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innovate

• 08.19.11
  Mapping Art Evolution to Experience Design Design, innovate, UX | (0)

  I clearly remember being a visual/ux designer the summer of 2007, the dawn of the very first iPhone. I had been making shiny, glowing buttons and interfaces for a while but as soon as the iPhone came out, I was instructed to mimic the high gloss gel style of those fabulous little buttons. Everyone was enchanted, everyone wanted that aesthetic. But just like architecture and art, digital design morphs and evolves. The rather heady but amazing article on the death of Postmodernism in the Prospect, connects the causalities of the movement. It’s also a window into the changes in technology, design ...
• 04.20.11
  Testing and Prototyping from MIX11 Design, innovate, prototype | (0)

  Last week at the MIX conference in Las Vegas I spoke on putting your prototype where your mouth is by running user research and tests. By continuously prototyping and testing on users throughout the project cycle you gain one big plus; undying focus on user intent. The hour session video lives here. I showed 2 different testing scenarios; one easy, thumb nail prototype for A/B testing ideas or tone (the example I use is a marketing vs. services site focus), the other is a multivariate test where blocks or quadrants of the site are chunked out to research user tasks and ...
• 11.09.10
  UX is Game Theory Design, design process, Games, innovate, inspiration, Prototyping, UX | (0)

  Daily product discussions heard around every experience design table; balancing motivations and behavior against the business objectives, reading system and data structure to better understand the needs that drive desired results, dissecting user tasks to make them easier and more satisfying to accomplish, building authentic conversations that reduce the barriers built by the old ranks of business. This is the rather complicated business of design, a business that still seems to be missing key players (I am looking at you CFO, CTO, CEO, COO. Innovation needs you.). Neutral, common ground is needed. Enter the undeniable link between user experience and ...
• 09.20.10
  User Research – Start with Yourself Design, design process, ethnography, innovate, UX | (0)

  With a new project, it’s easy to jump in without even a second of reflection. We’re moving fast, but the deadlines always seem to move faster. Before you run off to read or create the scenarios, before you write the survey questions or determine what’s important, take a moment to look around…at YOUR environment. A key piece of empathy, understanding and articulating any audience is first reflecting on how you fit in to the picture. Experience design guidance always cautions us to not design for ourselves, but don’t let that interfere with your own self-ethnography. I have started a Self ...
• 09.13.10
  Homage to Shirky’s Cognitive Surplus Cognitive Surplus, innovate, inspiration, Technology, UX | (0)

  I’m about half way through Clay Shirky’s new book, ‘Cognitive Surplus’ and I have noticed his writing wrapped in story inspires me to sketch it’s themes. The one I’ve included for this post, illustrates the example Shirky uses to clarify the idea that scarcity (rather than abundance), is much easier to understand. If a product or service becomes rare, then we simply charge more for it. Done. A newly abundant thing means we change how we use it; think smashing open your radio, tinkering with the wiring, hackeroo style. Clay paints the perfect example, parents/grandparents ‘announcing’ the long distance ...
• 08.16.10
  What’s Next… conference, Event, innovate, Innovation, UX | (0)

  For months, I’ve buried myself in books, articles and miles of sketches, to create the content for this fall. I am very excited to see what you think. Here is a peek of the presentations and conversations that are on tap: Stack Unconference, Omaha – I will have a few fun, collaborative ideas to toss on the wall. In true unconference form, attendees choose and direct topic content ‘on the fly’. HDC, Omaha – I will be giving a 3 hour workshop on capturing innovation and developing great ideas. There are only 25 seats available, so if you’ll be around, grab ...
• 05.14.10
  Idea Sketch Sheets innovate, sketching, UX | (0)

  In the past months I have been talking a lot about idea capture, seizing innovation, creativity and play. It’s often difficult to sit down with just a blank piece of paper and a pen; waiting for the inspiration to appear. If you are planning an idea-generating session with your team, give these idea sheets a try. Here are steps I use to explore a purposeful search for opportunities and innovative ideas: - Identify the needs or features you would like to explore - Have each participant run some timed sprints, individually - Then take time to share the results (Even the ones you ...
• 04.14.10
  Mind the Hand Design, innovate | (0)

  The single most powerfully unique characteristic of the human anatomy is the hand. When our ancient ancestors went from travel by tree to walking, dramatic brain cognition changes began. We then started to use our hands to build, engineer, plant, spear, and more importantly, communicate and problem solve via art and non-verbal gesturing. This adaptation in transportation had spectacular implications in nearly every facet of our function and progress to date. Yet, the way we teach our children and then operate as adults has long since divorced itself from this critical like to human intelligence.  By using our hands as passive ...
• 04.05.10
  Dynamic Prototyping is Shipping! innovate, prototype | (0)

  I am very thrilled to announce; the book that Chris Bernard and I wrote is shipping from Amazon right now! The content combines a mix of discussions around design process, prototyping and user experience with tutorials for Sketchflow in Expression Blend. The tutorial sections offer 2 different learning styles; the traditional ’show me how to create a transition‘ and a client project to walk through how to use Blend and Sketchflow throughout the course of building a project from sketching ideas to the finished application. There is a beautifully written forward by Bill Buxton, himself, that truly sets the tone ...
• 03.29.10
  Experimentation – Embracing Novice Design, innovate | (0)

  Truth: I have never been very good at the ink part of ‘pen and ink’. I have stacks of sketchbooks, hundreds of pages of drawings, but most are absent of color. I have been speaking about ‘trying new things’ and ‘getting out of your comfort zone’, so in the order of taking my own advice, I bought new Prismacolor markers. Pictured is the color test I did before embarking on my very humble first attempts at using them. Next, I will share my first color drawing iterations.

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