Viewing all posts in: Business
Thursday November 5, 2009
Creating Controversy for its own Sake (and How Humility is a Rare Bird Indeed These Days) →
A very convicting article by Joshua Blankenship on unsolicited redesigns and the arrogance that drives them. Convicting, because I personally wrestle with the same arrogance he’s calling out. Whether you work as a designer for a corporate giant or as a lonely freelancer, it’s definitely worth a read.
Creating Controversy for its own Sake (and How Humility is a Rare Bird Indeed These Days) Link posted by Matt Donovan in Business, Design, Graphic Design, Interface, User Experience, Visual Design .
Tuesday July 7, 2009
Elegance as one way to describe "the quality without a name"? →
We talk often about Christopher Alexander’s “quality without a name” that makes a design feel natural and right. Alexander describes it as:
There is a central quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit in [all things]. … The search which we all make for this quality, in our loves, is the central search of any person, … . It is the search for those moments and situations when we are most alive.
While the quality can be elusive to create, an attribute that certainly leads to it is elegance. Guy Kawasaki interviewed Matthew E. May on elegance as a business concept in his book In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing . Simply stated, May describes elegance as:
Something is elegant if it is two things at once: unusually simple and surprisingly powerful. One without the other leaves you short of elegant. And sometimes the “unusual simplicity” isn’t about what’s there, it’s about what isn’t. At first glance, elegant things seem to be missing something.
The interview is well worth a read, and will be a new consideration for me as I work on interim and final deliverables. How can I find and apply “the quality without a name” on this piece? Perhaps by seeking elegance.
First found via Dynamic Diagrams: Information Design Watch
Elegance as one way to describe "the quality without a name"? Link posted by Mark Kraemer in Business, Design .
Monday December 15, 2008
The times, they are a changing
User Experience Design has long been one of our differentiating qualities in the world of IT consulting, but it’s certainly not immune to the current economic turbulence. Rather than become a victim of these uncertain times, we’re embracing this opportunity to shake things up. One part of the change we’re driving has to do with implementing a studio model across the EMC Application Consulting Practice.
The times, they are a changing Article posted by Johnny Pitts in Business, Strategy .
Wednesday November 12, 2008
Waiter... My Kool-Aid Tastes Funny
I’m not a UX guy (although I played one on TV), but I do secretly want to be a 404-er. I’d love to be able to create something that grabs you visually, while effectively communicating the message to you.
I can’t do that, but what I do know how to do is make that UX talent a key component to our ability to win business.
Waiter... My Kool-Aid Tastes Funny Article posted by Johnny Pitts in Business, Culture, Strategy .
Thursday October 16, 2008
If you fail, then by definition you have tried. But if you give up,
you didn’t. – Jason Calacanis
Permission to fail Quote posted by Matt Donovan in Business, Strategy .
Friday July 25, 2008
“In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving,” Ballmer wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal. “Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience.”
Balmer - Constraint Drive Pleasing Design Quote posted by Mark Kraemer in Apple, Business, Design, Microsoft, Strategy, User Experience .
Thursday May 29, 2008
A Rant on Design Concepts and Confidentiality →
Adaptive Path’s Kim Lenox: “I’m so f*^#ing tired of not being able to share the work I’m most proud of with my peers. There are so many lessons to learn from past work and yet it’s all wasting away under piles of NDA’s. It’s even more frustrating when we extrapolate just how many other designers worldwide have concepts that will also never see the light of day.”
Amen.
A Rant on Design Concepts and Confidentiality Link posted by Jared Christensen in Business, Design .