Thank you so much to the ~28 people who showed up for the twenty-first week of Whit Hour — my weekly one-hour video chat to answer any and all of your questions about user experience, consulting, and whatever else you throw at me.
Tune in every Monday night from 10-11pm Eastern Time at http://www.livestream.com/whithour.
Whit Hour – Week 21
December 13, 2010, from 10:20-11:20pm ET
This Week’s Beer
Had a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale off camera
Questions Asked and (Hopefully) Answered
- I have a general question about advertising – ie when first starting out, how do you get your name out there and find clients?
- You give lots of talks and presentations. How’d you learn to become a good speaker, and any advice on structuring presentations about UX topics?
- How do you handle an audience question that stumps you?
- i’m a web designer with an understanding of UX i’ve gained from being in the weeds. i feel like i need a more formal education – good books to get some advanced ideas?
- What was the latest UX book that you found really interesting?
- When will you write a book Whit?
- I’d love to hear more on how to create a consulting business
- How do you enjoy working at LooseCubes vs come-and-go client work? Is it fun for you to plan/see it evolve?
- Have you worked with clients on ‘agile’ projects? If so, did you have good experiences / bad experiences?
- How does your current team learn from mistakes?
- Coming from a graphic design background myself, could you talk about the essential skills for a UX designer?
- if graphic designers create posters etc.what are the equivalents for a UX designer, wireframes?
- What are some small, interesting NYC-based UX agencies?
Full Text Chat
mortvia: Hi all!
whitneyhess mod: Anyone here?
whitneyhess mod: Hi J!
stillpixels: hello!
Javalion: Hello.
David Siegfried: Hi Whitney!
Andrew Maier: Evening
Andrew Maier: Oh crap, an ad.
vanshea: Good evening!
rowast: Hey Whit and others
maryspecht: I’m not hearing any sound. Anyone else having this problem?
stillpixels: I have a general question about advertising – ie when first starting out, how do you get your name out there and find clients?
mortvia: I have sound
rowast: I have sounds, except now I have the sound of an ad
Andrew Maier: I am
johnlabriola: i have sound
maryspecht: Ah, I just refreshed and now have sound. Strange.
stillpixels: cheers thank you!
maryspecht: You give lots of talks and presentations. How’d you learn to become a good speaker, and any advice on structuring presentations about UX topics?
rowast: How are you when talking to people like this? When it’s off the cuff and you don’t see people.
maryspecht: Haha! Exit strategies. :)
mortvia: How do you handle an audience question that stumps you?
michaelaleo: i’m a web designer with an understanding of UX i’ve gained from being in the weeds. i feel like i need a more formal education – good books to get some advanced ideas?
maryspecht: Yes, that’s great!
Javalion: What was the latest UX book that you found really interesting?
sarahcooley: hey whitney :)
johnlabriola: @michaelaleo – she wrote a good blog post with a bunch of links https://whitneyhess.com/blog/2009/06/30/so-you-wanna-be-a-user-experience-designer-step-1-resources/
michaelaleo: john, thanks – i own a lot of those and have read more… i guess i’m looking for which might be more beneficial…
mortvia: Good to know!
johnlabriola: hey whit, welcome
michaelaleo: michael :P
michaelaleo: i get everything in don’t make me think for instance, but clients expect me to be a subject matter expert, not just familiar, if that makes sense
whitneyhess mod: https://whitneyhess.com/blog/2008/07/19/ux-bookshelf/
michaelaleo: so if there’s a textbook per se, that’s what i’d be looking for :)
David Siegfried: When will you write a book Whit?
whitneyhess mod: http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Mihaly-Csikszentmihalyi/dp/0060920432
johnlabriola: Did you read How We Decide?
mortvia: It’s worth reading, along with The Paradox of Choice
David Siegfried: :P
stillpixels: I’d love to hear more on how to create a consulting business
Andrew Maier: How do you enjoy working at LooseCubes vs come-and-go client work? Is it fun for you to plan/see it evolve?
David Siegfried: Thanks for answering that Whitney.
Javalion: Have you worked with clients on ‘agile’ projects? If so, did you have good experiences / bad experiences?
John: How do you survive without an ***?
michaelaleo: john and mortvia, those looks great too, thank you!
michaelaleo: no you didn’t, holy crap.
mortvia: @michaelaleo: another good one is The Design of Business by Roger Martin
@franciscohui: Hi Whitney, just joined in. Wish that Livestream would keep a top line outline of what has been covered already.
@franciscohui: living expenses or business expenses?
johnlabriola: @michaelaleo you might like Persuasive Technology too
@franciscohui changed their nickname to Francisco.
stillpixels: inspiring as always – thanks dude!
Andrew Maier: I ask because I’ve worked with startups for nearly 2 years and I love it.
Andrew Maier: It sounds delightful!
Andrew Maier: I’m excited for you, I’m looking forward to seeing it evolve.
Javalion: Thanks.
vanshea: How does your current team learn from mistakes?
Francisco: only from the beginning of this session.
Francisco: Coming from a graphic design background myself, could you talk about the essential skills for a UX designer?
Andrew Maier: (This is typical of a startup, if I might add)
vanshea: Shared vision-right!
whitneyhess mod: https://whitneyhess.com/blog/2009/11/23/so-you-wanna-be-a-user-experience-designer-step-2-guiding-principles/
apsinn: I live in London but am currently visiting family in the US so this is my first Whit hour! I think we can’t watch the uploaded videos from the UK. Or am I missing something??
Francisco: ah. I guess I was looking for the types of deliverables. ie. if graphic designers create posters etc.what are the equivalents for a UX designer, wireframes?
stillpixels: I watch fine from Australia..
John: I watch fine from the UK – live and archived.
apsinn: (My name is April) Possibly, I’ll try again when I get back in Jan :) and let you know!
Andrew Maier: I would say: Personas, Design Strategies, User Flows, Storyboards
Andrew Maier: That’s where I start, always.
whitneyhess mod: Personas, Scenarios, Feature Set, Product Strategy, Design Principles, Sitemap, Flow Diagrams, Wireframes
Andrew Maier: Something I’ve been meaning to do is a list of all the itneraction patterns I’ve *done* and what I’d like to do…not for a particular client but so that I can jumpstart a certain train of thought.
whitneyhess mod: Web Metrics Plan, Functional Specifications, Style Guides
Andrew Maier: (That’s a bit obscure)
Francisco: inspire. =D
Francisco: yeah. that’s very helpful.
Andrew Maier: Whitney, for a func. spec. is that something in pivotal tracker…or a document?
Andrew Maier: Does that make sense?
Andrew Maier: So, like the patterns I’ve worked on in the past.
Andrew Maier: Exactly.
Andrew Maier: I’ve got to go, everyone
Andrew Maier: Goodnight guys!
Andrew Maier: Bye, Whitney!
Andrew Maier: A pleasure.
Andrew Maier: Oh jesus.
Andrew Maier: Hahaha
Andrew Maier: Yeah, next brunch! Later!
Francisco: NYC agencies?
David Siegfried: Thanks Whitney!
Francisco: small interesting ones.
whitneyhess mod: Behavior, Moment
whitneyhess mod: Lab49
whitneyhess mod: HUGE, Hard Candy Shell
whitneyhess mod: Method
whitneyhess mod: Roundarch
jnymck: Gotta run, just wanted to pop in and say hi! Have a good night
Francisco: If you were to teach a class. what would be the first assignment?
vanshea: big spaceship
vanshea: pez
David Siegfried: Thank you!
Francisco: thanks!
David Siegfried: Have a great evening
David Siegfried: !
mortvia: Thanks!
Javalion: Thanks for the great talk! First time joining. I’ll be sure to join next time.
apsinn: Thanks, will try to tune in again and catch up while I’m here in the mean time :)
John: Will you blow me a kiss?
David Siegfried: I thought beer used to be involved…
David Siegfried: I drank one anyway
JOIN ME NEXT WEEK
Monday, December 20, 10-11pm Eastern Time at http://www.livestream.com/whithour, and bring your questions!
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