There are two types of people in this world, browsers and searchers. Searchers You see the search box and type in what you want and then look at the results. The results are based purely on your input. The thinking involved is primarily about what to search for. Different search phrases will yield different results. …
From Urban Dictionary A term used by many people all over the world, to make the next few words coming out of their mouth, sound less offensive. Example: With all due respect, your mom looks like a permanently aroused gorilla. As a species, we often get angry at other people. This is a worldwide phenomenon. We get…
I received a bunch of business cards at the conference and was thinking about them. Some of the cards had clever things on them that pointed you online. Others were plain white, classic and boring. Others were black, which made writing on them impossible. Some were oddly shaped and difficult to put in the stack…
Of course, I have a vested interest. I am the first hired employee and the head of UX for Marketo, but I feel I can be objective. Well, just take it with a grain of salt anyway. It was awesome. Last year, we had about a hundred and fifty people. I thought that was alot…
Imagine that Toyota (or some big car manufacturer) came out with a standard interface to the stereo system. It looked like a tray above the center dash that could hold your cell phone or ipod or small device. At the bottom of the tray was a removable interface. You could plugin a iPod adapter or a Zune…
Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as “the Way of unifying (with) life energy” or as “the Way of harmonious spirit.” Ueshiba’s goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from…
Part of this post is just a test. However, the setup process of Twitter Tools is insane now. It’s not their fault. Twitter has a ridiculous serious of complex hoops to jump through to get this stuff to work. You have to put in all kinds of technical info. The basic premise is simple. I post a…
How do you get people to stop, turn around and look at what you have? One way is to turn something on its head. Case in point: Cee Lo Gren’s Fuck You song. He took an Al Green-like melody and Motown sensibility and sings beautifully, smiling the whole time, telling this girl, “Fuck Yoooooouuuuu”. It’s…
I have a wide variety of risk profiles. In a restaurant, I like to try odd combinations of foods that I don’t know if they will taste good together. On the other hand, I have a much lower tolerance for risk when it comes to driving. In my professional career, I have been open to…
One thing I hate is being called a bottleneck. I work pretty quickly and usually stay ahead of engineers needs. I think I produce designs pretty quickly with a good degree of fidelity and creativity (if I do say so myself). However, there are times when I feel behind. Usually, this is right after a decision is…
“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend” Theophrastus (Greek Peripatetic philosopher and pupil of Aristotle, 372-287 bc) Time is a non-renewable energy source. You can’t unwind the clock. Time is precious, but I didn’t always think so. Time used to seem infinite. Like a refrigerator full of my favorite foods. Now, it seems like…
I had a major UX insight recently. The learning came through my recent phone upgrade. I couldn’t take my HTC Touch Pro 2 anymore. Windows Mobile was just an awful experience. It called people magically from inside my pocket and refused to answer when they called me. Verizon allowed me to upgrade a bit early,…
Many designers I know shun using big fonts. They want the text to be as tiny as possible. Years ago, I used to argue with my partners at Koko Interactive about font-size. Katie wanted Gigantic; Spencer wanted invisible; and I wanted in the middle. I now know, Katie was right. Gigantic is great when you…
Are you a craftsman in your job? Do you look at how other people do it and comb over the details, critiquing or praising each element? Do you consider yourself a student of the game? Someone who is striving to get better each day? Do you read blogs and books on your job subject matter?…