Ahh, the start of the New Year—so full of hope, promise, and a million downloads of the trendiest habit-tracking app. Funny, then, that my own logged results for January 1st would first appear as either a slip up or a total, abject failure at goal-setting. But is it?
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Auckland 2017 - much aroha for my new city
On becoming a NZ Dual Citizen (Part 2)
Jandals, togs, and a chilly bin.
Garage Projects, Behemoths, and Liberty.
Black sands and Black Caps.
Fertile soil to clay.
New Zealand welcomes me in today.
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Formula 1 Farewell (2024)
Why I applied for NZ Citizenship before the US Election (Part 1)
Don’t complain; do somethign about it. And I did. It is the 31st of October 2024, fitting—perhaps—that it is Halloween Day and I am one click away from submitting my application for NZ [Dual] Citizenship.
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Long-term Design
Before today, I had only briefly been made aware of this push to redirect capital-D “Design” away from being a driver for increased consumption and commercial growth under the guise of helping our fellow humans and more towards “Post Anthropocene” Design (ie. where/when “human activities no longer exceed the planetary limits”). How this works in practice will take me much more time to digest, but this paper on “Considering environmental and ethical concerns in the design of interactive products" lays out the arguments and scene quite well and that is simply what I want to recommend you do today… read it.
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Strategy is the lens to distinguish opportunity from distraction
Imagine this… You’re playing the popular board game Settlers of Catan. Your objective is to earn enough victory points to win, and the primary means of doing so is building settlements and cities. These settlements and cities take certain resources to build; resources that you’ll need to collect and save up for. But what should you buy? What should you build? Well… what is your strategy?
Read MoreOur Discovery to Delivery Model - click to enlarge (or copy and share 🤓)
The Discovery to Delivery Model
Little more than a simplified, visual mashup of the Double Diamond design process, a Build-Measure-Learn development loop, and an overly lightweight representation of delivering a solution to market - but that’s the point. I needed to illustrate how a transformation programme could align their next phase of work, and these combined processes seemed to best frame the outcomes we were after...
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Let’s spruce up the blog with a GIF for once whilst a certain music video from ‘99 comes to mind…
Learn to Fly or: How I learned to stop feeling like a failure and love the process
Throw away your list of failed experiments, the projects that didn’t get off the ground, the books or screenplays that failed to sell. Keep the lessons you’ve learned in mind, but recognise that it may simply have been the approach, the pitch, or the conditions at the time that were not optimal for success - the idea may still have legs.
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Research the right things the first time with well-crafted research questions
A research question is not a question you’d ask a user or customer in an interview, survey, or any other study. A research question is what you need to learn to help you or your stakeholders make a good, data-informed decision. So, how do we define research questions in such a way that both guides our studies and reminds us that there’s more than one way to get those answers when the goal is helping stakeholders learn?
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Flower bouquet image courtesy of Francisco Menéndez via Wikimedia Commons.
Task-based personas to the rescue!
Created just-in-time around specific [and hopefully validated] scenarios and needs. Heavy hitting and unambiguous with their core values and present emotional situation clearly on display. Task-based personas give product and design teams the context they need for strong ideation, and here's an example why...
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Getting hired - a job interview guide
Recently, one of my colleagues came to me seeking tips and advice on how to approach job interviews so that they could have the best chance of getting a few offers to choose from. So, in reflecting on all of the advice I’ve received, read, and practiced over the years related to job searching, applying, and interviewing, I decided to combine it all down into one extensive guide that I could share with them and anyone else currently in the arduous job hunt. The sections in this guide cover my three key preparations for successful job interviews: interview skills, common job interview questions, and creative and challenging questions to ask…
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A PrinterNOx nitric oxide monitoring device with a red light showing above an “Alarm” light label
Anti-recovery medical device design
If you’re near a smoke detector in your home, go press the Test button now. Hear (or remember) that shrill tone that all but guarantees you wince in pain as soon as it starts going off? Now imagine that you’re a fragile, sick patient lying on a hospital bed (not to mention being a preterm baby) and are suddenly bombarded with that ear-piercing wail emanating mere feet from your head - that’s not detrimental to your recovery, no, not at all…
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Episode 1 — The UX of Bars & Pubs
Pour us another round!
The UX of Bars & Pubs — Everyday Experiences Podcast (#1)
In this pilot episode of the Everyday Experiences Podcast, an overly-excited Geoff Wilson is joined by the eloquent Guy Thompson to dive into dive bars—exploring the design choices that influence bar patrons and tenders for better or worse. Hey barkeep, pour us another round!
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Dymo label maker with label scraps on the table alongside scissors and a tape measure. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Why I'm re-branding from UX to HCD
ISO-9241-210 defines User Experience (UX) as “A person's perceptions and responses resulting from the use and/or anticipated used of a product, system, or service,” but alas, the time has finally come for me to make a change in labelling what I do…
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Two women sitting on a couch talking, one holding some paper, a pen, and pointing at the other woman’s iPad
Reflecting on design feedback advice
At some point or another you'll be asked to review someone else's work, but there are some key differences between giving strategic level advice versus prescriptive design feedback. I recently came across a short article by Fabricio Teixeira on that specific topic, and the following key questions rang true in my head around what to consider when reviewing and providing feedback to any team…
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