What is a principal designer?

Found this description online while, ahem, researching similar or related principal designer jobs in the area ;-) Pretty true to my current role and daily tasks/activities so far. Definitely a leadership position requiring some fortitude…and lots of caffeine! The Principal Product Designer will engage and work closely with other UX professionals, product teams and end […]

What’s your mojo?

Citrix CEO Mark Templeton likes to talk about having “mojo” in the product, and woven throughout the overall user experience. He likes to use lots of funny metaphors including “cold patient rooms” and “wedding altars” when describing bad interfaces ;-) But “mojo” is one that is of special importance as it gets at the essence […]

Five Highlights from IxD11

A couple weeks later, I wanted to highlight the key talks/presos that still stand out in my mind long after the wonderful festivities have finished…and more than the in-the-moment tweets or day after reactions I had previously posted. Below are my Top 5 Highlights :-) 1. Keynotes: Bill Verplank & Dick Buchanan & Brenda Laurel […]

The UX pattern of all software

At the end of the day, all software is basically the same whether for web, desktop, or mobile. If you think about, there’s a general archetypal pattern to the software UX lifecycle. For example: • Often there’s some “out of the box” (OOBE) or first time use experience (FTU) with download/install/register/set-up. Maybe there’s a demo […]

Buchanan design reader

Since his widely admired keynote address given at IxD11 in Boulder CO, there’s been quite a bit of interest in Dick Buchanan’s ideas and writings. I’ve compiled much of it here drawn from the various blog posts I’ve written the past 3 years, as a starter for folks who want to dig a bit deeper. […]