Jorge Arango

I'm no longer engaging via Bluesky. Please visit my website if you want to get in touch: jarango.com Peace. ✌️

Ten years later, Blackstar still hits hard. Might be the best final gesture by a major artist in any medium. (What are other contenders?)

How to manage impulsive emotional responses that can sabotage your efforts.

New party trick: whenever someone starts arguing AGI is imminent, shout "I refute it thus!" and show them Bergman's PERSONA.

“Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.” — Simone Weil

Thought-provoking essay from Paul Graham on the underlying motivations for product development. Are you selling function or brand? paulgraham.com/brandage.html

Claude Code has HyperCard energy

@rantyhighwayman.bsky.social jarango.com/2019/11/22/t... Important dictum. When I took those lessons on driving streetcars, I engrained it in my head well how much an industrial machine it was. Same with O ring temperature in January 1986. OSHA innovations were paid for in blood.

A hack for navigating challenging, ambiguous, momentous situations — of which there are many now.

A musical hug to end the week, in case you need one. youtube.com/watch?v=g2WP...

A conversation about the anxiety many product and design leaders are feeling due to AI-driven changes.

Greg Petroff and I hosted the second of our Unfinishe_ Open-Ended livestreams yesterday. Our focus was the anxiety many design and product leaders are feeling from AI-driven changes. We surfaced a couple of important insights — check out the recording: thoughts.unfinishe.com/p/open-ended...

Our next livestream starts in less than two hours (8 AM PT) — Greg and I will discuss the angst many design and product team leaders are feeling as a result of AI adoption. Join us! youtube.com/live/4FYXZEk...

Many design and product leaders are feeling anxious. AI initiatives are taking a toll on them and their teams. Join Greg Petroff and me tomorrow (Feb 26) at 8 AM PT for an unscripted conversation about what we're observing and what leading through it might look like. youtube.com/live/4FYXZEk...

How do we market a product or service in a way that conveys its real value to customers?

Using Freeform on iPadOS. Whenever I switch to another app (e.g., Safari) for an instant, Freeform resets and the tools go back to their original settings: pen weights, eraser mode, etc. Incredibly frustrating.

I suspect we can't help it, but... Please stop anthropomorphizing AI.

Just finished reading “Blood Meridian.” Feeling changed, much like when I first read “Moby Dick.” It’ll take time for me to process it, but what an incredible work.

Deep respect to all of you making stuff happen. Talk is cheap. Starting + growing valuable things requires courage, creativity, and gumption — plus lots of luck. Hats off, my risk-taking friends. May the wind be at your back!

When faced with hype, consider the sources — and whether they're seeing clearly.

The grass is always greener on the other side. And for many people, "the other side" is the here of the (imaginary) past.

I’m increasingly impatient whenever I hear someone stuck in a high-level, abstracted read of a situation or context. Internally, I’m screaming, “Get to specifics!” (Yes, this is a note-to-self — I’ve been that person.)

As a person with a liberal arts education, I’m egotistically biased to strong agree with this. But legit my whole day is just doing tons of critical thinking, meta thinking, and design thinking - the kind I learned in my crunchy lib arts school - in order to decide what to prompt the bots to make

This is a big deal. The possibilities!

So the UI of the future turned out to be the command line. 🤷🏻‍♂️

There’s a generation of people who’ve learned the lesson that good for engagement = good in general… which is not good.

How do you effectively guide a large organization? This book provides answers from military history.

A conversation about how to give better directions by perceiving reality more clearly.

Opinionated suggestions for UX researchers getting started with AI in early 2026.

Why does your business exist? The answer will determine how it plays out in the long term.

Big UI changes feel weird at first, but eventually, we get used to the new way. The opposite is happening with Liquid Glass. It’s been a couple of months, and I dislike the new direction more every day. Far from letting the content shine, it constantly calls attention to itself. Such a misfire!

Experimenting with AI is a starting point. But creating real value requires direction and discipline.

A conversation about obtaining information from unhelpful interlocutors.