2012 started off with a bang and my mind has been moving at a million miles a minute ever since. I managed to miss a few important milestones and never got around to taking the time to reflect on the year here. I suppose I decided that dwelling on the past (even if it yielded some benefit) shouldn’t take precedent over working on the future.
But I’m a fan of tying things up with a nice little bow on top…maybe I need it in order to fully move on. So I’ll keep it short.
January 7, 2012 marked my 4th anniversary on Twitter. Joining Twitter completely changed my life and it continues to have a huge impact on my work every day. Whatever you think about the new design or the lack of features on the apps, or whatever silly complaint you might have about it, this asymmetrical chat room we call Twitter is ultimately about one thing and one thing only: people. People connecting with people they would never have had access to, would never have been able to communicate with so fluidly, so frequently, and so intimately if Twitter had never existed. And for that I’m incredibly thankful. [On my 1 year anniversary on Twitter]
January 10, 2012 marked the 4th anniversary of this blog. Pleasure and Pain was born just 3 days later, when I realized that being constrained to 140 characters wouldn’t nearly be enough for me to fully express myself to the world. The blog was unnamed for a while, but the intention has been the same since day one: bringing empathy into design and business, and stopping at nothing to defend the needs of the people who use our products. It has been a wild ride and I can’t wait to see where things go next.
I published with a lot less frequency in 2011, largely due to a significant increase in my speaking engagements and some pretty intensely awesome client projects. But when I did make the time, I found myself writing about things that I was incredibly passionate about. Many of you share those same passions, and the posts started very interesting conversations throughout the community. I’m really proud of that, and encourage all of you to do the same. Write what you know, what you believe, share it far and wide. People will respond, people will connect, and you both will be changed.
Here are my most popular posts (based on comments and views) from 2011:
- You’re not a user experience designer if…
- I’m Not Cool
- Hubs and Connectors: Understanding Networks Through Data Visualization
- Why I detest the term “Lean UX”
- Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX
- The Neighborhood Business Experience
- Netflix Recommends: Art & Design Documentaries
- Nationwide Insurance demonstrates user research with NationPam
- FONC and the Impostor Syndrome
- Photo of the day: Negative Floors
Thank you for being a part of my experience. Thank you for making it so pleasurable and so unexpected and uplifting and really, truly wild. I’m really looking forward to connecting much more deeply in 2012. Now let’s get to it!
Related Posts:
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- Best of the Last Two Years January 12, 2010 | 2 comments
- My 2012 Year in Review December 31, 2012 | 0 comments
- Pleasure and Pain turns 2 January 11, 2010 | 5 comments
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