The ninjas plan and conceive the work, and analyse its success, using metrics no-one else understands. Bad work proliferates, becomes accepted and normalized within the industry; the really good people get further alienated, more dust is thrown to disguise others taking their places, and round and round it goes, until no-one knows who’s a ninja and who’s not.
Bottom line, these people need to make stuff, fast. They need to prove or disprove concepts, in ways that non-technologists understand, fast. So they need to know how to code efficiently, economically and effectively. They need to understand the appropriate technology stack from top to bottom, know which tools are right for the job – and most of all, they must be prepared to crack their knuckles, roll up their sleeves and get their fingers into the code. Up to the elbows.
There’s this thing that’s happening right now in user interface design that I find kind of shackling. The faux wood paneling trend, and the airport lavatory signage trend.
Teams of camouflage-clad Air Force analysts sit in a secret intelligence and surveillance installation monitoring cell-phone intercepts, high-altitude photographs, and most notably, multiple screens of streaming live video from drones in Afghanistan. They call it “Death TV” and are constantly instant-messaging with and talking to commanders on the ground in order to supply them with real-time intelligence on enemy troop movements.
