See? This doesn't make any sense! Yet...

Conventions exist for a reason, and you should break them only very rarely, and only very deliberately. Putting the punchline first is uncommon, and as you can see, it's jarring when it happens.

Conventions make processes easier.

Greeting people, playing team sport, going to dinner parties. 

We know what to expect, and we know what’s expected of us. 

In this Friday Fink Tank, Col and I swap chairs to chat about the usefulness of convention. 

Driving someone else’s car is easy, because the accelerator and brake are always in the same place. But it’s annoying when the indicator is on the wrong side.

Convention can reduce friction and focus attention where it’s wanted. 

Your quirky font will not make your book ”stand out” it will make it unreadable.

If people using your website have to wait or squint, you risk losing them.

AND

Convention can bore people, entrench privilege, and alienate people. If you’re going to break convention, do it in service of your audience. For example, Callum McKirdy’s website breaks convention in service of accessibility for neuro divergence. Nice one.

Ver todos los episodios