D&T Issue 42

Hi there!

Hope you’re having a splendid week thus far. Before we get into it, get acquainted with the state of User Research in 2021.

We’ve got some good reads for you so let’s jump right in.

Note: For any articles behind the paywall, open them on an incognito/private window and you should be good to go.

From our own Canvs Editorial: How personalisation can sometimes be generalised, particularly if you look at it through the lens of astrology.

Why designers need to learn what users understand before we try to help them.

Just like driving requires an exam, social media users should be required to take a 15-minute media literacy course, followed by a quiz, before using their platform of choice.

DailyBasket, a tech startup based in Coimbatore recently received a cease and desist letter from BigBasket to close down our operations and hand over our domains to them because they have ‘basket’ in their name. Read this note sent out by the DailyBasket team discussing the points in the cease and desist.

Margaret Mitchell was the co-leader of a group investigating ethics in AI, alongside Timnit Gebru, who said she was fired in December.

A few months back, Citibank accidentally transferred nearly $900 million dollars to a group of lenders. And now, a New York Court has ruled that the lenders are under no obligation to return the money.

A look at what happens after the Reddit ‘meme stock’ episode, and why it’ll mean change is coming for every business.

Also, get to know Swati Mohan, the Indian origin scientist who worked on the team as JPL’s Guidance & Controls Operations Lead. On Monday, NASA released a video that included several viewpoints from the descent of Mars Perseverance to the surface of the red planet last week.

A dive into the deep end of localization: How is it done? What do you need to keep in mind? And how can you make sure it goes well?

In this podcast Mr. Gates talks about why the world should listen to a billionaire with a private plane when it comes to the environment. He also discusses tech regulation, vaccine timelines and whether underestimating Elon Musk is ever a good idea.

Amazon favoured big sellers on its India platform – and used them to manoeuvre around rules meant to protect the country’s small retailers from getting crushed by e-commerce giants, internal documents show. As one presentation urged: “Test the Boundaries of what is allowed by law.”