Sketchplanations - A weekly explanation in a sketch

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Explaining the world one sketch at a time

Kitty Hawk moment

On 17 December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers took the first short flights in their Wright Flyer. It's the original Kitty Hawk moment: when the impossible becomes possible. The first radio transmission, the first autonomous vehicle journey, the first sub-2 hour marathon could all be Kitty Hawk moments. A Kitty Hawk moment as a metaphor doesn't have to be big or as clear cut — it could be your first 5k, the first video call with an elderly relative, or the first sale for your business — it just needs to help to break a barrier and show what's now possible. In a lovely article on The Kitty Hawk moment, after Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne flight, Bob Clarebrough highlights that not everyone will see the significance of a Kitty Hawk moment. And it was nearly 24 years before the first plane crossing of the Atlantic. Like Bill Buxton's idea of the long nose of innovation there may be a lot of work left before the new development hits the big time.…On 17 December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers took the first short flights in their Wright Flyer. It's the original Kitty Hawk moment: when the impossible becomes possible. The first radio transmission, the first autonomous vehicle journey, the first sub-2 hour marathon could all be Kitty Hawk moments. A Kitty Hawk moment as a metaphor doesn't have to be big or as clear cut — it could be your first 5k, the first video call with an elderly relative, or the first sale for your business — it just needs to help to break a barrier and show what's now possible. In a lovely article on The Kitty Hawk moment, after Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne flight, Bob Clarebrough highlights that not everyone will see the significance of a Kitty Hawk moment. And it was nearly 24 years before the first plane crossing of the Atlantic. Like Bill Buxton's idea of the long nose of innovation there may be a lot of work left before the new development hits the big time.

2 Jan 2022

Micro-editing redundant words

When writing for the web every word counts. We scan pages, instructions, and emails, sometimes skipping reading completely. So it's key to make sure that every word is doing a job. Over the years I find there are words that I routinely trim from web copy to save space and keep focus while preserving intent. While context always matters and these can't be cut everywhere, here are a handy few that regularly get the cut from web copy: Obviously, clearly, of course and the like — if it's obvious then don't write it, if it's not, then it's not relevant. If it's obvious to you and not to me then no need to make me feel stupid reading it Note, please note, note that, notice — we're noting it by writing it so trim the noise by leaving out reminders for readers to note things. If you really want someone to notice you can use the extra space from removing it by making it bigger or bolder That — can often be trimmed without changing the meaning of a sentence Any — very often superfluous Exact — very often makes no difference to a sentence Famous — if it's famous then maybe I've heard of it. If I haven't, then perhaps it's not so famous Current — if someone asks for my age or job then it's normal to assume they're not asking for what it used to be Successfully — it's always nice to trim a long word that doesn't add a lot Have — like 'that', it can often be removed without changing the meaning of a sentence All, total — when I take these out I often find it's the default assumption anyway Interestingly, surprisingly and the like — it may be interesting or surprising to you, but I think it's polite, and briefer, to let the reader decide if it's interesting or surprising for them If you're writing for the web, try removing some and see if it still works.…When writing for the web every word counts. We scan pages, instructions, and emails, sometimes skipping reading completely. So it's key to make sure that every word is doing a job. Over the years I find there are words that I routinely trim from web copy to save space and keep focus while preserving intent. While context always matters and these can't be cut everywhere, here are a handy few that regularly get the cut from web copy: Obviously, clearly, of course and the like — if it's obvious then don't write it, if it's not, then it's not relevant. If it's obvious to you and not to me then no need to make me feel stupid reading it Note, please note, note that, notice — we're noting it by writing it so trim the noise by leaving out reminders for readers to note things. If you really want someone to notice you can use the extra space from removing it by making it bigger or bolder That — can often be trimmed without changing the meaning of a sentence Any — very often superfluous Exact — very often makes no difference to a sentence Famous — if it's famous then maybe I've heard of it. If I haven't, then perhaps it's not so famous Current — if someone asks for my age or job then it's normal to assume they're not asking for what it used to be Successfully — it's always nice to trim a long word that doesn't add a lot Have — like 'that', it can often be removed without changing the meaning of a sentence All, total — when I take these out I often find it's the default assumption anyway Interestingly, surprisingly and the like — it may be interesting or surprising to you, but I think it's polite, and briefer, to let the reader decide if it's interesting or surprising for them If you're writing for the web, try removing some and see if it still works.

26 Dec 2021

Someone exploring the mouth of a large, dark cave where they can see a mysterious light

The cave you fear to enter

There's a lot of wisdom in this thought from Joseph Campbell: The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. After all, if it was the easy path, if it wasn't the place we hadn't yet looked because we were afraid, we would have already done it. Perhaps tackling what you're avoiding most is what you most need to do.…

19 Dec 2021

Leading metrics and lagging metrics: illustrated by diet and exercise as a leading metric with weight loss as the lagging metric

Leading and lagging metrics

Lagging metrics are usually the ones we care about most. In business, they're things like revenue, sales, or profit. The trouble is, we can't act always act on those directly. By the time we assess our revenue everything we did to get there has already happened, so if we don't like it, it's too late. Leading metrics are what we need to focus on to drive the lagging metrics. If we want to lose weight we might be better off focusing on eating less and eating healthier, working out more, and sticking to our workout schedule. To increase our revenue we may want to look at deal size, ease of sign-up, or our referral rate. Paying attention to and improving the leading metrics gives us leverage over the lagging metrics we may really care about. Also see: Analytics maturity…Lagging metrics are usually the ones we care about most. In business, they're things like revenue, sales, or profit. The trouble is, we can't act always act on those directly. By the time we assess our revenue everything we did to get there has already happened, so if we don't like it, it's too late. Leading metrics are what we need to focus on to drive the lagging metrics. If we want to lose weight we might be better off focusing on eating less and eating healthier, working out more, and sticking to our workout schedule. To increase our revenue we may want to look at deal size, ease of sign-up, or our referral rate. Paying attention to and improving the leading metrics gives us leverage over the lagging metrics we may really care about. Also see: Analytics maturity

12 Dec 2021

Joy and vulnerability

To feel great joy we have to be ready to feel vulnerable. I found this counterintuitive. As Brené Brown shares, if we can't tolerate joy, if we're not open to being vulnerable, we can find ourselves dress-rehearsing tragedy — when things are at their best we might be telling ourselves that it won't last, we don't deserve it, something will go wrong. An antidote to this she says is to practise gratitude. Be thankful and appreciative of what we have. For a lightweight intro to some of Brené Brown's work you could do worse than spend an hour watching The Call to Courage on Netflix. Also see: Hope and Listening with passion…To feel great joy we have to be ready to feel vulnerable. I found this counterintuitive. As Brené Brown shares, if we can't tolerate joy, if we're not open to being vulnerable, we can find ourselves dress-rehearsing tragedy — when things are at their best we might be telling ourselves that it won't last, we don't deserve it, something will go wrong. An antidote to this she says is to practise gratitude. Be thankful and appreciative of what we have. For a lightweight intro to some of Brené Brown's work you could do worse than spend an hour watching The Call to Courage on Netflix. Also see: Hope and Listening with passion

5 Dec 2021

Hump-back stations

A rather clever way of capturing energy as vehicles slow down is to store the energy you'd use in braking as gravitational energy. This way of storing energy is used on a number of central London underground stations by constructing the stations at the top of a small hill in the track. Once built, the hump-back-station design has the handy effect of naturally slowing trains down as they approach a station and naturally accelerating them as they leave a station. Apparently, on London's Victoria line this saves 5% in energy and helps the trains run 9% faster. You're not always going to be able to put a slope just where you need to slow down, unfortunately. However, it makes a ton of sense for pedestrian crossings where raising the crossing to the level of the payment means pedestrians don't have kerbs to negotiate and cars are naturally encouraged to slow down. Victoria line data from Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air, by the late David JC MacKay…A rather clever way of capturing energy as vehicles slow down is to store the energy you'd use in braking as gravitational energy. This way of storing energy is used on a number of central London underground stations by constructing the stations at the top of a small hill in the track. Once built, the hump-back-station design has the handy effect of naturally slowing trains down as they approach a station and naturally accelerating them as they leave a station. Apparently, on London's Victoria line this saves 5% in energy and helps the trains run 9% faster. You're not always going to be able to put a slope just where you need to slow down, unfortunately. However, it makes a ton of sense for pedestrian crossings where raising the crossing to the level of the payment means pedestrians don't have kerbs to negotiate and cars are naturally encouraged to slow down. Victoria line data from Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air, by the late David JC MacKay

28 Nov 2021

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