How to ruin a design: the 9/11 Memorial
Update: After a great comment, I changed my opinion about this. I rarely use the word requirement – it’s…
Latest Blog Posts
Why you get ideas in the shower
[This is an excerpt from the Dance of the Possible: the mostly honest, completely irreverent guide to creativity] When…
Quote of the month
From an interesting series in The Atlantic on first drafts, and creativity: After the first pass, the painting is…
How To Fix Email: A Radical Proposal
Professor Beth Kollo has an interesting idea about our email dominated culture, in a post called Recreating Email. What…
New update on the next book
After a pre-spring hiatus, things are rolling again on book #4. First update on the book is here, and…
Innovation by Death: A Theory
One point from the often referenced, but rarely read, Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Kuhn, is true revolutionary progress…
Quote of the month
“A cultivated man becomes ashamed of his property, out of new respect for his nature. Especially he hates what…
The attack of the design weenie
Zeldman wrote, in an excellent post on Vocabulary vs. Storytelling: AFTER ALL THESE YEARS designing websites and applications, I…
Video of the month: best minute you will have
If you’ve wondered where I’ve been all this time I haven’t been posting, it’s safe to say I’ve wondered…
Why you should be weird
They told Van Gogh he used too much paint, and Englebart that the mouse was pointless. Galileo and Copernicus…
(POSTPONED) Speaking at Town Hall Seattle, March 9th
Update.2: I’m forced to postpone the lecture. Sorry to do this but unavoidable for personal reasons. The Town folks…
How to torture your project manager
If you like your project manager, this is a list of things not to do. Life as a PM…
How to show time during a presentation
João Adolfo Lutz asked me recently about noting time progressed / remaining in slides: I’d like to know what…
The top 10 unsolved tech problems? help wanted
Update: here’s a revised list based on all the comments (thanks). I posted weeks ago asking for suggestions for…
Thinking in Desire Paths
A failing in all design thinking is faith you can perfectly predict human behavior. Often a wiser strategy is…
Quote of the week
This one seems depressing at first. But I’ve been thinking about it for days, which suggests there are many…
Discovered: The Amazing Dr. Fox Video
One famous speech in public speaking history is the Dr. Fox lecture. Researchers hired an actor to pose as…
An open letter to conference organizers
Dear Conference Organizer: For centuries you and your peers have helped spread good ideas. For that, I like you.…
Help name the next book (Round 1)
I mentioned yesterday work on my fourth book is moving along. One key decision I need your help with…
Update on my next book
It’s been awhile since I’ve said anything about my next book. Time for an update. The book’s primary theme…