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Here’s to Marty!
A group of folks from the Indiana University School of Informatics (my alma mater) put together a video for Marty Siegel, my favorite professor. I think the video is great, and says a ton about the impact Marty has had on all of his students: For those of you who are interested, I make an…
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Design for a messy world
So often we assume that the problems we are solving for are “pure”, even if they are somewhat complex. The images we see in advertisements help this base assumption survive, and so we don’t think to go a little deeper in our analysis of a problem before we jump right in to offering a solution.…
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LinkedIn looks so fresh & clean clean
One of my little delights in life comes when I see a website or tool that I use has been refreshed. This morning, I was surprised to notice that LinkedIn has a new look. Check it out: There’s a nice entry up on the LinkedIn Blog that talks about the three major changes: System Navigation…
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Am I the only one who gets lost at Target?
Every other weekend or so I take a trip to my local Target store to stock up on necessities. Let me start by saying this: I love Target. For the most part I have a wonderful experience there…well, except for one section: the toiletries area. For some reason, I can never find the things I’m…
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You should see my sketchbook
It is truly one of my favorite design “tools:” A good notebook. Personally, I like the full size Moleskine models, but whatever you can manage to carry around will work best. I carry mine everywhere with me, always with a pencil attached. Check out these notes, if you dare, which preceded my recent talk with…
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Bill Buxton Inspires Me
The greatest lesson I learned at Interaction08 last weekend was from Bill Buxton, during his keynote talk. Here’s his list of things that, as a designer, you must know: What makes you distinct. Your value lies in your distinctiveness. That makes you a minority. There will be pressure to conform. Your value is lost in…
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Super Tuesday 2008 Infographic Design
As I’ve mentioned before, election night is one of my favorite nights of the year. All the big media outlets pull out their infographic design “big guns.” One of my favorites for the Super Tuesday 2008 Primary results is at the New York Times: It simply describes the current situation in the largest states that…
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Hello strange little popup friend
Apparently, my battery is dying. As you can see in the photo, my computer is proudly displaying the fact that my battery is “reaching the end of its usable life.” I’m not sure what that means, but boy would I like to know more. Unfortunately, when I click on that little weird box that does…
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National Back to Work Day
The holidays are over, folks, time to head back. Keep your heads high, it’s a new year. Let’s do this.
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Experiencing the power of Java
So this evening I’m reinstalling Java. Not by choice, but because the annoying little balloon keeps on popping up in the corner of my screen. Then, while it’s installing, the installer has the audacity to say something extremely stupid like: By installing Java, you will be able to experience the power of Java…” NO WAY!…