by Larry | Nov 2, 2009 | Blog
In a previous post, I talked about what I called “disciplinary empathy” – the ability to get out of one’s acculturated box and see problems from the point of view of other peoples’ expertise and training. I made the observation that people I’ve run across with high...
by Karen | Oct 16, 2009 | Articles
“People know everything—everything—about what they do. They just can’t tell you.” This is the central insight of Contextual Design—and sometimes the hardest for people to understand. Every classic requirements collection technique depends on the idea that you can ask...
by Karen | Oct 16, 2009 | Articles
“People know everything—everything—about what they do. They just can’t tell you.” This is the central insight of Contextual Design—and sometimes the hardest for people to understand. The whole assumption behind requirements gathering is that it is possible to ask...
by Karen | Sep 29, 2009 | Blog
Some weeks ago I was at Connectivity Week and had the pleasure of participating on one of their keynote panels. We were talking to a self-defined audience of 50+ hardcore engineers inventing smart meters, appliances, monitors, and infrastructure that can be leveraged...
by Larry | Aug 28, 2009 | Blog
Every so often, I’m faced with the realization that something I really believe isn’t so. There’s that momentary sense of profound disorientation that forces me to stop and really think—and adjust myself to a new reality. Sure, that whole Easter Bunny realization was a...
by Hugh | Aug 14, 2009 | Blog
The Agile approach to software development has been one of the more fun innovations of the past few years. It’s fun because so much of Agile involves saying out loud truths which everyone knew but no one would acknowledge or act on. Things like: “No Product...
by Larry | Aug 3, 2009 | Blog
I heard once that our biggest mistakes buy us our most meaningful insights. Not that it’s very fun, mind you. But it’s true, we do learn from our mistakes. And for those of us who are not airline pilots or surgeons, they can be positive, career-changing insights. When...
by Hugh | Jul 26, 2009 | Blog
Every now and then a client comes to us looking for innovation—some competitor has come out with a product that’s stealing their market, or their old product is running out of steam and they need a new direction. They usually think that coming up with the innovative...
by Derek Hoiem | Jul 21, 2009 | Blog
I recently attended the Sustainable Brands 2009 conference in Monterey, CA. This is where consumer goods brand managers, agencies, and consultants all converged to talk about ways to advance and communicate corporate sustainability practices. For sustainability...
by Karen | Jul 17, 2009 | Blog
OK, I’m letting out a secret. I watch TV shows—and only mindless ones at that. I was hooked on Battlestar Galactica. My husband and I watched religiously—and now it is over. After each episode my husband would go off to Television Without Pity to read what they said...
