shame n. A painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. v. To make someone feel ashamed. In her TED talk Listening to Shame, vulnerability researcher Brené Brown exposes the truth about shame: we all feel it. Shame gets in our way. It negatively impacts how we treat [Keep Reading…]
Speaking Up
Two days ago, a prominent designer named Sarah Parmenter published a post titled Speaking Up, in which she revealed the horrific harassment she has endured as a public woman in technology. Sarah and I have spoken at the same conferences and share a lot of the same friends, and I have admired her ability to [Keep Reading…]
Hostess treats their customers as badly as they treat their employees
If you haven’t heard, Hostess is filing for bankruptcy. Hostess Brands, known for making iconic snacks such as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos, is closing its plants, letting go of 18,000 workers, and totally liquidating its assets. A massive union strike and tremendous debt brought them here. But underneath it all, the real reason [Keep Reading…]
The People Who Were Killed By Hurricane Sandy
[Updated: Thursday, November 22, 12:58am ET] My deepest gratitude to New York Magazine for publishing my memorial to the people who lost their lives to Hurricane Sandy. Their researchers have helped to fill in some of the blanks on previously unidentified victims. You can continue to find the latest information here, as I have been [Keep Reading…]
If VCs Understood UX…
They would… …value design, not design value. …seek out mentality, not ideas. …fund process, not product. …demand customer insights, not instincts. …prep for testing days, not demos days. …commission research, not follow trends. …study anthropology, sociology and psychology, not just management, economics and statistics. …foster collaboration, not competition. …care about people, not percentages. …cherish sign-ins, [Keep Reading…]
The Thief and The Healer
I was on Skype conducting a stakeholder interview with a client in London when my boyfriend returned to the apartment. He had just left for an appointment 5 minutes earlier. “So sorry to bother you, honey,” he whispered, “but your car was broken into.” I went deaf for a moment as my client continued answering [Keep Reading…]
When a Design Firm Fails
When I got off the phone with them, I felt the need to rage eat. This is never a good sign. Instead I chose to pour myself a glass of wine. Three weeks in and I’ve yet to have any shred of contact with the designer who’s actually doing the work. Instead the mockups are [Keep Reading…]
Alan Alda falls victim to McAfee’s dreadful customer experience
A month ago, my mom forwarded me an article from the New York Times that I only got around to reading now (as is known to happen with forwards from Mom). Turns out she picked a good one: a forehead-slapper about acclaimed actor Alan Alda’s helluva time canceling his McAfee email monitoring: Theater of the [Keep Reading…]
Why Guess? A Familiar Screenplay
CUT TO: INT. SCREEN SHARING MEETING – DAY A client shows their consultant the progress they’ve made on a redesign. They want the consultant’s feedback before it’s too late. CLIENT Currently the user does A, then B, then C. Now the user will be able to do C, then A, then B. We don’t think [Keep Reading…]
The plain numbers about women in tech – The VCs
I’m not much for the “women in tech” stuff — preferring to prove equality rather than beg for it — but sometimes the gender imbalance in this industry is so damaging that it would be unethical for me to not call it out. About a year ago, I wrote a blog post titled The Plain [Keep Reading…]
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