The National Design Studio is a scam • Hacker News Board

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#41

Post by mastazi » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 3:25 AM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #30

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #7

One of the things about the Apple Store, is that folks want what it sells. Because of that, they put up with it. Personally, I find the Apple Store to be a pain in the ass. The online version makes me a clickaholic, and the IRL version is very confusing. Government sites are very different. I have no opinion on the new position. I don’t know the guy, and don’t use AirBnb. I just find that the insistence on making gov…

> In a local mall, we have an Apple Store on one end, and a Microsoft Store on the other. I had to check if I had opened an old thread. Microsoft closed all of its stores in Jun 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Store_(retail)

Not all stores closed in 2020. We still had one as of May 2025 around here (which is also mentioned in the Wikipedia page you linked) https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/microsoft-closed-ex...

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#42

Post by ares623 » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 3:27 AM UTC

argomo wrote: post #5

The swamp overfloweth. How do we cure the intractable corruption of Trump and his administration? Will the nation be worth a fragment of what it was once we do?

What is happening in the US now has happened in other developing countries in the past.

The US will be paying for this for decades. For reference, in the Philippines, the effects of the Marcos regime still resonate some 50+ years later, and the changes imposed by it (and the corruption as a consequence of it) have solidified and have become normalized up to the present day. There is no going back.

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#43

Post by nativeit » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 4:21 AM UTC

2arrs2ells wrote: post #34

bigDinosaur wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirBnb has one dark pattern that I'm aware of, that I absolutely despise: the search listings don't display the actual price, but instead the price minus the fees (so not what you'll actually pay). Thankfully some jurisdictions made this illegal (e.g. if you use the Australian AirBnb website you'll get the actual prices), but it's a horrible pattern presumably designed to get people to commit to initiating a booking…

This has changed - at least for me, in the US, Airbnb shows all-in pricing.

I think that was one of Biden's FTC initiatives about hidden fees in things like airlines, car rentals, hotel rooms, etc.. Honestly one of the better moves by the FTC, here's hoping it survives.

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#44

Post by wnc3141 » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 5:00 AM UTC

bongodongobob wrote: post #26

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #7

One of the things about the Apple Store, is that folks want what it sells. Because of that, they put up with it. Personally, I find the Apple Store to be a pain in the ass. The online version makes me a clickaholic, and the IRL version is very confusing. Government sites are very different. I have no opinion on the new position. I don’t know the guy, and don’t use AirBnb. I just find that the insistence on making gov…

Why would I ever go to a Microsoft store? To buy a Windows CD?

for a while they were making a play to be in the devices market.

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#45

Post by belZaah » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 5:06 AM UTC

infl8ed wrote: post #11

IMHO UK currently holds the gold standard for this https://design-system.service.gov.uk/ Most/many government services use the standard design architecture and, although it is not perfect, it is several orders of magnitude better than I've seen elsewhere.

Former CTO of a country here. Anything GDS did filled me with deep envy: it was beautiful and made so much sense and I had none of it at my disposal. Then Brexit. I was there in GDS offices a few weeks after the vote and the organization was being dismantled under my very eyes. See, the trick with such endeavors is not what you can drive centrally, it’s what you can make others implement. Reporting to the Man is a good way of creating pressure, but as the current examples in both UK and US show, you can’t sustain that pressure for, say 30 years. Also, centralization neither scales very well nor is democratic as it centralizes control and removes responsibility from the service owners. So how do you have something placed fairly low in the government working horizontally effect meaningful change in other organizations? Have tried it in a few countries, have a few answers and many questions, AMA.

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#46

Post by monster_truck » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 5:07 AM UTC

None of their sites are 508/WCAG compliant, that's how you know things are getting bad.

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#47

Post by quantified » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 5:08 AM UTC

2arrs2ells wrote: post #34

bigDinosaur wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirBnb has one dark pattern that I'm aware of, that I absolutely despise: the search listings don't display the actual price, but instead the price minus the fees (so not what you'll actually pay). Thankfully some jurisdictions made this illegal (e.g. if you use the Australian AirBnb website you'll get the actual prices), but it's a horrible pattern presumably designed to get people to commit to initiating a booking…

This has changed - at least for me, in the US, Airbnb shows all-in pricing.

And for me, not. Hate to say it, but it depends. On what I can't say.

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#48

Post by quantified » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 5:09 AM UTC

anon7000 wrote: post #22

3ternalreturn wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the author didn't write anything like that

Direct quote from article: > They realized money could be made, and built a website to let other people do the same thing, through them, not Craig[slist]. This is important: the very first act of creation was an act of piracy. What AirBnB does today is no different

Doesn't commit to it being a clone.

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#49

Post by ValveFan6969 » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 5:18 AM UTC

argomo wrote: post #5

The swamp overfloweth. How do we cure the intractable corruption of Trump and his administration? Will the nation be worth a fragment of what it was once we do?

>Will the nation be worth a fragment of what it was

America was worth something during Biden's days?

Re: The National Design Studio is a scam

#50

Post by jjani » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 5:41 AM UTC

Pedro_Ribeiro wrote: post #32

delaugust wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

envy isn't necessary for legitimate critique you know

This barely qualifies as a critique; it's a hit piece with no constructive criticism and some anti-capitalist rhetoric thrown in. > The National Design Studio is a clear case of nepotism, and they're greatly overpromising. Dismantling 18F was a massive mistake. There, I just said the same thing but cut out the personal attacks and the ridiculous take that Airbnb was somehow built by thieves (does anything actually be…

> Dismantling 18F was a massive mistake.

Mistake to me implies unintended consequences that differ from the original goal. I've never heard anyone say "Opening Auschwitz was a massive mistake", as its consequences were exactly as intended. In the same way, dismantling 18F is not a mistake.