Calling it what it isn’t doesn’t change what it is — It was my birthday last week and I received the usual plethora of birthday wishes from family and friends. While I find these wishes to be a subtle (and somewhat annoying) reminder of my increasing age, I still welcome the opportunity to interact with the people who do choose to…

An Unrated Tale of Rating Addiction — I don’t know how it got as far as it did. It was just a little bit when I started — a review here, a star rating there — something to get me through that next product purchase or dinner with friends. At some point in time, it all got…

Koan #43 — Engagement. We’ve been hearing this term thrown about for years. We want our students to be engaged. We want employee engagement. Hell, I’ve even seen the call for “spousal engagement,” (which does not refer to a “wedding engagement”). Now, I’m hearing product managers parrot the term in meetings. They say…

We are trees falling in forests with no one to hear our fall — Have you ever had one of those sprint demos where it seems everyone is congratulated for their efforts except for the design team? Let me take a guess. Pretty much all of them, right? You wait anxiously through the meeting for that point that always seems to come near the…

Koan #42 — “If they just would have listened to the team, to UX, we could have saved them so much heartache and work!” My colleague was working on her second cup of coffee and clearly fired up for our routine morning check-in as she recounted a story I had heard so many…

Koan #41 — The design was going south on me. Maybe you know what I’m talking about here. You’ve probably had this happen to you before. Once the idea comes and you have the vision, once you work up that perfect design (there is no such thing), a product manager comes along and…

Koan #40 — The other day, I was monitoring my wife’s weekly laundry routine. I counted 5 loads of laundry and timed it at more than 8 hours until everything was cleaned, folded and placed back in its respective spot. Maybe that’s normal for a standard 21st-century wardrobe. After all, you have your…

Koan #39 — “We want to ensure we hire someone who is a culture fit.” “I don’t think she’ll fit in with our culture.” I’ve heard these types of statements too many times over the past several years. They seem to arise in relation to defining requirements in a new candidate for a…

Koan #38 — My colleagues and I were all nodding and smiling at the candidate. Occasionally, one of us would ask a pointed question as she walked through her latest project. …