More software is coming — whether we like it or not.
Every new idea in the modern world, every new initiative, just about every effort, public or private, personal or business-related, includes some form of digital expression. Software is the medium for that digital expression. Today, software is everywhere, whether we know it or not. Not just on our computers, our tablets, our phones, and our […]
Bill Gates Post Revisited — The Reactions
Yesterday I posted a story about an interaction I had with Bill Gates when I worked at Microsoft. The gist was that some* engineers overapply the thinking they use in coding to user experience problems and that it results in overly abstracted user interfaces that don’t relate well to human beings who are not as […]
The day Bill Gates called me rude — and other lessons in user experience
There was an almost interminable pause in the conversation, as Bill thought about what I had said. And then he looked up at me after some processing and exclaimed: “That’s just rude.” ~ ~ ~ In November of 2003 it was my job to get Bill Gates on board with the new designs my team […]
Still the single best reason to leave a large company and build your own business…
Five years ago this week I left an incredible job at a great company to co-found my own business with Jenny and Walter — Jackson Fish Market. Leaving the security of a big company and a job that most people would kill for was incredibly counter-intuitive. And building your own business is way way harder […]
The Power of “I don’t know.”
So many times, when designing a software user interface, it’s helpful to ask yourself if you would enjoy interacting with a human being who talked to you the way the software did. If the answer is “no” then you have more work to do. Inevitably, this exercise gets turned on its head when user experience […]