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Why most design systems fail before they ship

Mar 28, 2026 · Product · 6 min

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Engineering

The constraint that shaped Dots' entire architecture

One decision made early — no drag, only intent — cascaded into every interaction model we built after.

Mar 14

Process

On choosing boring tools for interesting problems

Why I use vanilla HTML for the blog, Django for the backend, and reach for abstraction only when it earns its weight.

Feb 27

Design

Naming things is not a soft skill

Product names, variable names, domain names. The same rigor applies. A name is a compressed argument.

Feb 11

Engineering

Building a Chrome extension with a side panel: what the docs don't tell you

Viewport constraints, storage tradeoffs, and why the side panel API is both the right choice and a constant headache.

Jan 30

Positioning

PureRef users already think spatially. We just built what comes next.

Finding your first hundred users means finding people who already have the mental model. The rest is vocabulary.

Jan 18

Process

The post-mortem format I use to document every build decision

Orient. Motivate. Think. Surprise. Show. Reflect. A structure that forces honesty about tradeoffs.

Jan 4