Pyschology and UX are very closely related. How do people act? What do they think? How do they decide? To be a great UX Designer, you must understand human psychology as a core aspect of your craft. One interesting psychological phenomenon is called Fundamental Attribution Error. Take the following two…
I bought two iPod Shuffle mp3 players for my kids. While in the store, I looked at the program GarageBand. It was pretty slick. In addition to learning tutorials on piano and guitar, it had real artist lessons on their songs. Sting taught you guitar for Roxanne, Alex Lifeson taught…
I just installed the latest Windows 8 on my Samsung Series 9 laptop. Much better than last version. I am still not a fan of Metro and I think the UI took a step backwards in many ways, but still an improvement from the previous disaster. The process was pretty smooth,…
There is a new style I keep seeing around the internet. I love it. Check out MemeFaces and the The Fuuuu Comics and Membase. They crack me up. They basically make fun of the current fads (memes) and use pop culture images or line drawings to illustrate. See samples below. You can…
There is nothing worse than struggling with poorly designed software. Well, OK, lot’s of things are worse, but still it sucks. It makes you feel helpless, angry, frustrated, stupid and unproductive. I feel this way when I use JIRA. It’s so complicated. Configuration is byzantine. Links don’t look like links.…
There is an important skill in a good designer that I call Design Defense. In any design, there are choices that one must work through. There are always alternative designs, but the one you choose should have skilled and comprehensive thinking behind it. Design Defense is about explaining those choices…
It’s incredible how freeing the exercise is. Kill your sacred cows. Think about the project you work on with a colleague and say “What would the world be like if we didn’t have __________?” Some of the greatest companies killed sacred cows and then had wild success. Salesforce.com said, “What…
Every time we release a big upgrade to our SaaS software, I always get this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I feel rotten about all of the features that didn’t make the cut and all of the potential bugs that may still be lingering like little roadside…
My wife needed dish-washing detergent and I found myself in a Walgreen pharmacy. I spotted the following product on the shelf. I thought for a second and smiled. Then I said the word you just said in your head when you saw the picture. I said it in exactly the same way…
I can’t decide what I like. Beard and receding hair or shaved head and face. What do you think? (Animated GIF below) It’s less work to have the beard at first, but trimming it can be a pain. Plus, I hate how I can see my hair going away. With a shaved…
Interviewing is like golf. Anyone can do it, but it’s hard to be good at it. The goal is to quickly ascertain if a candidate is a worthy member of your team and if they are then to inspire them to want to work with your company. Here are tips…
I’ve been asked recently about my abilities related to public speaking. I feel very comfortable in front of a crowd and can tell stories and relate information in an engaging way. I don’t want to sound too conceited, but I am pretty good at it. The questions, however, relate to…
From kindergarten through 2nd grade I lived in a lower-middle class neighborhood in New York called Spring Valley. I had friends. In fact, in second grade, I was popular; mainly because I was tall, athletic and smart. A girl even kissed me under a big stone turtle statue. Teachers loved me because…
Two things I am good at are Pool and Tennis. Each requires a specific piece of equipment that makes a big difference in how you play. If someone asked me to help them buy a pool cue or a tennis racket, I would be able to explain to them the…