Acknowledgements

Thank you to the folks who originally published this book through A Book Apart: Tina Lee, who both called us on our bullshit and kindly smoothed out our rough edges; Katel LeDû, who cheered us on and kept things in motion; Jason Santa Maria and Jeffrey Zeldman, whose enthusiasm for our project means the world to us; and to the rest of the staff, whose talent and precision kept us from spending a single second worrying whether the details would come out right.

You know it’s a sign o’ the times when Anil Dash starts writing about a topic. Anil, some might say you’re just too demanding, but we think your call for humane tech is exactly what our industry needs. We’re incredibly thankful to count you as an advocate and friend. We owe you diamonds and pearls, starfish and coffee, and maybe even a little red Corvette. You’re one of the beautiful ones.

Huge hugs and high fives to the smart-as-hell folks who read our drafts: Angela Colter, Kate Kiefer Lee, Gina Trapani, and Corey Vilhauer. Thank you for telling us what you loved, what didn’t make sense, and what we were plain wrong about.

This book wouldn’t have been possible without the hearts and brains of folks like Dana Chisnell, Lena Reinhard, Lynne Polischuik, Dr. Nina Burrowes, Kelly Goto, Jared Spool, Whitney Quesenbery, and Caroline Jarrett, all of whom helped us to define our topic and figure out which way was up.

Thank you to Kate Brigham and Kim Goodwin of PatientsLikeMe, whose design principles helped us tie together so many themes, and to Corey Mahoney, Stacie Santana, Tenessa Gemelke, Rebekah Cancino, Jasmine Probst, Holly Hetherington, Kyle Soucy, and Marc Majers, whose stories helped us build depth and nuance.

To Eileen Webb, Aaron Parkening, Lisa Maria Martin, and Rick Allen: thank you for all the help brainstorming titles. Thank you to Karen McGrane, Steve Fisher, Shannon Fisher, Dylan Wilbanks, Sarah Hurley, Kevin M. Hoffman, Margot Bloomstein, Jennifer Jeffrey, and Derek Featherstone for sending us helpful links, talking through ideas, and giving us a chance to test out our material.

To all those who told us about their triggers, touchy subjects, and alienating experiences using digital products: your stories matter, and we can’t thank you enough for sharing them.

Thank you to our families for your support and love. To Sara’s husband, William, who provided enthusiasm, feedback, and many, many delicious dinners. To Eric’s wife, Kat, who keeps things going at home whenever he goes wandering off into the weeds, which—let’s face it—happens a lot; and to his children, who keep him well stocked in FaceTime smiles when he travels and greet him with squeals and hugs when he returns home.

And finally, to anyone who’s ever felt alienated, unserved, or triggered by uncompassionate design: you deserve better.