Category: Uncategorized

  • How much can you make with Google AdSense?

    I actually found it a bit difficult and confusing to answer this question.  There are many variables including traffic, audience make-up, page rank, ad size, placement and more.  The numbers are all over the map.  I am happy to share my stats with this experiment. My prediction originally was $2 a month.  I wasn’t very…

  • Design is Decisions – Part V

    Design is decisions.  How do you make those decisions?  There are many competing schools of thought.  I’ll break them down and give you my experience with them all. A/B or Multivariate Testing Focus Groups Hallway Testing Consensus CYA Going with your gut Going with your gut As you can see form the past 4 posts,…

  • Design is Decisions – Part IV

    Design is decisions.  How do you make those decisions?  There are many competing schools of thought.  I’ll break them down and give you my experience with them all. A/B or Multivariate Testing Focus Groups Hallway Testing Consensus CYA Going with your gut Consensus CYA CYA stands for Cover Your Ass.  It basically means that you…

  • Design is Decisions – Part III

    Design is decisions.  How do you make those decisions?  There are many competing schools of thought.  I’ll break them down and give you my experience with them all. A/B or Multivariate Testing Focus Groups Hallway Testing Consensus CYA Going with your gut Hallway Testing Also known as, “Hey, come look at my screen!”  This is…

  • Design is Decisions – Part II

    Design is decisions.  How do you make those decisions?  There are many competing schools of thought.  I’ll break them down and give you my experience with them all. A/B or Multivariate Testing Focus Groups Hallway Testing Consensus CYA Going with your gut Focus Groups There is a famous story from Sony. Sony Corporation asked teenagers…

  • The UX of Watching the World Cup

    For anyone who has turned on the World Cup on television this question is pretty obvious.  What the $*#!@ is that damn buzzing noise?? It sounds like a swarm of bees or that my TV speakers are broken.  Turns out it is a VuVuZela, see below. This infernal device ruins the entire experience for me. …

  • Re-buying Lost Books

    Sometimes, I lend a treasured book to a friend or even an acquaintance.  Through some happenstance, I end up not getting the book back.  I hate this.  I am one of those people who like to keep the books I have read around because they remind me of what’s inside and also because they make…

  • Marketo is Growing

    My first few weeks at Marketo have been great!  The sales have been so strong that they have been growing rapidly to support all the customers.  In fact, there are alot of positions open right now. Marketo is growing rapidly, which means that there is alot of opportunity to make an impact that will last…

  • The UX of Healthcare

    In the past 10 years, I think I have changed healthcare about half a dozen times.  For me it was easy, but for Katie (wife) it has been a nightmare.  You see, she takes care of all the paperwork. Health care in the US (and probably elsewhere) is saturated with paperwork and confusing rules.  It…

  • The UX of Tab Priority

    Alot of bad assumptions, especially by non designers on this topic. The question is: If you have several tabs to use in navigation and you want the user to pay more attention to certain ones, how should you arrange the tabs? The most obvious one is the left most tab (assuming left-to-right reading) should be…

  • Marketo – The Sequel

    After an 8 month hiatus, I have rejoined Marketo.  Truthfully, I found myself using the sentence “At Marketo we _________ and it worked great!” way too many times.  I know I missed alot of things about Marketo and am really surprised 2010 worked out this way.  It feels weird, like a High School reunion with…

  • The Spirit vs. the Letter of the Law

    People mix these up all the time.  Sometimes for malicious reasons (trying to “game” the system”) and sometimes just because it’s easier to look at the letter of the law.  I am not referring to just legalisms, but rather instructions from teachers or bosses.  The spirit of the more important aspect of the mission, but…

  • The UX of Information Camouflage

    There is a great way of hiding the fact that you have no idea what you are talking about.  Bury the listener in a mountain of details.  I have seen this many times and it’s depressing each and every time. In government, the initiatives, bills, proposals, etc are presented in a way that makes it…

  • Lickable or Lovable?

    I met with a smart guy who is building out a user experience strength at his company.  He said that he was trying to make his product “Lickable and Lovable“.  Of course, I have been a huge proponent of Lovable applications and services.  However, lickable or “sexy” is a different adjective that has different connotations.…