I’m 33. That means I’m stuck somewhere in between Generation X and Y. Generation X was stereotyped as lazy postmodernists, too comfy with our liberal arts degrees to get off the couch and do anything. Generation Y was defined by being, um, younger than that.
Frankly, I never saw much connection between myself and those labels. [...]
Coders and designers, we’re from different tribes. Name any issue and we’ll neatly divide into sides: form and function, information and experience, oil and water. Of course, no good website happens without both. So it’s worth noting when we find a piece of common ground on our own.
Exhibit A: Deane Barker, writing at Gadgetopia. He’s [...]
My friends all know that I loves me some Deadwood. The award-winning HBO western is one of my favorite shows ever, and probably only second to Sci Fi’s Battlestar Galactica in my current TV obsessions.
So what a bummer it was to learn that HBO has not yet renewed the cast’s contracts for a fourth [...]
My first laptop was a black Apple Powerbook G3, aka the WallStreet. I dragged the ten pound sucker across Europe in a backpack. I’ve had many computers before and since, but this was the one I pecked out stories on while riding trains through the European countryside, the one I fell asleep next to in [...]
Today I am 33 years old. 33 years of troublemaking behind me. Hopefully 33 more to go.
Today I find myself smack dab in the middle of the most amazing moment in my career ever (if I can even apply the word “career” to the list of antics and misadventures that make up my resume). [...]
Google and I, we’re old friends. I’ve written about them here and there for years. Google, as a web innovator, has done just about everything right.
But as a designer, I’m tired of hearing clients and associates ask, “What would Google do?” as if every move they make is pure gold. When it comes to visual/exerience [...]
I’ve used Apple computers since high school. If it wasn’t for the Mac, I probably wouldn’t have wound up working for newspapers, getting into the web, moving to San Francisco, and living the life I have now. I’ve sung the Mac’s praises to friends and family for almost twenty years.
And now I know what, [...]
I recently had the good fortune to work with a client who asked me to, in addition to doing my usual experience design / visual design thing, also write much of the text that appeared on the site. And it made me realize that I’ve often done this for clients – it just wasn’t an [...]
I’ve been thinking about something lately. What do you call it when you voluntarily give up control of some piece of your life, because technology makes it easier? For example:
Automatic transmission cars. Give up a little control, gain a little less to worry about.
Email filters. Save me from spam, even if it’s not always perfect.
TiVo. [...]
Being a designer is all about embracing the word “no.” When we sit down with a blank slate and a job to do, we have to say “no” over and over again. Choosing a primary audience means saying “no” to all the others. Picking a task to enable means saying “no” to all the other [...]
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