1. Findings from Artefact’s recent design maturity survey indicate that your chief design officer is not your savior. Other tactics, like training cross-disciplinary teams in design thinking, may have more impact than a single, high-profile hire.
2. There’s not a lot I love more than a good digital playbook, and NYC has just released theirs. The interface is a little dramatic for my taste — does every principle really need a huge full-bleed image? — but solid tenets, wisely applied.
3. The value of user testing is espoused by many and practiced by few. Often the user testing phase is cut in the name of time or budgetary constraints. Ida Aalen explains why you should never show a design you haven’t tested on users — and provides practical, budget-conscious ways to make it possible.
4. The New York Times shares five lessons learned after a month on Facebook Live. I especially agree with lesson #3, the value of the “take-me there” storytelling format. It’s an invitation to a guided experience shared with others, like Sree paging through the Sunday paper, or a Harvard student conducting an art museum tour.
5. Can Tide really be your Facebook friend? Walt Mossberg explores the murky waters of brands on social media.

Weekend fun: Randall Munroe delivers a third installment on ways to make reading the news more fun. (He also points to a browser extension that lets you replace choice words all on your own.) Clever idea, but apparently almost nothing is as much fun as a Snap replacing your face with a taco.

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.