Questions, comments, critique? Just want to say hi? email
me.
Blog
Blog note: links open in a new window
7/18/2001
Anxiety is starting to set in. The idea of riding off into the sunset with out a game plan is somewhat unnerving. I was pointed to this link by a co-worker, and I realized that there were others like myself out there who were hungry to be in the midst of the pursuit of excellence…not excrement! At times, on the movie screen in my mind, I find myself raging like the cliché mad scientist…“the fools, the fools, can’t they see I’m right! I’ll show them.” (Cut to basement laboratory, where I have more hair…and it is a wild mess held back by smudged goggles)
I am oft taken aback when my particular brand of genius isn’t readily identified and lauded. Perhaps I’m more idiot than savant…nah, that’s just crazy talk. I’m still pretty sure I could hatch an evil plan to take over the world at a moment’s notice. Just wish I didn’t have to prostrate myself to “the man” for enough scraps to make the ends meet, while waiting for that moment to arrive.
“Good enough” just isn’t. It never has been, and it never will be. Excelsior…you simple bastards!
7/12/2001
So tonight is the second Boston IA Cocktail Hour. As I am now looking to “pursue other opportunities”, I look forward to discussing what other folks are doing. I understand there are quite a few of us out there trying to make it as “independent consultants”. Curious to hear how folks are faring at this.
I was interviewed by DIGInsider (a weekly newsletter send out by Boston Digital Industry) last week. They wanted to know what I thought about building Accessible sites (as I was on a recent pro bono project for a non-profit site geared towards the handi-capable). I told ‘em big sites like Amazon were good examples of what not to do. Hope Bezos doesn’t sic the dogs on me.
7/5/2001
Tough times in the industry these days, lots of folks losing their jobs. So far I’m not one of them…but the specter looms large in my mind. I once heard a speaker (back in the heady days of Dot Com glory) talk about making oneself “recession-proof”…should have taken a bit more of that wisdom to heart. What better time to get together with like-minded folks and talk about this profession that we have chosen (or that’s chosen us…or that we stumbled into…or, well you get the point.) That’s right, it’s time once again for a Boston IA Cocktail Hour!
Invite:
Calling all Boston area Information Architects! Please join us (a motley crew of librarians, developers, technical writers, and other web related folks all calling ourselves IAs) for a relaxed gathering at the Kendall café on July 12 – for the second Boston IA Cocktail Hour.
In response to user feedback from the first Cocktail Hour [30+ in attendance] the move across the street to the Kendall Cafe will allow us to meet in a separate room and keep the outside noise level down so we can concentrate on our search for all those verbal pearls that characterized our last meeting of the minds.
We're hoping to bring folks together to share professional and technical information, see if there's interest in future get togethers, and cope with the summer heat.
July 12th at 6:30pm [Don't worry you won't be the first one there if you show up early!]
The Kendall Café Alehouse & Grill 233 Cardinal Medeiros Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02141 [right around the corner from the last one- follow signs to Kendall Square Cinema if driving] For more information contact us here. Directions: http://www.thekendall.com/direct.html
7/2/2001
I’ve been gone (Israel). I’m back (Boston). Miss me?
6/5/2001
"Four companies(AOL / Time Warner, Microsoft, Napster, and Yahoo!) control over 50% of the web...I'm saying that perhaps we should look at these powerful web properties, with all of their flaws, instead of users! I'm not saying that this is optimal. I am saying that it is practical." - J. Rhodes The Four Horsemen of Usability
And so, my friends, we embrace the inevitable. The web transitioning from a tool for freely sharing knowledge, to a tool for business...owned by business. I'm not saying the future of the web is bleak...just corporate. Usability, user-experience, user's needs are/will be looked at through the lens of bottomline profitability...if the ROI story doesn't make financial sense, corners will be cut. I wonder how "Marketing" was able, over time, to so ingrain itself into our corporate culture...that in many ways it has become our corporate culture? What lessons can usability professionals learn from their marketing counterparts in making a case for the value of usability to the organization? Time to get serious about my golf game.
5/25/2001
So, here is the latest hairbrain scheme I've been working on. I have visions of my thirteenth birthday all over again...me sitting on my couch, tons of food and drinks, nobody showing up. (sniffle) It ain't always easy being ahead of your time.
Anyway...here is the invite to the gig:
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Come one, come all, to the first Boston IA Cocktail Hour. It will be held on Thursday, June 7th at 6:30 p.m. at Flattop Johnny's, in Cambridge (5 mins from the T, lots of parking). All Boston area Information Architects, Information Designers, User Interface Designers, and folks of a similar ilk are invited to join us (a couple of local IA's) for this low-key event (no nametags or set agenda). Come share tales from the trenches, discuss thoughts and ideas with like-minded individuals, and perhaps gauge interest/make suggestions for more formal meetings in the future. Depending on the weather, we may sit out on the patio, or grab a couple of tables inside. Either way, we will make ourselves easy to spot (look for the group using sugar packets to make site maps). See you there.
June 7th at 6:30 p.m. Flattop Johnny's 1 Kendall Sq. Cambridge, MA. (617) 494-9565
I recently had the opportunity to work on a project where the goal was to build an e-commerce site with a “delightful user experience”, as stated by the client. How does one define “delightful”, and what does a successful solution look like (or more appropriate…what does it feel like)? According to Webster, "delight," "pleasure," and "enjoyment" are all synonyms and all signify the agreeable emotion accompanying the possession or expectation of what is good or greatly desired. "Pleasure" stresses satisfaction or gratification of the senses. "Delight" adds the idea of liveliness or obviousness in that satisfaction, often less enduring than pleasure. "Enjoyment" suggests a wide range of deep pleasure, from merely transient though complete gratification to deep-seated happiness. I would suggest that this criteria could be met, if enough time and money were allocated. As it is, the client expected this solution to be built in three months with little to no usability testing. So I guess the glass is both half empty and half full…people are starting to get that sites need to be user friendly (to the point of “delightful”), however, most people don’t understand what it takes to get there. I hope that as our industry matures, and our discipline becomes better known, people’s expectations will come more into alignment with reality. Then we can talk “win/win/win” solutions, where the builder, business, and end-user all have a “delightful” experience.
Nadir Elitist