1. Dan Brown on self-awareness for designers

    “Designers should have self-awareness. They should intimately understand not only their strengths and weaknesses, but other aspects of their personalities and preferences that impact their projects.” Ask yourself:

    • What’s the most effective way for me to get feedback?
    • How much time do I need to dedicate to brainstorming?
    • What cadence of design and delivery suits my style?
    • How much control do I need to have over a project?
    • How quickly can I adapt to new circumstances?
    • Are you a big-picture person or a details person?
    • How dogmatic are you about techniques and methods?
    • How comfortable are you performing with less than optimal inputs?

    via http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/03/soft-skills-for-ux-designers.php

  2. Lest we think only the experts can design and innovate.

    The students researched what their peers wanted in terms of school furniture, sketched out their ideas, created 3D computer models and physical mock-ups, and learned about appropriate materials and manufacturing techniques.

    This video lets you hear about and see the sketches and prototypes - first on paper and then in 3D - that these 8th graders created to present and test their ideas.

    Via The Tools at Schools design education program via  smartplanet 

  3. Why Distinct Icon Outlines Help Users Scan Faster →

  4. A simplified history of user experience

    A Steady Trend:

    • Human-computer interaction is about paying attention to people and their relationship with computing.
    • Information architecture is about making things findable.
    • Interaction design is about making things usable.
    • Content strategy is about making things meaningful.
    • Experience design is about making things seamless.
    • Persuasive design is about making things influential.

    The trend goes towards deeper meanings and bigger impacts.

    As the design discipline gets better at the basics of understanding and enabling behavior, it moves towards creating meaningful impacts by influencing behavior. But this influence must be built on top of successes in the more basic elements of UX such as good research and seamless usability.

    Via Lauren Baxter 

  5. Robert Krulwich (and many others before him) asks, “Why can’t we walk straight?”