing better code (and writing code better) from @kilianvalkhof.com.

An important reminder: "In a field that keeps changing its tools, the only sustainable advantage is how you think, what you notice and how honest you’re willing to be."

Alicia Catherine Mant. Elizabeth Rowse. Margaret Bryan. Anne Young. Abelinde Prince. Abbie T. Hays. Sarah W. Featherstone. Together, they shaped the tradition of gamifying music education—and paved the way for apps like Solfege Story, programs like ToneGym, and even your favorite Guitar Hero set.

It's not just SEO anymore. Now it's GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). But some things never change—like the importance of producing content that's clear, unique, and impactful.

Does your design system have an enforcer?

"Humans don’t operate best at machine speed. We think, hesitate, reconsider, and change our minds. Design that ignores this doesn’t make people more efficient — it instead pushes them to move faster than their intent." Loving this ode to friction—and design that lets people think.

Tech was once women-dominated—until the "computer nerd" stereotype began reshaping hiring norms and practices. This Women's History Month, it's worth asking: "What might the 'Computer Girls' of later generations have created if they continued to flood tech and business with their talents?"

Ten years, four days—and five newsletters. It's Bethink's birthday, and in the latest Bethink Bee, our founder @bethsoderberg.bsky.social reflected on how it started, how it's going, and how much we all love snacks from Trader Joe's.

"If we want an internet where publishers retain autonomy and readers retain agency, we need to treat RSS not as legacy plumbing but as strategic infrastructure."

It takes a lot of (invisible!) work to make a project succeed, run efficiently, and run smoothly. We should all learn how to pay attention differently so we can spot it.

Print 👏 isn't 👏 dead! Just ask these next-gen printmakers.

"FAIR has borrowed from an architecture that’s already proven itself at scale in another federated ecosystem: Bluesky’s approach to distributed moderation."

If those Tahoe icons are disrupting your workflow these days, take heart: You're not alone!

Laatz v. Zazzle poses a complicated question: Can you copyright a font or not?

ICYMI: This month's Bethink Bee was all about intention—in web design, in process-building, and, of course, in all the rest of life. Read + Subscribe: bethink.studio/life-as-an-i...

These practical UX guidelines will help you make sure the 466 million people who experience hearing loss can still access all the good stuff you're sharing online.

BRB, adding "code like a surgeon" to our list of resolutions.

The ADA requires websites, digital content, and mobile applications to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines—and to do it soon. Here’s everything you need to know to demonstrate compliance.

"Life is one big experiment. Move forward with intent. Take a minute to make the small adjustment you’ve been thinking about and see how it feels." In this month's Bethink Bee: tech stories we loved, insight into FSE themes, and the story of a very intentional build. (Also: Free stickers!)

"I am so tired of hearing about AI. Unfortunately, this is a talk about AI." @frankchimero.com took on creative agency in the AI landscape in his latest talk, at Kinference in Brooklyn.

In this month's Bethink newsletter, @bethsoderberg.bsky.social reflects on the chaos of an increasingly fragile Internet infrastructure. (Also inside: a WordPress deep dive, next-gen digital organizing, and our favorite fall beverages.) Welcome to the Bethink Bee: view.flodesk.com/emails/690c2...

(Almost) everything you've ever wanted to know about dithering — and it turns out that may be more than you think. Thank you for this fascinating and immersive explainer, @damarberlari.bsky.social!

@emilkowal.ski shared seven simple ideas for improving your animations.

A new report from Harvard's @belfercenter.bsky.social explains the Design From the Margins (DFM) process — and why we should be using it from ideation to launch.

How many layers deep is your architectural debt? @maybefrederick.bsky.social dives into it.

"In design, pure productivity is corrosive. Inundate a team with output and no one can tell what’s good anymore." @renderg.host breaks down why we need to value outcomes over outputs.

Happy 40th birthday to dot com! (and dot org, and dot net, and dot edu, and dotgov, and dot mil...)

Sometimes the best question you can ask to solve a problem is "do you really need this?"

This one is for everyone who has ever thought: I really need a fluid type scaling tool. (It's a fluid type scaling tool.)

"I want to argue that the web should not be understood as a momentary stepping stone in a linear history of technological advancement or measured solely as a vehicle for marketing, self-promotion, personal advancement and delivering kill-time."

A new study from the European Broadcasting Union and BBC found that “AI’s systemic distortion of news is consistent across languages and territories.” That could impact how *your* content is being packaged by AI tools.

Bethink founder @bethsoderberg.bsky.social was featured on the @gutenbergtimes.com Changelog podcast! Beth talked to @bph.social about block themes, cleaning up legacy code, her favorite experimental #Wordpress features, and more. Tune in 🎧

Not sure which colors match the vibe of your next project? Take a deeper look into their meanings 🔮

Splitting operations, pruning components, cutting back on training AI models—and even leveraging AI to solve its own problem. Researchers are exploring the best ways to cut back on the harms AI causes to the climate.

We've worked in social justice organizations, cultural and educational institutions, and government — and we want to use our expertise to champion the values we share and support organizations making a real impact. Let’s do the work together. Get in touch with us at bethink.studio/contact.

Accessibility experience designer Irina Morozova gave a talk at @a11yawareness.bsky.social NYC about how developers can make digital content accessible for non-English speakers. Thank you to @equalentry.com for sharing the highlights!

We're passionate about building websites that grow with our partners. We love to engineer functionalities, streamline processes, remap user journeys, and rethink information architecture. Get in touch with us at bethink.studio/contact and we'll make your website work for *you.*

“Do the technological and managerial practices that have made remote work possible further facilitate offshoring? Do organizations see significant gains in efficiency? What are the impacts on U.S. and offshore workers?” Whitney Zhang wants to find out.

New parental controls for ChatGPT: + Kids' accounts will be linked their parents' + 'Blackout hours' set by parents + Images and graphic, romantic, sexual and extreme content are restricted + You can opt your kid out of training AI models + Parental warnings for kids discussing self-harm

We collaborated with @neweracoloradoaf.bsky.social, an organization building youth political power, ahead of the 2024 elections. Their Voter Guide was viewed 52K+ times after our redesign—and young voters turned out at historic rates that year. Explore the build at bethink.studio/work.

Accessibility experience designer Irina Morozova gave a talk at A11yNYC about how developers can make digital content accessible for non-English speakers. Thank you to @equalentry.com for sharing the highlights!