In the world of "party games," the tension usually comes from speed or high-stakes social pressure. Hues and Cues  is a rare breed that offers a different experience. It’s a game about perception, semantics, and the subtle art of communication. This became particularly evident over the recent holidays. The game was first brought out at my in-law's Christmas gathering, and it quickly became the definitive activity of the season. We ended up playing it dozens of times over New Year's week,...

We’ve all been there. It starts with checking a single notification, and suddenly it’s 11:30 PM, the blue light is searing your retinas, and you’ve spent forty minutes absorbing a relentless stream of global crises, heated arguments, and "perfect" lives. This is doomscrolling —the act of continuously scrolling through bad news, even though it’s disheartening or depressing. It’s a modern-day health hazard that keeps our nervous systems in a state of "high alert," spiking cortisol and draining...

In the world of product design, we like to talk about "user-centricity," "empathy mapping," and "problem-solving." But there is a shadow principle that governs almost every major product you touch, from your smartphone to your kitchen appliances. Let’s call it Jeremy’s Law . Jeremy’s Law:  Any publicly owned company will ultimately stop making decisions based on what is good for the customer or the product, and instead make decisions solely to manipulate the stock price. It is the gravity of...