№ 53 | Skill Trees, The Micropedia of Microaggressions, Personas Non Grata, In Dreams (Solo RPG), and The History of The Boycott

№ 53 | Skill Trees, The Micropedia of Microaggressions, Personas Non Grata, In Dreams (Solo RPG), and The History of The Boycott

Skill trees

In a previous Friday Finds (April 21), I posted about a Skill Tree for 3D Printing & Modeling. 

Self explanatory. I love skill trees (in board games, video games, Kahn academy, and elsewhere) as a way to think about the micro skills that build upon each other…without falling into the trap of a homogeneous, linear learning path. There's something about the quasi-sequencing for guidance, but flexibility to build your own learning path. 

Well, it turns out there's a whole bunch more of these skill trees, more on the way, and tools to make your own!

The micropedia of microaggressions

The first encyclopedia of microaggressions. This looks like it could be(come) a card deck… 🤔

Personas non grata

I've found ‘What could go wrong?’ or ‘How might this be abused?’ are great reframing questions to help us think beyond the ideal conditions we're often designing for. Along these lines, Design Under Pressure is a practical resource center to help you and your team proactively create products and services that hold up under stress cases.” Of particular note are these ten “personas non grata” — “people you probably don't want in your product or service, but who are likely to find their way in anyway.”

(Check out the ‘Talks and resources’ tab—it has a few additional goodies!)

In Dreams

In Dreams is a “journaling game that provides vivid imagery and evocative prompts to immerse you in a dreamworld you wouldn’t have otherwise imagined.”

While I wouldn't normally share a role-playing game here (in this case a solo RPG!?), what caught my interest is the way you “draw cards to create a chain of prompts that connect in interesting ways.” As a card pattern, I could see used elsewhere, in the creation of playful things to think with…

The game is now shipping to backers, and is not yet available for purchase. But, you can download a free (!) print and play version

The History of The Boycott | The Nib

I had no idea that the word boycott came from… well, here’s a bit of history, told in a graphic format.

❗AND, don’t miss out…❗

If you liked this,  all The Nib magazines are free to download!!


*** BONUS: So I was chatting with my son about Base-10 and Base-2 numeral systems, and he shared this amazing video with me: Why These Are The Best Numbers!**

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№ 89 | Defense Against Dishonest Charts, Make It Toolkit, Scale Up! The Business Game, Decision Trees for UI Components, ShadowBox Training, and Shadow Dynamics

№ 89 | Defense Against Dishonest Charts, Make It Toolkit, Scale Up! The Business Game, Decision Trees for UI Components, ShadowBox Training, and Shadow Dynamics

Hello, and welcome to another roundup of playful ‘things to think with’ and think about! Let’s dive in… Defense Against Dishonest Charts Over the years, I’ve collected various examples of bad charts (most often from certain news outlets and political groups). This is a topic explored in-depth in

By Stephen P. Anderson
№ 88 | Flipspark, City Making 101, Adventure Playgrounds, 🌀 How To Speak Squiggly! 🌀, AfroRithms From The Future, The Great Cognitive Depression, and The Periodic Table of Questions and Connection

№ 88 | Flipspark, City Making 101, Adventure Playgrounds, 🌀 How To Speak Squiggly! 🌀, AfroRithms From The Future, The Great Cognitive Depression, and The Periodic Table of Questions and Connection

More playful things to think with. Though, this issue is a wee-bit longer, given that two of my “finds” this time are articles to think about, and not strictly ‘things’ to think with. 🧠Also… a request! I’m prepping for the 15th anniversary reprint of the Mental Notes card deck;

By Stephen P. Anderson