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.

Whoops, Your UX Is Showing

Back in my days as an advertising copywriter, one of the rote insults—and we had a bunch—was “Whoops, your strategy is showing.” It was generally reserved for an ad deemed too obvious in its creative execution.

I was reminded of this recently after coming across three different, highly transactional sites that  trumpeted changes to either interface or interaction design based on user research.

I Am (an urban) Legend

Have you heard the one about the guy who dropped his iPhone in the toilet? And then dried it out with rice?

We Are Not User Experience Designers if We Are Not Talking to Users

So says Whitney Hess and Huang Qinghong:

"You guys sitting on couches in air-conditioned offices, sipping tea, smoking cigarettes and coming up with buying tickets online, have you ever considered our lives? Have you experienced the agony of buying tickets?"

Read more about the Not-So-Happy New Year: Rail Website Woes In China.

Blue Collar IA

My unique take on User Experience Design. Coming soon...

On UXD: Tom Wolfe

The Relationship Between Poor UX & Lost Revenue

Went to my local gas station/carwash this morning. Not my favorite place to either fill up or wash my car, but its easy-to-get-to location and combination of the two services make it a popular destination and give it a significant competitive advantage.

The story with this place is the same as it is in most towns: Premium gas prices due to a wash on premises. They're always a few cents more than competitors just a few miles down the road in either direction because the nearest wash is ~5 miles away.

Alas, their point of difference is also their Achilles' heel.

On UXD: Bill Maher

June 10, 2011 New Rule: Country Crock

On UXD: Michael Palin

Radio, Radio

Inspired Inspired by a recent series of blog posts by Luke Sullivan, I revisited my radio reel. Frankly, it hasn’t seen the light of day in years because I haven’t been getting hired to write spots. It's all about the digital these days.

A Work in Progress

Trying to put together something that represents the kind of work that I do for the gazillions of agencies (and their clients) that I do it for.

I Am Jack Kerouac, if Only for the Morning

Up early, out the door and in downtown Michigan City, Indiana, to catch the Southshore to Chicago for a day spent working on the reel. (Hellava sentence, that one.) The sky is a perfect blue—the kind of blue that pairs so nicely with the lake that’s just a few blocks away. I figure that I better take this all in now because it will make for a nice mental respite during the long hours of a looming editing session spent deep inside a downtown skyscraper.

Showing the Work

As someone who subcontracts for large agencies, as well as services his own clients (thereby hiring subcontractors), I’ve always been conflicted about what work to show and how to show it.

Tick Tock

As the remaining hours of 2009 tick away, I'm trying to finish a new reel that will showcase some of my work over the past decade or so. Wishing myself luck as no one else knows about this blog!