As I was going over the Triboro Bridge on the way to JFK on Friday, I saw a metal staircase high above the traffic that construction workers use to access the top of the bridge tower. Seeing it from a distance made me appreciate for the first time that a staircase is great design. It’s [...]

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I have always wanted to be the woman who doesn’t feel the need to talk about women’s issues.
I have always wanted to be the woman in business whom people describe as an astute leader and force to be reckoned with without ever being called a “woman in business.”
I have always wanted to be the woman [...]

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I’m talking about the verbs, not the nouns. To design. To architect. To engineer. These words are often conflated — a common source of despair for those of us in the related fields, misunderstood and misidentified.
This issue has been tackled by many people far more seasoned and insightful than me. But if I may be [...]

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I subscribe to one daily newspaper, two weekly magazines, three monthly magazines and 42 RSS feeds. I receive about 100 non-spam emails per day on my personal account and 50-75 on my work account. I have more than 50 books on my bookcase at home waiting to be read.
I spend an inordinate amount of time [...]

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I’ve never been completely convinced that personas are a valuable design tool. And I think that’s because I’ve been confused all along.
To me, personas are the total sum of silly names, stock photography and forced lists of likes and dislikes. The act of creating the personas is worthwhile because I solidify in my mind who [...]

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