Roundabout Efficiency

A trip to Europe showed me some good design

Author

Jon Haines
April 24, 2025

This week’s edition:

  • Roundabout Efficiency: A trip to Europe showed me some good design 

  • Design articles i found interesting

  • Design jobs I found interesting

This past week, I took a trip with my family to France. This was part vacation, and part me-going-to-Paris-to-run-a-marathon. So, mostly fun all around. I had a great race and ate plenty of bread.

Afterwards, we went down to the Loire Valley, which is 3 to 4 hours south of Paris. So, a lot of driving. It put driving in Europe in perspective to me. The United States does not have roundabouts, and I got to say, we’re missing out. Such a good design that is safe, makes a lot of sense, and is easy to understand, once you aren’t thrown for how different it is.

Consider the infamous jughandles of the Jersey Turnpike. They are a bit more intimidating and are not exactly the safest way to drive (especially for left turns).

This is just a short example of how design effects our every day and how different cultures handle things (like traffic) a bit differently.

Design Articles for the Week

Pinterest is prompting teens to close the app at school

Pinterest wants to get ahead of school smartphone bans.

www.theverge.com/news/653094/pinterest-school-hours-prompt-minors-focus

Your politeness could be costly for OpenAI | TechCrunch

“I wonder how much money OpenAI has lost in electricity costs from people saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to their models.” It was a seemingly random

techcrunch.com/2025/04/20/your-politeness-could-be-costly-for-openai

Bluesky launches blue check verification | TechCrunch

Bluesky announced on Monday that it is rolling out blue check verification, confirming previous rumors that this feature was on its way to the platform.

techcrunch.com/2025/04/21/bluesky-launches-blue-check-verification

Design Jobs for the Week

Hi, I’m Jon, a UX and Product Designer from Brooklyn, New York. I write the Design Breadcrumbs newsletter to express my own thoughts on the design world, freelancing, and career advancement. Subscribe to get this news delivered to your inbox every week.