I have no idea who “Elizabeth M” or “design guy” is, but I trusted them (and others) in their recommendation of the typography book Thinking With Type. Same with “SplitGrin” or “sonicdescent”, but based partly on their recommendations, I picked up some Jack Daniels Barrel Aged Blackbeerd Imperial Stout from Coast Brewing.

Why? Well, for these 3 reasons.

1) Time - In a world where time is increasingly the most scarce of resources, these people took time out of their day to tell the world how they felt about a certain product.

2) Effort - These reviews didn’t happen by accident. They sought out the product on the site (maybe more than one) and left very thorough reviews. They go out of their way to point out pros, cons and any other details they think people might find interesting. Many are on or above par with “professional” reviews in terms of relevance.

3) Lack of Profit - It’s safe to say that “designguy” isn’t getting a kickback from Ellen Lupton (author of Thinking With Type), and I would guess that “SplitGrin” didnt find a free keg of Coast Beer on his doorstep in the morning (to his probable dismay). We trust these people because they’re doing it in the genuine interest of getting their point of view out there. Not to say that paid reviews are all trash, but when there’s an angle it takes away from the authenticity.

So what say you, Internet? Am I way off base here? Did I miss something?

If you’re used to one, you better understand how the other works too.

We might forget about this sometimes in our on-demand, widgetized, app-crazed lives, but it’s true. While micro-interactions are certainly key, it’s important to not lose sight of the big picture. The best micro-interactions not only work well with the user, they work well with the other micro-interactions.

Another idea spurred by that Clay Shirky post I mentioned a little while ago.

I think a big takeaway here is that we have to be careful when we look for or label something “revolutionary”. Mainly because if something really is revolutionary, then it’s definitely going to screw things up, at least for a little bit. Who could have ever guessed we’d end up at 1, 2, or even (gasp!) 3, when we’ve been so used to A, B, and C?

Also, many times people don’t even want something revolutionary. They’re okay with just better, faster, stronger (resisting the pull to link to that Kanye song…didn’t work) and don’t need a game changer.

Be careful when you’re blowing minds.