Blog Posts About: design

For a while now I've been fascinated by the idea of creating a single place (other than Facebook) that brings together all the things I do on the Web. That is why I created the zeitgeist page here on Common Craft - to have that single place to bring it together. At the same time, I've had a blog at leelefever.com that has become a pain to keep updated - I needed a replacement.

Recently I discovered Tumblr, which is a super-simple and lightweight way to have a blog with a minimum of effort.

Here's the deal. I blog here, I put photos on Flickr, I put videos on You Tube and updates Twitter, the list goes on. Anyway, Tumblr takes the RSS feeds from these sources and turns them into blog posts. This was a perfect replacement for my old blog - it is always updated.

Further, Tumblr makes it super-simple for me to add a new photo, video, quote, blog post, or whatever, via a handy-dandy bookmarklet. It's fast.

The Tumblr posts don't allow comments and there are only a handful of features, but they appear to be the right ones.

So, I've redirected leelefever.com to leelefever.tumblr.com - which will provide a constant flow of Lee-related bloggified fun from this point forward.

After 3+ years, Common Craft has a new design and a new platform (Drupal) - Yay! We hope you like it, we sure do.

Please kick the tires and give it a test drive while it's still got that showroom sheen. I'm sure there are some kinks to work out of the system and we'd really appreciate it if you'd let us know so we can fix 'em. Just leave a comment below. Any feedback is welcome.

Over the next little while we'll be tweaking things and posting some content that will represent where Common Craft is headed. Until then, I hope we'll hear from you.

Congrats to my friends and fellow Seattle guys Blue Flavor for getting their new company off the ground. From their site:

We're four guys with a zeal for simple, clear and effective communication and creating lasting interactive experiences.

We’re big picture thinkers, Web and mobile architects, user advocates, writers, speakers and well-respected experts. We're also fairly regular folks who think technology should work for people, not the other way around.

Blue Flavor is: Brian Fling, D. Keith Robinson, Matt May, Nick Finck. See the bio page.

We're expecting big things! No pressure! I dig the little blue leaf icon.

Boxes and Arrows: Building a Vision of Design Success

Since I started to learn a little more about Contextual Inquiry/Ethonography, it seems like it is coming up every where.

Though this article does not mention the terms above, it describes the techniques as a viable way to build and promote a vision for a project.

I find it useful to use Peter Senge’s Five Why’s. This is a very simple technique in which you ask why, and when you get a response, you ask why again. It helps you move from specific issues to uncovering larger underlying problems.

For example, let’s say you are the head of user research:
Me: Why do you think we should do a redesign?
You: Because people can’t find anything.
Me: Why can’t they find anything?
You: The navigation isn’t intuitive.
Me: Why isn’t it intuitive?
You: We didn’t do any user research when we designed it, just usability after.
Me: Why is that?
You: Well, our budget was cut…
Me: Oh? (which is what I say when I’m tired of “why�?…)
You: Well, the company doesn’t seem to value getting user feedback.

From this short conversation, I’ve learned several things. The user researcher thinks findability is a key problem, and he thinks research would help, and he feels we don’t invest in it. I can return to any of the places where I asked way, and take a different branch to find out more.

As I write about this subject, I wonder if readers are asking themselves: What does this have to do with weblogs and online communities?

My answer is that business-based weblogs and online communities must fulfill a real need to be truly successful.

As I learn about contextual inquiry, I'm discovering a way to understand that need- a way to get to the real issue and problems that need to be solved. Otherwise design decisions may be driven by speculation and assumptions which may waste valuable time and money in the long run.

This interview with Peter Coughlan, by Mark Hurst of GoodExperience.com, provides a good look at the "broken" state of hospitals and how his company IDEO works with hospitals to improve.

Having a Masters in Health Administration, I hold this stuff close to heart. I think there are incredible opportunities to help hospitals improve and I like the way Peter describes their process.

Ordinarily the hospital spends a year or two in committee, create what they think is the perfect team process, and then goes out and tries it and fails. At IDEO we say, "fail early to succeed sooner." So after a half hour bringing into the field, we see how colleagues use it. Then we come back and revise it. So we get rapid prototyping in place. Previously it was death by committee.