How to Make Sense of Any Mess Quotes

“Knowing is not enough. Knowing too much can encourage us to procrastinate. There's a certain point when continuing to know at the expense of doing allows the mess to grow further.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“The only way to know what happens next is to do it.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Our language choices change how we use our time and energy. For every word we use to describe where we want to go, there's another word that we're walking away from.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Everything around you was architected by another person. Whether or not they were aware of what they were doing. Whether or not they did a good job. Whether or not they delegated the task to a computer. Information is a responsibility we all share.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Pretty things can be useless, and ugly things can be useful. Beauty and quality are not always related.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“The world is organized in seemingly endless ways, but in reality, every form can be broken down into some taxonomic patterns.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“True means without variation, but finding something that doesn't vary feels impossible.

Instead, to establish the truth, we need to confront messes without the fear of unearthing inconsistencies, questions, and opportunities for improvement. We need to be open to the variations of truth that are bound to exist.

Part of that includes agreeing on what things mean. Thats our subjective truth. And it takes courage to unravel our conflicts and assumptions to determine what's actually true.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Information is full of history and preconceptions.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“If we're going to be successful in this new world, we need to see information as a workable material and learn to architect it in a way that gets us to our goals.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“It's far more rewarding than hard. It's rewarding to set a goal and reach it. It's rewarding to know that you're communicating in a language that makes sense to others. It's rewarding to help someone understand something in a way they hadn't before. It's rewarding to see positive changes from the insights you gather. It's rewarding to know that something is good. It's rewarding to give the gifts of clarity, realistic expectations, and clear direction. It's rewarding to make this world a little clearer. It's rewarding to make sense of the messes you face.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“It's hard to decide to tear down a wall, take off the roof, or rip up the floorboards. It's hard to admit when something architectural isn't serving you. It's hard to find the words for what's wrong. It's hard to deal with the time between understanding something is wrong and fixing it. It's hard to get there. It's hard to be honest about what went right and what went poorly in the past. It's hard to argue with people you work with about fuzzy things like meaning and truth. It's hard to ask questions. It's hard to hear criticism. It's hard to start over. It's hard to get to good.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Structural methods for organization and classification are called taxonomy.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“From moment to moment, the directions we choose forever change the objects we make, the effects we see, and the experiences we have.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“When we determine what something won't be, we often reveal a little more about what it will be.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“But as fuzzy as your lens can seem, setting goals with incomplete data is still a good way to determine if you're moving in the right direction. Uncertainty comes up in almost every project. But you can only learn from those moments if you don't give up. Stick with the tasks that help you clarify and measure the distance ahead.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“But as fuzzy as your lens can seem, setting goals with incomplete data is still a good way to determine if you're moving in the right direction.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“A strong requirement describes the results you want without outlining how to get there.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“You can turn a space into a place by arranging it so people know what to do there. This act is called placemaking.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“If you spend all your time thinking about how far the finish line is and fearing never getting there, you'll make slower progress or never make it at all.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“People use aesthetic cues to determine how legitimate, trustworthy, and useful information is.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“When you discuss a specific subject, you subconsciously reference part of a large internal map of what you know. Other people can't see this map. It only exists in your head, and it's called your mental model.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Practicing information architecture means exhibiting the courage to push past the edges of your current reality. It means asking questions that inspire change. It takes honesty and confidence in other people.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Information architecture is the way that we arrange the parts of something to make it understandable.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“The first step to taming any mess is to shine a light on it so you can outline its edges and depths.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Be the one not bringing the ideas. Instead, be the filter that other people's ideas go through to become drinkable:”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Why do”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“Getting everyone involved early is crucial. Every step you take should come from the direction you choose together. If you don't get agreement up front, prepare for more work later. When you see the world through the eyes of other people, you can spot weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. Don't hide from other stakeholders or wait until the end of the project to talk to users.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“The words we choose matter. They represent the ideas we want to bring into the world.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess

“The most important thing I can teach you about information is that it isn't a thing. It's subjective, not objective. It's whatever a user interprets from the arrangement or sequence of things they encounter.”
― Abby Covert, How to Make Sense of Any Mess