I’m Paul Rissen. I’m currently a Data Architect for BBC News Online and the RES Project, but I also teach, speak about the Web as a creative medium, dabble in Python, Flask and RDF/TTL, and write in my spare time – both fiction and non-fiction.
I specialise in product management, structured data, am an advocate for open (and linked) data, agile development, user experience, information architecture and progressive enhancement/adaptive design.
My main area of interest is in narrative and its’ application on the fundamental building blocks of the Web – URIs, hyperlinks and REST. I believe in the vision of the Web as a hyperlinked store of human knowledge, and as a medium itself – but I am pragmatic about making it happen. I believe it’s possible to build successful things which also contribute to a longer-term goal.
I also love Chelsea FC, and Doctor Who.
Here’s some things I’ve written recently. There’s also my newsletter, Write Like Nobody’s Reading, which you can have delivered straight to your email inbox – it’s short pieces of fiction, when the mood takes me.
2016
- 6th January: The ‘S’ Word, a rant about the over-use of the word ‘storytelling’, an attempt at a definition, and a plea to concentrate on what makes it really interesting.
2015
- 6th July: Complex TV – An introduction, the first in a series of notes about Jason Mittell’s book of the same name
- 17th February: From Void, to Matter, to Meaning, a response to a piece by Cennydd Bowles on the meaning of Information Architecture
2014
- 14th September: The Beauty of Difference of Opinion, a plea for a better standard of discussion and debate over cultural objects
- 22nd July: A Future of Politics and News Online, playing around with BBC News, Parliament and GOV.UK APIs, learning Python (and Flask) whilst doing so.
- 9th July: Falling Out of the World – RIFT’s Macbeth, a review of an immersive theatre experience
- 30th May: Future (and Past) Imperfect, I saw ‘X-Men – Days of Future Past’, and had some opinions about it
- 7th May: Some quick thoughts on URLs, on paying attention to the URLs you craft, the benefits and disadvantages of hiding them from users.
- 13th March: On Design as a Service, should UX teams be centralised in a large organisation?
- 9th January: My Mission for 2014: Writing is Structure, I get all excited about writing, then promptly don’t for a couple of months.
30 Days of Music – 2014 edition
- 24th June: A song from a band you hate
- 27th May: A song from your favourite band
- 23rd May: A song that makes you fall asleep
- 21st May: A song you can dance to
- 18th May: A song you know all the words to
- 17th May: A song that reminds you of a certain event
- 16th May: A song that reminds you of somewhere
- 15th May: A song that reminds you of someone
- 14th May: A song that makes you feel sad
- 13th May: A song that makes you happy
- 12th May: Your least favourite song
- 11th May: Your favourite song
- 9th May: 30 Days of Music, an introduction to a series of music-based writing prompts