Category: History
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The User Experience Flip Mode
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One basic assumption of good experience design is that people fundamentally don’t like change. They can’t deal with it, it’s too risky, and changes will all too often lead to failures. But the human mind’s capacity to adapt to change, sometimes rapidly and seamlessly, can be astonishing.
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What I Learned in Art School (Is it Design Thinking?)
Like a fish who doesn’t know that he is wet, I have no idea what it is like to not be a design thinker. And I suppose that, conversely, a lot of people who talk about design thinking have no idea what designers are actually taught. Are we really taught different skills than our MBA…
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Think of Al Gore. Don’t be a Dick.
Al Gore and Iron Eyes Cody. Go check out the original TV ads: Canoe and Horseback Whenever I am about to do something wasteful, like throwing a plastic bottle in the trash or turning the air conditioner on when it’s 74 degrees, my wife says these words to me: “Think of Al Gore.” The phrase,…
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Intelligence Loss
My father-in-law Donald F.B. “Jamie” Jameson passed away last week. He was — and forever will be — the center of my wife Peggy’s soul and, through her, a quietly influential part of my own life. Today’s Washington Post has a fascinating and moving obituary, focusing largely on his career in the CIA and his…
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Technology and War
I’m disappointed in the pace of technological change lately, in particular when you consider that we live in a time of war. During World War II, some of the most astounding technological developments of all time were developed, both by the Allies and the Axis powers. In some cases existing technologies advanced by leaps and…
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Creative Creationists
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I’ve always wanted to believe that rational scientific thought and creative/artistic thinking are not just incompatible, but that they are in fact closely linked. Both in my personal art projects and in my professional work as an interaction designer, artistry and science have always gone hand in hand. My peers and friends generally share this…