alanbsmith.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Still trying to find a balance in being informed without being overwhelmed. Creating chaos with a cacophony of news is clearly part of the admin’s political strategy. Longer-form weekly synthesis + analysis have been more effective than daily updates, and I’m trying to find more quality sources.

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

Saturday snuggles are alright

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

"Your job is to be interruption-driven so your team can stay focus-driven." @sarahedo.bsky.social in Engineering Management for the Rest of Us I think about this line a lot. Definitely true for Staff+ folks too. I have "focus blocks," but a lot of what I do is making sure other people can focus.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

You either die the hero, or you live to discuss the legal contract for proprietary typefaces.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Something I've been chewing on: There's been a lot of discussion on design system point of view as it relates to visual identity but very little on interaction identity. Less "When you create with our DS, it should look like this" and more "When you interact with our DS, it should feel like this."

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

Our design system team made Valentine’s cards and spammed our channels. These were some of my faves.

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

My team at Credit Karma is hiring! If you’re a senior staff product designer who thrives at the intersection of brand and product systems, I have an amazing R&D product design role for you. Give us a shout if you think you’d be a good fit ⬇️⬇️⬇️ boards.greenhouse.io/creditkarma/...

submitted 10 days ago • 2 comments

I know we joke about making “silly little rectangles,” but those are keeping me going today.

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

I wrote about a common conversation I’ve had with other Staff+ folks who are newly in an org lead role. I don’t think we talk enough about how difficult and isolating that transition can be! sylormiller.com/posts/2025/s...

submitted 17 days ago • 5 comments

Grim Slack feature request: Something like “marked as safe” from a layoff. I spent the last couple days scrolling through Slack channel member lists to figure out who’s still here. 💔

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Ugh, layoffs. I hate this.

submitted 19 days ago • 4 comments

Might sound a bit deflating, but it’s better for a design system to be dependable than aspirational. 1. Do what you say you’re going to do. 2. Ship when you say you’re going to ship. 3. Fix things when they’re broken. 4. Support folks when they need help. Boring, but effective.

submitted 21 days ago • 2 comments

Humbled

submitted 22 days ago • 19 comments

My daughter is having her “100 days of school” party this week, and they’re supposed to wear a shirt with 100 things on it. I thought it would be a good chance to see how to plotter handles drawing on fabric, so I’m testing on an old shirt. Not too bad. 🌻🌷🌺🌸🌹

submitted 27 days ago • 4 comments

Well-balanced Negroni

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

Save your good booze for the tough days, as the saying goes. Cheers, friends.

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

This is the most chaotic PIN keypad I’ve ever seen.

submitted 39 days ago • 2 comments

Hot chocolate in my favorite mug. Cheers

submitted 51 days ago • 0 comments

Today’s doodle

submitted 51 days ago • 1 comment

Turning my vector art into proper doodles.

submitted 53 days ago • 1 comment

Whatever issues they had with the Tyson fight, they seem to have worked them out. Seamless streaming on my end. Sorry y’all have to work today. But well done, folks. 🏆