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Alec Barr, FRSA
Head of Behavioural Science | AI Futurist | Experience Designer | Backgammon Author
Alec Barr is a highly experienced Human-Centered Design (HCD) practitioner who is currently redefining the user experience (UX) field at Askable. With over 10 years of experience in conducting user research, designing websites and products, and building effective UX teams, Alec has become a renowned expert in the industry. He has a strong focus on research and is a research evangelist, using evidence-driven behavior change design and cognitive-behavioral science to create beautifully effective and enjoyable experiences for users.
Alec has worked at leading XD and Creative agencies, such as Critical Mass, OLIVER Agency, Leagas Delaney, and CHE Proximity, where he held various positions including Director of User Experience, Experience Design Consultant, Head of Experience & Service Design, and Planning Director, Service Design. At these agencies, he led cross-functional teams and delivered award-winning projects. He has also worked as a Lecturer at Miami Ad School and AdSchool Australia, where he shared his expertise in behavioral science, design ethics, UX copywriting, and user research.
With a strong educational background, Alec studied English Literature at the University of Bristol, where he earned a 2:1 Bachelor of Arts degree. He also studied English, Philosophy, Latin, and Biology at University College School.
Alec's skill set covers all three pillars of Experience Design - research, strategy, and design. His expertise lies in user research, where he has conducted both small tactical briefs and large-scale strategic endeavors. He is passionate about creating enjoyable experiences for everyone, everywhere, and has a particular craft emphasis on user research. Alec is not only skilled in his field but also excels as a teacher and trainer, having delivered lectures and workshops globally.
As Head of Agency Growth at Askable, Alec continues to push the boundaries of UX and redefines the user experience field. With his extensive experience, expertise in research, strategy and design, and passion for behavioral science and evidence-driven behavior change design, Alec is a valuable asset to any user research project. Contact him for all your user research needs.
Highlights
I’m addicted to my phone.
Last month I clocked an average of 10hrs per day. Per DAY.
Okay, I take copious notes on books I’m reading; write drafts of articles; play around with ChatGPT non-stop. But excuses aside, I do seem to mediate most of my intellectual life through a 3x6 supercomputer that never leaves my hand.
Critically, however, I didn’t START doing this until 2010 — when I got my first smartphone.
And, generally speaking, the experience has been enriching and social.
Unlike vast swathes of Gen Z, who — having been spoonfed on-demand content from the day they first received a connected device, probably around age 9 — now exhibit endemic levels of depression, anxiety and alienation.
Jonathan Haidt and Rory Sutherland discussed it at length during Nudgestock this year, but the link between adolescent access to social media and the rising mental health crisis is undeniable. Here are the headline (terrifying) stats :
• 75% of kids spend less time outdoors than prison inmates • Nearly 50% of teens say they are online “almost constantly” yet are “extremely lonely” • Teen self-harm and suicide rates have skyrocketed up to 180% since 2010 • Reported depressive episodes have increased 16x since 2012
I don’t have kids, but in the same way egalitarianism benefits me personally by “lifting all boats” in society, I don’t want to live in a world populated by withdrawn, broken geniuses, crippled by anxiety and self-consciousness.
Gen Z represent some of the smartest, culturally switched on individuals of this century. These are the people I’m expecting to LEARN from in 10yrs time, the people that will teach me when I become too Luddite and conservative to stay abreast of the latest trends.
I want them to light a fire in my belly from the fire in theirs.
So I’m a big advocate for the Smartphone Free Childhood movement garnering momentum right now, looking to regulate social media and ban phones in schools.
Think about it: we place societal strictures around of activities involving/leading to violence, addiction and abuse. And then we send our children to school with unfettered access to it all in their pocket!
I think probably time we modernised our legislation, and our attitudes.
Do we agree?
Yesterday at MAD//FEST LONDON, Seb Bardin Jamie Irving and I took to the Emerging Tech Stage to discuss the limitations of AI automation.
There was a lot of talk about information integrity, AI ethics, data segregation and the fear of LLM hallucinations.
☝️ All extremely valid when talking about automating EXECUTIONAL tasks as scale (summarisation, documentation, categorisation etc).
But what about creativity?
I don’t want these same guardrails applied to the tools helping me coming up with ideas.
I don’t want rules that “normalise” the outputs, or boundaries that tell the chatbot not to offend me.
I want the weird, ugly, jagged edges of ideation.
When ChatGPT makes something up we don’t like, we call it a hallucination. When we DO like it, we call it creativity.
I WANT the hallucinations.
Nils Leonard and Tom Goodwin both referenced this need for the unexpected in their #madfest24 talks (delivered with their usual cheery cynicism). And Simon Gregory and Katie Evans echoed this importance of differentiation in an endemic sea of sameness.
But from an emerging tech perspective, the argument always runs the same: that AI simply won’t beat human ingenuity when it comes to finding these really disruptive ideas.
I just completely disagree.
It’s just that the out-of-the-box tools are programmed to be too polite and reasonable.
And politeness and reasonableness are highly antithetical to great ideas (just ask Rory Sutherland).
When we talk about the importance of keeping the “human in the loop”, we’re talking about the poking and prodding we do to make AI prompt US into thinking differently.
But there’s no reason they can’t do that themselves. They already have the perfect ingredients for creativity: all the knowledge in the world, and the ability to mash ideas together.
We just haven’t hacked them well enough yet.
Culture is a giant remixing project.
And AI — uncorked — is the perfect partner to remix with.
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.