February 2012
1 post
7 tags
I don’t believe in UX Design.
For a while now I’ve held the belief that UX Design doesn’t really exist, or more to the point shouldn’t. I’ve shared this belief a few times and gotten less than friendly reactions, so I’ve been keeping it to myself lately. But recent events have made me want to get it off my chest, so bear with me…
Users have experiences.
People have experiences all the time. Life is one giant experience...
January 2012
1 post
6 tags
Suggestions for writing a good conference...
I feel very lucky to have started a new phase of my career over the past year and a half as a public speaker. It’s the realization of a goal I set for myself a few years ago. And while it’s not the same as being an educator, a role I experienced only briefly, it gives me a lot of the same satisfaction and enjoyment.
Over the I’ve been speaking, and in conjunction attending many more...
December 2011
2 posts
5 tags
The Curse of Continuous Concepting
Over the years, as both an internal designer and a consultant, I’ve observed design teams struggle with eliminating potential solutions to the problem they’re trying to solve and focusing their energy on pursuing and iterating upon a single solution.
The problem itself stems from a few different factors in the team’s make-up and process and has numerous negative impacts, not...
3 tags
We design our own social experiences.
Hey, guess what. Social networking and media is a hot topic. What? You already knew that? Well shit…
So maybe it’s not big news. But the rate at which new apps and services built around social networking in one way or another are being released other hasn’t slowed much, if at all.
Being a designer, I tend to come across a lot of posts, tweets, etc about these apps as...
November 2011
1 post
3 tags
Wrestling with (personal) brand and identity
Not to get all existential here, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about who I am.
I’m a designer. I work with an awesome team and make awesome things with awesome clients. I spend tons of time, both on the clock and off, thinking about design, what it is and how we do it.
I (try to) speak at conferences and events regularly, not just to share my thoughts on the topic but to push...
August 2011
1 post
2 tags
Vote for Aaron and I to speak at SXSW 2012
Voting has opened up on SXSW’s PanelPicker. This time around my cohort, Aaron Irizarry, and I have thrown our talk, Discussing Design: The Art of Critique, into the fray.
We’ve given this talk at a few design-centric conferences, but with our upcoming appearance at Web 2.0 Expo and hopefully SXSW we’re hoping to get the topic and it’s importance out in front of a broader...
July 2011
1 post
On Fidelity and Comparisons
Creating multiple concepts for design solutions is nothing unique. There’s often, if not always, multiple ways to solve a given problem. And at times, while teams may go to great lengths to internally evaluate, critique and eliminate concepts, they can end up in situations where they can’t clearly discern which solution is “best”.
When this happens, and no one on the...
June 2011
2 posts
Is "Service Design" the real "Experience Design"?
I recently wrote a post over on the Mad*Pow blog describing my thoughts on the term “Experience Design” and the opportunity for the Service Design space.
My dislike of the UX label and buzzword-ish nature of “Experience Design” for much of the work we do is no secret. I believe Experience Design is a very specific approach to design.
Have a look at the post. Think about...
Coding is great! But not coding is OK too.
There is no doubt in my mind that the ability to code is a great skill to have and designers that can code (and code well at that) have a certain marketability that others don’t. I am personally very proud of my coding skills and Computer Science and programing background.
But I take exception to the notion that the inability to code makes someone less of a designer.
Code is a medium. Would...