Professional newsletters

I find that most professional newsletters, thought leadery things, and related content are vastly overrated, at least in the world of product design, UX, and content.

Maybe it’s the bootcamp effect, where everyone is constantly consuming this sort of content rather than working on any sort of depth. And thus it’s easy to find yourself surrounded by tech professionals who are basically repeating their first year in the industry for the fifth or sixth time.

How I evaluate professional content:

• Have I learned anything actionable? Specifically, if I’ve been reading a newsletter for years and can’t point out a concrete design decision made based off of that content, I’ve been consuming entertainment and not professional development.
• Where is the author coming from? Did he have unlimited funds at a VC backed company? Did she work at a company that had no qualms using unethical “growth hacks”? For those of us in the real world, this sort of “expertise” isn’t relevant.
• Is there solid, evergreen information or is it always about the Latest Thing™? If so, it’s entertainment and not professional development.

And if I’m going to spend time on entertainment, it sure ain’t gonna be a tech bro ranting about stuff.