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On design as a process…

What's one thing about design that's clear to you that you don't think is clear to other people?

I think the big thing is people think design is about an end process, that' it's about producing a thing, a service. When design is really about solving problems, and it's really about understanding what those problems are; and that any solution any artifact, any production is just an attempt at understanding the problem better.

– Jared Spool

September 26, 2016 - No Comments!

In my experience working with developers, we are frequently making updates on the fly, refreshing our browsers and not seeing the changes propagate on the screen. We'll go back over and over again and clear the cache and destroy the web data hoping for the changes to finally show.

But obviously I don't want to destroy all of my cache / web data. It'd be awesome to just be able to dump the cache to the specific url or domain that we're working in. All in a quick keystroke. It could be implemented through the already set options on safari or chrome for clearing the cache, but make it specific to the current page.

Et voila!

March 22, 2016 - No Comments!

Mobile – Desktop Browser Continuity

I'd love to see Apple implement a continuous scroll position between mobile safari, and desktop safari. It'd be great for the two browsers to be even more so in sync. I often get halfway through articles only to walk away from my desk and realize I didn't bookmark it the article, or haven't added it to pocket.

February 15, 2015 - No Comments!

Focus on one thing

If you could focus on one thing right now what would it be?

Other than focusing on writing this post?

I think for me, I want to focus on building something with longterm potential. I’ve had this idea for building out a system based on mobile to help bring gamers like me together. For me, everything comes back to fixing things that seem to be a problem for me (isn’t that myopic). But hey it’s a personal project and I should be doing what I want to do.

Problem
My problem is that I truly have limited time where I can actually sit down and play games. It usually fits in somewhere around weeknights at 9:30 at night, when my wife has fallen asleep, or we’re finished serial watching something on Netflix. So my issue is, I’d like to be able to schedule time to raid with friends (is that the name?) but really it’s difficult to set those kinds of things up.

Solution
My solution is to give gamers a place to connect with each other, set a schedule of when it’s convenient for them to play, and actually get a chance to play a bit. So my solution creates a small community of people, almost like a personal clan and gives you the opportunity to message each other, set up times to play, and progress together. Games are just more fun when you are playing with like-minded people who want to play together and it typically helps you be better.

My steps to create this, would be to first build a minor set of compositions, and maybe a prototype that I can vet out to users. Maybe I’ll try posting some of the comps or the prototype within the XBOX reddit page, and see how it goes. I think I can easily do this within the next 2 weeks, and garner some feedback to see if it’s worth pursuing.

I guess the ultimate goal would be to get it built and picked up by a giant, like Microsoft, Sony, Steam, etc. I think it’s doable, and to me, it fills a specific need, one that I’d imagine exists out there to a lot of older gamers (not that I’m that old) who don’t have the time they did in college. Really it’s all about the scheduling. If I can get that right, and make it dead simple easy, I think it’s something that could fill a market need.

February 4, 2015 - No Comments!

Deciding where to work

It came up on Designer News earlier this week and I thought it’d be good to think about, and get writing. Even if you aren’t actually looking for a new gig, it’s always important to know what it is you want, or at least have a general idea of what you might want. There’s an easy answer to this question, and one that requires more than just a one word answer.

What’s most important? Well, you are probably not doing this for free, and you’ve got to pay the bills, so it’s safe to say that salary is one of the most important things. Although this is the easy answer, there’s a lot more to answering this question, and for the most part it comes down to a few things.

Some considerations

Is this an interesting place to work? Whether it’s an agency, a small shop, an in-house, or a huge internet company, it’s really important to gauge your interest with the idea that the work will continue to be interesting throughout the time that you spend working for them. Without that it’s not fun, and then the salary doesn’t mean much.
Will this be a step up the ladder of success, or will it connect me with new opportunities? Whether or not you’ll have any upward mobility is of matter to me. Understanding the career path, and giving yourself something to work towards gives me a more clear idea of what I need to do, and something to actually strive for. This may or may not be important to others, but it is to me.
Do I get to help make people’s lives better in a significant way? This is particularly interesting to me because as a designer, I am a problem solver. I want to lock horns with difficult problems, I want to conquer them, and I want to help people in any way that I can. I think that’s tantamount with user centered design, and I think it’s important.
Will I get to grow? I think it’s important to recognize whether or not your current gig, or a future one is allowing you to grow. This could be access to mentorship or being surrounded by other designers that you can learn from or being challenged, and pushing through walls.

Other things I’d consider, the culture, is it a collaborative, supportive, learning organization, what is the commute like, is the job flexible, how long is the company going to be around, how well are they funded, what is the level of transparency? All these factor into choosing the right place for you. I think if you can answer in the positive column around all of these pillars you are in great shape for your next challenge.