I understand the economics of streaming movies. I know Netflix and Amazon and everyone else wants to get me to pay monthly to watch movies. However, there are two problems. I don’t want to pay every time. I already pay for DirecTV and don’t want to pay for another service.…
Good decisions are always based on the point of view of those judging. “What is better?” all depends on what you are optimizing for. In the book The Power Broker, by Robert Moses, there were two plans to create Central Park in New York City. One was to leave it…
I’ve had this mild allergic rash for a while on my neck and elbow. I’m having trouble figuring out exactly what I am allergic to. It could be the dog, but hopefully not. One person suggested it could be something in my diet. This led me to try an experiment.…
How do you help users find the information they need? How do you emphasize particular information. One mistake often made is putting what they need in the middle of a bunch of other stuff. Take this example: Find the needle in the haystack. HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY HAY…
I am considering sending my kids to a private school. In researching such places, we found the Nueva School. (nice site) We recently went to a little seminar they held explaining the school. It had teachers, administrators and students. The Campus There are actually two different schools. The one we…
Years ago, things were getting smaller and smaller. This is what we thought phones would look like in the future: However, things have changed. BIG is making a comeback! The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the H2 Hummer of phones. It is massive. This is what talking on the phone…
I hear the phrase Minimum Viable Product quite often. Wikipedia defines it: A Minimum Viable Product has just those features that allow the product to be deployed, and no more. Product Managers are often looking for the minimum amount of investment to get the feature launched. Although this strategy is quite…
Cute 4 year old My son Matthew at 4 years old Clearly, 4 years old is your maximum cuteness level.
We have a family dog named Leroy. (Named after the hero from the cult classic “The Last Dragon”) He is a 18 month old black Labrador Retriever with some other breed mixed in; maybe a greyhound? Leroy is obsessed with running after a thrown tennis ball. He can do it…
The design process Marissa Mayer utilized for Yahoo’s new logo was pretty awful, but I don’t really think that is the primary concern. It is this article on Techcrunch, where Marissa defines Yahoo as a personalization company. WTF is a personalization company? To be clear, the job of “fixing Yahoo” is…
I love song covers. I love when someone can take a familiar song and completely transform it into a new genre. This one made me so happy. I wish more bands would do this. Remember when Johnny Cash covered Hurt by Nine Inch Nails? or Limp Bizkit’s Faith by George…
All day long, I see ideas and plans. Whether it’s something big that changes the course of the whole company or something small like a new icon. My job, as the head of UX, is to know shit from Shinola and hopefully steer us towards the good stuff. Here is where…
So many people hesitate. So many people over-think the problem. The first secret to getting things done is to dive in. So many projects stall because the first steps aren’t taken. It’s like pushups. Getting down on the ground is the hardest part. My brain is begging me not to…
I shouldn’t post this, but I can’t help myself. It’s an email thread from my son. I’m not feeling well. Could you help me with it? I feel like my brother is constantly yelling at me angrily, and I’m having a miserable time at soccer but mom won’t let me quit.…