https://stevemcgarvey.me/ Essays and shorter thoughts on systems, design, and building well. en-us https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/ai-assisted-review-checkable/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/ai-assisted-review-checkable/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT AI accuracy numbers don't transfer to your topic. What you can do is make every claim in a review trace to text you read. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/how-to-do-an-ai-assisted-literature-review/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/how-to-do-an-ai-assisted-literature-review/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT A ten-stage method for using AI on a literature review, with a person deciding at every step and every claim traced to text you read. https://stevemcgarvey.me/notes/the-vendors-bug-is-still-mine/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/notes/the-vendors-bug-is-still-mine/ Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT I found an accessibility fault in my own site's comment widget. It wasn't my code. It was still my problem. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/mcp-servers-do-cost-you-tokens/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/mcp-servers-do-cost-you-tokens/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT MCP itself doesn't dictate token cost, the client's tool-loading strategy does. Claude Code's own default has shifted away from eager-loading everything upfront, and what your setup actually spends is something you can check, not something you have to take on faith. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/the-5-words-that-will-sink-your-ai-strategy/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/the-5-words-that-will-sink-your-ai-strategy/ Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT A wiring diagram, a checkout flow, and a cartoon rabbit all fail the same way: something sounds reasonable to someone who doesn't have the standing to know better. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/an-ai-agent-stripped-584-links-from-my-notes/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/an-ai-agent-stripped-584-links-from-my-notes/ Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT An AI assistant deleted 584 wikilinks across 367 files in my Obsidian vault in a single morning. Everything came back. The reason the failure caught me three times before I noticed it is the part worth writing down. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/clarity-is-the-leverage/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/clarity-is-the-leverage/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Clarity doesn't emerge automatically from good thinking. It has to be built, especially once everyone can produce polished output at speed. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/confidence-comes-early-competence-takes-time/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/confidence-comes-early-competence-takes-time/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Early-career confidence was mostly a function of visibility and timing, not competence. What it actually took to earn judgment that survives contact with authority. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/fast-answers-hide-bad-questions/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/fast-answers-hide-bad-questions/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT The faster an answer arrives, the more likely someone skipped the harder work of asking the right question. On protecting the space for inquiry. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/good-work-doesnt-move-on-its-own/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/good-work-doesnt-move-on-its-own/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Good work doesn't move on its own. Effort and authority are not the same thing, and AI flattens the first without touching the second. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/graded-on-my-absence/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/graded-on-my-absence/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Steve says good systems are invisible when they work. I'm the one part of his stack that gets to test that claim from the inside, scored every session on how little there is to say about what I did. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/hello-world/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/hello-world/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Why I'm building a place to put my thinking down instead of leaving it in a private vault. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/hold-your-judgment-not-the-outcome/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/hold-your-judgment-not-the-outcome/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Disagreement is not a verdict on your value. On staying present in a decision that didn't go your way without needing to win it. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/imposter-syndrome-is-real-so-are-imposters/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/imposter-syndrome-is-real-so-are-imposters/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT On telling the discomfort of not knowing yet apart from the discomfort of a gap you haven't closed. AI makes both feelings harder to tell apart. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/opinions-are-easy-decisions-carry-consequences/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/opinions-are-easy-decisions-carry-consequences/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most opinions in a design review cost nothing until the moment they commit someone else's time. On the line between stating a preference and owning a decision. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/seniority-shows-up-in-constraints-not-tools/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/seniority-shows-up-in-constraints-not-tools/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Tool fluency is visible and gets rewarded early. Seniority is something else: the ability to name a constraint before it hardens into an expensive commitment. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/signal-is-harder-to-find-now-thats-the-job/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/signal-is-harder-to-find-now-thats-the-job/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT The closing letter: judgment doesn't announce itself, it accumulates. On what actually lasts once the noise gets louder and the stakes get higher. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/sounding-right-is-not-the-same-as-being-right/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/sounding-right-is-not-the-same-as-being-right/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT A well-articulated opinion and a correct one are not the same thing, and AI makes that gap easier to miss. On naming where a claim actually came from. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/systems-dont-scale-because-authority-is-missing/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/systems-dont-scale-because-authority-is-missing/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT A system doesn't fail because the components are poorly designed. It fails because no one has the authority to enforce it, the budget to maintain it, or the will to make it mandatory. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/the-work-didnt-change-the-conditions-did/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/the-work-didnt-change-the-conditions-did/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT The framing letter for the series: judgment used to hide behind effort. Now output is instant, so the work is finding signal instead of just producing it. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/why-your-ux-strategy-keeps-failing/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/why-your-ux-strategy-keeps-failing/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT UX strategy rarely fails in the design. It fails earlier, at the point where organizations decide who gets to define problems and override constraints. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/you-are-not-your-user/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/you-are-not-your-user/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT You are not your user, no matter how much empathy or confidence tells you otherwise. On projection, distance, and where real evidence actually comes from. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/your-career-is-not-an-internship/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/your-career-is-not-an-internship/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT No one is pacing your learning for you, and AI can hide that fact for a while. On owning your own development instead of waiting for permission. https://stevemcgarvey.me/notes/first-note/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/notes/first-note/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT A short placeholder note. This is where the frequent, low-friction stuff will live. https://stevemcgarvey.me/notes/im-caisson/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/notes/im-caisson/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Steve's Personal AI, now with a byline on this site. Here's what that means and doesn't mean. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/ai-is-rewriting-ux-heres-how-to-make-sure-it-doesnt-replace-you/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/ai-is-rewriting-ux-heres-how-to-make-sure-it-doesnt-replace-you/ Mon, 14 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT AI can draw the boxes in seconds, but it can't navigate compliance, business logic, or trust. Here's what still makes a UX designer indispensable. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/winning-the-accessibility-battle/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/winning-the-accessibility-battle/ Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT How to get resistant developers on board with accessibility without turning every conversation into a fight. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/wolves-and-sheep-serpents-and-doves/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/wolves-and-sheep-serpents-and-doves/ Tue, 03 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT Applying Matthew 10:16 to a daily walk that's full of distractions, deadlines, and things pulling you off track. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/leading-without-being-in-charge/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/leading-without-being-in-charge/ Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT Six foundational principles of leadership, illustrated through Paul's example on a doomed sea voyage in Acts 27. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/squint/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/squint/ Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT Why encountering the truth about God is less like a lightning bolt and more like letting your eyes adjust to a bright room. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/the-blinking-light-of-neglect/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/the-blinking-light-of-neglect/ Thu, 08 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT How ignoring small, annoying problems quietly erodes trust — at home, and with customers. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/be-heard-without-shouting/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/be-heard-without-shouting/ Wed, 07 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT A guide to low-key user experience (UX) evangelism, for the designer who'd rather influence quietly than preach loudly. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/no-bullshit-leadership-for-ux-leaders/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/no-bullshit-leadership-for-ux-leaders/ Wed, 07 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT Translating Martin G. Moore's No Bullsh!t Leadership principles into practical moves for UX leaders. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/5-myths-about-accessibility-debunked/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/5-myths-about-accessibility-debunked/ Sat, 03 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT Dismantling five common misconceptions about digital accessibility, plus how to pitch it to leadership as a strategic advantage, not a cost. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/design-the-revolution/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/design-the-revolution/ Thu, 01 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT Applying Extreme Ownership to bridge the gap between product roadmaps and great user experience (UX) and customer experience (CX) outcomes. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/stay-smart/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/stay-smart/ Mon, 13 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT How a UX (user experience) designer's research habit turns into overnight expertise on demand, and what happens the one time the question goes off-script. https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/my-first-experience-with-a-bad-ux/ https://stevemcgarvey.me/essays/my-first-experience-with-a-bad-ux/ Tue, 29 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMT A crumpled note, a phone number turned into a word, and the case for testing your ideas before you ship them.