Annotated

Thinking about the overlaps between culture, commerce, ethics, design, people and technology, one messy idea at a time.

Splitting Atoms & Splitting Hairs

Atomic design got us from thinking about pages to thinking about components, but we don't need to keep carrying the periodic table around.

Splitting Atoms & Splitting Hairs

B. Prendergast|June 10, 2026

The value is in the difficulty

On building software, vibe coding, and what happens to market prices when the barriers fall

The value is in the difficulty

B. Prendergast|May 14, 2026

Interaction Costs: The High Price of Low Usability

How Balsamiq's recent redesign broke rapid wire-framing.

Interaction Costs: The High Price of Low Usability

B. Prendergast|March 18, 2026

I work, I think?

How AI may quietly dismantle the feedback loop that turns inexperienced people into competent ones, and why my work matters to me.

I work, I think?

B. Prendergast|March 07, 2026

Stop asking users what they want — and start watching what they do.

People's opinions about themselves and the things they use rarely match real behaviour.

Stop asking users what they want — and start watching what they do.

B. Prendergast|December 04, 2025

The point is to understand

Machines can’t make sense of the world for us. Generating content that looks like knowledge isn't the same as producing it. We lose everything by confusing the two.

The point is to understand

B. Prendergast|October 16, 2025

Fidelity scales inline with certainty

Fidelity in design isn’t about how finished something looks — it’s about knowing when something is ready to be finished.

Fidelity scales inline with certainty

B. Prendergast|October 12, 2025

The AI recruitment ouroboros

AI is breaking the simple act of getting a job.

The AI recruitment ouroboros

B. Prendergast|October 11, 2025

The worst designer I've ever worked with was also the most productive

When companies mistake volume for value, and incentivise outputs over outcomes.

The worst designer I've ever worked with was also the most productive

B. Prendergast|October 09, 2025

Bring squiggle birds to your workshops

A simple silly and powerful drawing exercise that unlocks creative thinking instantly in workshops about complex things

Bring squiggle birds to your workshops

B. Prendergast|October 08, 2025

The product designer's paradox

How UX design’s quest for more influence led to its quiet subordination

The product designer's paradox

B. Prendergast|October 07, 2025

Business leaders don’t care about design (and that’s a good thing)

Or why your boss was probably right not to support your design ideas.

Business leaders don’t care about design (and that’s a good thing)

B. Prendergast|October 04, 2025

Incentives eat your strategy for lunch

How short-term sales culture destroys product strategy, and what founders can do to stop it.

Incentives eat your strategy for lunch

B. Prendergast|October 03, 2025

Equity compensation: a lottery ticket with terrible odds

Exits are low probability events and don't offer real value to workers.

Equity compensation: a lottery ticket with terrible odds

B. Prendergast|October 01, 2025

Founders: The best predictor of your SaaS failing is visualising your future too soon

Why high-fidelity mockups create cognitive lock-in that prevents real growth

Founders: The best predictor of your SaaS failing is visualising your future too soon

B. Prendergast|September 24, 2025

Ghost kitchens in academia: How AI wrapper products threaten research integrity

Behind the glossy branding and false authority, wrappers hide the same flawed systems — eroding trust, distorting methods, and putting academic knowledge at risk.

Ghost kitchens in academia: How AI wrapper products threaten research integrity

B. Prendergast|September 22, 2025

The AI Bubble: Efficiency Theatre at Scale

Investors embraced AI not for its genius, but for its promise to cut people, cut costs, and boost portfolios.

The AI Bubble: Efficiency Theatre at Scale

B. Prendergast|September 21, 2025

AI in Peer Review: Heuristics for Academic Publishers

A draft evaluation framework to assess risks, trade-offs, and practices in scholarly communication.

B. Prendergast|September 19, 2025

Annotated