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Agile + User Centered Design
So, Marc says User Centered Design is compatible with Agile. I think I agree, but with a caveat or two. They’ve Got Different Foci The User Centered Design methodology is based on one simple concept: the person who will eventually use the system should be the focus of the design process. There are many processes,…
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Today reminded me why I love my job
I’m exhausted. Beat. Dead tired. I just got home after a long, delayed flight from Phoenix to Chicago, returning here merely 36 hours after I departed. It was a quick, gruelling trip that tested my patience. And I loved every minute of it. Yesterday I saw one of my oldest friends in the world, Tami,…
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Changing Our Slideware Culture
This has been a long time coming. Back in May I completed my Master’s Degree education by presenting my Capstone Project: Prepare. Project. Present. Using Technology to Encourage Effective Presentations. The video of my presentation is now up on YouTube, in three parts. Watch them below by pressing the play button: YouTube Link to part…
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All Employees Deserve GREAT Software
I’m not here to help build mediocre software. Quite the opposite, actually. No one should be subjected to sub-par tools, whether they’re using their software at home, school, work, or somewhere in-between. One of my UCD-minded colleagues pointed out to me last week that often business users are considered a “special” set of users because…
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The Basis of Web Design = Typography
First I read this. Then I read the follow up. And finally I found myself at this page, remembering, yet again, that the key to usability is readability. Now, if what you do every day has little to do with usability, design, or typography, you might think this stuff doesn’t really matter to you. If…
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Little Side Projects
So I read this design document today and I find it quite inspiring. The designer and author, Khoi Vinh, noticed an action writers around him were taking to be more productive. Understanding a bit about technology, he went about designing a software application that would fulfill these writers’ needs, without forcing them to go out…
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Celebrate World Usability Day 2006
Wishing you and yours a delightful World Usability Day, from josh.ev9.org. More details, and perhaps an editorial, are forthcoming.
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Election 2006 InfoGraphic Design
Tonight is a big night here in the US. It’s election night, one of my favorite nights of the year. Well, it doesn’t really happen every year, but still. I like it. Ok? Alright. This evening I was hanging out at NPR.org checking out the stats. One of the reasons I enjoy election nights is…
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Is Chicago the next hotbed of Digital Design?
Now, I have no hard evidence to prove or disprove my hypothesis, but I get the feeling that there’s a Design tradition brewing in the Chicagoland area. Heck, it may precede my days here. Still, before I came to Chicago, if you were to ask me (and most of my design-minded friends, I’m sure) where…
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Open Usability
Well here’s a pretty cool idea. The Open Usability Project connects open source developers with Usability Experts with some time and resources on their hands. Maybe if I get a little beach time* I’ll step it up. * When you’re not assigned to a project at TW, you are put on “The Beach,” and are…