In the web design world, we have a tool called personas—fictional characters that are stand-ins for our target user groups. Some designers love ‘em and some hate ‘em, but when we use personas at the right time in the right way, they can be a useful way to help…
I’ve interviewed several community managers now, and so far there’s one thing they have in common. They’re really, really nice. They’re the kind of people you hope to sit next to at a dinner party; they are socially at ease, and when the conversation falters, they know how to…
Cloud computing, the concept in which scalable resources are offered as an online service, has attracted many powerful players in the last few years. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and even Amazon have gotten into the game. But none of these leaders have been able offer the breadth of services as…
It’s no secret that in our Bay Area you can’t swing a cat without hitting a user experience or interaction designer (who will then design you an environmentally friendly, ergonomic Cat Swinger with real-time Twitter feed integration). Last month, I was in Vancouver for the Interaction Design Association’s…
