It’s like you are on camera 24/7. When do you have time to make a mistake? When can you daze off or pick your nose? When can you say to someone “You are an asshole”? and then come back later and say you are sorry? It’s a non-stop, never-make-a-mistake business.…
Go to any computer program you use on a daily or weekly basis. Find the online help. Next, find an article in the middle, something fairly obscure, but something you are aware of. (Not an edge case, but not a “overview” either). Read it. No seriously, slow down and read…
One feature I like about LinkedIn is how you can write a recommendation for someone. Basically, you sing their praises and it ends up on their profile. I have 36 recommendations for me and 58 recommendations I have written for others. Writing recommendations for excellent people makes me feel good…
In product design, I love nothing more than being able to conquer two goals with one feature. I just did this the other day and feel very proud of myself. Almost smug. The feature was targeted towards customers, but I saw how it could be twisted, just slightly and it…
Brain … drained … Dreamforce was it’s usual crazy self this year. Marketo was a Titanium sponsor so we had great space and neat perks. For instance, we got great tickets to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in San Francisco. Great show. In hindsight, I should have moved to…
So much of UX is using logic and common sense to solve a problem. However, much of it is counter-intuitive to people. I feel like I am being Captain Obvious, but others think it is the opposite of obvious. Quite frustrating. Here is a quick top 10 examples: The more…
I started my blog by calling Bullshit on a fake marketing effort. (May 27, 1997) The blog post was called a diatribe by the NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post and of course C|Net. I thought it was ridiculous to fake a hacking to get publicity. These days, fakery has become an…
Performance, Speed, is probably the most important feature a system can have. It creates the impression of quality, responsiveness, friendliness and effectiveness. Whereas slow performance will do the exact opposite. It will make people feel that the system is mean, low quality and ineffective. Case in point: DirecTV I have…
I spent last week on a cruise from NYC to Florida to the Bahamas. I had never been on a cruise before, so this was a new experience for me. I “sailed” on the Norwegian Cruise Line Gem, seen below. The Good Many times, just being different is good. A cruise is…
Arocdnicg to rsceearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm. Tihs…
I was a charter member of America Online in 1989. My cousin and I shared an account called “Freeness”. We had tried CompuServe before that and used some dial-up BBSs, but AOL was much better. Much better at downloading free software, that is. In 1992 (college), I started playing games…
Bottom line: (At the top) – Great service, Free and Fun. What more can I say. Trello is a small web app that lets you make lists of lists and drag them around. I use it for my design team to figure out who is working on what. A tool…
Sometimes you just can not look away, no matter how ridiculous it is. I just lost 5 minutes of my life to this little kid and her family. Watch and kill a few brain cells. http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/here-comes-honey-boo-boo/videos There are an awful lot of people out there who are just like this. I am…
Should you let someone make a mistake? On the one hand, the answer is No. Why should you let someone run into a wall if you can help them? Doesn’t it makes sense to use your knowledge and wisdom to help people avoid doing something that clearly will end up…