The designer and the engineer must be able to work by drawing with a stick in sand.

Everything beyond this is a conflation of their work with the embellishment and industrialization of their work.

Don't explain yourself.

Solutions are either evident (effectively usable immediately) or coherent within a learnable system (offering superior use after a warm-up period). When either is done well, there is no need to comment or on-board anyone.

Make nothing special. Do not aim to set the work apart from other work. Focus on the process of creating the work, not its outcomes.

Aesthetics of structure > aesthetics of expression

Verticality

Websites are by definition vertical, their base interaction referring back to the scroll. While other directions are possible, layout decisions should prioritize the linear flow and forward motion of the scroll over viewport considerations. Websites are not framed pictures. Websites are time-based and dynamic, moving past the user's perception. Consider verticality as a source of interest and tension.

“Basically, we ignore best practices on purpose because that’s the only way to create something that might be more interesting than just optimizing for conversion. I think that comes from a mindset of thinking from within, thinking inductively, rather than thinking from the outside, if that makes any sense.”

Use architectural methods to think about non-architectural things.