Journal

Notes we still stand by after class.

Short essays from faculty. They are not substitutes for a studio, and they do not pretend a blog post can replace a denominator debate.

Notebook and coffee on a wooden desk

12 March 2026

Why week-one retention is a lazy north star

W1 is easy to move with onboarding copy. That is exactly why it is a poor quality score for most products.

Wall calendar with marked dates

2 February 2026

Survival curves versus classic cohort grids

Heatmaps hide when people leave. A curve makes the hazard visible, at the cost of a less familiar picture.

Person typing on a laptop at a home desk

18 November 2025

How UK subscription teams misread monthly cohorts

Direct debit dates, cooling-off windows, and VAT invoices do not care about your product week.

People working together in a studio space

9 September 2025

The n-day retention trap in mobile

D7 is not a personality. It is a window that punishes products people use in bursts.

Small group discussion at a table

21 June 2025

Building a cohort table without a warehouse

Exports, careful clocks, and the honesty required when your last column is always incomplete.