Back in January I wrote this post concerning Sustainability, and today I am back at it. This week there were several blogs whose posts related to the topic. The first one that I came upon on experientia was a post about Nokia and how the company is beginning to look at their products and how to make them more environment friendly. You can read the post here. I enjoyed seeing a company begin to take the steps needed to decrease energy use and throw away.

Shortly after reading the above post, I came across another from Tim Ferriss that you can view here that inspires people to take action against the waste that companies like Nokia and others cause by forcing users to upgrade their hardware among other things.

And lastly in this sustainability centered week there was a post on the IxDA discussion board regarding the topic which you can view here. Although I enjoyed reading through all of the comments, I took interest in that by pauric. He shows us how even though companies may be trying to improve situations, their solutions may not really be for the general good.

So there is A LOT going on around this topic, one that I think everyone should take interest in. Think to yourself what is our responsibility as interaction designers and do WE contribute to the general good? I know I have to ponder this one heavily myself. I’d love to hear what anyone thinks!!

SUSTAINABILITY

As I was reading through some posts tonight, I noted this one that UXNet had put out. At first I took the cynical stance of “for real… you are using LOL in an essay?? What has gone wrong with out society?! Yadda Lis ranting yadda”. As I read through the entire article however, I noticed the teacher’s remark that the examples were teachable, and examples of informal vs. formal writing, a point I guess I can see. I did find the one statement about students in the digital age not using computing for most assignments interesting and yet relatable. I know sometimes when I get home I need a break from the cpu. SO… take a read let me know if any other ideas/arguments come to mind. Happy Monday :).

I’m trying my hardest to think of posts and it’s really not coming to me! My entire life is being consumed with moving, which I’m sure is normal, but Exhausting. There are some interesting things about moving to NYC that I’ve noted and that make it both extra exciting as well as extra stressful.

Firstly everything in NY moves fast. Really fast. You want a job… don’t look until 2 weeks before. You want an apartment… well first you need a job then you don’t need to contact me until 2 weeks before!!! Ok so this is encouraging in one sense. There are IA jobs up there, or so I’m told anyway… I’m trying to trust, and because of the demand there are plenty of opportunities. However, I’M UNEMPLOYED IN TWO WEEKS HERE PEOPLE!!!!

So no job and no apartment aside I think I’m doing well. I’ve got the mover booked, the furniture sold (thanks Christina!), the dog looked after, all and all things are looking up!!

I think I can actually do this!!!!!

PERSONAL ENDEAVORS NEW ADVENTURES MOVING

On Thursday I let my management know that I would be leaving San Antonio to move to NYC in May. What a Relief! However, it’s finally hitting me that I’m really doing it. I’m really picking up my life and moving across the country… again. On an interaction design note, I’m getting to deal with all walks of life right now and critiquing all of the processes and procedures and of course customer service. Everything from finding a moving company to switching my auto and renters insurance. It’s already an adventure and I haven’t even started moving yet. BTW one moving quote estimator actually brought his own wireless device and printer and gave me a quote within the hour… nicely done!

So here I go again. It’s official. Back to the hustle and bustle of the Northeast. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of more run ins along the way and don’t worry I’ll bring you right along with me!

PERSONAL ENDEAVORS NEW ADVENTURES MOVING

Sometimes I just need to get away. I need to not read about anything work related or experience anything that makes me think… how could that have been better? I see some professionals that are entrenched in this work and I wonder why am I not like that? Why am I exhausted at the end of the day and not energized. I think “am I just not made for this?”The funny part is when I take time away, that’s when I get the best and most creative ideas. Not so different from what Scott Berkun describes in his book “The Myths of Innovation” which I always go back to. This book was enlightening for me in that it’s helped me reflect on my own career and realize that the exhaustion is my mind hitting a wall and I just need to step away and find another way around.

This post isn’t a plug for the book, although I would suggest reading it and keeping it close, but more of a personal revelation if you will. I’ve been on vacation for a week with my parents in town and have experienced some of the most beautiful parts of San Antonio, scenes which I know will influence in a positive light my work in the future. I look forward to exploring and discovering the new ideas that come to me and seeing where they go. And I understand that I too am entrenched in this work :).

PERSONAL ENDEAVOR RANDOM THOUGHTS

I wanna go! Saw this on Adaptive Path’s blog: http://www.dmi.org/dmi/html/education/seminars/sd.htm.

TechTags Plugin [ USER EXPERIENCE | EXPERIENCE DESIGN | SUSTAINABILITY ]

This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a San Antonio Beer Club meetup at my house. For the occasion I went to my favorite bakery and asked if they could bake a pastry in the shape of a dog head for the event (since everyone was to bring their dog). They said all we had to do was bring in a drawing or photo and they could do it.

So on Saturday morning my friend and I went to pick up the pastry. We walked in and there it was sitting in a box on the counter. The woman working the counter saw us and went to get the other baker. As she went we heard her say “they’re here to pick it up!” with excitement. Turns out thet used twice the amount of dough that we had paid for, but weren’t going to make us pay for it (although we did anyway) since it was their decision to do it right.

I loved this experience! I walked out of that place feeling like I was walking on air. There are people in this world (probably many in fact) that do a job and do it their very very best. Without having to be paid or told, they took the liberty of creating a product that ended up being perfect. Sometimes, working in corporate america, I like to think that that type of experience, product creation will catch on. I like to pour that amount of passion into what I do and love to see when others take the same care. Here’s a photo of the cake:

TechTags Plugin [ GREAT EXPERIENCE | EXPERIENCE DESIGN | BAKED GOODS ]

It has been a great week for me because I’ve actually gotten time to read through all of my favorite blog posts. Today I was reading over this post by Alexa from Adaptive Path. It’s a very interesting article that talks about creating sustainable experiences that encourage users to do the right things, even though their tendency may be to do otherwise. I must admit that parts of me were torn. In some instances I totally agree with this like with her example of taking public transportation vs always driving. However, there is a part of me that thought, shouldn’t I create an experience based user requirements, wants, needs etc. For example let’s say I design cars, sure I think that people should help save on energy, but I want them to use my car as well AND I want to make sure that the car exceeds their expectations.

The next article I read was this one from Inkblurt. This talks about how Facebook encourages the negative experience that one can face. And I thought well, maybe I should look into Alexa’s point a little more. In a social networking space like Facebook, an experience designer could hone in and really think about how they wanted people to use facebook however instead people throw apps together and put them out there, which ends up turning negative. By being more conscientious we can influence those around us to take the right path and do better things. I’m totally buying into now and realizing the types of outcomes that I can have an influence in. Go me!

TechTags Plugin [ USER EXPERIENCE | EXPERIENCE DESIGN | SUSTAINABILITY ]

There are times when I know I’m an idealist. Well actually almost everyday in project meetings and planning sessions I know I’m an idealist. I get frustrated with the “process”. I get frustrated with doing things the same day in and day out and development teams wanting to go faster. Constantly I think about the saying that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. How does no one else see this?!

Doesn’t anyone else out there care about the quality of the user experience? I know to some who read this I may sound silly, but doesn’t anyone else take pride in whether or not people enjoy and can use the by-product of their hardwork??? On days like these I know that I was meant to be in this industry. I’ll admit that as a developer I didn’t always think through the interface, but now that I’ve been exposed to that line of thinking I’m never going back. They can’t make me!

TechTags Plugin [ USER EXPERIENCE | EXPERIENCE DESIGN ]

Many of you may know this and many of you may not, but this is by far my favorite time of the year. The college basketball season is in full swing and leading the pack is none other than my favorite team the North Carolina Tarheels. After every game there is a press release describing the game as well as an article by their writer Adam Lucas. I love Lucas’ articles. Here is today’s: http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/010708aab.html. I know what some of you may be thinking. I don’t even like college basketball. What is she trying to get at? But stay with me.

So I started to think about WHY I love his writing so much and there are a few things to note that I think relate to our jobs as experience designers.

1. He knows his audience (crazy tarheels fans around the world!) and caters to them. He IS one of them!
2. He tells a story (just got through the Ten Faces of Innovation and I can see the storyteller persona as I type). Notice paragragh 3. He is letting the reader set their own context.
3. He knows the subject that he’s writing about. This man knows Tarheels basketball through and through.

Those are the few that I picked out so far. Do you guys see any others??

TechTags Plugin [ BASKETBALL | EXPERIENCE DESIGN | TARHEELS | UNC ]