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Smitha

@smithakp.bsky.social

180 followers 450 following 970 posts

ATL+ 徳島県 + PIT + SEA. UX designer. Ethical tech is cool. GenAI is bullshit. JET Program alum. 日本語OKかも。 Volcanoes, violins, not violence…but punching Nazis is OK. That Pirates of Dark Water (.net) lady. 🏴‍☠️💎 PFP: a rotund bird with blue and pink feathers

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 25m

Ah, geez…bows are worth hundreds, minimum. They can be more expensive than the actual instruments sometimes, because they are the sound-makers in the pair. Good luck to Sascha. :(

Bouba's Delivery Service @fernmonkey.bsky.social · 23h

My friend Sascha is a professional musician and he's lost a viola bow on the way to Heathrow. Please signal boost to help him get it back.

Lost viola bow on the way from Honor Oak Station to Heathrow Terminal 2. The bow slid from its bow case somewhere along the way, possibly on the train. TFL contacted already.
It weighs 68.2 grams and has got a stamped DODD next to the frog. If any info on this, please pm me.

Reposted by Smitha

Kate Barrett @thewaether.bsky.social · 3h

I remember a piece of advice that was like "always draw a character with the darkest possible skin in concept art because the executives will always lighten it"

Fighting-Games Daily @fgcdaily.bsky.social · 4h

🎨Bayonetta's character designer, Mari Shimazaki made Miary Zo's Costume 03!

“The combination of a green base with red accents was inspired by the Madagascar flag, and from an early stage onwards, a white inner layer was incorporated to highlight Miariz's dark skin.”

Reposted by Smitha

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 3h

bitch what

Onedrive settings. A toggle for using AI to detect and identify faces is set to on. The caption says, you can only turn off this setting 3 times per year.

Reposted by Smitha

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal @jayapal.house.gov · 1h

I’m an immigrant — one of less than 20 naturalized citizens currently serving in Congress.

I am going to do absolutely everything I can to use my power to fight Trump’s hateful immigration policies and protect immigrants in every corner of this country.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 17h

Over an hour now. Is there a game or something? Guess I’m stuck out here for a bit. Or I could spend that hour taking backroads around Lake Washington, since 405S’s closed, too…

For such a progressive city, this is just…yikes.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 18h

I thought the 45-minute Eastside-to-Seattle commute was just a rush hour thing? What’s holding everything up now?

And why have I seen 4 Cybertrucks today, after weeks of seeing maybe 1/week? What did I do to deserve that?

At least I saw my awesome stylist and got a cute haircut. So that’s cool.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 17h

Best Buy actually sells point-and-shoot digital cameras without wifi or Bluetooth! And disposable cameras! Thank goodness not everything’s connected by default, and still available in brick-and-mortar retailers.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 18h

For next weekend’s No Kings marches, and any protest/civil-disobedience actions in general:

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 18h

Bring NOTHING w/ wireless connectivity. Even with all disabled, it may not be enough to avoid surveillance tech.

Phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers - leave them all at home.

For photos/video, bring old-school digital, film, or disposable cameras.

And wear masks and maybe IR-blocking glasses.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 18h

Our intentions and practices are peaceful and good. They don’t care. They keep claiming we’re violent because they know we’re peaceful and need to keep their base hyped up on paranoia and fear. We have to protect ourselves and each other from their authoritarianism.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 18h

Bring NOTHING w/ wireless connectivity. Even with all disabled, it may not be enough to avoid surveillance tech.

Phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers - leave them all at home.

For photos/video, bring old-school digital, film, or disposable cameras.

And wear masks and maybe IR-blocking glasses.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 18h

She’ll have a nervous breakdown and die at 50 but at least she hustled. Or was consumed by the underlying hustle that is the tech world.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 18h

I thought the 45-minute Eastside-to-Seattle commute was just a rush hour thing? What’s holding everything up now?

And why have I seen 4 Cybertrucks today, after weeks of seeing maybe 1/week? What did I do to deserve that?

At least I saw my awesome stylist and got a cute haircut. So that’s cool.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

The pretzels into which they twist themselves to try to be the victims. Which is an ironically hilarious thing to say, because that's what THEY say about US. But this time it's ACTUALLY true!

Reposted by Smitha

John Skiles Skinner @skiles.blue · 2d

Screenshots are from civilrights.justice.gov

This hurts me because the Civil Rights reporting tool was an 18F project, one of our crown jewels. We conducted extensive user research to build a tool that people from all walks of life would trust.

Reposted by Smitha

John Skiles Skinner @skiles.blue · 2d

Before: a visual history of civil rights in the U.S. including people of all kinds. A report button that actually worked.

After: Removed all the people; the report button is grayed out. No more "woke" stuff on the website -- in other words, no more civil rights at the Civil Rights Division.

A screenshot from an older version of https://civilrights.justice.gov/ which includes photos of anti-racist and anti-homophobia activists and a girl dressed as the Statue of Liberty.

A screenshot from the current version of https://civilrights.justice.gov/ which has no images. The "start a report" button is not working.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 2d

Um, what the fuck

John Skiles Skinner @skiles.blue · 2d

The administration has added another layer of Orwellian vandalism to the DOJ Civil Rights website.

Democrats have shut down the government. Department of Justice websites are not currently regularly updated. Please refer to the Department of Justice’s contingency plan for more information.

Reposted by Smitha

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 3d

This is TOO TRUE.

I ABSOLUTELY HATE games that stop the game with a giant pop-up and require you to push a button to continue.

But it seems that today you HAVE TO do that, because nobody will read anything if you don't.

#gamedesign #gamedevelopment #ui #ux

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 2d

There's a #UX tie-in: the interfaces were almost all mechanical. Very few digital/visual interfaces, which reflects the 70s-80s era of real-world technology. And lots of widespread engineering/mechanical knowledge. I wonder how we went down this visual-heavy path of abstracted/hidden function?

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 2d

Started rewatching Andor last night to build up to the latest season. As "over" Star Wars I am, it's such a familiar and comfortable aesthetic. The sound effects, utili-chic fashion, and used future. The music is just really jarring compared to John Williams. But I know it's all intentional.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 3d

I know I'm getting old when I get anxious about either ASICS retiring this shoe line or Dr. Scholl's retiring the specific orthotics I use. Or - worst-case - both. (Before you suggest them, Superfeet do nothing for me.)

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 3d

My go-tos are ASICS GT-1000s. I did the Shikoku Pilgrimage in them and would gladly wear them if/when I do it again. I wish I'd have known to bring several pairs, or at least noted the model, because when they wore out, I got ASICS Gel Cumulus next...which wore out in a week and messed up my knees.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 3d

It's time to replace my main running (lol) shoes, and it seems that shoe brands are also embracing the "refreshed 80s" look. Bulky white form, shiny grey mesh uppers, plastic stripes...

Why are they aiming for "unfashionable 80s dad who embarrasses me at school?" That's not remotely aspirational.

Reposted by Smitha

Matt Kane at ViteConf 🇳🇱 @mk.gg · 4d

My entry for the @nordcraft.com bad UX date picker challenge. Drag the Earth around the sun to pick the date. Bad, enough for you @whitep4nth3r.com?

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 4d

The source of these quotes is Imran Afzal, a principal designer who focuses on design systems.

It feels so good to hear others delve into these topics. (I wanted to say "articulate these topics" but didn't want to inadvertently reference his story about being called articulate after a talk...)

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 4d

"Design can't fix the world, but design can take the steps to really dissect these difficult conversations...when it comes to racism...in our society or [in design/tech spaces], we need to talk about these things. More people need to open up and share how they experience...and deal with things."

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 4d

I had to edit the quote just for space purposes.

He also said something I've felt for a LONG time: the tech world has made it so that UX can't properly represent the users and the real people in product strategy and decision-making. Products stopped focusing on the users who may use them.