I saw a rockumentary about the band Kansas. They told the story of how Carry on My Wayward Son was written by Kerry Livgren. From Wikipedia: On the last day of rehearsal for the new album, Livgren brought the band one more song, which they performed once before heading to the studio. The…
The rise of randomware is terrifying. Can you imagine losing all your files unless you pay ransom? Ugh! The best protection is the backup your files to the cloud. I use a combination of services for different things. One feature I don’t see on these services or on the operating…
People at work often have very (VERY) busy schedules with back-to-back-to-back meetings. Of course, they are usually in different places so you end up being late to every single meeting when you just count travel. Additionally, travel isn’t the only thing you need to do. You need to prepare for…
Recently, at Engagio, I have been talking with customers looking at the details of the different problems (opportunities) to solve. I am looking for a particular situation with the following characteristics: A task that happens all the time, preferably by lots of people. Clearly sub-optimal workflow with incredible pain in…
UX Candidate Design Challenge – v1 UX Candidate Design Challenge – v2 This was the last design exercise I made for people interviewing for jobs. People didn’t do great on it, like the previous ones, but I keep trying. Design Challenge A rich, famous comedian (Louie) employs 4 aspiring comedians.…
I reviewed Google calendar previously (2007). It was quite good. I had very nice things to say. Fast forward 9 years. It’s the same damn thing. No noteworthy enhancements. What the hell is going on over there? The styling is old and crusty. Do I really need to see 12am-6am?…
I’d like to make a new rule. Any sentence preceding the phrase Just Sayin, should not be said in the first place. “Just sayin” is only said after obnoxious or insulting sentences. These are better left unsaid. We all say things that hurt other people, intentionally or not. Shrugging your…
Typing lefty… For the holidays, I upgraded my TV to a fancy 4k Sony Bravia with Android TV. It was billed as DirecTV-ready. No box needed, fewer wires. I would go into detail, but typing is hard. Long story short, it sucks. Crazy slow, terrible UX. Changing the channel took…
The doctor said not to use my right hand at all for two weeks. This gave me an idea. This is a long shot but I figured I would ask. Is there a junior designer without a job who wants to sit at my desk and be my hands for…
I am dictating this blog post using Google on my phone. We see how it works. I just got back from having my wrist surgery to solve the pain I’ve been having for the last 18 months. I believe they call it arthroscopic wrist surgery. The doctor found two torn…
I just realized that I really don’t have a blog post about this design principle. It is not specific to the design, but rather to the process of designing within a company. In the real world, you don’t get to define 100% of the product, nor should you. You need to…
A few years before I left Marketo, I started thinking about my succession plan. I knew that I might leave one day, so it was important to me that I leave the organization in good shape to live without me. This was complicated by the fact that I had designed…
When I design, I get user feedback with a technique I call Beta Fish. I make designs and then show them to prospective customers. They give me feedback and help me understand the nuances of the use cases. I do this by powering up Gotomeeting and screen-sharing my designs. I usually…
In every design, you make choices that take you down a road. Sometimes those road leads to peril, other times to victory, usually both. There is no way to know what destiny existed in the other choices. I ask my self those questions all the time. “What if …” Some…