I-Thought

Designers, be generous.

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:31:52 +0000

Many of us are consultants, work for agencies, or are freelancers which means that we get to meet a lot of different clients and work on a wide range of different projects. All of these projects come with their share of opportunities, challenges, laughs and lows. Some teams you’ll get on with better than with others, and some will naturally gel straight away, whilst others will take effort and time. There will be projects that don’t go your way, and some that allow you to over-deliver and out-do yourself. There’s ...

100 ways to a better life

admin — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:38:44 +0000

I make a list like this every so often, after I have been reminded of the sheer joy that is simply living. They help me when my mind is obscured by my own thoughts, or basically when I am in the way of life itself and need to step aside. The first part is being aware of when that is, and the second thing is to know how to step aside. I usually keep these in my trusty moleskin, but I decided to share this one. Maybe you can make ...

Pairing for designers (Agile)

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:21:37 +0000

It’s important to collaborate because it allows the team to become a powerful unit, full of common knowledge and questions. Each individual has a clear view of what is going on and has the power to affect the product direction and evolution. If as a designer you do not collaborate with the rest of the product team, you essentially deny yourself this right. By pairing with the QA, (front and back end) developers, BA, PM and anyone else who is part of your team, you gain all of the necessary ...

Ways to keep your smart team innovative

admin — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 06:40:09 +0000

Is this you? I’ve seen teams start out by making big long lists of tasks and deliverables at the beginning of a project. This assumes that they know exactly what the product is going to end up being. I think that this kind of way of thinking goes entirely against a culture of creativity and innovation, and of the Agile philosophy. By deciding on all of the tasks up-front and by setting up an infrastructure for the team to work in (process, tools, tracking, tickets…), we actually restrict the potential for innovation. What it takes to innovate: Innovation requires serendipity ...

SxSW workshop: Agile Experience Design

admin — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 05:49:18 +0000

As some of you know, Cathie Hagan, Megan Cook and I recently ran a workshop at SxSW entitled: “AXD: Agile Experience Design“. This was a good mix of skills, as Cathie is from the BA practice and Megan is a bit of a hybrid between BA and XD. What we did: We were allocated a 60min slot to run a workshop on Agile Experience design. There was a diverse audience of designers, developers, managers and company owners. Some were familiar with Agile, many were not. We wanted to teach some fundamental principles ...

Love your dragon

admin — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 07:14:29 +0000

No death = No Life No change = No transformation “We must be willing to get rid of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us” (J. Campbell) Be willing to keep dying. Follow your bliss. The universe will open doors where there were only walls. Love is what we’re born with. Fear is what we learn. Have courage. Love your dragon. (Notes from Finding Joe)

Creative briefs for developers

admin — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 07:38:18 +0000

photo credit: erix! If you want your development team to be autonomous, rapid and creative, then you need to ensure that they have the room to move so that can occur. Often teams are given a very tight brief, which leads to the group of smart people you hired taking time to convince you on an alternative solution, or actually just not being in a mindset which drives innovation and excellence. You’ll get good functional software for sure, but getting what you asked for isn’t always a blessing. If you ...

Determining user internet experience level

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:33:18 +0000

photo credit: workshoppe Self-reported skills are typically very inaccurate. Inexperienced users tend to overestimate their skills (because they don’t realise their own incompetence), and experienced users tend to underestimate their skill level (they are aware of the edges of their knowledge and all the things that remain to be learnt). It is important to realise that the only way to really gage the skill level of someone is to directly test that particular skill. If you’re going to have a decent sample size, and ship a product in a reasonable ...

The Agile experience designer’s kit

admin — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:13:32 +0000

The Agile experience designer’s kitby Marie-Claire Dean See all 16 items

What is an “experience designer”?

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:29:57 +0000

Here is my brief attempt at describing what it is some of us do. Emphasis has been placed on simplicity of message.