We in the user experience design industry talk a lot about keeping the user’s perspective in mind as we make things. User research helps us do that. User testing keeps us in check. And here’s another interesting way to shift your perspective…shake things up and look at it from the object’s point-of-view.

When I watched this video for the first time, I was fascinated on the surface level of aesthetic. I loved seeing words written from the perspective of a pen. And then it struck me that it is also a great reminder of how far we may have to go to really abandon our own way of seeing things. A useful practice when making something for someone other than you.

This video was created by Mike Strasser for his graduate industrial design program at Stanford. He is currently Founder and Managing Partner at the ID firm Think2Build.

Download podcast here

The latest Tea with Teresa podcast: An interview with Dialogue in the Dark Creative Director John Zaller and Guide Gloria Fisher
Show Length: 20 minutes

In this podcast, I’ll take you with me on a journey into a world of darkness…where people use their hands, hearing and sense of smell to discover where they are. We’ll explore an immersive exhibition called Dialogue in the Dark, were blind guides help visitors move through multiple environments, experiencing the world without sight. Creative Director John Zaller and exhibition guide Gloria Fisher talk about the mission behind this experience and the profound impact it has upon visitors. As the Dialogue in the Dark website says, while the “exhibition environments have been carefully crafted, the physical space is not the focus of the experience; it simply provides a frame for interpersonal connection”. Join me on this adventure into darkness…and the world of the “other”. I promise your perspective about sight will never be the same.

Resources:
Dialogue In the Dark website
Blind & Low Vision Services
Civic Atlanta (staffed the Dialogue in the Dark exhibition in Atlanta)

We are always swimming in a sea of “new”. There are new clients, projects, jobs, careers, relationships and more that we must figure out how to adapt to as we move through life. A large part success comes directly from our ability to grapple with and thrive amidst all that “new”. I’m hosting a virtual seminar tomorrow to share some unique ways to adapt to new environments – and the UX industry, specifically. This is a great seminar for those of you interested in either building or expanding your career in user experience design. You’ll walk away with a clear roadmap to create impact in the UX community and beyond. Oh, and along the way, you’ll also get some advice directly from Whitney Hess, Merlin Mann, Scott Berkun, and Rachel Hinman.

If that got you thinking, read more here: Tools and Methods to Learn, Navigate and Make a Name for Yourself in the UX Landscape

Wednesday, August 12

10-11:15am Pacific Time

Only $129

Okay, so I had to laugh at this or I might have gone postal on my coworkers. Today I spent about 20 minutes trying desperately to cancel 2 magazine subscriptions. I was dumb enough to sign up for them as a “free” add-on to another purchase a long time ago — 6 months for free, thereafter auto-renewal. Ah, sweet auto-renewal…how I loathe you.

Let me see if I can help you envision the pain:

1. Renewal charges show up on my credit card (I would have cancelled prior to renewal if I could have ever figured out where to call. But that’s another horrible user experience blog post. Let’s move on.)

2. I call the number listed on the charge.

3. I am asked by an automated voice if I want to use voice prompts or keypad. I choose keypad.

4. I subsequently end up in a system that asks me for voice prompts at every step in the process with keypad as an option only a couple of times.

5. The system keeps telling me it is sorry that it doesn’t understand my voice.

6. I repeat each one of my answers, typically, 4 times before there is recognition.

7. I have to go through 6-7 questions/steps before I can actually cancel my subscription. (Since the system struggles to recognize my responses, this is looking like about 24 attempts to answer questions by this point…)

8. At each one of those steps I hear a long spiel about some fantastic offer that I now have to extend my subscription…I have to listen to the whole thing before I can move on to the next step in the cancellation process.

9. And here’s the kicker: I can only cancel one magazine at a time. So, I have to repeat the entire process for my second magazine subscription. That’s about 48 steps to cancellation…

And in the end, I am not actually 100% sure that the subscriptions were cancelled. It seems I’m getting a refund for one, but not the other (who knows why). Exasperated, I do exactly what they hoped I would and give up. I just can’t take it. Objective achieved. I wonder if Money Magazine and National Geographic Traveler know or care that this vendor designed a system to lock me in.

I have no idea what name of this company is…but if you feel like reminding yourself that yes, user experience designers do, in fact, have the opportunity to make the world a worse or better place…please call this number and enjoy!

1-800-927-9578

I ended up at Adaptive Path through happenstance. A friend through a friend, and suddenly I was working smack in the middle of the user experience design industry for the first time. There were new words to learn, systems to figure out, modes of thinking I’d never come across. And then there were all the other things that made my new environment even more meaningful: relationships developed with big thinkers, conversations about new concepts, and, eventually, the development of my own voice amidst all this smartness.

New environments and situations permeate our lives. We go to new jobs, start relationships, end them, start families, work with new clients…adapting and change are deeply seeded in our everyday. I’ve learned a thing or two about how to adapt to these environments fast – and how to not only survive them, but thrive in them.

On August 12th I’ll be hosting a virtual seminar about methods and tools to adapt, navigate and thrive within the UX field, specifically. This is a great seminar for anyone new to the world of user experience who is grappling with terms and jargon. It’s also valuable for seasoned UX professionals who are looking for ways to increase the impact they have within their organization and the UX community at large.

I’ll be sharing three things that have helped me thrive:

Knowledge Mapping

Learn how to create diagrams that allow you to visualize what you know about the industry, what you don’t know, and the areas where you can supplement what you already know.

Community-Building

Building a community of influential friends is as simple as paying attention to the people around you. I’ll share key things you can do to build authentic, rich relationships with others in the field. And networking is not one of them!

Using Your Own Voice

Whether you’re a student or an experienced UX professional, finding and using your voice will make a difference for your career. I’ll provide you with tools to help you uncover what you have to offer, create a mantra (everyone needs one!) and show a video with tips from four people who have successfully created strong personal brands: Whitney Hess, Merlin Mann, Scott Berkun, and Rachel Hinman.

Join me on Wednesday, August 12(10:00 – 11:15 AM Pacific Time) and uncover concrete steps you can take to help you thrive within the user experience design landscape. Details and registration here.

An interview with Scott Berkun, author and public speaker on
Show Length: 20 minutes

In 1956 a documentary called The Mystery of Picasso was released, showing two hours of Pablo Picasso doing what he did best: making paintings. This film gave the public a first-hand glimpse directly into this infamous artist’s creative process. Public speaker and writer Scott Berkun and I got together for tea to talk about the film and our own experiences around creativity. As both managers of creative teams and creators of work ourselves, we looked at how our processes aligned with Picasso’s…or where we could learn from him. As the discussion unfolded, we came up with an interesting set of guidelines that enable creativity to flourish.

Listen to podcast on www.TeaWithTeresa.com

I just finished working on a project where half of my team was in our Austin office and half was here in San Francisco, which meant 2 different time zones. In addition, our client was in yet another city. Since this was my first time working with such a split team, my learning curve around remote communication, meeting facilitation, and maintaining a strong team dynamic was pretty steep. I thought I’d take a moment to compile those learnings and share.

Tackling Time Zones

• Adjust daily schedule for both offices: A couple of days per week, work on the other team’s schedule/time zone (and vice versa).
• Create a clock for the other time zone on the dashboard of your computer for easy reference.
• People naturally assume you are talking about their time zone, which you may not be. So, make it a habit to always give the time in both times zones when discussing scheduling, no matter what the mode of communication (conversation in the hall, phone calls, IM, email, etc…).

Make It Feel Like Your WHOLE Team Is Right There With You

Use a monitor with dedicated web cam in your project room—sit it at project table (permanently) as if the remote team member(s) is sitting at a spot at the table. It makes them feel a bit more like a real person. (Note: use a Logitec web cam if you can afford it ($100)—quality is much better than iSite webcams.)

Remote Meeting Facilitation

• Adobe Acrobat Connect seems to be a great tool for me thus far. It has video (so you can see the other person/team), document sharing (everyone looks at the same thing at the same time), and the ability to mark on documents (you can point out, specifically, what you are talking about/needs changes).
• During remote meetings, I find that typing live notes about what is said on the shared screen really helps. That way, everyone sees and confirms what was heard and you get double-clarity/reinforcement.
• The downside of Adobe Acrobat Connect: Document resolution is so-so, so don’t use for visual design. Or, send the visual design documents and use the Adobe Acrobat Connect screen simply for reference/orientation during the meeting.

File Sharing

While I don’t like the interface, DropSend.com has biggest file limit out there for the price (it’s free depending on your use).

Shared Calendars

I like creating a shared Google project calendar and embedding it in Basecamp. I give the appropriate people (client team and internal team) the right to add/edit events, meetings, etc. And, you can also make Basecamp milestones feed directly into the calendar.

This is my list of learnings thus far. Please add to this post if you have good tips and tricks to share with the rest of us! And I’d love to hear about tools that you like better than the ones I’ve listed — I’m always on the lookout for better ways of doing things.

(Why Mobile Phones Don’t Make Sense To Everyone)

A “Tea with Teresa” podcast with Natasha Alani, Researcher for Adaptive Path’s Mobile Literacy Project

Download podcast here

By now you may have heard about the release of research and designs from Adaptive Path’s Mobile Literacy project. If you haven’t, here’s the gist: In and effort to understand how mobile technology can work more effectively in emerging markets, Adaptive Path went to rural India to investigate the impact of mobile technology and developed concepts for new mobile devices for this market.

I interviewed Natasha Alani, one of the researchers, about her trip and what she witnessed in India. It’s an interesting conversation that will give you some insight into the obstacles that those in rural and highly illiterate societies confront when trying to use something many of us take for granted as simple: a mobile phone. Natasha talks about how the basic assumptions underlying most mobile phone designs (ie: literacy, numeric literacy, and an understanding of basic computer functions) can quickly become obstacles for communication. She also poses an exciting challenge for mobile phone designers everywhere: step back, break apart foundational assumptions in mobile design, and explore new possibilities. The result could be an opportunity to make mobile communication truly accessible to a much wider global audience.

To see the designs that came out of this research visit: http://www.adaptivepath.com/mobileliteracy

I, along with a talent crew of folk, have been creating a short film for about 8 months now. It’s a short piece, made up three parts. One of those parts has been a real beast to create. For about 6 months, I’ve worked with 3 different editors to try to figure out different approaches to how we could make this thing work. And, while there have been small breakthroughs, there hasn’t been a real resolution to the piece. Every time I watch it, it feels wrong.

So, two nights ago, the current editor, Brandon Hopp, and I suddenly decided to do the unthinkable: we cut the piece in about half. After working, reworking, and working again, a section that wasn’t coming together, we just took it out. Now, keep in mind, that section was the climax of the film. But, upon its removal…alas, a functioning film arose. I was floored to realize that we’d spent 6 months forcing something that just needed to go.

This was a reminder: less, often, is more. And, the original vision shouldn’t always be the final – not if you’re paying attention to what is really happening, rather than focusing too hard on what you first had in mind. One of the hardest, but most successful tricks in the creative process (that I’ve discovered, anyway), is the ability to step back and, as they say at Adaptive Path, kill your darlings. Being willing to hack your work up for the sake of experimentation, sometimes, redeems it.

And thank God.
Now, on to the next piece, machete in hand.

(Sharing my latest podcast…Thought you all might find this one interesting [particularly those into environment design and/or education]…it’s a look at how digital technology is busting open the possibilities in the planetarium field. Enjoy.)

When you think about planetariums, you probably think about craning your head way back looking up at a sea of stars spread across a dome ceiling, right? Well, something is changing in the planetarium world. With the introduction of digital projectors, planetariums are evolving into 3D spaces that are being used for much more than star-gazing. I learned about this revolution through Rachel Connolly, Director of the Rauch Planetarium at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. We had a long distance tea and she told me about all kinds of possibilities for planetarium use in the future and potential impacts upon scientists, astronomy, and education. Imagine if, while learning about molecules, you stood inside one, for example…

Listen to the podcast at www.TeaWithTeresa.com

(And I’d love to hear what you think)