ux | work | life matters
Usability is a moving target. A user’s understanding of your application improves over time and your application’s interface should adapt to your user. – Layervault in Progressive Reduction Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/ivanclow/4260762246
You don’t differentiate through your product’s feature set, its battery life or any other spec. The difference is emotional: Don’t just do something for me, but make me happy while doing it. From the Mashable post With iOS 7, Apple Leads by Following Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/4354438814
If you want to find out how to use a new emerging tool, don’t ask the people who invent it, because they have a very narrow view of what it’s supposed to be used for. The people who are hacking it–the people who use it for crime, who use it
[youtube id=”MH5wMTV6n3w” width=”475″] Some Swedish truths and humour from the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö on Saturday 18th of May. Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3383629917
[youtube id=”4q1dgn_C0AU” width=”475″] Dan Gilbert challenging the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3383629917
Simple is terrific but simplistic is not. Don’t lose important complexity. Complexity gives our lives and interfaces texture. People don’t want dumbed down interfaces. They want uncomplicated experiences. Josh Clark via Luke W
[youtube id=”xMj_P_6H69g” width=”475″] Amanda Palmer talking of her earlier days as a street performer and about connecting with your audience Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3383629917
Life is a mountain range. From every peak the view is different. But you can’t get to another peak if you always want to go up. You have to be willing to go down or otherwise you get stuck on one peak and you only see one view – Ping
…it was an extremely useful exercise. It made us think through issues we would have otherwise glossed over, and helped us stay focused when shiny new things could have led us astray. As Eisenhower famously said: “plans are nothing, but planning is indispensable.” Chris Dixon in Plans are nothing, but
If you don’t design your life, someone else will design it for you, and you may just not like their idea of balance. Nigel Marsh in his How to make work-life balance workTED talk Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/wainwright/123236611
Being human means failing. It means going awry. It means sometimes being tired and watching countless Law & Order reruns because we want to, not because it is the right thing to do, or the most productive thing to do. TNW in the article Want to be more effective? Stop
To win a Nobel Prize you have to produce something that others haven’t thought about – chocolate that makes you feel good might contribute a little bit. Of course it’s not the main factor but… anything that contributes to a better life and a better outlook in your life then
Great product design doesn’t happen because of one person. It’s a team effort with everyone touching the product in some way. From the ZURblog post Designers Can Move Mountains Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/aftab/3364835006/in/photostream
Life’s not about getting stuff done, it’s about getting the right stuff done. It doesn’t matter how productive you are if the ideas you’re building on don’t represent the best you have to offer. And the best you have to offer rarely ever comes when you’re filling every nook and
No start-up works out exactly as imagined. So it’s important to go into it understanding that you’re there to learn. From the Inc article The right way to approach a startup Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/fiddleoak/7391245532/in/photostream
What if you started hustling, moving, and shaking today as if there was no guarantee of tomorrow? Imagine what you would do. Imagine what you could accomplish. From the post You don’t have to be rich to be an entrepreneur
If you commit to doing a simple marketing item just once each day, at the end of the year you’ve built a mountain. Seth Godin in the post The simple power of one a day and how they add up and can change things. Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/guysie/3370468477
[vimeo id=”34017777″ width=”475″ align=”…”] Wilson Miner sharing why he’s so excited about doing the work that we’re doing right now Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3383629917
Why not run for the train? Because another train will be along shortly. Such is the nature of trains. Running will cause you to miss everything between you and your object, and more often than not leave you disappointed and out of breath. From the Dorian Taylor post La Forme
If your employees want to take a longer lunch break to hit the gym, you should let them. You’ll be getting more than enough out of them in the afternoon to make up for the lost time. From the FastCompany post Working Out Doesn’t Just Make You Stronger, It Makes