In 2009, a designer at Google quit because the company was testing forty-one shades of blue. The machine was making decisions he used to make. And the uncomfortable part is that it was often right.
This is a short film about A/B testing, algorithmic optimization, and the small act of ignoring both. About what it means to make something by hand in a world that can tell you, with a number, exactly what would have worked better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FrnyEggE4k
Terry Godier
npub1we…k9r06
2026-06-29 18:32:20 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1weehcrf6tkkea2l2xmk7n22f6dyk0rvjpn5t9uxg6cxqgknf7ptsck9r06Seen on
wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2026-06-29 18:32:20 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "b9fa60422330b3b763fa5dc2c6b3ce4be03e2f6b09a48e760376e0910b9a4fc3",
"pubkey": "76737c0d3a5dad9eabea36ede9a949d349678d920ce8b2f0c8d60c045a69f057",
"created_at": 1782757940,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://indieweb.social/@tg/116834824397288218",
"web"
],
[
"proxy",
"https://indieweb.social/ap/users/115948090307838315/statuses/116834824397288218",
"activitypub"
],
[
"L",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"l",
"pink.momostr.activitypub:https://indieweb.social/ap/users/115948090307838315/statuses/116834824397288218",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"-"
]
],
"content": "In 2009, a designer at Google quit because the company was testing forty-one shades of blue. The machine was making decisions he used to make. And the uncomfortable part is that it was often right.\n\nThis is a short film about A/B testing, algorithmic optimization, and the small act of ignoring both. About what it means to make something by hand in a world that can tell you, with a number, exactly what would have worked better.\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FrnyEggE4k",
"sig": "00b130f7992a5f346d158050c5a992f326c9a53e73f6595522247caf8449a4e88e91b22be5009e6b71dbb0a57942db71f62eeca53eeba7427d41aa5af61cc950"
}