Bill Atkinson: Pull

Sep 16, 2025

create

Okay. Here’s a little thing I learned about design. To design something, think about what you want to be there, rather than what you don’t want. You can look at the current time and say, what do I not want? Or you can imagine a time where things are better in some way, and then pull toward that.

Here’s an example. I’ll use a deck of cards here. If I push on the tail end of the deck of cards, it always goes off course. It just keeps going sideways.

But if instead, I shift my perspective to being on the front of it, and I pull, it goes right toward me.

So, as a designer, if I can imagine a world that’s better in some way, and mentally stand in that world, imagine that that’s true, and reach back to the old current time and say, what would have to have happened back then to get to this direction?

So, pulling toward the future instead of pushing from the present works better in inventing and designing.

- Bill Atkinson

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