Writing — essays by Zach Shallbetter
Distance from Gray
Why the next durable layer of AI value is a guarantee, not a generation — and why owning the transformation seam beats managing unreliability at the product layer.
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I Built an App So My Lady Could Pass the CAPM
A native iOS app for my lady's CAPM prep, and the one rule it's built on: derive, don't ask.
Living Documentation
The input-side contract for generative work.
The Material Is the Contract
What building a nano-ceramic game board taught me about parameters.
Versatility Is a Design Decision
How a game factory survived COVID by being built for range, not role.
Customer Experience (CX) vs. User Experience (UX)
The Intersection of Emotion and Function
Shit Does Not Roll Downhill, It Gets Tracked Everywhere
Redefine Leadership Through Accountability and Team Resilience
The Grounds of First Principles
From Root Assumptions to Refined Solutions
Resolving React 19 Dependency Conflicts Without Downgrading
Tackling Peer Conflicts in Modern React Projects
Market Forecasting for Product People
Turning Insights Into Strategy
The Cruelty of Hiring
How Flawed Hiring Systems Undermine Teams and Devalue Talent
Projects vs. Products
Understanding their distinct roles, lifecycles, and metrics to drive impactful results and sustainable innovation.
Feedback Loops
Turning Data Into Continuous Improvement
Guide to E-Commerce Metrics
Sisyphus Discovers Tools
A Parable of Burden, Risk, and the Absurd
Orchestrating Tomorrow
The Alchemy of Humans + AI Propelling Production
The Way of the Cactus
Cultivating resilience on the digital dunes
Middleware in Next.js: A Comprehensive Guide
Note: This article is a personal reference guide — results may vary!
Spokane’s Fiber Future
This is the complete talk I gave to the Spokane City Council on February 26th 2018 regarding the benefits of Municipal Broadband. I ran out…
Unit Test Next.js API Routes with TypeScript.
Elevate your code with smart test pattern.
Testing Routes in Next.js 13
Note: 8/28— I’ve refreshed the content after some experimentation and the release of 13.5.
GitHub Profile Tuning: A Senior Developer’s Guide to Job Seeking
CIPM — The Cognitive Information Processing Model
Navigating the Mind’s Labyrinth
Protecting Routes in Next.js 13
With the evolution of the App Router in Next.js, the framework has become even more robust, offering developers enhanced control over…
WTF is React Fiber?
React Fiber has the buzzword vibe. In this article, I’ll attempt to unravel the mystery, explore its inner workings, and describe why it’s…
Exploring React Fiber Use Cases
React Fiber, introduced in React v16, is a complete rewrite of React’s core reconciliation algorithm. It significantly improves how React…
Slack is Destroying Communities
How the world’s best business collaboration tool alienated one of the world’s largest web developer communities.
Live by the EpiPen, die by the EpiPen
I wish I had a photo of Saturday to share with the world. A snapshot of what it’s like for a person who rides an extreme line when it comes…
Dear Mailchimp,
We love your service! You focused on UX and UI while your competitors focused on the enterprise. Building a user base with jokes and beauty…
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Occasional and worth it — first principles, systems, and what the work is teaching me. No noise, no cadence promises.
The full archive — 29 essays — with older pieces mirrored from Medium. New pieces publish on-site first.