Last week, I wrote a new post for the Women in Technology blog regarding an article that I saw on Smashing Magazine. The article talked further about the large gap in gender representation that was seen in the results from the 2009 A List Apart Survey. I thought it was an interesting take, and one that any design professional would want to read more about. Give Thoughts on Gender Disparities in the Design Field a read, and let me know what you think in the comments.

For those of you that don’t know, I am a huge foodie and am always on the hunt for new food adventures. That’s why when I first moved to NYC a couple of years I found myself on an adventure to Avenue J in Brooklyn to visit and try Di Fara’s, a New York institution. During my 2 hour wait for what was probably the best pizza I’ve ever had, I took notice of what was going on around me. Here is what I saw.

First Di Fara’s is not a fancy place, it is a hole in the wall as a matter of fact. There are about 5 tables squished into the dining area. The place is packed with people pretty much the entire time so that decreases the available space even more! But another thing I noticed was how the workers at Di Fara’s worked as a team. They worked quickly, but at their own pace. Meaning, it didn’t feel like a chaotic environment at all, which is personally something I hate about popular food spots. The last thing I took into account, and was really surprised about, was that DeMarco, the owner who has lived many many more years than I, himself makes each and every pizza. He takes care to make sure each one is perfect, like each pie is the best one he’s ever made.

Imagine my delight when Kottke posted a link to a short Di Fara’s documentary a few weeks back! I absolutely loved this film, and it opened my eyes to the behind the scenes of the business, as well as confirmed my thoughts and observations. Everyone that works at Di Fara’s is part of the family. They support DeMarco and are basically his assistants, making sure everything is in place for him to make his pizzas. This is a big reason why your experience there doesn’t feel chaotic and rushed, because it’s not. There is one guy making every pizza, and yes it takes 2 hours before you get it, but honestly you don’t really care because you feel taken care of and safe. Plus, he’s just so passionate about making your pizza… you actually feel special, like your’s really might be the best one ever.

Perhaps my favorite part of the film is around minute 13:50 when they are talking to one of the customers. He says “It would be nice if alot of other businesses operated in that fashion. That it wasn’t just a product.” If that isn’t the tagline that we’ve been working with since this industry existed, I don’t know what is! The idea that it’s not the product, but the emotion behind it that makes something successful, well that is what we are all about.

Dom DeMarco has turned having pizza into an experience of a lifetime. Honestly who really knows if the pizza tastes any better or worse than other pies. It’s good… it’s damn good, but did I love the pizza so much because of the dough, cheese, and sauce? Or did I love the pizza so much because of the experience. If you’re a NYer go on down to Avenue J and see for yourself (be sure to tell me all about it). I think we can all learn from the Di Fara’s example the huge impact that being passionate about the end product and ensuring a positive experience can have… even on something as simple as dough, sauce and cheese. So go forth and preach the Di Fara’s example in your work! Who knows, it could help, afterall, everyone has to respect an example that features pizza… just sayin.

At this year’s IDEA conference, the conference committee organized some really cool activities called topic lunches. Each day you could go out into the hallway and sign up to go to lunch with a group of other people that were discussing a particular topic (which was decided ahead of time by some great conference goers).

Anywho, while I was attending one of these topic lunches, I found myself at a table with both experienced UXers and college students hoping to be UXers. What a great mix! When one of the college students asked about what being a UXer in the “real world” was like, one of the experienced UXers replied… you guessed it… “sometimes it’s like being a therapist, or being in and leading therapy”. To put this comment in context, the UXer was specifically talking about the requirements gathering, stakeholder interview process. They explained that you had to be a really really good listener, know what is best for the user/business, and know how to help the person move forward. Sounds like therapy to me.

So, just another example of how we are like Therapists. Perhaps we should look at professional therapists and how they build their businesses and careers for insight in how to expand our field!

Although there were a ton of wonderful talks at this year’s IDEA conference, one that sticks out for me is Vidya Drego’s Trends in the Future of Online Experiences. I’m usually pretty skeptical of talks like this, because I find myself disappointed at people’s guesses for the future. Usually these types of talks lack research and viability and are just based on some really cool ideas that the speaker has. However, knowing that Vidya is an employer of Forrester, my hopes were high.

I was not disappointed. Vidya started by explaining a little bit about the type of research they had been conducting. She then explained that after a great deal of analysis her and her team were able to come up with a framework that outlined the characteristics that they were seeing of successful and delightful online experiences. Her statement was basically by using this framework, one could enhance their online product for future success.

The framework (called CARS) says that sites that are Customized by the end user, Aggregated, Relevant to the device, and Social are sure to find success in the “future”. Vidya gave some examples of sites that are doing some of the CARS framework really well (shout out to USAA woohoo!!) and it was interesting to see their future predictions happening right now.

Ok, so the framework based off research and analysis is cool, but you may be asking yourself how can my company get there? Vidya mentions that to do so you and your company should look for and record customer insights, look at and record the multiple-channel (web, mobile, etc) view of the customer journey, work towards atomized content (content that is reusable and extendable), and ensure enhanced functionality.

Easy right? Nonetheless, I think this is a great place to start to think about how to take your online product into the next phase of the web. If you missed the talk and would like to see more, be sure to check out Trends in the Future of Online Experiences today. I would love to hear your thoughts on it in the comments!

We’ve all been there. You’re in a meeting showing one of your designs and a stakeholder says “what about all this space inbetween the sections?” or “what are we going to put in this empty spot down here?”. We, in response, roll our eyes and think about how to explain the need to have empty space on the page so that the user can actually digest the information that is displaying. I couldn’t help but think about these situations on a recent trip across the pond.

While in England, I got the chance to visit the Tate Britain, which shows English art dating back to the 1500s (as well as modern treats to look at). As I walked from gallery to gallery I couldn’t help but notice in this, as well as most other art galleries, the large amount of space inbetween the pieces. Rarely, if ever, would you go to an art gallery and see painting on top of painting, piece upon piece. Instead you are given the chance to stand and absorb and reflect on a single piece. It sits alone so that you can experience it and try to understand it, in your own way.

So, stakeholders and the like, do you want your web pages to be like newspaper classifieds where you see one ad after another all stacked tightly together, confusing potential readers and distracting their attention from their goal OR would you like your site to be like an esteemed art gallery, where users can go and experience the product and walk out wanting to return and enjoy another day? My guess is that the art gallery user is going to be a return customer time and time again, whereas the classifieds user visits once, finds or doesn’t find what they are looking for, and leaves never to return (unless absolutely necessary). You decide which site you want to be, and the whitespace can help you get there.