I have seen people with e-cigarettes frequently in the past few months. The styling of the devices generally look like regular cigarettes. A few look bigger and stranger, almost like miniature hookahs. It got me thinking that we could be entering a new fad. In a few years, we might see the pipe making a…
I was talking to someone about how UX works at Marketo and how it is different than other places. At Marketo, the UX team has specific responsibilities and ownership within the process of development that differs from the norm. Product Management defines WHAT the feature needs to do. They define it’s required capabilities. PM does not however,…
What does it mean to have a safe place to work? What does it mean to provide a culture where it is safe to fail? I hear these terms alot, but usually they are not backed up by specific actions. It’s more of a wish, like “we should not be a bureaucracy” or “we should…
We are in an interesting time. A tweener. Native is when you build your mobile app using Objective C (IOS) or Java (Android) or Visual Studio (Microsoft). HTML5 is when you build a wrapper for your app in native code, but all of the functionality is built using HTML, CSS and JavaScript (a.k.a. HTML5). Native…
Racism is alive and well in the United States. African Americans are at a disadvantage in many categories. This includes how they are treated by the law, corporations and education. Plenty of studies have proven that African Americans have serious disadvantages that come directly from government and legal policies. (Example) Racism isn’t as explicit as…
I have four new designers on my team. That’s alot of people to get up to speed on the product, process and people. Rather than teaching them myself, I assigned my most experienced designer to be in charge. He has not previously managed people and this is his first time training other designers. There are…
Amazon is getting into the content business and their first two comedies are absolutely brilliant. Alpha House This show is about a group of republican senators in Washington DC who share a brownstone. It stars John Goodman. The writing is crisp and the comedy is nuanced. The republicans are portrayed as fairly cynical. They aren’t…
I’m looking for awesome new people to join my team. Check out the UX Help Designer job description: What’s a UX Help Designer? At Marketo, the UX team is responsible for the way a feature works. We collaborate with engineers, product managers and other various groups. When we are ready to launch a feature, help…
I have a few new designers starting at Marketo in the next 30 days. One of the most important, but neglected, aspects to having new employees is giving ample training time before they are asked to do critical work. I can’t even count the number of times I saw someone doing something poorly because they…
It’s worse than ever. Who is looking out for the experience of customers? It’s pathetic. Security screening is horrendous and slow. Chairs are uncomfortable in the terminal. Everything costs a fortune. The plane itself is built for little people. We are packed in like sardines with no leg room, no foot rests, no pillows. The…
I understand the economics of streaming movies. I know Netflix and Amazon and everyone else wants to get me to pay monthly to watch movies. However, there are two problems. I don’t want to pay every time. I already pay for DirecTV and don’t want to pay for another service. Internet access is not always…
Good decisions are always based on the point of view of those judging. “What is better?” all depends on what you are optimizing for. In the book The Power Broker, by Robert Moses, there were two plans to create Central Park in New York City. One was to leave it as a natural habitat for…
I’ve had this mild allergic rash for a while on my neck and elbow. I’m having trouble figuring out exactly what I am allergic to. It could be the dog, but hopefully not. One person suggested it could be something in my diet. This led me to try an experiment. I cut gluten out of…
How do you help users find the information they need? How do you emphasize particular information. One mistake often made is putting what they need in the middle of a bunch of other stuff. Take this example: Find the needle in the haystack. HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY…