It’s pretty tough to design a great user experience if you don’t know the target audience. When faced with this problem, well-equipped UX designers commonly reach into their toolboxes and pull out: the persona. Personas draw upon the power of narrative and storytelling to shine a bright light on the elusive “user.” They’re especially effective…
Yesterday I had lunch with a company founder who’s on the hunt for a user experience designer to join his most excellent team. This is pretty much a weekly occurrence, which got me thinking about what this demand for UX could mean for the future of Waterloo Region. If you live in Kitchener-Waterloo, the impact…
Big news! In mid-September, KW will play host to an awesome 2-day deep dive into user experience design called Fluxible 2012. Working with my friend Mark Connolly, we’ve been lining up a roster of top UX practitioners from around the world. The event format will include a variety of presentations, hands-on workshops, displays and demos,…
Have you ever struggled with getting teams aligned behind a shared vision of a product? It can be a major challenge, especially in companies who need to execute fast — and who doesn’t? Design teams often find themselves at the centre of this struggle, as they synthesize ideas and produce the first artifacts that bring…
Seriously, how else to wrap up 2010 than with a Top 10 list of Top 10 lists? As my friend and mentor Dave Goodwin likes to say, everything eventually goes meta. 1. The Top Ten Innovation Myths in the U.S. by Scott Berkun You got your chocolate in my peanut butter Gutenberg changed the world…
Need to break through the clutter and really grab someone’s attention? Sometimes subtle tweaks in context are all it takes. On a related note, if you need Coke in bulk, I guess the Amco Station in Kitchener is a good bet.
Download the MP3 (35:08 duration) “I’ve taken my Segway 108 mph without a helmet.” And with that statement, The Woz had his audience hooked. Not that he needed a hook, mind you, as over 700 people packed into a ballroom in Waterloo to hear him speak: that’s about, oh, 670 more than the original plan…
Just had to share this terrific story from Trevor Mann, a colleague of mine at Primal Fusion. Trevor, flaunting the stereotypical image of an IT systems specialist (especially here in the home of Blackberry), is pretty fond of Apple’s iPhone. The other day, he had reason to feel an even fonder affection. But it was…
If you haven’t already heard about tomorrow’s Innovation in Action event, be sure to check it out. The Waterloo UX Group (aka IxDA Waterloo and the Communitech UX P2P) is kicking off our new season with an event co-sponsored with the Infusion Angels. And it’s going to be great. Jensen Harris from Microsoft will be…
Looking forward to May 9-10 this year, where I’ll be conducting a 2.5-hour workshop at the Technology in the Arts Conference in Waterloo. Here’s the session description: For a growing number of arts organizations, the web has become a key communications channel — not just for sharing information, but for cultivating relationships with visitors. To…