Recently I had the very cool opportunity of demo’ing some critical UI concepts to our company CEO (with assorted execs), as well as to high profile customers seeking a multi-million dollar product deal. Whew! No pressure, right?? Some fairly intense situations, no doubt. While the outcomes were gratefully very positive, with ample feedback for future […]

Earlier this year there was outrage and grief expressed over Adobe’s decision to no longer continue development for Fireworks. It is, in effect, being killed off. As a dedicated Fireworks user since 2006, I’m just as disappointed. For me, at least, it was a valuable design tool that let me express very quickly with high […]

Even as a principal designer, I sometimes go deep into the pixels, using Adobe Fireworks or Photoshop to precisely & vividly render a particular concept, or even prepare final comps with assets for delivery. While it seems I’m just staring at a screen and deftly moving my mouse hand, there’s actually quite a bit happening […]

With the widespread adoption of Agile/Lean UX methods in software design, there’s been a steady, ceaseless drumbeat for “validation” of design outputs. It’s laudable and useful, although there is some nuance lost in this specific term, which I have previously discussed. Validation is important, no question, to help ensure creation of something of value for […]

In no particular order, here are some brief blurbs on design-related books that I’ve recently read and enjoyed (chronicling the past 3 months roughly)…   The Connected Company by Dave Gray & Thomas Vander Wal An excellent overview of how to evolve towards a “connected company” that is fundamentally a complex, adaptive system embodying the […]