Remarkable Modernist buildings in Germany’s capital and the top tourist city of Ukraine — These two cities — Lviv and Berlin — don’t seem related, except for the fact I know both of them pretty well. I used to live in Lviv for 5 years, and I’ve been living in Berlin for 3 years now. …

Fieldstone churches, brick stables, and horses — Do you remember, in the “The Lord of the Rings” lore, there was a kingdom of horsemen — Rohan? So, if some low-key Rohan exists in reality, I believe it’s in the Brandenburg Switzerland Nature Park, 30 kilometers east of Berlin. After my first bicycle journey, I returned there again…

Medieval churches, frozen ponds, and gloomy wilderness — The famous painting “American Gothic” by Grant Wood depicts a grim farmer holding a pitchfork and his daughter standing near their old-fashioned house. I haven’t seen this artwork live but seems I experienced a similar effect recently. …

A 10-month photo diary about Ukrainians in Berlin and Berliners — I’ve never written end-of-year reviews, and won’t write one this time. Here is something different instead. For the last 10 months, I’ve been walking and collecting the spirit of the time we are living in. The Russian war against Ukraine feels so distant from Berlin, where I’ve been living for…

Several humble observations on how people describe photos, artworks, and memes. — Look at this: What did you imagine after reading the text? How clear and detailed was it? How did you visualize the fundoscope? Done? Good. We’ll return to that in a minute. And what about this picture?

How to engage your team even more and prevent them from accidentally ruining your workshop. — 1. Sandbox canvas Workshop tools are often targeted at customers (designers, researchers, and business consultants who pay for subscriptions) and don’t always serve end-users who aren’t necessarily computer-literate or non-disabled. Tool producers tend to expose features, whereas 90% of the time, participants only need to type on sticky notes.

Medieval churches, wild nature, foggy mountains, and the Independence Day of Ukraine — We didn’t plan to visit Switzerland. But since the Front Conference kindly invited me to speak, my wife and I decided to extend our stay in Zurich for a couple of days. …

From handling user interfaces to handling people: Part II — I’m a designer by profession and a cheater in people management. I was lucky enough to know the bitter truth about management in advance but couldn’t believe it was true. My wife, an expert in this area, always told me stories from her work, and I was like, “Why cannot…

How much of Kharkiv will survive the 2022 Russian invasion? — I started this article last year to show the overlooked beauty of Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine and a students’ hub with 70+ universities and institutes. Today, I don’t know how much of Kharkiv’s gorge will remain intact after being ruthlessly bombed by the invaders. I’ve been to Kharkiv…