Proof of Concept - Driving stick shift
This week I’m in Barcelona—a city near and dear to my heart. It was 13 years ago I called this place home; the first place I lived outside of the United States. As I caught up with a friend over tapas, we reminisced about a road trip I once took to Figueres, the home Salvador Dali. It prompted her to ask, “You know how to drive a manual car, right?” The reason for her question is because a lot of Americans visit Europe and are shocked to receive a manual transmission vehicle as their rental. The conversation sparked a discussion on the importance of manual driving in our professional craft. In San Francisco, where I work, the fully autonomous Waymo is quickly becoming a normalized way of commuting. It’s inevitable that cars will go from having an accelerator, brake, and clutch, to none of these controls at all. Despite the rapid evolution, I believe it’s still important to master manual control. Let’s look at reasons to learn the craft’s equivalent of manual driving and why it’s more important than ever in a world of autopilots and copilots. The shift from manual to automaticI won’t assume every reader grew up with a stick shift and will summarize the concept of manual driving. A manual car operates by allowing the driver to manually shift gears using a clutch pedal and gear stick, giving more direct control over the vehicle’s power and speed. The clutch is the key to control in manual driving as it is how you start driving the car, shifting into various gears of speed (usually 5), and putting it in reverse. The rise of automatic transmission vehicles started in the post World War era. Automatic vehicles, as the name alludes, controlled all the shifting for you. Though these vehicles are less efficient and allows the driver less control, the tradeoff was convenience—two pedals and removing the mental friction of shifting gears. Manual driving is direct controlEven with the advancement of automatic transmission, there is a strong argument that manual transmission is better. Because of the direct control of shifting gears, manual transmission often results in better fuel efficiency, lower maintenance cost, and more control over the vehicle, and less likely to overheat. It’s a more efficient experience if you know what you’re doing. Most importantly, it’s a more delightful experience and you look way cooler driving one. Ever see James Bond drive an automatic? The essence of driving a stick shift is direct control and precision. I learned the majority of foundational skills as a software designer in the manual equivilent. Before Figma, I hand-drew wireframes and interactions on dot grid paper instead of hot gluing a bunch of UI libraries together. I didn’t use auto layout, and instead, relied on my intuition and eyes to work through different layout concepts. Before Replit and Cursor, I learned to write front-end code to build my designs before relying on copilots to write the code for me. The ability to do things manually can sound silly in an era where we’re spoiled with incredible tools to create software. It’s not silly the moment OpenAI or Figma goes down. Manual driving gives you agency to keep moving if the GPS or autopilot stops working—the utmost direct control. Embracing automatic technologies, sharpen manual skillsEven though I advocate for manual controls, I’ll honestly admit I’m not the best stick shift driver. The importance is I’m able to drive one if necessary and appreciate the technique of driving one. The barrier for people to create software is decreasing, and that’s excellent. Currently, it’s humans embracing AI copilots and eventually fully autonomous coding. One of the beauties of the Replit Agent is it shows you what it’s doing; teaching you foundations as things are automating. For the past few years, I’ve spent the majority of my time working with design teams to build AI experiences. Despite having access to all the incredible AI tools and advanced software, I find myself starting on the whiteboard in the office or sketching with pen and paper. Emerging technologies come and go, and will continue to get better. However, embrace manual driving as all autonomy is built on the basis of core fundamentals. Hyperlinks + notesA collection of references for this post, updates, and weekly reads.
You're currently a free subscriber to Proof of Concept. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
Older messages
Bold strokes
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Issue 215: How watercolor painting is like work ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
The office is a productivity tool
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Issue 214: Coming to the office as leverage, not attendance ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Patrol Boats and Carriers
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Issue 213: Playing Battleship at work ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Operator Mode
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Issue 212: Doing work as a non-founder and non professional management class ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Experiencing Hatch Conference
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Issue 211: A recap on my time in the Berlin conference ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
You Might Also Like
Here’s Every 2025 Color of the Year (So Far)
Thursday, November 7, 2024
View in your browser | Update your preferences ADPro Mood of the Moment Color experts are to autumn what Michael Bublé is to the holidays—re-emerging annually in full force to spread seasonal cheer.
Martha Stewart, the Queen of Reinvention
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
View in your browser | Update your preferences ADPro At the book signings for her debut tome, the now-iconic Entertaining published by Clarkson Potter in 1982, Martha Stewart would autograph the inside
#481: Front-End Techniques
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
With text balancing, exclusive accordions, CSS-only validation, responsive video and audio. Issue #481 • Nov 5, 2024 • View in the browser Smashing Newsletter Hej Smashing Friends, As we keep searching
174 / Sketch notes with autumn colors
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Product Disrupt Logo Product Disrupt Half-Monthly Oct 2024 • Part 2 View in browser Welcome to Issue 174 I'm back from a vacation in Alicante. It's a beautiful coastal city in Spain. We
Accessibility Weekly #421: Accessibility and Inclusive Design Manual
Monday, November 4, 2024
November 4, 2024 • Issue #421 View this issue online or browse the full issue archive. Featured: Accessibility and inclusive design manual "We decided to run a discovery to explore perceived
Cross-functional harmony
Sunday, November 3, 2024
Issue 219: The path to embedded design success ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Avoiding PR Nightmares and Design Scaries
Thursday, October 31, 2024
View in your browser | Update your preferences ADPro Trick or Treat It's the official season of all things spooky, but we know that horror stories aren't just reserved for October 31. Whether
How Radical Candor transformed our team in 4 months
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Our journey to better feedback ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
The best resource we've found in a while
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
And enter to win a Tweak and Edit, our first ever lottery! ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
The Reality of Participating in a Show House
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
View in your browser | Update your preferences ADPro The Trials and Triumphs of Designer Show Houses Pulling off a show house room is a major milestone in a designer's career. So it's been with