I always see these “top Twitterer” lists of people with high follower counts touted by social climbing social media DBs. Those people bore me. Instead I’m inspired by people with a unique perspective on the world around them, unique voice and style, who make me smile or think differently or challenge me to be a [Keep Reading…]
The most accurate portrayal of User Experience Designers ever created
This is possibly my favorite 1 minute and 32 seconds in the history of moving images. I got shivers at the end. Please do yourself and everyone else a favor by taking the time to watch this now, then send it to everyone who has ever asked you what a user experience designer is. ILUVUXDESIGN [Keep Reading…]
Awesome Email of the Day: I write to you, thanks to Google Translator
Passion knows no bounds. Thanks never gets lost in translation. From: Bruno Chaves To: Whitney Hess Subject: hello from brazil Date: August 4, 2010 9:04:13 AM EDT I do not know write in English. my English is very bad. But you can read;) I write to you, thanks to google translator:) I met his blog, [Keep Reading…]
Awesome Email of the Day: Increasingly dissatisfied by how little influence I feel I have
I am a very fortunate person. I feel it every day. Some days I get the most incredible emails that make me realize it even more deeply. A few months ago I got this one, and I was given the permission to reprint it. This is why I do what I do. I know so [Keep Reading…]
A Book Apart: Empowering Fuzzy Teams in 100 Pages or Less
On Sunday, I reread Jeremy Keith‘s HTML5 for Web Designers, from cover to cover, on the plane to An Event Apart San Diego. I first read it when it arrived on my doorstep in July, but I am in a different mindset now — beginning a new product adventure — and I wanted to refresh [Keep Reading…]
Inspiration and Aspiration
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 [Keep Reading…]
The Honor and Burden of Chairing a Conference
I attend a lot of conferences. Okay, more than a lot — an ungodly amount. Just check the Conferences tag on this blog. Attending them is a ball, inspirational but tiring. Speaking at them is a privilege, stressful but rewarding. Organizing them…now that isn’t something I’d wish on my worst enemy. Why? Because it’s a [Keep Reading…]
Awesome Email of the Day: How Little You Really Know
Back in February, I wrote a blog post titled How Little You Really Know. If you haven’t read it, go check it out now. I got the below email in response, and have kept it in my inbox as a reminder of why I do what I do. It’s a few months late, but I [Keep Reading…]
Being a godmother is like being a user experience designer
On April 18, 2010, Griffin James Lam Konig was born at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasett, NY, weighing in at 7 lbs 13 oz. Griffin’s mom Donna is the 39-year-old daughter of my childhood babysitter Theresa (who I’ve always called T-T). The day after Griffin came home from the hospital, twenty-seven years after Theresa [Keep Reading…]
Steal inspiration from everywhere
My friend Paul Isakson recently posted this great quotation by Jim Jarmusch, the indie filmmaker (Broken Flowers, Coffee and Cigarettes, Ghost Dog). His words so beautifully capture something I’ve felt for a long time, and I wanted to share it with all of you. “Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or [Keep Reading…]
