This week's best things
Every world language in one place, 200 paintings and reframing old content, a 'software poem', AI that’s actually good, Zoomquilt, finding time to prototype, the power of meetings, cooperation as a skill, and a request for summer reading recommendations.
Keir Starmer’s immigration plans: research shows you don’t beat the far right by becoming them
To start, I can't not mention Keir Starmer's speech this week.
As the son of an immigrant, and now as an immigrant in a new country myself, seeing the Prime Minister of the UK, and the leader of the Labour Party, adopt the language and ideas of one of the most divisive speeches of the post-war period in the UK was deeply depressing.
Using this type of language is only going to inflame existing tensions, embolden the far right, make immigrant communities feel isolated and attacked, and do nothing for cohesion or integration.
As this piece in The Conversation says, "The far right is not some threat lying waiting in the future – its normalisation is happening now."
"Some will argue this is Labour’s response to the rising threat of Reform UK, with results in the recent local elections seen as evidence of the far right’s growing popularity. So the story goes, Labour is proving that they can be tough on immigration, showing would-be Reform defectors that they can be trusted after all.
This familiar narrative seems to follow a prevailing wisdom which is parroted in political, media and public debates – that appeasing the far right is the way to defeat it. Rather than beating the far right at their own game, however, research shows that these techniques simply legitimise their key talking points and further normalise exclusionary politics."
Katy Brown
Anyway, here are some good things...
Ethnologue
This is an amazing resource (spotted via Web Curios) that features every language in the world.
"We exist to help you understand more about the people of the world, and how each language community is distinct. Whether you’re conducting a comprehensive research project or simply want to know more about a single language"
It contains maps, statistics, information, language family groupings, and loads of other interesting stuff.
200 Paintings for 200 Years
This very simple page from the National Gallery is a good example of reframing existing content to make it newly relevant and interesting to users.
"To celebrate the Gallery's Bicentenary, we are sharing online – for the first time – 200 scholarly catalogue entries, totalling 2.2 million words of academic research. With these catalogue entries, we are sharing 2,700 images, including 75 x-ray images, 155 infrared images and over 250 photomicrographs.
These in-depth essays showcase everything we know about our paintings, discussing in detail their subject matter, authorship, provenance, art historical significance, materials and technique, and also their condition and conservation history. Information based on the re-examination of each picture is combined with various different technical images."
Cultural organisations have so much stuff that they put out once, in one context, and then seemingly move on and forget about.
I'm sure there are rights complications around reusing some work in different contexts, but cultural organisations have loads of things they could go back to, dust off, and recontextualise in an interesting way, like the NG have done here.
The National Gallery, London
Digital readiness self-assessment
This week I shared a new, free self-assessment tool, based in part on the Beyond the Promise digital failure work I'm doing (which will be published in a couple of weeks).
This tool helps you surface your organisation’s strengths, risks, and opportunities around digital work.
It’s designed as a starting point, a way to flag potential challenges and spark useful conversations before investing time, money, or energy into your next digital project.
I hope it's useful.
Ash Mann
A pivotal year for digital transformation at the BFI
Next week I'm interviewing Neil Williams for the Digital Works Podcast, Neil is Exec Director of Technology & Digital Transformation at the BFI.
In our conversations to prepare for the podchat, Neil talked quite a bit about 'working in the open', a practice that is common in government digital work (which is where Neil has spent much of his time, prior to joining the BFI) but is generally less common in the culture sector.
Anyway, here is a first blog post from Neil that is a step towards more open working, "part of the digital culture we’re seeking to create here is to be more open in how the BFI talks about its work and learning in public. So, in the spirit of demonstrating by doing and creating precedent, you will hear more about our digital work in subsequent posts through this year."
BFI
Please, Somebody, Put This Delirious Digital Artwork on View Somewhere Permanent!
I really enjoyed this long, effusive, and immersive review of "Mark Fingerhut’s 4D "software poem" installation 'Halcyon.exe: The Ride.'" from Ben Davis in Artnet.
"Despite its identity as an offshoot of software-art, a notable thing about Halcyon.exe: The Ride is that it is not a digital work self-consciously about the “digital condition,” a phrase which usually means the loss of a sense of reality or meaning in the flood of the internet. Having seen the work three times now, I find that its flow of images is not meant to evoke overload, but playfulness; not blank irony, but a slightly vulnerable silliness.
When it comes alive, this is a work that really feels like it wants to play with you, like a big kid. And, too, there are just the right contrasting minor notes in there to make the experience really hit—the basic human longing and awkwardness that you are reaching across when you ask someone if they want to share your toys. Or to dance, for that matter. “i love you so much its honestly crazy,” the big screen strobes out at one point. And despite the fact that it is not clear whether it is addressing you, the viewer, or that animated duck, the moment is actually kind of emotional."
The Art (and Science) of Creating Goals That Actually Stick
One for the UX and behavioural psychology nerds, a deep dive from Peter Ramsey into Strava's goal-setting UX and a really detailed set of recommendations about how he thinks they could improve them.
There's lots of interesting stuff here, but more than anything it's a really great example of how many factors and considerations go into creating successful user experiences. Well worth a read.
Peter Ramsey
Carrie Goucher on Work Reimagined
I love the work of Dr Carrie Goucher, I've shared lots of it here before.
She is an expert on collaboration, organisational culture, and meetings.
This short (20-ish minute) podcast chat on the Work Reimagined Podcast is a good introduction to her work, and the purpose and value of meetings.
The reason I think this stuff is interesting and important is because meetings, of some kind, are present in almost every workplace and profession.
"Meetings are where people understand how an organisation works, what is actually ok (or not), and what matters [...] I see meetings and organisational culture as mirrors of each other."
Carrie's perspective is always super practical and do-able, I'd encourage you all to take a listen, I almost guarantee there'll be a useful idea in there for you.
In talking about an organisation she has worked with, she describes the impact of that work as "the level of overwhelm has dialled right down". And that feels like something lots of us could do with experiencing.
Diverse Abilities and Barriers
This is a really clear and useful explanation that the benefits of accessibility are not only felt by people with disabilities, and a good example of why the social model of disability is so powerful - this model says that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their specific impairment or condition.
"There are many reasons why people may be experiencing varying degrees of auditory, cognitive, physical, speech, and visual disabilities. For instance, some may have disabilities from birth, an illness, disease, or accident, or they may develop impairments with age. Some may not consider themselves to have disabilities even if they do experience such functional limitations.
Each individual is unique. People have diverse abilities, skills, tools, preferences, and expectations that can impact how they use the digital technology."
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Prototyping part 1: How do you find the time?
Ok, first thing, ignore the 'b2b' bit of the title, this post from Matt Locke is a very useful read on the value of prototyping, and practical ways you might actually make it happen.
"...when I start talking about prototypes with clients, the immediate response is “we don’t have time!” This is totally understandable. But you’re not going to get off that treadmill unless you really transform your content strategy, and change the requests you get from “Can you get this on the website/socials?” to “Can we be part of your awesome podcast/video/editorial format?” To do that requires taking the time to step back and think about the formats that your target audiences will value, then make prototypes to test them out."
What Would “Good” AI Look Like?
Some useful thoughts from Anil Dash.
"Interestingly enough, while there are tons of valid critiques of today's AI offerings, we don't often see an affirmative example of what we would want to see. So, I'd like to share an example that's been banging around in my head for a while of what a good AI platform might look like. Some of this is just a thought exercise, trying to imagine an alternate future. But this is also an intentional, practical strategy and an attempt at a more effective form of critique — because if we are going to have better AI in the future, we are going to have get lots of people to understand that such a thing is possible."
On this point, I was recently reading a thing about 'low technology'.
In it there was a sentence which really struck me.
"it’s much easier to say that we’re screwed than to make constructive proposals"
It feels like that is the predominant vibe in a lot of conversations at the moment. Pointing at a problem and saying 'this is bad' without offering any solutions. Which is perhaps a valid form of critique, but is also quite exhausting and depressing to wade through endlessly.
So it's encouraging to see Anil being constructive.
Anil Dash
CultureTalk Podcast with...me
I was a guest on CultureSuite's CultureTalk Podcast, if video is your thing you can watch it back here, and if you just like to listen then it's available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
We talked about my background, how 'digital' has evolved in different ways in different parts of the cultural sector, better ways of talking about digital, a bit about the findings of the Beyond the Promise digital failure research, and some advice for cultivating a culture of clarity, and experimentation.
I hope it's interesting and/or useful.
Matt Yau
The Zoomquilt
A 2007 artwork from Nikolaus Baumgarten that resulted in an infinitely zooming image.
It's quite mesmerising.
There's also The Zoomquilt 2, which was a collaborative thing involving lots of artists.
Today’s Essential Power Skill for Leaders: Cooperation
A lot of conversations I've had with leaders recently have been about busyness and overwhelm.
In that context it was interesting to read this MIT Sloan Management Review piece about cooperation:
"...the ability to be good at cooperation is so powerful in creating resilience and productivity.
In my research on how and why we cooperate (which I wrote about in my books Hot Spots and Glow), I discovered many positive benefits:
- Cooperating helps you solve tough problems. When teams work to solve a complex challenge, the likelihood is that they will come to a better solution than if the members worked on their own.
- Cooperating helps you feel good. Working with others can be exciting. It offers moments that can be playful and creative.
- Cooperating boosts your productivity. When you work with others, you have a chance to improve your own performance as others introduce you to ideas, share tips, and give feedback.
Cooperating isn’t always easy, though. The connections that make cooperation possible can be fragile. I’ve discovered that this fragility often takes two forms. The first is indifference/busyness: There is nothing that really holds the cooperative partnership together, and you each go your own way. The second is unproductive conflict: The relationship deteriorates as you lose trust in each other and your differences overwhelm your shared interests."
Lynda Gratton
Vacancies
- Digital and Insights Manager - Chichester Festival Theatre - Chichester, UK - £32,000 to £36,000 - deadline 18/05/25
- Digital Manager - Royal Armouries - Leeds, UK - £34,178 to £38,588 - deadline 19/05/25
- Digital Archives Coordinator - National Theatre - London, UK - £33,469 - deadline 20/05/25
- Immersive Arts & Studio/Lab Lead - FACT - Liverpool, UK - £34,000 - deadline 11/06/25
This week's consumption
I read The Wedding People by Alison Espach which was an easy, charming story.
I've started Less by Andrew Sean Greer, which is fun so far.
The summer is approaching and that's when I read the most. The last time I asked you all for recommendations I ended up reading finding some great things (thanks Matt for the Kavalier and Clay recommendation in particular). So, what have you been reading that you'd recommend to me? Recent-ish things I've loved include:
- James by Percival Everett
- Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan
- A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
- Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti
- Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
- Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
It's Eurovision this weekend and aside from the excellent Swedish entry, my wife has also flagged the borderline-offensive national stereotypes in the Estonian entry, and the high camp nonesense of the Czechs. Enjoy.
See you next week
Thanks for reading all the way to the end. Please enjoy this website which is exactly the vibe you'd expect from the url makefrontendshitagain.party, it also links to a whole load of fun/stupid/pointless/weird websites.
To finish, a quick reminder that I'm a consultant who helps cultural organisations do better digital work - if it sounds like I could be useful, then let's chat.