#ux iota: Necessity may be the mother of invention, but disappointment is the mother of creativity.
Banging your head against a wall in frustration is an essential—and perhaps needlessly painful—part of creativity. via vimeo.com
Zen and the art of personal computer desktops.
Title: Beyond the Surface: 15 Years of Desktop Aesthetics Context: Don’t judge a man by his computer desktop…On second thought, maybe you should… Synopsis: Look at your computer desktop. No. Really look at it. Does it still have the OEM … Continued
You don’t have *a* good idea. You have a ton of ideas and maybe one of them turns out to be good.
Title: Human Demo: New Yorker Cartoonist Matthew Diffee Shows How To Be Creative Context: Ideas are a dime a dozen, but you’d better be prepared to work hard for that .10¢ Synopsis: Ideation is a game whose success is measured … Continued
The only constant in life is change. The only constant in software is that your users react poorly to change.
Title: Design Changes and Power Context: People only fear the change they don’t have any control over. Synopsis: Personally, I love nothing more than software updates. Getting that popup telling me to download the newest version of the software I’m … Continued
An interview with the “Ive” League of design. (Oh, that’s clever.)
Title: Sir Jonathan Ive: The iMan cometh Context: The man. The myth. The designer. Synopsis: Who doesn’t love a good Apple-designed product? And why is that? Yes, yes because they pay attention to detail, and are insanely great, and understand … Continued
Paying homage to the timeless craftsmanship of superlative user experience. In Brooklyn.
Title: Made By Hand Context: Nothing is more important than craft. Synopsis: Invariably user experience design is associated with mass produced goods. I’m not really sure why. Maybe it’s because it is hard to fathom that something that takes as … Continued
You want to know how users use the system you designed? You can’t handle how users use the system you designed.
Title: What’s the waiter doing with the computer screen? Context: Knowing how you want users to behave and how users actually behave are rarely the same thing. Synopsis: This has to be one of the most interesting anecdotes about how … Continued
User experience isn’t a bunch of hocus pocus. But it might help if you had a few tricks up your sleeve.
Title: Teller Reveals His Secrets Context: Getting a user to do what you want need not be a mystical endeavor. Synopsis: “How’d he do that?!?!” Even the most prosaic child’s birthday party magician is bound to hear this more often … Continued
Do users only have experiences on digital devices? Then stop designing only for them.
Title: Breaking Through the Glass : Designing Digital Experiences Beyond the Screen Context: What is interaction design when everything is interactive? Synopsis: Tell someone that you are a user experience designer and the small percentage of people who don’t stand … Continued
Stop giving people the things they want and start giving them the means with which to get what they need.
Title: Experiences vs. Possessions: You Are What You’ve Done, Not What You Own Context: He who dies with the most toys may win, but he who has done the most is too happy to care who wins. Synopsis: If you … Continued
Give the people what they want. If you want to go out of business that is.
Title: 3 Ways To Predict What Consumers Want Before They Know It Context: Innovation is by definition, something that your customers have never seen before. Synopsis: Of course we all know that it is our job to delight customers with … Continued
#ux iota: Follow that pen!
Maybe it’s not the pen that moves, but rather the rest of the world underneath it… via vimeo.com
This isn’t your dad’s bicycle. This is your bicycle. As well as the user experience that comes with it.
Title: The Inverted Bike Shop: Collaborative building Context: “Umm, these things are supposed to be about UX. What’s up with the bike shop story?” Just read it and trust me. Synopsis: Customization is the new black. If black was a … Continued
The moral of the story is this: Engineers and designers should get drunk together more often.
Title: A Design Primer for Engineers Context: Sometimes it’s good to get a peek at how the other half view us. Synopsis: Engineers and designers. Oil and water or yin and yang? Most people might think the former but it … Continued
10 simple steps to becoming the next Dieter Rams-like design god.* (*Omnipotence may vary)
Title: Dieter Rams, Ten Principles for Good Design Context: Johnny Ive? Please. Dieter Rams was designing awesome stuff when Ive was crapping in his nappy. Synopsis: Dieter Rams, in many ways, changed design so that companies like Apple could in … Continued