Moving forward by looking backward When learning to drive, my parents gave me a lot of solid info about dealing with what you can’t control about traffic and other folks on the road. Of the many tips, one of the most interesting had to be about the level of attention to put towards driving out of … read more

Perhaps innovation’s perspective is bound by personal friction One discussion often turns into many. It is excellent when several disparate, disconnected conversations begin to carry a common theme. Not forced, but something more organic. A tweet and it’s resulting thread illuminated an obstacle to … read more

Happenstance or happen to have a stance Reviewing some older notes on organizations and user experience, came across a few bits on the UX Maturity Scale. What’s clear about it is that it’s not so much a discussion on whether understanding user experience is possible or not, but the competence of … read more

Describing an experimental workshop and a focused destination In a few recent conversations about the goals for Avanceé, there has been the mention of a possible workshop series based around an existing client activity. Called “15 Minutes to Add Time to Your Life” it is a tech-focused exploration of … read more

Reading a piece about totems and tantrums, was reminded of a term heard once before — mental knots. Basically, when people get into a cognitive state where their ability to filter sensory, contextual, and other input streams finds itself overloaded and unable to untangle from itself. This state is … read more

New headlines, not faster ones Some years ago, attempting to take more control over an online footprint, decided to put an experimental mobile Web server onto a low-end smartphone. It worked really well. Why would someone do that? Or year, or maybe less, before that there was a video by the largest … read more

Many approaches, just as there are many senses Having been involved with connected technology since the late 90s, there has been decent evolution in working methods. Where it was once, “only use online research for what can be validated,” now there’s “make sure there are qualitative and quantitative … read more

Not the pioneer, but the ones who follow, who create the roads Speaking with a few “coffee office mates” about cycling advocacy, there’s something powerful about advocacy which comes to mind. When there’s positivity advocacy, it validates a framing — ethical, capitalist, emotional, etc. — where it … read more

Every org is a tech org, every tech is it’s currency In some engagements, the product is simply to raise the floor of a specific team or role’s technical literacy. This might mean training on a particular platform or application, connecting the dots between existing practices, or carefully … read more

When connectivity is wellness A few conversations recently about connectivity and what it means to be well had sparked something of a different perspective. Namely, what it means to find wellness when you are connected. Sounds like a wrong shift of perspective to some, but we must realize that for … read more

Less “Finished” and More “What Else Is There” Not every project ends in a beautiful design. Better said, not every project begins with the ideal experience being the thing that is delivered. Often, the idealized design becomes water down, modified, standards approved, or any other myriad of items … read more

Unstructured thoughts on Apple’s 2019 WWDC Keynote Did not intend to sit down and write this, so am using Siri dictation to do so. Because Voice Control is probably the most important highlight from the WWDC keynote. Well, the most important highlight for those people who may be looking to utilize … read more

Not every challenge is challenging One of the most difficult concepts to get across in the middle of the sales process is complexity. Or more specifically, how “complexity doesn’t matter.” Given enough information, yet not always enough time to synthesize, anything that is truly complex isn’t. … read more

June of last year (2018) was an interesting month. Felt like there was a shift which needed to be taken with the content here and at the same time, the way summer happens, a lot of activity slows down. So, instead of productivity for others, effort was into setting up the summer/fall output to come. … read more

Deftly turning a large ship with a whisper With some clients, the topic of organizational change comes up very often. This is usually because the work with this client involves taking multiple teams and putting them on the same level as it relates to utilizing a specific software platform. This … read more

Last week was a flashback to the posts shared last year (April 2018). For this week, it’s a look at what was shared a month later, May ‘18. Perspectives & Concepts Living in A Future Present From Mundane to Tactile The Features Trap Concept: SmartTrip Transit App for Apple Watch Educating … read more

There’s a pattern to each week here. The long-post to start the week is both summary and launching. Then something in the middle of the week — a concept or a flashback. Then the close of the week where items of the week’s interest are shared (and those following via the site/Microblog see a bit more … read more

Flashbacks to what talked about on the site a year ago: Long-Form Thoughts Paying Attention Conversatoins On Creating New Textiles Cutting New Roads NACTO Guidelines Algorithmic Impact Assessment Framework Current vs Currents Wearables, UI, and Forward-Reaching Activities Move Fast and Shape Things … read more

Wondering why design tools have been reluctant to evolve Conversations about design methods and software often bracket the week. If it isn’t another software/service, it’s a design system or a shift in a large/influential company’s motivations which sparks things. And it’s not a bad thing. Design is … read more

Bending UX to see other vectors of organizational ethics A friend and I joked about a photo sent to him. He asked about the name scribbled on the cup. To him and his SE USA context, it came across as a push/play on the term “field negro.” To him, it was a bold play. Now, the name on the cup … read more