In many organizations, the product managers (PM) are the ones who define the “solution” for their project. They create wireframes and detailed UI requirements. They basically put the product designers (UX) into the role of “make it look pretty”. UI Graphic design is important, but it is not User Experience…
I’ve heard the expression from executives, “Let’s slay this dragon once and for all.” What they mean is “We have had complaints from customers on [topic x]. Let’s do a project that makes all of those complaints go away. The dragon in this metaphor is the complaints that customers have.…
As a designer, I have always appreciated tight integrations. The fact that I can copy a bunch of cells in Excel and paste them into PowerPoint is just awesome. When designing Marketo, I thought of the solution as one small city. There was the neighborhood of making landing pages and…
Sometimes, you need to reinvent something. I’ve done it several times in my career and have successful. However sometimes, you just gotta leave it alone. Microsoft just released a new product called Sway. (I’ll review it later maybe). Anyway, they felt the need to reinvent this. Bold is no longer…
I try to buy nice shirts from designers like Zachary Prell, sometimes Canali. I used to be a Men’s Wearhouse sort of guy, but once I tried on a shirt that fit me well, I couldn’t turn back. These shirts generally can not be washed in the washer/drier at home.…
I know that many designers love their Sketch. It’s a good tool and is making Adobe scramble. However, when it comes to UX for enterprise applications, I still believe storyboards are the way to go. Invision is a great tool, but I still think storyboards are better than clickable prototypes.…
I was watching some clips of the debate and Bernie Sander’s voice kept poking me in the brain. It sounded exactly like someone else. As if Bernie was doing an impression. Then it hit me. He was doing an impression of Larry David. Check out these two clips. The first…
Once I had a job as a project manager. I was terrible at it and eventually was fired. The job was designed for someone with alot of process in mind. This is clearly not me. Remember my personality results? For a project manager, you want high EXAMINE. Obviously, mine is…
Someone just told me they were Vitamin D deficient. I immediately Googled “How to get vitamin D”. (This is what I do, don’t ask.) What is shocking to me was the first link. It’s the Vitamin D Council. There is a whole non-profit, a council dedicated to Vitamin D. You…
About Face 4 by Alan Cooper has just been released. I first read the initial version and it was a revelation to me. Although Cooper’s ego saturates much of the text, the technique and craft of interaction was undeniably accurate. My own design style is heavily influenced by this book,…
It’s a great word, rolls off the tongue. ser·en·dip·i·ty ˌserənˈdipədē noun: serendipity; plural noun: serendipities the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. If it happens to you, you might call it Karma, Good Luck or even Life Favors the Prepared. When it happens…
There is a joke I tell sometimes. An engineer that I know turned it into a t-shirt. It reads alot better in English, but he added standard scientific notation anyway. Now it requires a bunch of work to understand it. I won’t give it away. Try to get the joke.…
I get alot of spam, but this one really caught my attention. It has great copy writing and is funny. I don’t want the product, but I figured I should share it anyway just for good technique. The tip here is avoid being too “professional”. Be creative and unique. Here…
Should your designs be trendy? It’s kind of a loaded question. If you follow the trends then you are being a design leader. However, if you don’t follow the trends, you are at risk of being left behind as irrelevant. Not everyone can make the new, cool thing. So the…