1 Ohhh... This is why 37 Signals recommends writers turned to devs...

Writers (competent writers) never stop thinking about their “users’” perspectives.

posted at 03:30 pm on September 09, 2008 by Erik Reppen

2 Blurring my eyes to see the second perspective

Wow… pretty in depth I definitely will be picking up the book. I love everything i read in the article, but i often have to work on projects, and in an environment that is unorganized, and everything is due “yesterday”. I am trying to implement change, so that our user experience is better.

Thank you for the article it will serve as a great resource.

~ Aaron I

posted at 03:42 pm on September 09, 2008 by Aaron Irizarry

3 Ladies or Hourglass

Stepping back is always a good thing, but sometimes, for me, it helps to have a second opinion. Not a good one, but a negative one. If somebody shoots down your paradigm, it can help you to step out side of it, and look at things from a more critical perspective. Meditation, as silly as it sounds can help too. If you learn to relax, you naturally shut down all of your minds natural problem solving skills, and your subconscious takes over.

posted at 05:39 pm on September 09, 2008 by Zen Sand Garden

5 In-depth

I really like that the articles here on ALA is getting more in-depth, more distant from the “Top CSS Tricks” you see elsewhere. Topics like this needs some dwelling and afterthought – which is good. I’ll read this article once more to get a deeper understanding of the topic.

posted at 08:07 pm on September 09, 2008 by Tor Løvskogen

6 A breath of fresh air

Wow, a very interesting article. I like it when I’m challenged to use other strategies and this article sparked a lot of ideas on that for me. This goes into my bookmarks. Great writing. Thanks.

posted at 06:26 am on September 11, 2008 by Paul Baarn

7 Reading minds and people

I loved this article. It pretty much tells what I try to explain my clients all the time. And by “clients” I mean “even coworkers”... and by “all the time” I mean “even when they don’t want to get it”.

It’s amazing how easy it is to solve problems and get to the bottom of projects by at least trying to understand people a bit more; let alone really spending time thinking about them and their needs. I have a design firm, and managing clients, designers or deadlines isn’t the hard part, what’s hard is getting what the project should be about, instead of what the client thinks it’s about, or what we want it to be without thinking about the needs it’ll solve.

Creative briefs and old-fashioned meetings are sill my best friends at Bright Bright Great :)

posted at 05:56 pm on September 11, 2008 by Jocelyn Ibarra

8 Great article

Very interesting article. Thank you :) !

posted at 08:54 am on September 12, 2008 by Robin Jakobsson

9 When we used to do surveys

My company used to do consumer surveys, and the results were often amazing … and quite a bit different from what was expected.

Part of the “trick” of surveys, of course, is to ask questions and get answers without giving the surveyee any ideas. You just want the straight, unfiltered answer. That’s the data that will serve you well.

posted at 08:15 am on September 14, 2008 by Diane Vigil

10 I'm with you!

User experience design is a relatively new practice – as such I think we can learn from many other disciplines.

Business: The first rule is knowing your audience to uncover and then fulfill their unmet needs and desires.

Anthropology: Not only should we be listening to the audience, but closely observing them, in context. It’s not what they say they do, it’s what they do.

Acting: It’s not all Hollywood and Botox. Actors may analyse the script, to create a world for their character, detailing their thoughts, feelings, desires and motivations.

Putting the “end-user” at the forefront of the mind is of utmost importance. We can do this by constantly reminding our clients of their perspective, and as you say, meditating or “acting” their experiences and then, document them to articulate their voice.

Great article!

posted at 11:17 pm on September 14, 2008 by sharon lee