№ 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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№ 115 | Copyright: The Card Game, Design Thinking Canvas, The Learning Matrix, “Moving From SWOT to SO WHAT? Analysis”, Prosocial Design Network, Lenny’s World… Remixed!, and Violence as a Contagious Disease

№ 115 | Copyright: The Card Game, Design Thinking Canvas, The Learning Matrix, “Moving From SWOT to SO WHAT? Analysis”, Prosocial Design Network, Lenny’s World… Remixed!, and Violence as a Contagious Disease

I'm back again, with your regular roundup of ‘playful things to think with’ and think about! (Two days later than usual, but… other priorities!) Copyright: The Card Game Now this is how you design a learning card game! Take a confusing topic (in this case copyright law). Create

By Stephen P. Anderson
№ 114 | Platform Thinking Journey Cards, The Dictionary of Radical Alternatives, Learning Theory Map, “Let Them Have Your Way” Zine,  a Framework Mashup!, “There is No System 2”, Go for Goals, and Gutenberg Revisited

№ 114 | Platform Thinking Journey Cards, The Dictionary of Radical Alternatives, Learning Theory Map, “Let Them Have Your Way” Zine, a Framework Mashup!, “There is No System 2”, Go for Goals, and Gutenberg Revisited

Welcome to another curious roundup of ‘playful things to think with’ and think about! Platform Thinking Journey Cards Here’s a shout out to my friend Werner Puchert, who just dropped another one of his extensive card deck video reviews. This time, he’s looking at the Platform Thinking Journey

By Stephen P. Anderson
№ 112 | Teaching One Pagers, Sliderule Simulator, Board Game Icons, “Making, Hacking and Jamming”, FLARE, Relooted, Choosing a UX Research Method, and Deep Musings on our Human Relationship with AI

№ 112 | Teaching One Pagers, Sliderule Simulator, Board Game Icons, “Making, Hacking and Jamming”, FLARE, Relooted, Choosing a UX Research Method, and Deep Musings on our Human Relationship with AI

Welcome to another edition of the Thinking Things newsletter, your regular dose of playful things to think with, and think about. 🫵A couple of things: 1/ ♥️ ♠️ ♦️ ♣️ I’m exploring a special edition of thinking things focused on… 🥁 playing cards. Specifically, any activity that uses a standard deck of playing cards

By Stephen P. Anderson