There’s a place near ResIM’s office with notoriously terrible doors. Don’t get me wrong, I like this place. Some weeks I go there 2–3 times, maybe more. But the doors. Every time I go I feel a sense of mutual hostility. After roughly 15 years of frustration I finally learned that these doors are what …
Embracing Agility in User Research
Photo credit: Dyaa Eldin MoustafaPlans have a purpose, but I’m always afraid of being too constrained by them in research, strategy and design work. In academic research, plans help to ensure scientific rigor and secure funding, etc. In UX research, plans help manage expectations, coordinate teams, assure the bosses that we’re making good use of time …
Some Lessons Learned Doing UX Research
#itsametaphor: the UX researcher reflecting on the efficacy of focus groups, and other important questions.Methods and tools aren’t the answer. When I moved into UX research at ResIM a little over a year ago it was cool to hate focus groups and surveys. It’s probably true that they’re used too often, or too often used instead …
Design as the New Management
Get Shift Done: Management Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADesign_thinking.pngBusiness gurus love buzzwords. One of the buzzwords that’s got a lot of attention in the past few years is “design,” or more specifically, “design thinking.” Even as an admirer of the principles behind design thinking, I expected the hype to peak in the late ’00s. But instead of fading …
Why (Oh Why) Must Awesome Products Die?
Before I Get Into Rdio… Last week Sony announced the last-ever Betamax cassette will roll off the production line in March 2016 (which means someone, somewhere, has actually been using them all these years). Legend has it that Betamax was better than VHS. The reality is a bit more complicated. Original Betamax tapes were only an …
