telbel's rambles

My awesome new cubie, from even awesomer @tylersticka - love...

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:29:09 -0500

My awesome new cubie, from even awesomer @tylersticka - love it:-) (Taken with instagram)

First morning in Portland:-) (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:03:52 -0400

First morning in Portland:-) (Taken with instagram)

Yeah! @8faces has landed in Seattle! (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 21:29:29 -0400

Yeah! @8faces has landed in Seattle! (Taken with instagram)

Pomegranate perfection. (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:44:24 -0400

Pomegranate perfection. (Taken with instagram)

Best fail-screen ever?#fail (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:48:00 -0400

Best fail-screen ever?#fail (Taken with instagram)

Ah,we have arrived.

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 20:38:45 -0400

Ah,we have arrived.

Discovery on a Budget

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 19:22:10 -0400

As a user experience designer, one of the things that excites me the most is sitting down with a client to define the problems they are solving for. Understanding why greatly shapes what and how.

For smaller web projects and blogs, often driven by tight budgets and great urgency, the importance of proper project discovery is easily overlooked.

Working sessions
When delivering right is equally as important as delivering fast, I love doing collaborative discovery and information architecture sessions with clients and team-mates.

The working sessions offer great benefits to designers and clients alike; designers get first hand experience with actual pain-points, and clients have direct impact on solutions as they are developed. Business owners are required, prior web experience is not.

A shared vocabulary
In the working-session critical business problems are discussed, needs prioritized, navigation materializes on post-it notes, and badly sketched wireframes take shape on white-boards. Menus can be tested on the fly, and nothing is quite as cathartic as erasing troublesome content-modules the second they bother somebody. Post-it notes in the trash, white-board erased, and we move on.

A shared vocabulary evolves naturally, covering requirements, priorities, navigation schemes, what wireframes are and how to read them. Industry standard terms are very useful , but if “Blog-Roll” feels awkward to a client, why not call it “Influence’s Corner”?

The shared vocabulary ensures we all move forward with the same understanding and intent, and I deliver structural documentation with notations by the end of the day.

Time-saver
A well executed discovery session will save time and effort as the project progresses, as it grounds design and development in clear project goals. And it encourages continuous iteration -all collaborators understand the goals of the project, suggestions are easily measured against goals and priorities, and incorporated if they hit the mark.

Oak Harbor Library - with these views who is going to get any...

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:39:53 -0400

Oak Harbor Library - with these views who is going to get any work done? #distracted (Taken with instagram)

Awwwww, melons! (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:25:23 -0400

Awwwww, melons! (Taken with instagram)

Finding my voice

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:52:00 -0400

Understanding how to write about my work is challenging my sensibilities. All of them.

While I dive head first into UX projects with delight, curiosity and at times inordinate amounts of gesturing (for example, I get visibly excited when building navigation schemes), when writing about it, I sound clinical.

Problem areas:

I don’t own my actions, I avoid “I” statements at any cost
I don’t use active verbs, preferring statements like “a framework was established” rather than “I create”
When in doubt (which is about 90% of the time), I default to industry jargon I would never use if I was speaking to a living, breathing human being. Statements like “delivering customer satisfaction” does not come close to describing how I lose track of time while conducting an audit of your web property.

My husband is an avid 43 folders reader. After a conversation over breakfast this morning, he sent me a link to a post titled “Cranking”. It is a beautiful essay. It made me wonder what I do when I’m cranking.

Writing is my cranking. I approach it with resentment and a word-count in mind. I carefully consider points I *must* cover, and wonder how many times I have to re-read a sentence before I can give in and accept it. I forget that what motivates every other action in my life, is an appreciation for how it will make my life better, more interesting, more fulfilling. (This even applies to something as mundane as brushing my teeth after too much wine - having my teeth 30 years from now will make my life better, I’ve had that talk with myself).

Because my approach to writing is shit, I write shit. The beauty of this statement is that I don’t have to be a shitty writer.

In my UX work I collaborate, iterate, question, solve, re-solve all the time. This is off course how I should approach writing as well.

My very smart husband - Daniel - also suggested I take design out of the equation, and just publish what I’m writing as I’m writing it - so Tumblr it is.

Taken with instagram

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:54:42 -0400

Taken with instagram

Surprisingly comfortable cross-atlantic flight with #icelandair,...

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:05:59 -0400

Surprisingly comfortable cross-atlantic flight with #icelandair, will be flying with you again! (Taken with instagram)

And this is the cottage I’ll be retiring to, oh 35 or so...

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:12:46 -0400

And this is the cottage I’ll be retiring to, oh 35 or so years from now… (Taken with Instagram at Hvaler)

It’s 10.15 pm and the sun is contemplating setting....

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:27:14 -0400

It’s 10.15 pm and the sun is contemplating setting. Contemplating, not committing. #innorway (Taken with instagram)

#innorway - 1200 years later, form and function still impresses....

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:35:13 -0400

#innorway - 1200 years later, form and function still impresses. (Taken with Instagram at Oslo)

#inNorway - Seat belts are mandatory, also for dogs. (Taken with...

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:01:29 -0400

#inNorway - Seat belts are mandatory, also for dogs. (Taken with instagram)

Bridal trails, WA (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:43:15 -0400

Bridal trails, WA (Taken with instagram)

Still looking amazing and rocking the kitchen! (Taken with...

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:02:32 -0400

Still looking amazing and rocking the kitchen! (Taken with instagram)

Peonies from @melrosemark - my new favorites:-) (Taken with...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:21:01 -0400

Peonies from @melrosemark - my new favorites:-) (Taken with instagram)

Amazing flowers from @MelroseMarket - thank you Mary &...

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 20:41:17 -0400

Amazing flowers from @MelroseMarket - thank you Mary & Vincent! (Taken with instagram)