<rant> Apparently my 15 month old post on Windows 7 BSOD is the #1 ranked post on Google for the search query “blue screen of death windows 7“. A ridiculous amount of my traffic goes to that page. Like 30%. I don’t want this traffic. The page had like 40 comments. People kept asking me…
Woodward and Bernstein and their series on Watergate set the modern lexicon of scandal and how people deal with them. Here is the formula: A problem or suspicious of a problem arises. People look to the source and say, “What is going on?” If the source says, “Nothing, nope, no problem here. Everything is great.”…
Three things to have UX greatness. Last one. Good enough isn’t good enough. Eat bad babies. Invest in your future. Invest in your future. It is so rare that anyone does this. Seriously, everyone talks about it and no one ever does it. At a previous company (which shall remain nameless), there was a project…
Three things to have UX greatness. Here is #2. Good enough isn’t good enough. Eat bad babies. Invest in your future. Eat bad babies. Every group I have ever witnessed has reached this point sooner or later. They have something that used to be a good idea. However, right now, it has become a bad…
Three things to have UX greatness. Covering just one today. Good enough isn’t good enough. Eat bad babies. Invest in your future. Good enough isn’t good enough Most products, services and expectations are pathetic. Flying on a plane is a horrible experience, even when it’s good. Most cars look exactly like 20 others. Innovation is…
I think alot of people confuse these two concepts. Not knowing how to do something may not be surmountable. Either you learn how or you get lucky or you just do it wrong. I’ve made a handy chart to help understand. If you don’t know how to do something, it doesn’t matter how much time…
Who is Andrew Garcia? He is a contestant on American Idol. What can he tell us about UX? I’ll jump to the answer and then backtrack. Great UX comes from making a segment of the audience love you with fanaticism, not from trying to please everyone. Critics are the sign you are on the right…
I made a little sticky note for someone I manage, but I don’t have a scanner here. So I recreated it for you. It’s amazing to me how often people break this rule. Everyone thinks the other person knows what they are talking about. People are happy to pass the buck and add features or…
Previously I posted on how the little things are the ones that make/break your product/service. Here is an illustrated example. Don’t be fooled. This doesn’t mean you can just build the details and forget the big features. Obviously a cup holder without a car isn’t much good. Table stakes are the big features. Your product…
An open letter to the Microsoft Office team: You have to produce ONE specific feature to secure your future. If you do as I suggest, you will kneecap Google Docs and breath new life into MS Office. Just one feature. It may not be easy, but you have smart engineers and they can figure it…
I get spam from alot of different sources. Each one is a pain in the ass. Why can’t government figure out how to make this manageable? Snail Mail. Every day, my mailbox is full of coupons and solicitations from charities and political groups. I get magazines and newsletters that we never read. We just throw…
I stumbled on this music site called Grooveshark accidentally via Smashing Magazine, but I am glad I did. It has a rich user interface with alot to like. The obviousness of what to do first is the best part. I typed in a song. Ting Ting: That’s Not My Name. It was there right in…
There are three kinds of infographics. Ugly and useless Pretty and useless Useful A website is like a big infographic. It is usually filled with noise and chatter and happy talk. Usually, it written for the author or author’s boss, not for you. Over and over again, I see infographics on the web that are…
Jeff Atwood wrote a post about ideas being very cheap and execution being worth millions. Although, I think the lots of terrible ideas are executed and fail miserably, his point is not lost on me. How do I translate an idea into reality. People do it all the time, but what are the steps. DISCLAIMER:…