What is "good taste"?

1. 0:00 – 0:16

   Defining “taste” as an internal compass for what’s good (and not doing harm)

   1. SPSpeaker0:00

      You know, I'd love to hear your definition of taste, but in my definition here, taste just means having a strong barometer, having a strong compass of what is good and what is not good and not producing things that you know in your heart are bad right? Or, like, not helping people or hurting people.

2. 0:16 – 0:47

   Two meanings of taste: artistic sensibility vs. positive-sum value creation

   1. SPSpeaker0:16

      You make such a good point because I feel like there's, like, a artistic definition of taste which, like, I'm not much of an artist. Like, I don't really, can't really engage with and then there's just, like, a pure, like, value generation, right? Like, almost in the, kind of the core of the economy, like, is w- is what you're doing positive sum? It's weird because, like, I think in a classic definition of taste, people are like, "Well, some people have it and some people don't." I think everyone has the ability to look at something honestly-

   2. SPSpeaker0:46

      Yeah

   3. SPSpeaker0:46

      ... and ask whether it's so positive so-

3. 0:47 – 0:59

   Why bragging about your taste is a red flag

   1. SPSpeaker0:47

      Well, and again, the irony, I'm, you know, you've heard me say this before, but anyone that insists what good ta- taste they have-

   2. SPSpeaker0:53

      Yeah. [laughs]

   3. SPSpeaker0:53

      [laughs] It's like definitionally-

   4. SPSpeaker0:54

      Yes

   5. SPSpeaker0:54

      ... that's how you spot the people that don't have good taste.

   6. SPSpeaker0:56

      Yeah.

   7. SPSpeaker0:56

      Is they, they talk about how great they are-

   8. SPSpeaker0:58

      Yes

   9. SPSpeaker0:58

      ... all the time.

4. 0:59 – 1:07

   Taste isn’t UI flourishes: moving beyond superficial aesthetics

   1. SPSpeaker0:59

      Well, and I think that's so funny 'cause, like, like, when people are like, "Oh, taste is, like, where the buttons are on the screen or, like, how cool my dark mode is," it's like j- to-

   2. SPSpeaker1:06

      Yeah

   3. SPSpeaker1:06

      ... like, you know, like.

5. 1:07 – 1:23

   Recognizing great taste in others: high standards and pride of craftsmanship

   1. SPSpeaker1:07

      But to recognize great taste in other people-

   2. SPSpeaker1:10

      Yes

   3. SPSpeaker1:10

      ... it's people that have high standards.

   4. SPSpeaker1:12

      Yes.

   5. SPSpeaker1:12

      And that they really care-

   6. SPSpeaker1:14

      Yes

   7. SPSpeaker1:14

      ... about anything that they release, they're proud of.

   8. SPSpeaker1:19

      Yes.

   9. SPSpeaker1:19

      And they would stamp their name on it-

   10. SPSpeaker1:20

       Yes

   11. SPSpeaker1:20

       ... and just be-

   12. SPSpeaker1:22

       Yeah

   13. SPSpeaker1:22

       ... stand by their work.

6. 1:23 – 1:42

   The business lens: standing by work isn’t enough—users must get value

   1. SPSpeaker1:23

      And the user gets value out of the work.

   2. SPSpeaker1:27

      Yeah.

   3. SPSpeaker1:27

      Because there are a lot of people, if you stand by the work but you don't care whether the user gets value, that's art.

   4. SPSpeaker1:33

      Yeah.

   5. SPSpeaker1:34

      Which I think is great. It's a p- perfect category of things to do, but that's not building businesses.

   6. SPSpeaker1:39

      Yeah.

   7. SPSpeaker1:39

      Like, at the end of the day, value has to be created to the user.

Episode duration: 1:42