iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 24/09/2026

At the ‘Retrofit, Obviously!’ conference today in London. The emergency briefing’s part around the economic opportunities was the most energising argument I’ve heard in a long time.

Delegates sat in conference room. A screen says National Emergency Briefing.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 02/08/2026

Love the vibe of this keyboard #accessibility. Also, support your local library!! ✊

A photograph of a black computer keyboard with letter keys in bright yellow and large font.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 20/07/2026

So… did you see that ludicrous display last night?

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 09/07/2026

Just wrapped up a very fun game of #CommunityEnergy Data Dilemmas! Thank you to all our adventurous #LondonDataWeek players. 🍌🎲🥳 I’m going to port this into a standalone game/workshop activity for anyone making tech products. Hit me up if you’re interested!

A graphic showing a range of colourful human characters excitedly and thoughtfully looking at some data displays.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 18/03/2026

At the Connected Places Summit today. Lots of talk about AI, SMEs and data infrastructure. Should be interesting!

A plenary / welcome speaker in front of the Connected Places Summit branding and presentation screen.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 28/02/2026

God damn. I like all this big, muscular imagery in this newsletter. Dams. Infrastructure. Warriors on horseback. If only everything could be muscular. Like reading. BUT WAIT, IT CAN! 18/

Comic panels. Marc Andrees explains his "barbell strategy" for consuming media (whilst sitting under a floating barbell). He reads old books only. He consumes X content. And he listens to actual practitioners in the field. There's so much "alpha" in that.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 28/02/2026

Here comes Marc again, pointing at all the big things: 16/

Comic panels. March Andreeson pointing at large infrastructure like dams, built in the 1930s. He demands to know where the new dams are? The new cities? Uh oh here's a mid-build railway bridge tied up in reams of red tape (handily labelled "regulations").

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 28/02/2026

That’s right. We’d be in a land of trouble without AI! Although why does the economy getting smaller - in an age where growth is eating the planet - mean we're “self-euthanising”? But never mind that! We need the robots to help us maintain consumption at our current levels. Hooray! 🥳💃 14/

Comic panels showing dark clouds, shuttered schools, empty playgrounds, charts showing a downward trend. Marc Andreeson explains that we are self-euthanising our economy through depopulation, and that we need AI to do all the jobs people aren't available to do.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 28/02/2026

Ah, our AI train is truly underway now and chugging into a future full of productive cities with high performing schools and offices. Why? Because they’re rich with AI - of course! - which rewards citizens who are “participants” and who have “agency”. 🦸 8/

Comic panels. Kids are shown pulling AI levers, burning books with the title "Old Rules" whilst Marc Andreeson says "AI should be the ultimate lever for a kid with agency to say, 'I can fully participate. I can change things.'"

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 28/02/2026

Gah, using Alexander the Great here? He’s a bit of a macho fanboy measure of ability isn’t he? Were there no other examples of super-achievers you could refer to? Isaac Newton maybe? No wait, nerdy Isaac never achieved alchemy like us. Haha! Isaac Newtown. What a doofus. 6/

Comic panels. Marc Andreeson explains that the ideal education was once one-on-one. Like Aristotle, shown here, teaching a young (and very blonde) Alexander the Great. Then we see a modern kid talking to a weird floaty AI teacher owl. Now a horse-riding adult Alexander juxtaposed in a split pane with the same modern kid in a very screen-filled metal room of the future.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 28/02/2026

With the cover done, we’re off. Now here’s a normal-sized Marc, creeping up on Isaac Newton to let him know that we’ve finally achieved alchemy - creating ‘gold’ out of everyday matter 3/

Comic panels. Isaac Newton struggles with turning lead into gold. Suddenly Marc Andreeson appears behind him to inform him that we've achieved alchemy - turning silicon into something far more valuable: thought!

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 28/02/2026

Jakob's Nielsen's UX newsletter has dropped in my inbox. Let's see if I can gird my loins and board his techno-optimist #AI train! Hot takes ahead! What’s this? A comic. We'll begin with its rousing cover! 1/

A comic-book style cover of a titan-sized Marc Andreessen crushing a city whilst pulling a lever labelled "AI". The title is "Time to Build: Marc Adreessen on Lenny's Podcast".

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 17/01/2026

Much loved one from round our way 😳

A strong, old wooden door in a stone tower wall, which bears the painted words “Commit no nuisance”

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 21/12/2025

Saw a Kingfisher in St Albans! Such wonderfully beautiful birds 💙

A small reddish brown chested kingfisher perches on a brick wall

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 19/12/2025

Every Christmas my kids watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. They titter once or twice, but mostly stare agog as Jim Carrey goes FULL ON JIM CARREY for 90 unrelenting minutes 😲🙀😬 I mean, it must be doing something right but… YIKES!

Jim Carrey gurns like bananas in green makeup as the Grinch

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 23/11/2025

I’m in awe of @karenhao.bsky.social and their book #EmpireofAI. (The audio version is great). It does an incredible dive into the mindsets driving AI scale culture, data colonialism & all the ills, PLUS it tells the story of the tech in such an accessible way. Get it from an ethical bookshop now!

Screenshot of the tech noir-ish style audio book cover for Empire of AI - Inside the reckless rave for total domination, by Karen Hao

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 11/11/2025

Spotted in our office meeting room this morning 😅 #traitors #celebritytraitors

A whiteboard in an office meeting room. Someone has written very large and neatly across the full board: FULL TRAITORS DISCUSSION ALLOWED.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 06/11/2025

Well played, team. Well played.

A photo of a tradesperson’s van, belonging to a Metal Roofing Specialist. The business name is Full Metal Jacket.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 23/09/2025

This week the NookCRM team are bopping about to the news of: welcoming our 12th #communityenergy org to our CRM pilot AND our becoming a member of @commenergyengland.bsky.social 🥳🎉🥳

A map of England overlaid with the text “I’m a member Community Energy England”

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 20/08/2025

Levant hawkmoth. Just hanging out. 🦋

A very large brown moth in the corner of a dusty window frame.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 10/07/2025

Yesterday we held a fantastic event for #LondonDataWeek, gathering urban ecology data, talking about citizen science, and connecting with lovely people!

A man speaks to a group of people in the street about infrastructure to increase ecological stability.

A photo of a black ball like fungi on a tree called King Alfred’s Cakes

A photo of a wild barley growing amongst leaves.

A group of people in a room sitting around three tables, talking. A slideshow is visible presented on screen in the background

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 04/07/2025

I’m off to #CoopCongress today in the incredible Rochdale Town Hall. I mean, just look at it! I’m hoping to build some solid connections & opportunities for the coop tech sector 🥳 #coops

A photo of the interior of Rochdale Town Hall, with high arched ceilings and stained glass windows reminiscent of a grand church but actually depicting scenes of trade and history.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 03/07/2025

Today I got a cold call from someone selling business financing. On asking, they said they’d got my personal phone number from Lusha - an AI powered prospecting tool. “But don’t worry it’s all okay with GDPR” We said most #AI would be used for marketing. Welcome to the enshittification. 😂

A screenshot of Lusha.com. It promises:

Al Recommended Lists
Get an Al-powered personalized recommendations lists of companies and decision makers you should talk to, based on your ICP without manually

A screenshot of Lusha.com. It promises:

Al Prospect Playlists
Turn any prospect list you've created into a live list with a never-ending stream of new leads—tailored to you. Set the frequency, choose how many, and get fresh prospects added automatically.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 31/05/2025

Resting in the embrace of a cherry laurel

An old and mossy gravestone sits at the heart of a large, broad cherry tree. The long, arm like branches reach out horizontally from the base, far and around the headstone toward the camera.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 30/04/2025

I love Rosenfeld for their #uxdesign books but I’m not sure about them using their entire catalogue to train #AI. What do the authors think?

Screenshot of an email, which reads:

Richard,
At Rosenfeld, we like to keep our finger on the pulse of all things UX, and we pride ourselves on our high-quality content-so much so, that we trained an Al chatbot on our resources. Meet the Rosenbot!
Powered by GPT-4-level technology and trained on thousands of hours of curated content from our UX experts, and the entire Rosenfeld Media library (over 60 books!), the Rosenbot is an invaluable research tool in your UX journey!

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 17/04/2025

Now I’m stretching(?) those same design chops some more, by moving on to this. The first chapter is already aces. #servicedesign #systemsthinking

The vividly designed front cover of CLOSING THE LOOP - Systems Thinking for Designers by SHERYL CABABA. Foreword by Kevin Bethune
from
Rosenfeld

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 17/04/2025

I decided to strengthen my #servicedesign chops and have pretty much finished (and enjoyed) Service Design - from Insight to Implementation by @andypolaine.bsky.social and others. This Rosenfeld series is cracking.

The front cover of the book Service Design - from Insight to Implementation.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 14/04/2025

Fly specked moon shell 💙

A speckly, tubby sea shell sitting on a red brick.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 13/04/2025

Spotted a little red bellied jumping spider in a Lilly

Very close up shot looking into a white Lilly prominently showing the yellow stamen, with a tiny red bodied spider next to it.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 07/04/2025

Moving on to (and excited about)… (Also woop! @berkun.bsky.social) #uxdesign

Cover of the book Why Design Is Hard, showing its heavily annotated and humorous design style… alongside a fresh cafe decaf latte

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 01/04/2025

What is it about this kind of blue? Here’s all my blue apps. All on one screen.

A screenshot of a phone screen showing 24 blue app icons.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 14/03/2025

Just had an inspiring & informative day at our most recent CoTech gathering (Coops.tech = the UK network of cooperative tech businesses). Here’s what we discussed 😇 #coops

A whiteboard showing a conference agenda for the CoTech Gathering. Sessions include those on business development and cooperative tech tools.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 11/01/2025

A forest of ice crystals on the car today ❄️

Close up of a forest of ice crystals on a car roof

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 10/01/2025

What would it be like if nature was on your company’s board of directors? This week at @catapultnetwork.bsky.social , we had a great talk from Faith in Nature who’ve legally done just that 1/

A presenter stands in front of a screen showing a slide that reads (in bright and friendly curvy letters) “How light business change if nature had a voice and a vote?”

A presenter stands in front of a screen showing a slide showing illustrations of raised hands, each reaching towards the phrases “guardianship model”, “independence and accountability”, “purpose clause” and “nature has an equal vote”.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 04/01/2025

I found this #uxresearch classic online, used but in classic condition for just £3.20! #uxdesign #ux

A book being held up to camera. It’s a slightly dated looking paperback non-fiction book called InterViews - an introduction to qualitative research interviewing.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 24/12/2024

And now I just unwrapped my post to find that this beauty has arrived a week earlier than expected. It is definitely going to be a game-y Christmas! #cardgames #boardgames

A box for the card game Spaceteam. The lid shows a 1950s style cartoon rocket, and bears the caption “Spaceteam - a chaotic and cooperative card game”

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 24/12/2024

PS I lost, of course. But here’s the box. It’s 40 years old!

The box for the MB Games board game PAC-Man

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 24/12/2024

At my parents house, found a 40 year copy of the Pac Man board game! Let the gobbling commence! #xmas #boardgames

A board game of Pac Man laid out on a kitchen table ready to play, with plastic ghosts, marbles to eat, and hungry little pac men.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 13/12/2024

So true. And time to share this again I reckon:

A photo of a magazine showing a quote from Joanna Maciejewska: “I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes.”

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 01/12/2024

Time efficiency vs connecting empathetically with people’s needs (when you’re in a v human focused role) feels like an AI trade off, alas. Like this when doing research 👇

A sketch showing an axis of user research. At one end being more productive by using AI. At the other being more empathetic by not using AI. Both approaches are subject to biases.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 24/11/2024

Can’t beat a good place to snuggle down with a book on a rainy Sunday #books

A cup of tea and teapot stands on a table in a book filled reading room

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 09/11/2024

Oh hello new followers! 😶‍🌫️ I think I must have got on a #climatecrisis list somewhere :) Well, maybe you'd enjoy some super-fresh designs for the open-source CRM we're building for #communityenergy groups? 👇👇👇 nookcrm.notion.site/Nook-CRM-Use...

A view of user interface, titled "case overview", and showing cards arranged in a series of columns. Each card contains someone's name, and each column heading reflects the stages in a customer's journey when working with a community energy organisation.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 05/10/2024

Had a great time this week at the #coophackathon, supporting co-op teams work on… a way to incubate pop-up businesses, a token system for sharing rewards between goods and services; and a platform to retain and develop skills within the co-op sector.

Two team members stand in front of a projected presentation saying “co-op hackathon”

Colour coded post it notes stuck to a table, showing a user journey along with associated challenges, opportunities and sketches

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 26/09/2024

So this is pretty much I feel about using AI to help summarise and analyse #userresearch I.e. two options, and it’s a dilemma 🫣

Sketch showing two extreme options for using or not using AI in user research. At one end, using AI helps productivity. At the other, not using AI and doing the analysis yourself helps build empathy with the research subjects. Meanwhile both options are assailed by bias, either pre-programmed biases or confirmation bias in the researcher.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 24/09/2024

Eeee! It’s arrived! The cover is amazing… and the contents page is pretty exciting too 😊 #platformland

A photo of the cover of the Platformland book, sitting on a wooden desk.

A photo of the contents page of the Platformland book, listing the 9 Chapter headings.

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 17/09/2024

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #1,803,321! Right now I'm doing that little dance you do when you find your people 😊

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Richard Edwards @richardedwards.me · 16/09/2024

Thinking about Ireland and the €13billion it’s been forced to collect from Apple and I was reminded of this 😉 #inequality #tax #business

Extract from an article ‘Of the 1 Percent, By the 1 Percent, For the 1 Percent’. Text reads: “Imagine what the world might look like if the rules were designed instead to encourage competition among countries for workers. Governments would compete in providing economic security, low taxes on ordinary wage earners, good education, and a clean environment - things workers care about.”

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