Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You…
Our washer and dryer is on its last legs. I think it was purchased about 20 years ago. Its a cheap stacked unit. Very small, breaks down alot. We are thinking of replacing it with two good modern units. However, there are a million options. Do you go with a…
Anyone interested in getting the flu? Well, come on down! You are the next contestant in, “The Virus is Right”! First it was Jared, then it was Katie, now its Matthew. All with high fevers and flu-like symptoms. Cough and fatigue mostly. I am trying to avoid getting too close…
At work, they promoted me to Director, UX and Product Management. I feel pretty excited about the whole thing. As part of taking on more product management responsibilities, I can also hire a product manager to report to me. I haven’t managed anyone since 2002. Very exciting! It brings back…
I am watching the NBA All Star competiton. While I wait for the slam dunk content, I was checking out old slam dunk offerings. Some of these are just awesome. I love the 1986 contest that Spud Webb won. I love when a 5’6″ short guy wins the slam dunk…
My general theory of arguments/disagreements it that they occur for one or more of the following reasons: One party knows something the other doesn’t. One party is making an assumption the other isn’t One or more parties is feeling an emotion that instigates disagreement. The first reason is the easiest…
What is the difference between User Experience Design and Product Management? Additionally, should product management come out of the marketing department or the engineering department? This issues are coming to the fore recently at work as we start to mature our process and organization. I have seen it both ways.…
Katie and I voted this week. They used a new kind of electronic voting machine with some serious UX issues. To give them the good news first, they solved one of the most important issues. Before voting, the machine gave a PAPER version of your votes for your approval. It…
Great article on the psychology of voting. This is exactly how you have to be thinking about your web applications. Drill down deep into the mind.
I have been working more on the book. The chapter I am working on deals with specific UI elements, like menus, buttons and other controls. It is amazing to me how many details there are in just a simple button. Bill Scott calls these “interesting moments“. For example in a…
I notice that I often avoid certain large tasks because I know I don’t have time to complete them. If I have a meeting in 30 minutes, I don’t want to open up PowerPoint and design the next generation of business intelligence tools. All that will happen is that I…
There is a product development philosophy that I strongly believe in, especially for the Software-As-Service world (a.k.a. Extranet). I call that philosophy the “Pendulum”. The pendulum oscillates between features and quality in a product. A feature is a new thing that the product should do. Quality is a catch-all for…
I just recently saw this posting by Eric Meyer on how browser makers and big companies interact and how browsers (and developers) are put in a bad situation. The short version is: Browser makers want to update their browser to follow standards. Terrible developers complain that their f**ked up HTML…
Every Sunday, I have extr time with the kids. We want to go into town nd do little shopping. Yet, every Sunday, I forget that most stores are closed. Our favorite Sushi place is closed. Even Guitar World (we needed to buy some picks) was closed. Why is this? The…