Friday 5 is taking a break to go peer at people’s internet-enabled devices in 三门峡 and 西安 — neither of which I can pronounce, but Wikipedia can teach you. Back in time for Lionel Messi’s birthday, Friday, June 24.

1. This UX reality check presents 14 hard truths about users. Most common mistakes I’ve seen (and committed) are ignoring the fact that users are in “doing mode” rather than reading your help text; and believing reported behavior (“Sure, I’d use that app!”) rather than actual behavior.
2. Live video is all the rage, but the replays often make you long for good producers and editors. Facebook Live is trying to fix that problem with engagement graphs that let you skip to where the action is.
3. Key characteristics of mobile search are changing fast — they include ranking factors like mobile friendliness and load times, as well as apps interspersed now with web results. Bridget Randolph summarizes the challenges, makes suggestions on how to respond, and takes a crack at where all this is heading.
4. Buffer blog recommends ways to keep your social media images looking fresh, even if you post every day. I’m a bit jaundiced on the image block quotes, but the numbers generally support their effectiveness.
5. Google’s design ethicist (great title!) and amateur magician explains how technology hijacks people’s minds. It’s well worth the long read to understand how tech affects us, through tactics like framing the question and tapping into the strong hold that social approval and reciprocity have on all of us.

Weekend fun: You’re likely among the 150 million people who have already seen the Chewbacca mom’s Facebook Live video, but simple joys are worth revisiting.

Every Friday, find five, highly subjective pointers to compelling technologies, emerging trends, and interesting ideas that affect how we live and work digitally. Try out the Friday 5 archive, or sign up for a weekly email.