• Infographics: Baseball is Lame

    Baseball is the only sport where one team can win 25% of the time.  How do baseball fans do it?  Why do they care to see the Yankees in the World Series?  Wouldn’t it be more fun to see a local team in the big show?  Inographics are a great…

  • Developing for One Browser

    I just had an awesome experience. I had to create a prototype for something and used HTML.  Because it was a prototype, and therefore throw-away code, I could use a single browser.  I chose Firefox 3.5, which is fast and supports Firebug as well as CSS3.  It was a dream…

  • The UX of Kaiser Permanente

    Healthcare is one of the most complicated things I have ever seen.  It’s no wonder so many Silicon Valley startups have tried and bounced off this impenetrable fortress of horrible user experience.  The complications arise from many, many, many players in a single use case, plus the spectre of “privacy”…

  • The UX of Ikes Place

    One of my favorite lunches has been at Bon Sante in Burlingame, CA.  I called them Baby Sandwiches.  Not because they were small.  Quite the contrary, they are the size of a small baby!  And they tasted so good.  The chef put love into every bite.  At my new job, there…

  • The UX of Windows XP

    For most of 2009, I have been using Windows 7.  Suddenly, this week, I was thrust back in time to using Windows XP.  It has been quite a shock.  Here are some of the things I picked up on: Fonts.  The ways fonts are handled in XP is alot different.…

  • First day of new job – Adchemy

    Today is the first day at my new job.  I’m excited and nervous.  At Marketo, I had built up a ton of respect from my colleagues for solving problems over the years.  At the new job, I have to start from scratch.  I need to learn what they do and…

  • Starting a Product from Scratch

    The decisions you make in the beginning of a product determine a large portion of the headaches you will feel for the next several years.  The first month can make a huge difference.  (Think butterfly effect)  Here are my key tasks to do to when you look at the UX of a…

  • Browser Possession Part III

    2 years ago, there was this great moment at Ajaxian.  The idea was something I called Browser Possession.  Here is the business case: HTML and CSS are easy enough for non-engineers to create.  However, they aren’t powerful enough.  We want rounded corners, shadows and gradients using CSS and simple markup.…

  • Kids are Exhausting

    With Katie on the roadtrip with Ethan, that leaves me alone with the other 2.  Man, they are flat out exhausting.  It’s one thing after another.  Drive here, pick up that thing, drop off that other thing, feed, clean, drive to that other thing, rinse, repeat.  How the hell does…

  • Some random UX guidelines

    As I begin to ponder starting with a new company, I have been dreaming about the UX mainstays I have built into my philosophy over the years.  I imagine having each principle printed on a single page.  Here are a few in no particular order:  (I’ll post more over time)…

  • Katie and Ethan on a Mission

    Ethan had a week off of school, so Katie decided to go on a road trip with him.  Just the two of them.  They are traveling down the coast of California visiting a couple of different Missions a day.  (A Mission is an old style church built during the colonization of California…

  • The UX of HTC Touch Pro 2 (Week 2)

    Of course, the minute I get my phone, Verizon announces that they are getting the Palm Pre , Android phones as well as Windows Mobile 6.5 versions of the HTC Touch.  Just my luck! I have 30 days if I want to return this one, but I think I am…

  • End of an Era: Moving on from Marketo

    I joined Marketo in December 2006 as the first non-founder and began a wonderful journey that has lasted 3 years.   I learned a tremendous amount from the people here on a cornucopia of topics and I will miss them.  I have accepted a new position at another company (I’ll…

  • Fun is always better – Piano Stairs

    Great experiment showing that you can encourage better behavior by making the experience more fun. (under 2 minutes) What else can be made fun that is good for you?