Animated GIFs in HTML Email

Got a nice surprise in my in-box recently from Frye Boots:

Not that I don’t look terrific in a nice pair of heels, but it was the presence of an animated GIF within an HTML email that got me so excited.

The Importance of S#!t Giving

In a previous post, I mentioned giving a shit because not enough of us do. The impetus for that statement was a particular experience last year, though it has occurred enough times over the past 10 years that it’s worth addressing.

Time to Update

As of today, I’ve put in my 20 years. That’s 240 months in marketing communications and at least four different careers. From marketing assistant to copywriter to creative director to information architect to SEO guy to user experience designer to content strategist. This particular anniversary has been weighing on me. It’s not the number of years—they’ve been spent well. Each has given to the next, even if it’s not always obvious (or pleasant). Nope, what’s bugging me is that I feel I should have a profound, 10,000-word blog post at the ready. And I don’t. Because my brain keeps getting in the way.

Responsive UI, Wearables & What’s Next for Interaction Design According to Motorola Mobility

Last week I was lucky enough to attend another great Chicago IxDA event hosted and presented by Motorola Mobility. Jim Palmer (Director of UX), Jeff DeVries (Experience Design Lead) and Nathan Fortin (Design Director) spoke for about an hour on responsive user interfaces, wearables and what’s next for interaction design in the years ahead.

Over the last year, Motorola has introduced a number of interesting handsets that successfully combine innovative industrial design and interaction design. With one recent smart phone, meta data suggested that the team’s approach to swipes, taps, voice commands and other means of interaction basically designed away the power button!

Even more interesting—and the Internet is abuzz this week with news of it—is Motorola’s venture into Android-powered watches. (Apple also has something up, or near, its sleeve as it were.)

Parallels Between Advertising Copywriting '94 & User Experience Design '14

When I first got into advertising, there were established programs for “creatives” at the collegiate level: Northwestern, Michigan State, Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and Virginia Commonwealth University’s Adcenter to name just a few.

At the same time, there were a number of upstarts that were hyper-specific to advertising copywriting and art direction: BrainCo in Minneapolis, Miami Ad School, Portfolio Center in Atlanta. Even Chicago had AdEd (where I was able to take courses with the amazing Kevin Lynch and Dave Lowe).

The Value of UX Certification

UX Matters posted an interesting article last month about the value of UX certification. This is a popular topic among user experience designers, with some veterans expressing disdain and many newbies expressing skeptical interest.

Designing Office Furnishings for Place

With NeoCon finishing up in Chicago this week (and attendees crowding me out of my Starbucks with their super-tight pants), I am reminded of a terrific talk I attended at last year’s Midwest UX in Grand Rapids.

It was a panel introduced by Mutually Human’s Samuel Bowles, moderated by Christina Wodtke and featuring Chris Hoyt from Herman Miller, Jeff Reuschel from Haworth and Ritu Bajaj from Steelcase. Each design lead brought their favorite chair to sit in for 45 minutes or so and discussed the meaning of “place” in their design efforts. Coincidentally, the theme of NeoCon 2014 was Place Matters.

Samuel Bowles introducing Christina Wodtke, Jeff Reuschel, Chris Hoyt & Ritu Bajaj.