Pleasure and Pain

Improving the human experience one day at a time

Pleasure and Pain: photos by Whitney G. Hess

Entries from July 31st, 2010

An Event Apart Minneapolis 2010

July 31st, 2010 · 4 Comments · Conferences

I had the distinct pleasure of presenting at An Event Apart 2009 in Boston and Chicago (read about my experience), so imagine my delight when Jeffrey and Eric asked me to reprise my talk this year in Minneapolis and San Diego!

AEA attendees are a tough crowd — they’re already smart, successful and very well-informed on [...]


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Fun Times in Mini-Apple-Us

July 31st, 2010 · 3 Comments · Digressions, Travel

When I was asked to speak at An Event Apart Minneapolis, I thought, “An Event Apart, yes! Minneapolis, whatever.” I wasn’t expecting much from my trip to the Twin Cities — but I was dead wrong.
Flying over Minnesota for the first time a week ago today, all I could see was a flat expanse of [...]


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Inspiration and Aspiration

July 27th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Career

The words inspiration and aspiration are often used interchangeably, and I think it’s important that we draw a clearer distinction.
Inspiration is defined as, “the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something.”
Aspiration is, “a hope or ambition of achieving something.”
Stimulation versus ambition. Excitement versus action. And most significantly, external versus internal.
Inspiration is [...]


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Wondering? Ask me on Formspring!

July 25th, 2010 · No Comments · Community

I recently set up an account on Formspring, a site that lets people ask and answer questions about anything at all. I’ve been asked 17 questions so far, and I’ve answered every one.

So if you want to ask me something about user experience, consulting, writing, life in New York City, or whatever else is on [...]


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When You Startup With UX

July 24th, 2010 · No Comments · Articles

On Wednesday, UX Magazine published my article, When You Startup with UX — a look into how a few successful startups are integrating user experience practices.
I posed 5 questions to 5 people (4 folks at 3 different startups and 1 venture capitalist) to find out how they think about UX and what it means [...]


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