Category: Article

My last post “The Future Needs Files” clearly touched a nerve. The comments covered concerns well beyond what I intended. This amazing energy shows how fundamental and impassioned we are when it comes to “storing my data”.  However, I made a mistake by titling my post “The Future needs FILES” as several assumed I meant some […]

For many mobile users, files are like dinosaurs, a holdover from the bygone desktop era. Sure, they “work” but, they’re mostly there because, you know, ancient history. I’ve discussed this issue for the last 2 years and I usually get some version of “get over it grandpa”.  I’m not here to tell you exactly what […]

UX is less about technique and more about teamwork. Getting everyone to agree on a common goal is where the real magic lives. But too often UX designers inadvertently sabotage that teamwork. Not intentionally, it’s just that, as a group, we UX designers have strong opinions that sometimes rub our teammates the wrong way. It’s […]

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in. Isaac Asimov It all started while on vacation with my wife. We were driving a rental car to a remote location in Washington state. The car had a safety feature that beeped every […]

“Perspective is worth 80 IQ points.” Alan Kay This quote is meaningful to me as I’ve often struggled with a problem until an insight from a user test “changed my perspective”. I had this intuition that video games would also change my perspective. They seemed so much edgier, playing with deeper and more experimental UX […]

I asked Twitter for a good introductory book on UX. Something that would help startups or small teams “get” UX and help them understand the process and tasks needed to be done. No book can summarize all of UX (just like no book can summarize all of programming!) But I wanted a ‘starter book’ that […]

I’ve been on vacation these last two weeks, letting my mind go a bit fallow. While I still browse the web and read books (I’m really enjoying Factfulness by Hans Rosling), I try hard not to do too much. Vacations are my attempt to rehydrate the mind. In the bathroom of Hotel #4, I noticed […]

What I learned about smart watches by using a $29 Bluetooth band.

My conversion from Mac to Windows last fall had an unexpected bonus: by shifting from Mac to Windows conventions, I was forced to rethink many aspects of the desktop experience. As a result, I’m now inspired more by desktop UX concepts than mobile ones. I’m not surprised if some might think this quaint, or worse, […]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is going through a rough patch. High-profile products like Nest home devices, Amazon Echo, and even Google Home are getting mainstream attention, yet a string of security failures (such as Wink and WebCam) is worrying many potential customers. To make matters worse, those who actually try to set up a […]