My first telemedicine project, by even the most generous assessment, was a disaster on multiple levels. It was supposed to be a simple project — an academic study in geriatrics funded by federal grant money. We were going remotely hold exercise classes for aged patients and measure their progress over a certain period of time. The grant proposal was far more detailed than that, I’m sure. But the gist of it was we were going to “Zoom” patients into multiple weekly exercise classes and see if their vital signs and health improved over the duration of the program.

Simple enough…except Zoom didn’t exist at the time and video conferencing was still a relatively spotty technology with Skype leading the effort. …

What if healthcare were more like the airline industry? I’m not talking about the bad seating and the stale pretzels, nor am I considering herding people into doctors’ offices like cattle or overcharging them for services. Our healthcare system already does that. No, I’m particularly interested in those loyalty programs. You know, the ones where you get a special status — like Gold Member or even the highly coveted Platinum Plus Member.

In this scenario, you could obtain VIP status in large healthcare networks or maybe even an entire national network. This would afford you head of the line privileges, special refreshments in waiting areas, and access to a club lounge in most hospitals. …

It’s 5:46 on a Monday morning as I write this. I’m more than an hour into my day and yet I still feel as though I am dreaming. My movements feel slower as though I am weighted down. Time seems to operate on a different set of laws — passing more slowly by the minute and paradoxically more quickly by the hour.

My fingers are heavy and each word I type on the page requires a concerted effort. Everything beyond the basic needs of survival seems to require an effort. …

The most frequent question I receive from readers who reach out to me is: “How do you break into UX design?” The truth of it is, I never “broke into” UX design. I inched my way in, working on the fringes of design for 5 years in positions only partially devoted to UX projects. I took the scraps in each position working my way forward an inch at a time before I finally got that title.

But once I had “UX designer” printed on my company business cards, I worked a number of years feeling sure I would lose my current position — that someone would find me out for the fraud I was. Two graduate degrees and no amount of experience could remove that fear. I felt everyone else was better than me. I used to have anxiety attacks before presenting designs. …

The first time I ever saw a doctor refuse to shake someone’s hand, for me, was the equivalent of sighting some rare species or witnessing a key historical event. I was escorting an associate to our research offices one morning when I spotted our medical director approaching us in the lobby. As he approached he held his hand out, but not in the way you would hold your hand out if you were signaling a hand-shake. Dr. Callahan was holding his hand out in a halting fashion — as if to tell us we should not come closer. He quickly followed this gesture by stating he had recently been ill and didn’t want to make anyone else ill. He remained about 3–4 feet away from us while we spoke. …

In late April I was asked to participate in a question and answer session for Brooksource, a national staffing agency whom I have worked with extensively in the past. The session was one of many they have orchestrated and designed as a means to educate and help new designers in their career path. I always enjoy these types of sessions and feel an obligation to help those designers who will, someday, replace me. The following is what I drafted for my session, entitled, “Nobody Told Me UX Was Going to be Like This.”

A few years ago, I wrote an article titled, “Do You Really Want to be a UX Designer?”. It wasn’t an article to talk people out of becoming designers. That wasn’t my intention and that isn’t my intention here either. The central tenet of that article was that certain truths are self-evident within the design profession. Those truths, however, do not become self-evident until one has developed a certain level of experience in the field and they’ve taken the time to reflect on that experience. This article is an attempt to share those reflections with you. …

I rarely ever dig into the detriments of working in healthcare design. Those critiques are usually buried in some article touting the benefits of working in this industry. But after many years as a healthcare designer, it’s easy to spot the negative aspects of the job.

On a long enough timeline, familiarity accentuates the imperfections.

It’s like my first house. The showing went well and I remember thinking how perfect it would be for my daughter, our new dog and myself. It had been freshly painted and carpeted. It was clean and empty with a huge backyard that was freshly trimmed. …

The San Antonio riverwalk was most beautiful in the early morning before it became overly populated with tourists, sailors and shoppers. It was my last morning there and I wanted to enjoy one more walk along the river before my noon flight. I was a tourist in a certain sense. But the trip had been mostly business for me, conducting user research with the veteran’s Administration.

My co-worker, Sebastian decided to join me this morning, having spotted me in the lobby. I was mildly annoyed because I wanted to take in the beautiful scenery on my own. …