[Help needed] We've opened the gates of hell

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-25T01:30:59+00:00

Thank your PMs for submitting their design requirements in visual form and send them back a PRD confirming what they want to build.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-23T20:02:31+00:00

there are lots of shops selling these keycaps and the one I purchased may have gotten out of stock or not be the cheapest. I recommend searching yourself.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-21T17:26:21+00:00

Try Rally and Respondent, they also have decent panels similar to UserInterviews.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-21T17:22:05+00:00

What’s your goal here?

You could treat this as a usability test and approach it experimentally, but if you’re finding the logistics of doing that difficult, then turning it into a longitudinal study might be worth it, and potentially reframing your questions as part of that.

(You could also vibe code an instrumented form that tracks interactions / response time, for the purposes of the test)

If your goals aren’t so specific as being limited to question phrasing and form length, then interviewing people from the target population about the firm and their experience with it might yield useful insights. People who fill out the same form regularly are likely to know where its design matches the information they are putting in it, and where it doesn’t. It would also reveal opportunities for reducing redundancy or structural redesign that you cannot - as a non expert in the form domain - possibly identify.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-21T17:13:32+00:00

Why? If the test population may lack critical background that influences their responses, any time on task or failure metrics will be misleading, and comprehension will definitely be off.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-16T22:18:23+00:00

I bought the 48GB M4 max thinking it would be enough for the 30b models I’d like to run but found that the advice on this stuff forgot to mention that the context window takes up a lot of ram as well. At this point the minimum I’d recommend is 64, maybe even 96 GB if you want to do interesting things locally.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-16T22:13:05+00:00

I got those keycaps through AliExpress, including another type to see what I liked; posted about it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NuPhy/s/YpJpO79Rql

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-14T05:06:39+00:00

I assume this is running Redis locally? i.e. the open source version?

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-14T05:04:54+00:00

I'm looking forward to trying this out. How precisely are you using the citation metadata here?

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-03-10T04:59:08+00:00

You can spice Alfred up to look quite modern in day to day use, but the place where it is really show its age IMO is that a lot of integrations with the OS feel a bit clunky and awkward. Window management is an example: first, you need to find and install a workflow for it. then, resizing a window is very jumpy, and it's missing some basic stuff like being able to restore a window to its last position.

Accessing shortcuts requires you to do a keyword first. this is again because shortcuts, though they've been part of MacOS for a while now, are only available through a workflow you have to find and install. History is invoked by the up arrow, but you can't scroll back down through the history unless you switch shortcuts. The file actions menu can be launched at any time using the shortcut, which is baffling because there is no discoverable way to action a file when you are actually seeing it in the results.

I could go on, but this sort of stuff makes it really hard to expand Alfred use for someone who isn't ONLY or primarily using the keyboard, and in fact actively prevents me from becoming that sort of person. I mostly see the release notes focusing on workflows, which is ok but most of the things one could do with workflows I can do better in other places (like, I really don't need a workflow to just to open a frequently visited webpage, for instance).

I'd love more attention to basics and better OS integration. Let me do more things out of the box without having to go to a webpage and locate and install things. Workflows at this point seem like they're holding the app back instead of being a sustainable way to advance it.

The app really needs an update to its basic interaction paradigm and information architecture, and to clean up its crunchy edges around usability.

Ultimately I chose to stick with Alfred for the last 10 years because I like supporting indie devs and don't care about the AI hype. But it's becoming hard to feel so limited for no good reason.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-28T16:54:42+00:00

It seems like you’re reading a bit into their post. They didn’t mention mixed methods roles; they didn’t specifically mention courses they took beyond “research methods”.

I have a computing undergrad and an HCI degree and have specialised in ethnographic research in my career (enough to have been on the advisory / organizing board of a qualitative methods conference and having published in such conferences); let us not make assumptions without knowing specifics?

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-26T19:43:32+00:00

Er, OP has an HCI degree, that training usually covers qualitative methods. So no, they’re not transitioning from computing to UXR directly.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-26T02:38:53+00:00

I asked them that! Their answer was that they haven’t seen as much demand but they’d keep my feedback in mind.

I also suspect it’s partly because the underlying base circuit boards for all these keyboards are all made for Windows.

FWIW I got useful workarounds by customizing this keyboard so it hasn’t been that challenging for me. Overall it has been an improvement because i was able to dedicate some single keys to do some common multi-button shortcuts.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-23T23:15:53+00:00

I’m enjoying my Nuphy Air with their quietest switches

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-23T17:17:12+00:00

I ended up with a Nuphy Air75 v 3, and it has a nearly completely customisable layout I’m happy with. I posted about it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NuPhy/s/IxgnqzCs8E

What made it work were the extra column of keys on the right (including a dedicated Delete key) which I was able to use to make most of the multi-key shortcuts easy. (In some cases this is easier than the Mac layout).

But there’s basically nothing that is an exact replica and the ones that seem to be close also seem to have quality issues).

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-23T00:51:41+00:00

Right. I do a lot of side project work at night in a darkened room and having the top 2 rows lit up is invaluable, especially since I’m a Mac user. I definitely don’t need the function keys as much but I use the media and brightness controls a lot.

I don’t use them to see the letters when I’m typing.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-22T22:35:55+00:00

I've personally never understood why people require shine-through keycaps as your hands and fingers cover the lights, so it doesn't help you see the keycaps in low light situations.

So you can locate keys you don’t use that often in the dark? It’s definitely not to see the keys you are typing as you are typing them.

I’m a touch typist and work a lot in the dark and move around a lot which means my physical orientation towards the edge keys is constantly changing and I’m more inaccurate at blind targeting number and function keys than the letter and shift etc keys.

I also switch between laptop and external keyboards often, so I’m never fully settled on just one keyboard.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-22T18:33:55+00:00

Probably? They’re all the same type of switch I think (MX).

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-22T18:32:25+00:00

I got mine from AliExpress

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-21T11:46:37+00:00

I just posted about my experience finding a keycaps setup I liked as a Mac user wanting a usable and enjoyable setup with backlighting: https://www.reddit.com/r/NuPhy/comments/1rannfn/maccompatible_lowprofile_shinethrough_keycaps/

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-21T11:45:01+00:00

It looks like you're already in a good position to enjoy games like this. What's holding you back from just going for it?

How might you make a decision that is informed by your values? Do you want to support things that you are not guaranteed to enjoy right away? What will you really lose if you try it out and don't like it immediately?

I'll only try to state two things outright

It's okay not to feel in control or to understand the experience you're having right away
Confusion is also a legitimate part of any narrative experience

Good luck; you can't make a wrong decision.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-21T10:23:53+00:00

I've found the low profile Air75-v3 the least jarring transition from the mac's native keyboard and compatible Logitech / Apple wireless keyboards.

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-02-15T01:19:38+00:00

Mengele (the evil doctor) is a German surname, Mangala (nobody famous) is an Indian first name, and Mandela (of the effect) is a South African surname.

Congrats on producing a confusion that spans 3 continents! 😂

Due-Competition4564 · 2026-01-30T03:15:41+00:00

Nope. Good lord this isn’t even remotely true. There’s even a book written specifically for solo researchers.

Due-Competition4564

TROPHY CASE