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…
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…
And guess what… I’m fine with that! According to Fast Company this month, interaction designer is one of the “Ten Jobs You Didn’t Know You Wanted“. And we’re in fine company, sharing the list with brewmaster, flavorist, and roller coaster engineer. (Piece of family legend: a distant cousin of mine worked on satellites until one…
Talk about innovation! For years, I’ve joked that the product I most desire is a cordless extension cord (followed closely by the microwave freezer). Looks like the idea isn’t so ridiculous after all. The other day, I read with interest a story about WildCharge, a very cool product that charges devices such as phones and…
The Waterloo User Experience (UX) Group is hosting Roger Martin at our monthly get-together. This is a terrific opportunity to spend time with Roger, as he’s quite in demand as a speaker on the topics of design and business. It’s a free event. Head over to the UX Group’s blog for details on the time…
I recently signed up for a YouTube account. Today, I scrolled down my profile page for the first time and got a virtual slap in the face when the following notice prominently slid into view: Ouch! I have no friends? Yeah, well, you, I dunno… you’re UGLY, YouTube!