Super8: Eight intriguing articles from May.

Welcome to Super8! This month, August have cast their eyes far across the internet to bring you the widest assortment of articles. For the month of May, I thought I’d play the role of content concierge.

While this issue has something for everyone, I wanted to make sure there’s something for you. Each piece starts with a neat little summary so you can immediately gauge if it suits your interest. Access your favourite articles quickly and get those neurons firing faster than ever before.

For example, read article one if you want to increase your influence. Read article five if you feel like you don’t have enough time to stop and read article five. Read them all if you want eight awesome insights into design, business, content, Google, chatbots, or how to archive a website for 10,000 years. Got the gist? Then let’s do this.

1. Why do we buy? Because of these five secret psychological triggers in copywriting.

content + business

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Kaleigh Moore.  
• Contributor: Elliott Grigg.

Read this if: you want to increase your influence. In this article, Kaleigh highlights several of the underlying psychological motivations that drive our decisions in daily life. It’s a great summary of some of the most popular concepts in marketing psychology, such as reciprocity, novelty and authority, all backed up with solid examples. Useful insight into the power of persuasion.

I remember a teacher of mine once said “what we purchase rarely has anything to do with the product itself”, and this piece offers a much-needed refresher on that idea. It’s also a fantastic read for anyone out there who has read and been intrigued by Cialdini’s 6 principles of persuasion.

2. Five things I learned working remotely.

development + business

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Don Brown.  
• Contributor: Daniel Banik.  

Read this if: you work on remote collaborations. Just to clear up any confusion, ‘remote working’ and ‘telecommuting’ are interchangeable – both refer to the trend of people using technology to work from beyond the traditional office. This article covers some of the most common pitfalls associated with online collaboration. Most of the recommendations come back to communication, and how it can either help or hinder those who work from a distance.

Are you working at an organisation which currently employs or is thinking about employing remote workers? Read this article. Are you thinking about working remotely yourself? Make sure you apply its insight to the company you’re considering. With 3 out of 4 large companies allowing people to work remotely and 20% of the global workforce working remotely at least some of the time, absentee employment is something worth getting familiar with.

3. Archiving our online communities.

content + business

• Read it here.
• Written by Craig Mod.  
• Contributor: Matt Agar. 

Read this if: you want to restore your faith in the integrity of the internet. Hi.co is an online travel journal for documenting images and thoughts: think Medium for places. Come September 1, 2016, it will no longer accept submissions. The founders have decided to give their beloved project a definitive ending. More than 14,000 ‘moments’ will be printed—microscopically—on a 2” by 2” nickel plate and preserved for the next 10,000 years.

The founders promised: ‘you give us your stories about a place, and we’ll give you a place to put your stories’. It’s a fascinating approach in the era of ten-second Snapchats and I think you can tell I’m a fan. Take time to read a few entries—you’ll find something. I liked these ones: Where the plants are born to die; The monk in the tree; and The time machine. I’d tend to agree with the founders: Hi.co is certainly something worth preserving.

4. Not every comparison needs to be toxic.

growth + content

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Gregory Ciotti.  
• Contributor: Mike McCusker. 

Read this if: you often fall into the trap of self-comparison. To attempt a summary of this article in one sentence: it’s about context; it is about recognising neither you nor the things you create live within a vacuum, and that comparison is really just acknowledging this truth. Though it comes at a risk to ego, by comparing ourselves to others we can be better through emulation, and be unique through differentiation.

Side note: this is not the first time Greg has made the cut for our monthly Super8 roundup, and there’s a good reason for that. Anyone looking to write succinctly and with consideration would do well to take a page from Greg’s book. So, if for no other reason, read this article for the way it is written.

5. How to beat hurry sickness.

productivity + business

• Read it here.
• Written by Mind Tools. 
• Contributor: Vivi Chau.  

Read this if: you feel like you don’t have enough time to read this. Constantly struggling to achieve more in less and less time? You may have ‘hurry sickness’. As with the common cold, everyone is susceptible from time to time. Especially when those around us are exhibiting the symptoms.

The nature of your job has a lot to do with it—studies show as much as 95% of managers suffer from the condition. But not to fear, this article can help you overcome hurry sickness with some techniques for treatment: ‘work smarter—not harder—by finding strategies that will create lasting change’.

6. Google’s Chaos Theory.

business + innovation

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Shira Ovide.  
• Contributor: John Broadfoot. 

Read this if: you’ve ever wondered how Google builds so many amazing things. Shira highlights a practice that may or may not be the key to Google’s success. The innovation juggernaut has a tendency to ‘build at least two, often imperfect, versions of all things’. We’re talking about a company with two operating systems, four messaging apps, three email apps, and several attempts at web streaming products.

After all, Google isn’t necessarily an infallible conveyor belt of success. Many products are created only to fall short, then rise again under a new alias. Has this approach been integral to the development of some of Google’s greatest products? Or is it, in fact, somehow limiting?

7. Readability is accessibility.

innovation + design

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Linh Nguyen.
• Contributor: Sylvia Pho. 

Read this if: you’re a good designer looking to become a great designer. Design is not solely about visual aesthetics. It’s not just palettes and pixels; it’s more than simply typeface and texture. Content and design are inextricably linked—as are the designer and the writer. That’s because they share the common thread of empathy: the ability to inhabit the mindset and experience of a user or reader.

This article offers a fantastic insight into the shared goals of each of these roles. It also highlights why the best designs, and the most experienced designers, often begin with content.

8. Are chatbots really the future of web design?

design + development

• Read the full article here.
• Written by John Brownlee. 
• Contributor: Athalia Foo.  

Read this if: you’re fascinated with ‘the future’. Are chatbots the next evolutionary leap in web design? ‘Conversational interfaces’ are a promising idea for brands looking to create consistent experiences for increasingly diverse audiences. All you have to do is ask your users: ‘how can we help you today?’ Beyond customers, John suggests that the phenomenon will force designers to become better writers, which will improve the quality of web design overall: ‘writing about your designs gives you a better idea of what problem you’re trying to solve.‘

The irony of this whole situation? Chatbots solve UI problems by making experiences more human and approachable.

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That’s it for Super8 in May.

As always, if there’s a piece you couldn’t stop reading, referencing, or raving about to your colleagues or friends, let us know below! We’re always on the hunt for interesting articles and ideas.