Not me personally - the tasks. The ones I used to do every week as a product designer: polish UI in Figma, write copy, build mockups, prep decks, hand things off. One by one, they’ve all been replaced by tools most people still treat as novelties.

This post was written a few days after I launched voice.clinic - a small AI-powered SaaS I ideated, designed, built, branded, and shipped solo. In under 4 days. That was the moment the penny dropped. This post isn’t about the product. It’s about the shift that led to it - and where I think things are going.

If you're in tech, I’d love for you to try it out — especially if you’ve got thoughts on security or can spot major technical blind spots I’ve missed. This was built in 4 days, so if something’s broken or naïve, tell me.

Step 1 — Get close to the tools

I started with no goal. Just curiosity. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Manus. Image tools. Motion tools. Voice agents. I played. Daily.

Patterns emerged. Ask clear questions, get clear results. If you don’t, the output reflects your thinking. Prompting is just design thinking, but in words. Once I saw it like that, it all clicked.

If you're not spending time inside these tools — not watching demos, but building — you're already behind. That’s not hype. That’s just the curve.

Step 2 — Build something pointless (on purpose)

On Christmas Day last year I tried Loveable — a natural language app builder. I asked it to make a note-taking app. Fifteen minutes later: Supabase auth, live UI, working CRUD. It was fragile, but it worked.

That kind of speed used to take a team. Or a week of focused dev. Now it’s two coffees.

So I pushed it. I tried building a pay-per-chapter ebook tool. A real product idea. Too complex. Too soon. I shelved it after 50 hours and a few hundred in credits. A useful failure. It taught me the limits of that version of loveable.

Step 3 — Think smaller, move faster

Recently, I became an early tester of Lovart — maybe the first true “design agent” I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t build complete designs. It's more like a design studio assistant. Sketch, refine, animate, export. All in prompts.

It reminded me of convex tinkering — Nassim Taleb’s idea of placing low-risk bets where one win pays for the rest. AI workflows feel like that now. The cost of trying things is basically zero.

Once I saw Lovart, alongside others like Flora... there was a monumental shift in how I understood what an Ai Agent actually was and how fundamental they will be in our everyday lives.

Step 4 — Build something real

In a recent client meeting with a pharmacy team, I walked through a big concept — AI-driven workflows, automation, clever UI. It looked good. But in the room, real-world constraints emerged. Compliance, regulation, edge cases. We trimmed the idea down.

What was left was simple: record an audio note → transcribe it → drop it into a clinical template.

I said, without thinking, “This is easy—I could build that in four days.” It was a throwaway comment. But I meant it.

So I did.

Not to show off — but to see if it was actually possible. As a challenge. As a live-fire test of everything I’ve learned.

The result was voice.clinic.

The product isn’t technically groundbreaking. But the way it was built is. From idea to live SaaS in under four days. Fully functional. Fully branded. Everything done by one person — end-to-end. That includes:

• Logo and brand design
• UI and UX
• SVG animation
• 3D visuals
• Photography and video
• Landing page and copy
• Backend logic
• Payment, email, and auth flows

Every part of it touched AI.

I split the work into tools:

• Loveable handled front-end scaffolding and UI
• Supabase ran the backend, security, and RLS
• OpenAI powered transcription
• A custom designed prompt system handled clinical logic
• Figma helped me with the SVG assets
• ChatGPT cleaned up the copy
• Stripe took payments
• Resend handled emails
• Open Ai Codex allowed me to iteratively run multiple tests across the entire codebase automatically, flagging issues based on predefined parameters
• I handled the stitching — with 18 months of hands-on tinkering as my compass

No engineers. No designers. No PMs. No handoffs. Just me, working iteratively, with tools that answered back in seconds.

At 5:36am on a Thursday, after a +20 hour vibe coding session voice.clinic went live.

Skeptics

“It’s not production-ready.” - “The code’s a black box.” - “It won’t scale.” - “You still need a real team.”

I get it. I had the same doubts. But most of these arguments come from people who haven’t actually built anything with these tools or they're not using them to their fullest potential.

When you do, those worries collapse. You can debug the code. You can add security. You can understand the system. Ultimately, the outputs reflect the inputs.

If your code is a mess, ask AI to clean it. If you need to pass ISO audit, prompt an agent to prep for it. The tooling is there — it just needs the right implementation.

Devs need to understand that end users don’t care if the code is beautiful. They care if it works. If it’s secure. If it solves a real problem.

This post isn't about taking shots at designers, engineers, or anyone else who are skeptical. I’ve worked alongside brilliant people in all of those roles who have valid concern. However, my point is this: change is real, and it’s moving fast. The models are improving daily — not just in performance, but in accessibility. Every update makes it easier for people from all kinds of backgrounds to build things they couldn’t before. I’m not suggesting people will be replaced. I’m saying the ground is shifting — and now is probably a good time to adapt

What this actually means

This post is about what’s now possible — and how quickly that possibility is compounding.

If you run a company, design software, manage teams — this is your wake-up call:

What used to take a team of 25+ people now takes one.

Design. Frontend. Backend. Marketing. Research. Legal. Finance. If you’re not adapting your workflow around this shift, the ground beneath you is already moving.

18 months ago, building voice.clinic would’ve taken a team a few weeks at best. Now, it’s solo. In a long weekend.

This doesn’t mean every job disappears. But the people who can work across domains — who can design, prompt, build, and deploy — now have leverage.

Programs like Lovable Shipped are showing what this new world looks like. I was part of the very first Season 1 cohort, where I tested voice.clinic across multiple sprints. Those workshops gave me not just tactics, but a mindset: move fast, validate in public, and build with clarity. That’s the playbook I still use today

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What I learned by building voice.clinic

When I sat down to build voice.clinic, I wasn’t designing in the traditional sense. I wasn’t wire-framing for handoff. I wasn’t stuck in meetings about alignment or waiting on someone else to implement. I was solving — in real time — across disciplines, across tools, across tabs.

I’d be adjusting a UI pattern, while generating 3D iconography in another tab, and prompting a clinical text transformer in a third. I’d open up Figma to refine an SVG icon, then dive into Supabase to tweak security logic. I was thinking and doing at once. Not in phases. Not in roles. In flow.

That’s what AI has changed for me. Not just speed. Not just convenience. But flow. The ability to move laterally — from product thinking to execution to branding to code — without friction, without delay, without dilution.

It reminded me of something Steve Jobs once said:

“The doers are the major thinkers. Leonardo didn’t have someone off to the side imagining what pigments to use — he mixed them himself. The people who change this industry are both the thinker and the doer in one person.”

That quote hit me differently this time. Because that’s exactly what this new wave of tools enables. You no longer have to separate thinking from doing. You can sketch an idea in your mind — and execute it yourself. Fully. Quickly. With fidelity.

That’s the shift.

It’s not about automation. It’s about ownership. About the ability to carry a vision all the way through — without losing detail, without compromising intent, without having to pass it off and watch it drift.

For years, design in software was about communication. Influence. Explaining your intent to developers, stakeholders, brand teams. Making decks. Writing documentation. Shepherding an idea through a pipeline.

Truthfully, I never loved that part.

Now, I don’t have to explain what I mean. I can just build it. And that’s a different kind of power. You don't need to negotiate with a team of developers, or try and sell your vision to key stakeholders – “you can just do things.”

It’s also a responsibility. Because this only works if you’re willing to zoom out and learn how everything fits together. The systems thinking. The code. The backend. The brand. The user. You can’t stay in your lane. You have to get your hands dirty.

You have to mix your own paints.

And when you do, something changes. You stop being a contributor — and start becoming a creator. Not in the overused, influencer sense of the word. But in the deepest, most practical way: someone who can make something end-to-end. With vision. With care. With their own two hands.

That’s what building voice.clinic taught me.

Not that AI is replacing designers. But that the best designers — the ones who adapt — are about to have the most fun they’ve had in years.

Because the distance between idea and reality has collapsed.

And it’s not coming back.

Where I'm headed next

I’m rethinking what it means to be a designer in 2025. The Figma-to-dev pipeline feels painfully outdated. There’s a new workflow forming — and I think designers, makers, and builders should lead it.

But I don’t have all the answers. I’m still learning.

Will this lead to mass layoffs? Or a hiring boom? Will companies get smaller? Or more ambitious? I don’t know yet.

But I do know we’re at the start of a new creative era. The individual has leverage again.

This post also marks a shift for me personally. I’m moving beyond design-as-service into helping people and companies rethink how they build.

I’m now offering AI consultancy and workshops for individuals, teams, and organisations who want to:

• Adopt fast-building principles
• Rethink workflows around AI
• Make the mindset change needed to ship MVPs at this new speed.

I’m also open to building complete end-to-end products — taking an idea from concept to launch — or even working in-residency inside larger organisations who want to accelerate their adoption of these methods from the inside.

If that sounds useful, drop me a line at hello@darcey.com.

— Darcey

Emerging Frontiers

Dubai is an easy choice. But if you want more than the obvious—if you’re willing to trade the luxurious selfies for genuine upside—there’s a world beyond it. Georgia. Panamá. Paraguay. Thailand. Rwanda. El Salvador. Places you’d never think of, but places where things are happening. These countries are taking bold risks, adopting blockchain, AI, and Cryptocurrency while the UK Prime Minister debates what a 'working person' is...

It’s a race between the nimble and the sluggish, and the giants are falling behind. It’s not about who has the longest history. It’s about who can adapt the fastest.

The Pursuit of Prosperity

The exodus we're witnessing on our news feed might seem like a modern phenomenon, popularised by TikTok influencers and social media personalities. But a look at my family history reveals many instances of family members relocating from impoverished regions to more prosperous ones.

Today, the barriers to leaving are lower than ever. What once required a ship across oceans, a life’s savings, and unimaginable risk now takes nothing more than a passport and a smartphone. My relatives boarded steamships on journeys that took weeks; now, you can wake up in London and fall asleep in Tbilisi the same day. The modern ease of travel has transformed what used to be a monumental decision into a simple booking. For the young and ambitious, the world isn’t just accessible—it’s open, waiting for those ready to step outside their borders.

A Farewell to Frustration

Up until three or four years ago, my business and economic life were entirely based in the UK. I dealt with the endless red tape, the anxiety that comes with navigating HMRC’s invasive policies, and the constant frustration of being hit with acronyms like IR35—each one representing yet another bureaucratic barrier designed by people who have no skin in the game.

It felt like every year brought a new challenge, more paperwork, more regulations—none of it designed to help. It was about control, not growth.

Eventually, I made the decision to leave. And what changed? Everything.

The quality of my sleep, my finances, and my overall life improved in ways I didn’t think were possible. The stress I carried day to day vanished. It wasn’t just about avoiding the rain or high taxes—it was about finding a place that valued my work and didn’t feel like it was actively punishing ambition.

I didn’t leave the UK on a whim. I did it deliberately, with purpose, and with guidance from some of the best advisors. I found a way to make it work legally, properly, and with the confidence that I wasn’t just escaping something—I was building something better.

That’s why I've made the decision to create Beau Street. It’s not a service I built because I wanted to be in the relocation business—I built it because I know there are others out there who feel exactly the same way I did. People who are ready to move on but don’t know how, or where to start.

I’m not here to hard-sell you. In fact, I’ll be upfront: I’m still refining this service as I go. But I’ve spent the last few years mastering what it means to leave the UK—how to do it properly, how to make it work for you, and how to set up your life and business somewhere that actually wants you to succeed.

I’ve already lived it. I want to help others do the same.

They often feel stuck, caught between the choice of "settling down" and taking risk to pursue a life that holds meaning for them

Those who chose a career, marriage, children and/or mortgages too early in life have inadvertently given up years of adventure, self-beneficial freedom - all ingredients which help people better understand themselves

A question: How do you really know what you want in life if you haven’t lived on your own schedule?

What is your definition of living? Ordering Dominos pizza on a Friday night? Going to bed early on Sunday? Trying foreign looking items at a local Lidl?

Consider this: perpetually waking up without a schedule, in total tranquility. Allowing your mind to wander indefinitely. “What if I decided to book a flight to the Mediterranean this weekend?” And proceeding to do so - alone - on your own schedule, without the need to justify your actions, ask permission or organise anything other than the trip itself?

People instantly dismiss this as some fantasy. It seems to hurt the framework of their imagination and instead of entertaining the thought, they dismiss it as something wildly unattainable

Why? I don’t think it’s because it’s an unattractive concept. I believe perhaps this level of life deviates too far away from the conventional and people falsely believe it’s unimaginably expensive

As I age, I realise the majority of people are reluctant to veer off the beaten path, largely because they are overly conscious of others' perceptions of their lives. - It’s why most peoples social media consists of carefully crafted selfies all in the pursuit of excessive attention and validation from random onlookers

Some societies display an intensely peculiar fascination with specific interpretations of what they perceive as idyllic or ‘successful’. Where I’m from in the UK, owning a home has evolved into a cult-like devotion. The act of paying off a mortgage is strangely seen as a high-level achievement in life. Almost as if it’s the holy grail of existence

These little obscurities exist in all areas of the world; In the 45+ countries that I've visited, I've come across a broad spectrum of such social values

Opting for a course less trodden can seem an uncertain decision. It might first appear as irrational to embrace uncertainty. However, once you comprehend that life's volatility is an ever-present factor, irrespective of the path pursued, it begins to make a lot of sense. An adage that's forever imprinted in my mind says:

“Wind extinguishes a candle and energises fire. Likewise with randomness, uncertainty, chaos: you want to use them, not hide from them. You want to be the fire and wish for the wind.”

Ultimately, fulfilment comes from living a life that is authentic and aligned with one's own values and desires. Originality comes from stepping away from the crowd, thinking the unthinkable and cultivating your personality without the influence or judgment of others. This is why I believe; If someone does not appreciate solitude, they will never fully understand or value their freedom.

You see, when you live on your own schedule, uninfluenced by others, only then are you in control of your time. Only then are you truly free.

Actively living my twenties in a format which favours freedom in every possible aspect of the word, has opened my eyes to my own morality. I know who I am and what I stand for. The compass always points true north

It’s not necessary to know the exact direction or path you’re headed. Sometimes, it's about exploring different paths and being open to the experiences that come your way. Understanding what you truly want in life often requires introspection, trial and error, and paying attention to what activities, people, and environments bring you a sense of fulfilment, purpose, and joy

When I travel, I make an effort not to make plans. Instead, I control some basic variables based on the level of adventure I’m seeking - similar to how a gardener may perfectly design the conditions of a greenhouse in the winter. They’re in control of the thermostat and distribution of water. However, everything beyond that is a bit of an experiment. Some seedlings bloom, whilst others perish. You learn what works, and what doesn’t. You repeat, refine and evolve this process based on what you think you know

The secret lies in embracing the journey of life, not fixating on the "answer" or final destination. Life parallels music in many ways - it's not about reaching the end of a song, its more about enjoying each note along the way.

In the grand scheme of things a life well-lived is subjective, and what brings fulfilment to one person may not bring it to another. Everybody has different limitations, and perspectives

I would argue however, there are some easily identifiable and universally objective metrics to measure one’s general approach to life; health, time and freedom

If we assume we all agree that those three items are the ultimate measure of well-being; we should periodically take time to emphatically ask ourselves how our situation measures up

A simple heuristic would be, in your daily conversations, how often do you say things, like; “I wish I had time to do that”

I observe many people getting so bogged down into the details of life they ignore the bigger picture. Us humans have a tendency to over-commit, under-prioritise, and lack the discipline to make time for what genuinely matters. Our desires and dreams become something we'll do "someday," and for those who endlessly compromise and wait - that day will almost certainly never arrive

I always get asked:

"When will you stop? What are your plans? Where are you going next?"

The truth is, these are the types of questions I’ve asked myself every day for the last 2,190+ days

How is it financially, legally and practically possible to travel the world indefinitely, whilst working? How far can you actually take the very notion of “digital nomad” or “remote working” in reality?

In 2019 I started to seriously ask myself these types of questions. - Is it possible to build a financial, and legal infrastructure suited to my desire to build wealth and travel the world indefinitely?

The short answer? - Yes.

Some important context

I always wondered if I should take the safe route in life - relocate back to the UK. Buy a nice semi-detached house. Get a comfy fixed low-interest rate mortgage (in 2019) and be considered by society as “normal”?

Or since I have no major liabilities or obligations - maybe I should go all out? Live life to its logical absurdity. Travel the world to far away places. Formulate more of a global strategy to solidify my ambition to continue travelling until something more meaningful presents itself

In 2019 I opted for the latter. Why? Because despite the alluring illusion of “stability” that we constantly sell ourselves in the western world about owing a house and having a state pension - there are no safe options in life. Sooner or later we’re all going to end up in the same place, eventually

The way I look at it - life is a game. It’s a game of risk engineering, strategy, luck and downright gambling

At this point, I’ve placed my bets on the assumption nothing is guaranteed and you shouldn’t bother minimising your risks. Instead? Maximise your opportunities

I’ve essentially framed my life choices with a simple question: If I’m lucky enough to reach the age of 85, how will I look back on my time?

Will I be happy knowing I succumbed to the pressures of society by ‘keeping up with the joneses’ and playing safe? Or will I be thankful, whilst I still have the ability to walk, that I grabbed life by the bollocks and did all the things I’ve ever dreamed of doing, whilst I still had the ability to do so?

It’s simple, really.

People who want to work remotely should know that nothing about being a nomad is practical. The longer you keep going, the more complicated it becomes in many ways. Especially when you want to 'future proof' what you’re doing and keep one step ahead of potential regulations

So, with that little bit of context in mind: I wanted to share the types of stages I’ve personally experienced on my quest to travel forever

1st Stage: The overzealous newbie

You’re overwhelmed by the possibilities of being a digital nomad. You significantly over-prepare, over-think and over-plan. You’re enthusiastic for absolutely everything and everyone. - It's probably the first time travelling alone so you're probably terrified, nervous and think you’re going to get scammed, robbed and kidnapped all in equal measure

2nd Stage: The slowmad

You’ve been a Nomad for a bit and you become more accustomed to being in control of your own schedule, taking your time and slowing down. You’ve opted to spend months in the same place, opposed to mere days or weeks. You learn most people in the world are nice, kind and caring

3rd Stage: The inflection point

After a while, you’ll fall in love with a few particular places. You make good friends. This is when you begin to realise you’ll probably never be able to go back to where you’re originally from and endure a normal office job ever again - this is when it gets confusing, and a little more scary because you’ve arrived at the inflection point; you realise this is no longer a phase, it has become the norm

4th Stage: Wait, is this legal?

Your attention turns towards the idea of trying to legally solidify your position in a select few countries which compliment the life you want. After all, hundreds of visa extensions are going to attract unwanted attention at immigration (been there, done that). Travelling starts to become an economic, cultural and opportunistic scouting operation opposed to simply leisure

5th Stage: Go big or go home (literally)

You start investing in different countries to obtain residency permits. You organise your business affairs in a format which takes advantage of different jurisdictions which represent your ideals and values from an ethical, entrepreneurial and social perspective

6th stage: Planting flags

You rotate around the world in each jurisdiction you’ve nominated to be your “home” - maximising your opportunities and taking advantage of the benefits whilst still exploring and venturing to different parts of the globe at the same time

I’ve only recently arrived at stage 6

When you invest large portions of your net worth into different countries, with different economical infrastructures and politics - it can be a little daunting. However, I started this journey in 2019 and it’s starting to become the new normal for me

I’m currently trailing the process of “residing” in a carefully crafted selection of countries which fit into my perception of an 'ideal life'

Essentially, I’ve designed my life around how I want to spend my time on this planet. All whilst keeping an eye on a few key metrics, such as;

• Sun - How much?
• Daylight - How many hours per day?
• Seasons - Taking advantage of different seasons (weather/ tourism, etc)
• Timezones - Optionality to work with companies in US, Europe, Asia, etc

As well as more broader questions around the economical, ethical and political environments of each country (banking, taxes and IP rights)

I've also designed my options to avoid dependencies, and ensuring I have multiple options at any given time

As the world evolves and changes over time, I’m almost certain I’ll re-jig and organise things differently as time passes and new opportunities present themselves.

After all, the whole point of this is to enable unlimited upside in the form of opportunity cost. Being super liquid, infinitely flexible on geographical location and having a diverse selection of economic jurisdictions gives a little more of an established advantage in the long run

If you’d like to learn more about the details of how I’ve actually done this, feel free to reach out. I enjoy talking about it.

If you liked this post, please consider subscribing - it gives me a bit more motivation to post stuff more than once a year!

Darcey.

Sunshine brings larger tips for hospitality and better daily stock returns

Humidity tends to make people more tired and irritable

After spending a winter in Manchester, England back in 2016 I became so fed up of bad weather, I vowed to never make it an issue ever again

After all, life is too short…

So, for the last few years I’ve worked independently to design my life away from bad weather

If I don’t like the weather wherever I am, I can catch a flight to one of my residencies in Latin America, Europe or Asia

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By owning permanent resident permits in multiple countries, I’m not just diversifying weather - I’m diversifying business opportunities, culture, language and everything else geographical independence enables

I enjoy the extreme contrast which comes from sitting by a fire in the snowcapped Caucasian mountains, eating Khinkali and drinking Kakheti's finest red wine; to drinking Aguardiente, dancing salsa and eating 'Taco De Camarones' by the Caribbean Sea…

Having the freedom to decide how you spend your time on this planet is the most valuable asset you’ll ever have.

For those who find themselves complaining about a bad boss or bad weather, remember; In a world of 8 billion people, 195 countries and mass abundance - look to explore before you look to exploit

And most importantly: If you don’t like something, change it

The simplest way to identify the difference between Web 1. 2. 3 is:

• Read
• Read / Write
• Read / Write / Own

Like many people who first dabble into blockchain and crypto there is an invisible event horizon you will inevitably surpass beyond a particular point

Back in March 2020 I danced around this event horizon. Dabbling into Bitcoin at £4k, Ethereum at £98 and I became involved with a project called Decentraland

Truthfully, It was one of the smartest stupid things I have ever done

I knew next-to-nothing at the time. Even now, I write this from a position of inept knowledge of the technical intricacies surrounding DeFi platforms, DAO’s and tokenomics

However, over the last 18 months of working with some extremely talented people, I have since eclipsed that event horizon. I am now firmly of the belief that Web 3.0 is enabling the largest and fastest distribution of wealth in all recorded history

There was a 63% year-on-year adoption rate of the internet in the late 90’s and at the point of writing this post there is a 113% year-on-year adoption rate of cryptocurrencies

GMI outlines how the adoption rate of crypto currencies mirrors the adoption rate of internet users from the late 90’s

Unlike other historic tools of wealth distribution such as railroads, phones, computers and even the internet as we currently understand it - all of these things accrued to large multinational corporations

The difference with Web3 is it’s accruing to tokens which anybody with an internet connection can participate in

As the network effect amplifies, and more people adopt this revolutionary technology, you can begin to see Metcalfe’s law defining the value of these emerging communication networks proportionally to the square of the number of users

When considering the upward trend in adoption rates, it’s quite obvious to me that we are about to head into a supersonic growth period of an entirely new technology and asset class over the next number of years

Dapps (Decentralised Apps)

The internet as we currently use it is siloed by organisations where the data is controlled and monopolised by technology giants

The reason why the opportunities and wealth generation from Web3 is going to be so non-linear and so fast is because Web3 flips applications from being closed, to “open” - where the contributors (like you, and me) will own the platform, and users will own and be in control of their data with digital private keys

On the blockchain, digital private keys enable digital private property

Consider a future where we won’t need Spotify or Netflix to determine who owns what private property and hold it with their database entries and their lawyers

Instead, we can each own a piece of the internet without the middlemen through mechanisms called smart contracts

A lot of people I know (and respect) typically dismiss the notion of digital scarcity. The mistake these people often make is that they haven’t yet seen how digital scarcity can easily map to real world scarcity

Smart contracts are the backbone of blockchain networks like Ethereum

For me, Ethereum is probably the most exciting project in the space. Simply due to it’s size, practicality and future vision / planned updates

My belief is that almost everything which can be digitally and physically owned will eventually - in the not too distant future - sit on a blockchain network somewhere secured by smart contracts and governed by decentralised autonomous organisation’s (DAO’s)

ENS

One of the most successful examples of a DAO currently utilising smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain is the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) - which essentially allows people to create digital identities on the blockchain network

At the moment, ENS’s job is to map human-readable names like ‘name.eth’ to machine-readable identifiers such as Ethereum addresses

When you consider the centralisation of how typical domains are managed, you begin to understand why DAO’s are so powerful

For example; there are currently 200M active websites in the world right now and one U.S. company - VeriSign (VRSN) - maintains 172M of them. VeriSign has a long-term, no-bid contract with an unelected international body (ICANN), which has been repeatedly renewed at the request of the U.S. government, who considers the service crucial infrastructure

VeriSign is entirely centralised. ENS is entirely decentralised. You can read more about it, here.

Uniswap

Uniswap is another project worth noting which is referred to as a “DeFi” (decentralised finance) exchange

DeFi exchange platforms like Uniswap have a liquidity pool where anyone can provide liquidity of a particular token whilst being rewarded for being a contributor

The entire network is organised by smart contracts tied to our own individual private keys. It mimics a traditional centralised exchange whilst removing the middlemen of bankers, lawyers, forex traders whilst being faster, more efficient, cheaper and has no central authority - the permissionless smart contracts circumvents the need for a centralised body

Acknowledgment:

I will preface this with the acknowledgment this is very early technology. I am very acutely aware of the problems associated with these platforms. I understand the practical uses of such technology are particularly niche (right now). However, like with all new things, this will change and evolve over time

The risk associated to being on the frontier of Web 3.0 is high, and rightly so; having the balls to bet big on a search engine in the late 90’s would have raised a few eye brows from from folk investing into General Electric

Blue sky thinking and future vision

Back in 2018 I read a book called “The Birth of Plenty” which completely changed the way I invested in countries around the world. This book made me understand the importance of private property and the very idea of ownership backed by the rule of law

As some one who is now a resident and actively invested in multiple countries across 3 continents - I have some skin in the game when it comes to currency devaluation and the rise of Bitcoin as a legitimate alternative to the Turkish Lira, Venezuelan Bolívar, South African Rand and many (many) more.

Before all of this, private property and the rule of law had been things I had taken for granted for my entire life. This was until I started seeing, experiencing and understanding how different systems operate around the world for extended periods of time

I have been lucky to have once called the UK my home of residence - despite it’s shortcomings, we have deeds for private property. Certificates for university degree’s. Legally binding contracts for conducting business - all of which, are supported by a well established legal system and a legal tender which has been around for 1,200 years

The UK system is what’s commonly referred to as: “Lindy”

However, many people living in such countries with Lindy systems often fail to understand that the same can’t be said for a promising selection of emerging economies around the world

Smart contracts and crypto currencies are becoming a truly monumental force in emerging markets. Especially in those places where private ownership backed by the rule of law doesn’t adequately exist, and local currency devaluation is rampant due to a mismanagement of (often dubious) centralised power

By having open, transparent systems governing and solving the double coincidence of wants in both tangible and intangible goods and services is something I’m a strong advocate for

This gives you a subtle glimpse of where I can see this new world moving, and how much of a fundamental impact it will have on the world as we currently understand it.

I’ll leave you with this, a video of David Bowie in 1999...

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See you on the other side 🤘

darcey.eth

"Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life." - Jerzy Gregorek

I am such a fan of the simplicity of this statement I decided to inscribe it on the side of my new espresso maker

This way, every morning when I make coffee, I am reminded to not skip the gym today.

If I skip the gym, that’s an easy choice.

What happens if I make easy choices? I’ll have a hard life.

My idea of going to the gym is simply statistics.

According to the data on my Apple Watch, I have a 39.2 VO2max

What is a 39.2 VO2max?

It is a measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen your body can consume during exercise

Why does this matter?

According to this scientific paper, and many others like it, they have determined lower scores of VO2 max is associated with higher risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer's, depression, and Type 2 diabetes

Using my age and gender to determine which category I reside in, I can make a decision to statistically steer my health into a much lower risk category with a much higher VO2max

How can I get a higher V02max? There are many ways of achieving this

I choose the one which requires the least amount of preparation and the highest amount of discipline, which is running on the treadmill for 20 minutes at a 11.5 kilometres per hour pace

Going to the gym? Well, that would be a hard choice but I’d have a much easier life

Inspiration

A Polish man by the name of Jerzy Gregorek says is quoted saying "Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life" a lot. Jerzy immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1986 as a political refugee during the Solidarity Movement.

I discovered Jerzy from an archived podcast from Tim Ferris and Naval Ravikant, and thoroughly enjoyed listening to how he approaches life obstacles.

"Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life" is such a simple quote which encompasses so much of a philosophy I believe in. - It aligns with the inversion mental model. The idea of 'doing easy things' has occupied 3rd place in my list of 7 things I deliberately avoid for more than a decade

This is called an epiphenomenal belief.

In an epiphenomenon, you don’t usually observe A without observing B, so you are likely to think that A causes B, or B causes A depending on the cultural framework you’ve inherited.

After you’ve embarked on a journey for long enough - experiencing situations so foreign and unbelievably complex - you will discover the underlying morality of “good opinions” as nothing more than the empty calories of an ethical life.

As I sit here on a beautiful Caribbean island; rum in one hand, laptop in the other. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect and think about some of the crazy stories and scenarios in each of the countries I’ve visited…

The time I accidentally drove a motorcycle on the side of an erupting volcano in Bali. Or the time I was ‘kidnapped’ in Bogotá by a taxi driver insisting to meet her family in "El barrio Egipto" (historically, one of the most violent neighborhoods in the entirety of Colombia).

And more recently, jumping out of an airplane 2 miles above the surface of the earth...

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All three summaries offering just a glimpse into the vast array of terrifying and exciting experiences I’ve encountered since embarking on this journey. A true testament to my ambition to avoid the very notion of "stability" as I outlined in one of my previous posts

Statistically speaking, I’ve spent 38.6% of my time on this planet “growing up” on 17.9% of the globe. That’s 7 years of living in 36 different countries.

Without doubt, this has been one of the single best investments I’ve ever made during my twenties (well, Bitcoin and Ethereum haven’t been a bad investment, either…) in terms of the return on intellectual capital, and personal development. I can't say there's been anything else which has come anywhere near close to what I've gained from traveling around the world

What’s next?

I will be ceasing much of my travel for a little while.

This doesn’t mean I’m abandoning the ‘digital nomadic lifestyle’. Far from it. In fact, being a nomad during 2020/1 has shown me how viable this lifestyle actually is. In the year when the world was sent into lockdown, I ‘lived’ in 6 different countries across 3 different continents

Although, for a while now, I’ve known that there are a couple of critical cornerstones I need to collect in order to sustain this nomadic lifestyle indefinitely. Subsequently, I'm now deciding to use this pandemic as a chance to settle into one place for a little while; especially since the thrilling nature of walking into an international airport with absolutely no idea which flight I will be taking, has since vanished

I'll do my best to keep this blog updated about my next steps. If you're interested in following my journey, consider subscribing to my email list at the bottom of the page (you'll get an email every time I publish something new)

Darcey.

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I consider the video as more of a demo of the possibilities of 5G. Albeit, it really got me thinking about global talent distribution of various skilled workers among varying industries.

Remote work already increases productivity by expanding the pool of talent and harnessing time zones. This amounts to quicker build times, more productivity and higher quality outcomes.

Emerging markets in Africa, Asia and South America are growing at such a rapid pace, they’re shifting world order away from 'The West' (US and Europe). These regions have entered into a ‘golden age’ of growth and wealth. However, they’re growing so fast, it's resulted in a huge skill gap in particular industries

President Joko Widodo of Indonesia has announced plans of moving it’s capital city from Jakarta to East Kalimantan province on Borneo island. This project isn’t a small one. It means hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent to build an entire capital city from scratch.

Imagine for a second, a highly skilled excavator operator in Padstow, a tiny civil parish on the north coast of Cornwall, England could remotely assist in the excavation of East Kalimantan province on Borneo island. 7,306 miles away from the comfort of their own home

The 8 hour difference would mean at 5pm in Borneo, an excavator operator based in Padstow could login to their JCB, interact with the PM's brief, and work their normal 9-5.

Let's all just take a second to appreciate that possibility...

Imagine spending Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday working on Indonesia’s new capital city. And on Thursday and Friday, they spend finishing up Egypts replacement of crumbling capital of Cairo…

This lead me to think, with the advent of new tech and 5G - What jobs won’t become remote in the future?

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

Tip: everything becomes a lot easier when you’re not pretending to be anyone else but yourself. Authenticity is key.

1. Structure

The next bit which I’ve definitely not figured out yet, is style and structure. I’ve always struggled with structure. Even writing this blog is a challenge.

My brain doesn’t work in a linear fashion, it jumps around a lot. So, writing a very loose structure down before shooting anything is key.

The writing should coincide with some kind of story (or stories). Start, middle and end. This creates a flow. Not everything has to be in order 100% of the time.

Sometimes, in the editing process, the story makes more sense when you start at the end. A preview of the ending gives the viewer a chance to decide if they’re actually interested to learn about how you arrived at the ending (if that makes sense?)

2. Film 10x more stuff

You should film 10x more stuff than you think you actually need. When I filmed the intro for “Day 3 - Putting pen to paper” the first 45 seconds took about 2 hours of footage and 6 hours of editing. Was it worth it? Probably not.

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3. Editing takes 80% of the time

As a rule of thumb, when you make a vlog, only 20% of the time will be spent on filming. The other 80% of your time will be spent editing and finding the right music.

4. Music and sound are the most important

Don’t underestimate music. It’s really, really important. It will give the viewer an understanding of your style, personality and outlook on a particular sequence of events. It will change the entire mood of your vlog.

Sound is arguably more important than the cinematography. Crisp, clear and uninterrupted sound, especially during segments involving voice, should be the priority. It took me a while to figure this one out.

I’m not quite there yet with the sound. Although, after a solid 2 years, I’ve only just managed to figure out how to edit video - God knows how long it’ll take for me to learn how to edit audio…

A summary...

I’m not done exploring the notion of video yet. I’m quite enjoying exploring this creative outlet. It’s a fresh and new way for me to express ideas, concepts and record parts of my life I know I will certainly cringe at in 20 years time 🙃

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can subscribe to my Youtube channel, here. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

It’s much easier to sell: “look at what I did for you.” Rather than: “look what I avoided for you.”

Inversion has been a strategy I’ve employed throughout my life. An example would be: avoiding role models. Instead, I had 'anti-role models'; people I didn’t want to resemble growing up

I’ve always been observant of other peoples mistakes. Even as a kid I often wrote them down with the sole aim of avoiding them myself. It’s proven to be a much more effective strategy to inadvertently learn without directly experiencing the downside

As I embark on the half-way point between my 20’s and 30’s, I now realise that simple act of identifying and deliberately avoiding the seven things I had written down; has enabled me to sustainably optimise my time for freedom and growth.

7 things I deliberately avoid

• Comfort
• Working with people I don't admire
• Doing easy things
• Neglecting or abusing my health
• Gaining liabilities or debt
• Toxic relationships
• Feedback-less environments

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

This would almost be enough to qualify as our first MVP (minimal viable product) to begin testing with potential users.

The key with transitions and animations is to stay closely aligned with Apples Human Interface Guidelines (or, whichever design principles you're following). The purpose for this, is to keep the transitions compatible with the native UI elements you're using and to make a conscious effort to maintain the usability of the app.

There's nothing worse than out-of-place transitions and animations. They should remain useful, engaging and usable for the user.

Day 5

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I've opted to record the process in a video format - this is completely new for me!

Your feedback (publicly or privately) will help me improve. I welcome feedback in all forms; as trivial as the film making style, as high-level as the structure of the content or as potent as the idea, process or software I'm using

Write a comment, send me a message on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or send me an Email at info@darceybeau.co.uk and let me know your thoughts 😄

Additionally, I will be publishing here on my blog once tomorrows video is live. So, feel free to subscribe to my mailing list using the subscribe button at the bottom of this page if you'd like to stay updated

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I will see you tomorrow 👋

- Darcey Beau

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

A simple, easily navigable application for digital nomadic entrepreneurs to get set-up in a new nomad destination

We first tackle on boarding, before moving onto more of the serious stuff. Thinking about exploration pages and the modular components which display critical information about a destination

Day 4

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I've opted to record the process in a video format - this is completely new for me!

Your feedback (publicly or privately) will help me improve. I welcome feedback in all forms; as trivial as the film making style, as high-level as the structure of the content or as potent as the idea, process or software I'm using

Write a comment, send me a message on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or send me an Email at info@darceybeau.co.uk and let me know your thoughts 😄

Additionally, I will be publishing here on my blog once tomorrows video is live. So, feel free to subscribe to my mailing list using the subscribe button at the bottom of this page if you'd like to stay updated

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I will see you tomorrow 👋

- Darcey Beau

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

Today is all about working hard to put as much down on paper as possible. This process should never be finished. You should always be putting ideas down and seeking inspiration.

Remember that no idea is a bad idea. Often the best ideas start out as the stupid ones or better, the impossible ones...

Day 3

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I've opted to record the process in a video format - this is completely new for me!

Your feedback (publicly or privately) will help me improve. I welcome feedback in all forms; as trivial as the film making style, as high-level as the structure of the content or as potent as the idea, process or software I'm using

Write a comment, send me a message on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or send me an Email at info@darceybeau.co.uk and let me know your thoughts 😄

Additionally, I will be publishing here on my blog once tomorrows video is live. So, feel free to subscribe to my mailing list using the subscribe button at the bottom of this page if you'd like to stay updated

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I will see you tomorrow 👋

- Darcey Beau

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

At this stage, It doesn't have to be correct or precise. The purpose is to give yourself a reference point. An ability to understand how you'll tackle and present the desired information for the end user

Theres no right or wrong way to do this. Keep an open mind and don't be afraid to change it later down the line

Day 2

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I've opted to record the process in a video format - this is completely new for me!

Your feedback (publicly or privately) will help me improve. I welcome feedback in all forms; as trivial as the film making style, as high-level as the structure of the content or as potent as the idea, process or software I'm using

Write a comment, send me a message on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or send me an Email at info@darceybeau.co.uk and let me know your thoughts 😄

Additionally, I will be publishing here on my blog once tomorrows video is live. So, feel free to subscribe to my mailing list using the subscribe button at the bottom of this page if you'd like to stay updated

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I will see you tomorrow 👋

- Darcey Beau

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

Day 1: The idea

Today I talk through the idea, do a bit of brainstorming and think about the type of data I'd like to include within the app

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I made a short .gif which showcases a bit of the work we completed today. At this stage, it’s literally words on a blank page. A complete brain fart. Which is always a great way to kick off a project

I've opted to record the process in a video format - this is completely new for me!

Your feedback (publicly or privately) will help me improve. I welcome feedback in all forms; as trivial as the film making style, as high-level as the structure of the content or as potent as the idea, process or software I'm using

Write a comment, send me a message on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or send me an Email at info@darceybeau.co.uk and let me know your thoughts 😄

Additionally, I will be publishing here on my blog once tomorrows video is live. So, feel free to subscribe to my mailing list using the subscribe button at the bottom of this page if you'd like to stay updated

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I will see you tomorrow 👋

- Darcey Beau

P.S. In the video I refer to "digital nomadic entrepreneurs" If you're unsure what Digital Nomads are (and what they do), I wrote a popular article, called: "A numinous adventure into a digital nomadic lifestyle"

I started to use Unsplash around December 2018. For those who have no idea what Unsplash is, it's a website where you can download high-resolution imagery, for free.

I started off uploading imagery I didn't have much use for. My initial reasoning for giving them away for free, was primarily to give something back to the platform I regularly take advantage of. I consider Unsplash like those "give one, take one" book exchanges (or, little free libraries) you often see in old telephone boxes in obscure places around the world.

The initial photo's I uploaded were of Sarajevo. I left them there without much thought. A month or two later, I saw one of them had something like 25,000 views.

This was a pleasant surprise. Imagery which would of otherwise sat on my hard drive, collecting dust, had been enjoyed by 25,000 people.

That dopamine hit was enough to get me to upload some more images. However, this time, I made a conscious effort to upload some of my favorite shots from Dubai. This is when things got a bit crazy

I received an email from Unsplash Editorial team, which read:

"2 of your photos were promoted to the Editorial feed! Every day, thousands of new photos are submitted to Unsplash and only the best of the best are featured by the Editorial team. Sorry if your stats go crazy :)"

Initially, I didn't think too much of it. Until I saw my stats, social media and inbox. This was one of those rare occasions when the exposure I received felt particularly rewarding.

I then began uploading more imagery. These were also favored by the Unsplash editorial team and subsequently boosted my exposure further.

The ability to see and understand what resonates with people is particularly useful. The images which receive the most compliments, views and likes are a great marker for future projects.

And that's basically it! If you'd like to know more about my photography work, what equipment I'm using, how I take my photo's etc. I'd be more than happy to write something which outlines these types of things in more detail

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

For those unfamiliar with the significance of this journey; Chiang Mai is universally acknowledged to be one of a handful of destinations in the world which is regularly worshiped by the Digital Nomad community.

The former capital of the kingdom of Lan Na has evolved into an ambitious innovation-driven "smart city" to cater towards the arrival of modern hipsters, digital nomadic entrepreneurs and the exceptional and unequivocal rise of the demographic development within the ASEAN region.

No longer are western metropolises considered to be 'power houses of innovation'; instead, they're financially uninhabitable for a large portion of society and - as I've discovered upon my extensive travels across Asia - frequently considered as the dictionary definition of complacency, arrogated by sanctimonious characters who are addicts of conformity.

"Hither to Lamahey (Chiang Mai) come many merchants out of china, and bring great store of muske, golde, silver, and many other things" - Fitch, 1586

From Fitch's first account, not much has really changed, except, you'll be more likely to observe cryptocurrency and blockchain merchants gathered in co-working spaces, or casually dwelling inside one of the many remarkable independent coffee shops scattered across the city

Gate keepers of the region are steadily working towards solidifying themselves as 'the' nomad mecca of choice. Their smart city initiative echos a digital strategy which lead to Estonia's nomad visa. Inevitably, nomad visa's will attract more talent, more innovation and more investment throughout the region.

There's no denying, with the advent of near-instant global communication, transportation and media; young people everywhere are acknowledging viable alternatives to the office cubical.

I often wonder upon trips back to Europe, if I’m living in a Nomad bubble or if I’m and early adopter of the efflorescence of nomadic entrepreneurs (?)

The truth is, I can no longer look favourably at home ownership via mortgages, vehicle ownership via financing or anything else which degrades the very notion of freedom.

Today we have apps like Monzo, Revolut and Freetrade. You can build capital, own assets and invest globally using WiFi on a flight situated 30,000 feet above the surface of the earth.

On a Monday morning you can quite literally purchase shares (for free) using your thumbprint via Freetrade, board a flight at London Heathrow and wake up in Singapore 13 hours later to see your gains.

A stark contrast to the lives of our ancestors. A time when news and goods only travelled as fast as the sailing vessels of the day. Often taking five to six weeks to commute from Venice to Constantinople, or four weeks from Venice to London. -Making Ralph Fitch's expeditions even harder to fathom.

Today’s world is rapidly changing.

I can no longer walk onto a scheduled flight from Jakarta to Penang without a subsequent nod from a fellow passenger; acknowledging the trademark stereotypical symbols of the nomadic entrepreneur:

• Laptop with Slack open
• Sketchbook
• Airpods
• “Hello! Can you hear me!?” being shouted in the airport lounge, conversing with clients over a call - utilising the dodgy airport WiFi.

The technology to enable remote work has been around for a little while now. At the rate of current technological advancement, it's simply a matter of time before things start to get really interesting. Steadily but surly, more and more people are beginning to board the trend of digital nomadism. I struggle to believe this trend will ever decline, in fact, quite the opposite.

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

1. Things & objects— they’re not really important

There should be no guilt for owning items of value or use. Albeit, a good aphorism to follow, could be: detecting the reversal point beyond which your own belongings (say, a house, country house, car, or business) start owning you.

In a quest to reduce stress to a minimum and mobility to a maximum, my belongings never exceed a small backpack. Clothes, camera and laptop are the only essentials I need. Everything else? — Unnecessary, or dispensable.

Separating myself away from ‘stuff’ gives me more freedom and clarity. There is something powerful about knowing I can pack-up all of my belongings into a small backpack in less than 5 minutes, grab a taxi to the airport and walk onto a plane without checking in any bags

2. Perspective is a necessity

In an ever increasingly global society, perspective is a necessity. The optimum way to gain cohesive perspectives of other cultures, economies and societies is to surrender yourself to uncomfortable situations in foreign environments.

The outlook acquired from pursuing unplanned solo adventures for unspecified amounts of time, gives you a lot more context about your role within global society. It allows you to observe the impact people have on a global scale and gain a wealth of perspective of how other people operate in the context of their world. It enables you the freedom to observe, understand and advocate the life you actually want to live.

3. Routine is the enemy of time

Wind extinguishes a candle and energises fire. Likewise with randomness, uncertainty, chaos: you want to use them, not hide from them. You want to be the fire and wish for the wind. — NNT

Humans are built for randomness, mess, adventures, uncertainty, self-discovery, near-traumatic episodes — all those things that make life worth living. Within a routine, our brains fool themselves into believing that sitting in traffic each morning to reach an office cubical, where we’ll stare into a screen for 9 hours a day for 40 odd years, is rational. It’s not.

The most risky thing modern people do nowadays is eat shellfish, or get into an unlicensed taxi — this is tragic. Don’t remove volatility from life. Don’t be afraid of taking risk. Set up a business, go yak skiing in Manali, India or go vertical caving in Yogyakarta, Indonesia; turn off your phone for 6months, delete your email accounts. Take risks.

It’s difficult to explain this concept to the risk-adverse, career-ladder-driven, mortgage abiding family folk; who’s entire agenda revolves around becoming a well oiled cog in a system. A system designed to overwhelm with a series of unsatisfactory obligations in order to restrict from diverging from their routine. Evidence of this, is the backlog of statements resembling a never ending combination of the following:

• “I wish I did that”
• “I wish I had experience that”
• “I’m too old for that, now…”

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4. Never explain traveling

“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.” — Leo Tolstoy, 1897

5. Planned experiences will never be worth it

When I refer to “travel”, I don’t mean going on an all-inclusive holiday to Benidorm for 2 weeks. I’m talking about really traveling; disappearing for 12 or 6 months without a plan. Going to the airport with nothing more than a backpack. Asking the lady behind the information desk to choose your destination; booking your accommodation when you land and settling for 30 days in a new place (preferably 50 miles away from all major tourist hotspots).

The best moments on my travels and more generally, in life, occurred when I did not plan. The people I’ve met, the authentic experiences I’ve had and the situations I frequently find myself in — far-outweigh any planned activity.

Planning is praised in the corporate world, but it should never be praised in life. And for christ sake, unless you’re visually or physically impaired, never hire a tour guide.

6. It’s your duty to live life to the full

Your duty of being an adult is that it’s your choice to live your life to the full. It’s your responsibility to reach aged 85 and be exhausted from all the cool stuff you did in your life. If that be skydiving, bungee jumping, living in a foreign country, travelling the world or helping the welfare of others through philanthropy. Never(ever) wait for, ‘the right time’. Your time is limited. So, get on with it…

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

From my recent (and frankly, fragmental) experience, I would identify and summarise this lifestyle as one which is bespoke, crafted with care and moulded by the influence of self discovery; highlighted through travel, and driven by passion for adventure and work.

I was first introduced to the ‘nomad lifestyle from a few friends who abandoned their office cubicle, in order to explore various cultures whilst they worked wherever their budget airline took them.

There was something terrifyingly alluring about the thought of disregarding the predictability of the office job. The idea of embracing the sheer essence of volatility in the most exotic environments; meeting new people, discovering new ideas and operating your work amongst alternative settings and cultures.

It took me four years of working inside the four walls of various offices across Europe, before realising these enclosures were shielding me from the ecological, transforming me into a machine to work on preexisting (employer-compatible), maps of reality. In hindsight, I sometimes feel like my employers prior to pursuing contract work, unknowingly suppressed my need to growas an individual. As I understand, most companies with management subscribing to a particular set of business and social ethics, seem not to fully identify the benefits of remote working. And frankly, neither had I before taking this numinous adventure.

You only need Wi-Fi

You can fund this nomadic lifestyle by using wi-fi and a laptop to build apps, websites and endeavour into various creative freelance projects all over the world. This enables you to build your own financial infrastructure and live the life that you want to live.

This lifestyle sounded far more rational than the office one I used to endure. Previously, I could of drawn this uncanny similarity between myself and a well groomed lion in Bristol zoo: My monthly salary resembling the steak, My bonuses felt like the hoops to jump through. I mean, was I really spending my time on this earth to seek *Stability by sitting in an office, avoiding any kind of day-to-day volatility and not knowing how to survive in the wild?

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As a 22 year-old with zero liabilities, no debt, no obligations and who started to wake-up to the irrationalities of the office cubical; I took Nikes advice — I just did it. On November 30th 2016 I handed in my keys to my apartment, and I quit my job.

*Stability (it isn’t the point).

When humans want stability, they shoot for this universal illusion (especially in the western world) of ‘perfect stability’: a comfy house, monthly salary, car, daily routine etc. However, everything organic, requires some amount of volatility. Which is the exact opposite to the structured and ineffective life of an empty suit CEO with a preset schedule and an alarm clock.

There’s a mathematical property called Jensen’s Inequality which demonstrates things often gain from variability. In other words, you’ll do a lot better, yourself, if you stop pursuing stability and instead pursue volatility.

Jensen’s inequality proves, mathematically, that anything organic (this includes humans), strive on variation. Perhaps not immediately, not many people new to this notion could cope with such immediate changes. However, over time, in bite-sized pieces, it will make you less susceptible to extreme variations within your environment.

90% of people working in offices, don’t understand this. They’ve become institutionalised and are not exposed to unsubscribed stressors. They only know what it’s like to drink water from a water cooler in an air conditioned office — they’ve removed all volatility from their life.

I know now, there is no liquid on earth which tastes better than water from a natural spring, after you’ve spent an entire day wondering around in the heat of the Sahara desert.

Extreme Weather Optimisation Management System (EWOMS)

If you gave the CEO control of the worlds weather patterns; I can almost guarantee 98% of them would set the temperature 22.3°C all year round (average temperature for most western corporate offices). It would be their idea of ‘maximising productivity’ and would probably give it some ridiculous unpronounceable acronym to make them seem somewhat intelligible (hence; EWOMS). Of course, if they had managed to stabilise the worlds temperature, they would of blown up the planet…

The point I’m attempting to make is: we do a lot of harm by depriving organic matter of a certain amount of variability. Anything organic, communicates with its environment via stressors. By seeking stability to remove and kind of volatility, you’re more likely to be harmed by any kind of change. And whilst we’re living in a world of millennials disrupting entire industries encompassed in old business rituals, on the precipice of the fourth industrial revolution (or, “4IR” for you CEO’s reading this)– investing in being insusceptible to extreme change, is probably a wise move.

Or, if you don’t buy that argument, try this more compelling one…

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Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

Ultimately, in order to come even close to this competition when it comes to their alternative, fast and experimental user experience; you need a solid, cohesive, collaborative design team enrolled in a culture of transparency, ideation and experimentation.

By that statement, I’m not referring to just designing crazy experimental things, but getting intimate regarding your competitor and market research; understanding your industry in acute detail — finding all sorts of problems and solving them comprehensively. Not necessarily for quick and fast profit but for authority, market ownership and most of all: customer loyalty.

We’ve all seen what happens when companies do that, right? AirBnB, Google, Monzo; they’re all companies who have design embedded within the companies DNA. What do they have in common? They all have fiercely loyal users and a kick arse product(s), which evolve around their users needs.

These companies are pumping out ideas quicker than the combination most of their competitors. If you work in a large company, building a design team which can do this shouldn’t just be a priority, it should be a necessity to survive the coming ages.

The fundamental difference between the companies mentioned above is that they would never identify themselves as “tech companies” they would internally define themselves as: “user experience companies”. They understand they’re not building products for the sake of technology, but for the users who use it.

Product owners and designers, working on consumer facing platforms which only push for slow incremental changes to an under performing product, will ultimately find themselves struggling to compete.

Why spend 2 months animating a hamburger icon when the fundamental core aspects of your product is failing against its competitors?

Automated multivariate testing is perfect for aggressive and sporadic experimental UX changes. Flip things upside down. Move things around. Be creative. Be quick, fast, nimble. Don’t be afraid to test things in quick succession. Move with the times.

Of course, designers can only move as fast as the technology infrastructure allows and most importantly; this kind of approach should be done in conjunction with company-wide objectives, and cooperatively across the entire product team.

Here’s a quick example: Twitter. They’ve taken over 8 years to make 7 changes to their navigation structure. Facebook were running over 54 A/B tests of their navigation experience in 2017…

Don’t wait for your product to get lost in a whirl-wind of excruciatingly tiny, non-automated time consuming changes, before realising you’re so far behind your competitors that your only strategy of defence is introducing a rather expensive, non-agile cumbersome ‘refresh’ (or something of the sort!)

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

What this law tries to predict, is the time it takes for the user to move their cursor through distance (D) to the target of size (S). You want the distance to be as small as possible in every interface that you design; if a task takes less time to complete, the interface is considered more usable.

After all, improving efficiency and usability of a product is the backbone of successful user experience design

The mathematical formula, which was originally published in 1954 by Paul Maurice Fitts, looks something like this (figure 2). Albeit, the simplicity of this formula can be better understood visually in Figure 1.

It’s important to recognise you don’t need to be a mathematician to understand the basis of the law; the same way you don’t need to understand the chemical properties of ink to be able to write. The basis of the law can be somewhat simple to understand and consider within the design process on a practical level.

The academic texts are only applicable in scientific studies, or when designers wish to use it literally (usually those who are HCI “designers”).

However, for the benefit of being agile, and moving iteratively; it’s perhaps not wise to be loosing your sanity doing maths. The constant consideration alone is more beneficial than the minute percentage increase in conversion when implemented literally.

Mac vs Windows

The Mac vs Windows way of handling menu systems for applications is an easy way to identify how the consideration of Fitt’s law can better an entire operating system.

You can see on the Mac OS that you have the menu options at the top of the screen. This implementation of a menu bar doesn’t change, only the names of the menu options may change, based upon the selected application.

Opposed to the Windows OS, which chooses to have the menu options inside the application window. This implementation is not favourable when you calculate Fitt’s law.

We can pick any measurement units to calculate the size and the difference, but If, for arguments sake, we calculate the time it takes for a user to move the cursor 80mm (D) to the target (S) on the Mac OS menu system, we can compare those results with the Windows implementation and see which one takes the smallest amount of time for a user to navigate.

The Mac OS has the menu options at the top of the screen (Figure 3 and 5), this means we can assume the target area and size is arbitrarily bigger than the Windows OS (Figure 4 and 7), as it reduces the chances of the user overrunning the cursor past the target. The physical screen actually makes the target area in figure 5 significantly larger. So lets make the target 50mm in this instance.

This would make the formula look something like this, and the time it takes for the user to move the cursor 80mm to the 50mm target would be 250milliseconds. (If you’re wondering where I got the 50 + 150 from; these are irrelevant as they’re simply experimentally determined values).

The Windows implementation (figure 7) significantly increases the chances of overrunning the target area, which statistically makes the target smaller as there are no boundaries to stop the user overrunning the action. This makes the size of the target defined and therefore makes the size of the target much easier to calculate and would probably be around 5mm.

When you calculate these differences, the time increases by 3 times to 667milliseconds on the Windows OS. Proving the menu system on Windows is 3 times slower to navigate on average, than the Mac OS in this instance*

This could be a contributing factor as to why many people find the Mac OS a lot easier to use, and why their software is considered to be more dominant not only in terms of aesthetics albeit practicality, too.

Of course, they’ll be many loyal Windows users with cognitive bias to scream from the rooftops so say they find the Mac OS “horrible to use”. But these are the benefits of quantitative mathematical formulas. They help identify and study how people perceive user interfaces. Years of practice and routine would certainly be a factor if you tried to study a loyal Windows OS user transferring over to Mac OS.

*These calculations are by no means accurate. They’re simply fabricated to demonstrate how to use Fitt’s Law works and how it can be applied to a real life situation

Thank you for checking out this blog. You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk. You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!

Modern metropolises are often divided into a grid system of single use zones with the perceived benefit of efficiency and functionalism. Apartment blocks, shopping malls, business parks and leisure areas are built and subsequently connected to each other by various means of transportation.

Regardless of the perceived efficiency and economic advantage of modern urbanism, I believe modern city planners impose detrimental megastructural scale at the expense of community and quality of life. The culture of concrete and glass slabs invites me to wonder how much this design philosophy is contributing to the polarising disconnect between human interaction and self imposed isolation.

I also wonder, as the world becomes more connected through 5G networks; how necessary and economical these highly dense megacities are? Why will people spend 1–2 hours a day commuting to an office cubical on an underground network of smelly, overcrowded tubes when most office workers can do exactly the same job, anywhere with electricity and Wi-Fi?

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Traditional Urbanism

This has lead me on a silent quest to discover towns and cities which are traditional in urban planning. Often built several hundred years ago, where cars and urban transport were never a consideration. Towns which have been built with terrain: hills, valleys, stairs, steps, corners, odd squares. Where landscaping is often unnecessary and seemingly uneconomical, but beautiful, communal and offer insight into local culture

Historic human scaled towns and cities are all over the world. Below you'll observe some examples I captured across my travels…

These cities are timeless. Regardless of the size, volume, material or era, they were always designed by humans for humans. The architectural style often informed by the culture and beliefs of the local people who built it. The soil, altitude, climate, materials and culture are the fundamental ingredients contributing to each of their unique identities.

I’ve worked remotely in places like these all over the world. Often with a better internet connection than central London; all whilst indulging in fresh, organic, locally produced epicurean delights sourced from soil farmed by the same family for over 5 centuries. These cities, just like the locals who live there, are Lindy.

Poundbury, England

Poundbury is an experimental new town on the outskirts of Dorchester, England. It's a town designed for people. It's a traditional urbanist approach to town planning and the work of a Luxembourgish architect, Léon Krier (someone I particularly admire for his vocal dislike of modern urbanism).

Poundbury has been in construction since 1993 and it will eventually have 2,500 dwellings and a population of about 6,000. The development is built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall and construction was approved according to the urban village principles of Charles, Prince of Wales.

Poundbury is not just about architecture, as is often thought. It is very much to do with creating a high-density urban quarter which achieves an attractive, modern and pleasing place in which people can live, work, shop and play. Emphasis is placed on the quality of design and materials, landscaping, and attention to detail — even down to street furniture and signage.

The streets are winding and deliberately chaotic to calm traffic, with blind bends and no stop signs or any other signage, while each neighbourhood is planned to be no more than a five-minute walk to its centre.

Small, narrow passageways and corridors litter the entirety of Poundbury. Lower buildings and tight front streets means opportunity for small back gardens, inner yards: use for economic, gardening or recreation. No building takes more than 3–4 seconds to walk past, providing interesting colours, shapes, shops and textures.

When I first heard about Poundbury, it was hard not to think the place wouldn’t be full of Sloane Rangers. Albeit, this couldn’t be further from the truth— 35% of the housing is affordable for rental or shared ownership by people on the local housing list.

Something which I really wasn’t expecting were the 182 businesses located in Poundbury. There’s a hugely diverse community of entrepreneurs located throughout, which particularly took me by surprise.

Poundbury shows how the motivations and philosophies behind well-designed human scaled urban developments can positively impact the world. Instead of megacity scale It shows how good, local design can impact the human psyche. The acute differences in creativity, stress and contentment is usually a consequence of your physical surroundings. Carefully designed living experiences like Poundbury highlight how much of an impact modern and traditional design philosophies have on your emotional wellbeing; and the way they impact your day-to-day lives.

This is one of the underlying reasons why remote working has been proven to be so successful; being in control of the environments you endure and designing your own lifestyle around work has tremendous emotional wellbeing benefits.

When you self-impose nonexistent boundaries between working environments and your pursuit of an ideal life; you unwittingly create two binary categories and isolate yourself in one or the other — Which is neither healthy, productive or efficient.

Why aren’t there more towns like Poundbury?

Well, there are other towns, cities and villages being built all over the world. Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city is a project taking place in China. Instead of people-focus, it’s more of an eco and knowledge focus.

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Léon Krier has also designed a new urban heart for Guatemala City called, Paseo Cayalá.

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However, in big metropolises, with no coherent urban planning vision, I believe modern architects have an inherent danger to build things to impress other architects and not for the benefit of the collective user experience. Their downside comes in the form of not impressing their peers. So, naturally, that’s what they’ll optimise for. — Or worse; they’ll optimise for cheap materials and quick turn arounds in the name of profit... This leads to a toxic race to the bottom with catastrophic consequences.

I also believe urban planners and architects aren’t as well known or local as they used to be. They rarely construct buildings in the villages, towns and cities they are from. Architects are generally void of any individual capacity, as they are frequently disguised within the identity of a firm; this leads to a lack of responsibility when things go badly.

Responsibility is the key. Even the babylonians acknowledged this back in 1792 BC where the earliest known principles of construction law can be found in the Code of Hammurabi:

Law 229: “If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.”

I’m not advocating the death penalty, but I am certainly advocating for more responsibility and a stronger focus on people within urban planning and architecture. — Good design, in all aspects of life, makes a huge difference.

Thank you for checking out this blog. All photography is owned and taken by me! You can see more of my work on my website, darceybeau.co.uk, or my Dribbble profile, or my Behance profile. You can email me about working together at info@darceybeau.co.uk. You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Unsplash. Have a great day!