Random Articles

• Want Better Collaboration - Improvise The earlier collaboration techniques post (Stop Asking Questions) was based a key to successful improvisation. This post digs further into the relationship between improv and collaboration. Good improvisational comedy teams believe a group of individuals working together can start with nothing and quickly create something engaging, desireable, useful, and valuable. From this perspective, the keys for
• Circling Vulture Part 2 A couple days back, I wrote a half-formed rant on the current state of department stores (Picky Customer or Circling Vulture). This morning, while skimming my blogroll [opml] in search of a pick-me-up, Hugh McLeod 1) knees me in the groin 2) points and laughs. He did both in his Cheapest or Best post. First,
• Usability Not Usable? - Part 2 “People are usually not receptive to a newcomer waltzing in and telling them they’ve been doing their jobs wrong.” Usability departments exist in a number of our client organizations. Unfortunately, their organizational structural frequently instills an adversarial relationship between the project teams and usability group. The usability group is considered an outside agency - ony evaluating
• 5 Tips For Better Customer Interviews The easiest way to collect interesting, usable data from a research effort is to blend into the background of the subject’s life. Media journalists know this - that’s why they’re embedded in the presidential campaigns and in the military actions. To give honest unselfconscious, response, subject’s need to be comfortable with researchers - as peers,
• Notes on Recruiting Talent in a Knowledge Economy As part of my work with Joe Urban, I was invited to the Minnesota Chapter of the Urban Land Institute Young Leaders Group’s panel discussion on attracting and retaining young, creative people in Minnesota. On the panel: Jeff Berg from Olson Molly Culligan from M. Culligan Associates Michael Logan from Target Philippe Vergne from Walker Art Center Jay Walljasper from