Going beyond “I like”…

No, I’m not complaining about the vapid vanity encouraged by social media sites—while that is a problem worthy of its own post, maybe one day! Instead, I’m referring to the typical refrain heard amongst product teams when debating a proposed design: “I like this…” or “I don’t like this…” Sigh! And how exactly is the […]

First week “start-up insights”

After successfully wrapping up my first week at a software start-up, I wanted to briefly reflect and share some insights gained while diving into the fire and making some progress as a new designer on this small but passionate team.  ** Start with the product, to understand the customer and the business: The product is […]

Yup, what Jony said

In a recent interview with TIME magazine, Apple’s legendary head of design Jony Ive was quoted as saying this, when it comes to designing a new product:  Objects and their manufacture are inseparable. You understand a product if you understand how it’s made. I want to know what things are for, how they work, what […]

Cramming for the new job!

As I prepare for my new UX Director role with the big data analytics start-up Cloud Physics, there is a range of categories of knowledge I’ve been rapidly absorbing (i.e., cramming ;-) so I can hit the ground… umm, sprinting, as it is! Below is is a brief summary of what I’ve been refreshing myself on […]

Disrupting the dream job

For just over 4+ years I had arguably what some may consider to be the “dream job” in software design: serving in a largely self-defined Principal level role for a revolutionary team ushering “Design Thinking” into a 25 year old enterprise technology firm, Citrix—with 100% executive support from our CEO and SVP of Customer Experience. […]