Agalia Tan

We need to treat alignment not as a prerequisite, but as a process. “Getting it” isn’t a static quality—it’s a product of access, timing, exposure, and experience.

One method is to design for shared sensemaking. That might mean narrating your mental model instead of assuming it’s obvious. It might mean making space for dissent even when time feels t... See more

brands solve coordination problems. Advertising taps a basic need of people to conform to the norms of the community they’re in

With Instagram there was the idea that my life is constantly available for perception and evaluation by other people. I had these thoughts: I’d upload a photo and then I’d view my Instagram story and try to pretend to be somebody else—a stranger—and imagine how they’d see me. I’d be trying to present myself to be legible in a certain way to complet... See more

My job is not to think about what exists but rather what I want that does not yet exist.

Meanwhile, my single friends tell me meeting people “on the apps” has only gotten worse, making the dream of a coup de foudre over cappuccino dreamier. The coffee shop is a slower space, where conversation trumps sex, and the dailiness of the need for caffeine offers the possibility of getting to know someone over time. All the little things that w... See more

Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you're feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.

A publication isn't content. A publication is the exploration

of an idea.