foxes+sparrows @foxes-sparrows - Tumblr Blog

Putting Out Fires & Other Sundry Items

You know it's bad when it takes you about 15 minutes to successfully log into your blog's editing interface. Did I mention I managed to lock myself out of the F+S Gmail account awhile back as well? Of course not, because I've been decidedly absent. Shame on me. The last few months are a total blur. So much would happen in one week that I'd lose track, thinking something happened weeks before when it had only been the previous Tuesday.

But it's been awe inspiring.

Let's see, by way of measurement, in the last 10 weeks we hosted 50 students at the new DUMBO Studio (ok, 49 because Josh was technically at his internship at CP+B in Boulder). There were another 31 in New York City working at various agencies. We had 18 teachers in the Studio (+myself) in the end, and another six in the City. From traditional ad firms and digital agencies to boutique, hi-tech production shops and a handful of talented freelancers. We were joined by 13 Monday evening guest speakers and 5 lunch guests for chats about the industry (and in many cases life at large). We had one coffee hour, a successful Portfolio Review for our recent grads (congrats to those who now have health insurance!!) and hosted IxDA New York's "Body Storming" workshops on a very windy Autumn day. We entered Young Guns and heard Jeff Goodby interview Dan Wieden + Dave Kennedy at Art Directors Club. We created original photo collage artwork for a special show at the Kalahari Gallery in Brooklyn and managed, thanks to an internship partnership with Splashlight Studios (arranged with the help of friends at Ann Taylor), to meet Steven Meisel. OK, ok. I didn't get to meet to Mr. Meisel. But my student Leo did. He told me about it with such passion that I momentarily basked in the knowledge that I'd helped make that happen. (I told him when he's a famous photographer, I'll find a way for him to return the favor.) We also had a few parties. If you ever want to see a tab v_a_n_i_s_h, meet my little chickens.

We had a few growing pains too. For example, the old gas heater…… um……. well, no one got hurt is the point. And more importantly, the electric heater is finally working. In addition to fire there was also the water, but a mini-tornado is not typical for New York. It's just not. The 4 am security system false alarms feel like years ago now. The cabinet that arrived damaged, had to be shipped back, and then delivered again has been doing its job for weeks without problem, while the vending machines only ate someone's money once. The foosball table no longer precariously teeters atop dodgy legs. Ping pong has not only arrived and thrived, but a proper tourney took place the day after classes ended. A Swede named Per took the title.

So what does this have to do with being a designer of user experiences? Everything, really. Because what we managed to accomplish this past quarter affects lives in a deep way. From internship and post-graduate job offers to renewed confidence, business etiquette and work ethic. Give me a few more quarters to work out some kinks, but we basically have a healthy, happy talent pipeline folks. That was the goal, wasn't it?

This is what I've learned in the past 10 weeks. When you design an organization, it takes care and brute force. It takes a serious number of hours, lots of patience (not my natural talent) and the ability to separate the 'big deal' stuff from the 'not so big deal' stuff, which can be hard to differentiate when burnout sets in. Designing an organization also necessitates a big dose of humility, a broad sense of humor, and a certain perverse pleasure from having your ass kicked on a normal basis. I must say, having done it, that I highly recommend it.

Thanks to everyone who shouldered the adventure of Miami Ad School New York with me this past Fall Quarter:

The chicklets, of course. Most especially my three student workers.

Studio Teachers Marcqui Akins (Photographer), Christian Behrendt (R/GA), Leif Abraham (R/GA), Hong Ko (R/GA), Leo Vladimirsky (Ogilvy), Billy Custer (Kaplan Thaler Group and most recently Carrot Creative), Abel Lenz (HUGE), Damian Claassens (AKQA and most recently Publicis Modem), Darrell Whitelaw (MIR), Dominic Espinosa (Vectorform), Roy Torres (Y&R and most recently Droga5 Sydney), Ben Levy (Strawberry Frog), Mihnea Gheorghiu (Y&R), Amee Shah (Freelance Wonder Woman), Kurt Jaskowiak (R/GA), Ken Pao (Photographer), Keith Zang (Kaplan Thaler Group) and Marci Ikeler (Publicis). Also, thanks to Steve, Paul, Ren & Ale for filling in those last few weeks.

Agency Teachers Stefan Haverkamp x2 (MRM), Nathan Archambault (AKQA), Tara Lawall (Y&R), Jeremy Straight (Concept Farm), Derekh Froude (DraftFCB) and Domenico Vitale (People, Ideas & Culture).

Guest Speakers Paul Collins (AKQA), the MIR Dudes (Darrell, Adam & Daniel), Ana Andjelic (HUGE) & Diana Hong (Createthe Group), Jordan Berkowitz (Ogilvy by way of Undercurrent), Ben Fisher (developer of seriously cool start up companies), Rachel Diesel (AKQA), Tim Nolan & David Schwarz (Hush Studios) and Jessica Baler-Greene & Ariston Anderson (HUGE).

Lunch + Learners Lars Bastholm (Ogilvy), Natalia Cade (CP+B), Rebecca Renner (AKQA), Alessandra Lariu (McCann & Co-Founder of SheSays) and Jerome Austria (W+K).

And to a hundred other people at Art Directors Club, Digital DUMBO, One Club, IxDA, Miami Ad School global staff, creative services managers, recruiters, corporate assistants, bartenders in Lower East Side and friends & family: thank you for supporting my vision. Happy holidays. I'll be asleep. :)

#Academics #Service Design

Originally published on October 20, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

Craft vs. concept. You need both. But so many companies rely on ideas (v important, of course) without making anything. So I appreciate this short snippet from Cindy Gallop.

Building Culture

Originally published on October 18, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

I can't believe a month has already passed. I don't know exactly how that happened. Since I last wrote, it's been a whirlwind of administrative activity (boring and frustrating, but a necessary evil when in start-up mode) and educational activity (thrilling).

The security alarm proceeded to go off every night between 1:30 and 4:45 am, with me on the receiving end of the dispatcher's phone call. There were two mini-tornados in Brooklyn and, apparently, we have a drainage issue. We only had one VGA cable (now we have four) and apparently for anyone's laptop to show up on the monitor in the main studio, their settings need to be 1024x768 (stretched!!) with a mirrored display. At least the vending machine guy has, so far, been a doll.

But to keep it in perspective, this is _really_ unimportant stuff. And Jordan, my sidekick at the school, and I manage to find many of the little dramas quite funny in the end.

So the last month has also brought tremendous excitement. I hired 17 teachers for the DUMBO Studio. I have 50 students from all over the world and from nearly all the Miami Ad School global campuses. I even have one Graphic Design student and two Photography students to complement the majority of Art & Copy kids. I have another 31 in the city on Greenhouse and Internship, with another 6 or so teachers at these agencies. We've had two awesome guest lectures, a private tour of a top tier photo studio, a lunch + learn and a good old fashioned booze fest. This past weekend, we hosted two workshops for a NYC-based industry organization.

The most amazing part of the experience has been to see the studio come to life. We're literally designing an organization. I feel it living and breathing every day. I monitor it, hoping the cold weather that's just set in doesn't make it sick before it gathers strength. It's like watching a plant grow, and without an innate green thumb, I stand by holding my breath excitedly waiting to see if it'll work.

During orientation I set cultural guidelines. I told the students what I hoped for the place. It included freedom to complain, but only with constructive feedback. It included an open door policy. A spirit of entrepreneurship. A desire to create a cultural tribe. The students have started to come and tell me what they think, and what they need. They make thoughtful suggestions, think of things from a different perspective. They challenge me, without being mean. One or two have inadvertently provoked my strict side. Another one appreciates that I'm a smart ass, like him.

I'm realizing that some of the operational stuff is just not my strength. I'm not bad at it per say, but it's not my sweet spot. But cultivating culture. That, so far, is working. And to watch it come to life a little bit every day – in the classroom, in the work, in the people themselves – makes me smile broadly.

The New Job

Originally posted on September 14, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien and edited for content.

A month ago I posted the five lessons I learned in five years at AKQA. And a lot of people wrote me to ask what I actually left to do. But I've been so busy settling in (and moving house!) that I haven't even had a chance to explain.

My new position is Director of Miami Ad School's new Brooklyn campus. As an industry acquaintance summed up when I told her my news – I was clearly looking for BIG CHANGE. I'd take it a step further and admit that I was actually looking for a full reboot. A total life redesign, in fact, of which the new job is only one part. I'm just shy of a month into it, and I'm still in deep culture shock, but it's all good. Sometimes, feeling uncomfortable is exactly what you need to know you're alive.

So this blog is supposed to be about career development and the winding paths we all take to various new challenges, which is why I share this story.

Like my path to AKQA, which happened quite by accident when a person I knew (Lars) randomly offered me a job in New York (unexpected), this path was similar. I was in the office one day when a copywriter, and a graduate of MAS, told me the co-founder of the school was in the office to meet with some of the CDs. He was surprised I hadn't been invited (I was too, and somewhat irritated I might add) and he suggested I head into the meeting anyway, which I did. That meeting led to a guest teaching invitation months later, which led to a conversation about the school getting more digitally savvy overall, which led to a discussion around a new school that would be a global innovation center. I suggested New York. Knowing the school's co-founders' appreciation for bohemian, artistic settings and local eccentricity, I suggested Brooklyn. And Dumbo specifically. A bit over a year later, they'd rented loft space, gave me a tour, told me they'd done everything I suggested so far and I might as well just come run the whole thing.

I thought about it, and about how many people I'd interviewed that were talented, but not ready to be hired at AKQA. About all the times the CD team and our recruiter lamented over ad school students in general lacking in craft, interactive experience and digital culture. And graphic design students lacking in storytelling, branding and _also_ interactive experience and digital culture. I thought about how the industry is growing as clients mature, and people in CCO and ECD roles break down barriers, but about how our entire industry is talent based. And that, without a ready pipeline, all those opportunities could go unfulfilled by people that don't exist to embrace them. I thought about all the cool sh*t out there that wouldn't get invented until years later as a result. I'm dramatic, but you take my point.

I have to admit, with a condo under contract in Dumbo, I also mused how divine it would be to have a five minute, subway free, lazy stroll to work every day. And no timesheets. And fewer airports. I went so far as to imagine adopting a dog and bringing him to work (I did a test run with my family's golden retriever last week – it was very nice) and taking pilates classes in the morning (who doesn't want better abs?).

So I took the job. And my focus is now to design into the program the subjects and people I find interesting. The odds are that other people find it interesting too. So I'm looking for teachers next quarter. I'm looking for guest lecturers. I'm looking for people to stop by and have lunch with me and the chicklets, as I call them. People from advertising, product design, film, architecture, fashion, law, finance, strategy. If you can think it, I can find a way to make it inspiring to the students. Just contact me if you're in.

#Academics

Five Lessons From Five Years

Originally published on August 16, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

Last Friday evening, as the DJ began to play and the liquor poured freely on the roof terrace, I composed a farewell letter to my dear colleagues at AKQA New York. For those of you that don't know me personally, or haven't heard the news yet, I left the company after nearly five years of amazing people, projects, stories, stress, zaniness and general mayhem. It's bittersweet. I'm terribly excited for the future, but I'm terribly sad and already having withdrawal from all the cool folks.

In my letter, I offered five lessons. One for each year of service. I thought I'd share a (public-facing) version:

Lesson One: Take a leap of faith every once in awhile I moved to Holland on a whim and talked my way into a job in creative, and in digital. I didn't speak Dutch and I wasn't sure when I left the States if I'd ever get a visa. But it worked out great. Then I moved to New York 5 years ago because Lars Bastholm (former AKQA Co-Chief Creative Officer) charmed me into it. I didn't ask critical questions about budgets, client pipeline and all the other stuff that would have scared me out of saying yes. I just did it. Maybe not the smartest idea, but it also worked out great. So, every once in awhile, just take a leap of faith.

Lesson Two: Own thy craft Make smart things. Make pretty things. Make things that aren't one of these, but both. Remember to think with your head, not your mouse. When I get stuck, I find going back to analogue basics (pen+paper) serves up brilliant digital ideas.

Lesson Three: Trust your gut I always wanted a film project. Not a green-screen film project, but a film project. Then I got one and freaked out. My Account Director (and dear friend) wouldn't let me pass the project to someone else. My Producer, who had a lot of film experience, didn't agree with me on key issues. Like the Cinematographer. And the Editor. I felt conflicted, but chose in the end to listen to my gut and trust my creative instinct. The work turned out beautifully (it turned out to be absolutely the right cinematographer and editor, both of whom are now friends of mine), and was personally very rewarding. Remember to always listen to the ideas of others, but also remember to have an opinion of your own. Be able to articulate it. Your managers and peers will respect you for it, even if you don't win the debate.

Lesson Four: Sometimes being right doesn't matter (and sometimes being wrong is actually more interesting) Just take my word for it on this one.

Lesson Five: A corkscrew makes a great leather hole punch Huh? I had a leather sandal on the other week and the strap was too loose. To tighten it, I needed to punch a new hole. The guy that sits next to me heard me lamenting and followed me to the kitchen to help. As I picked up a knife to do surgery on my shoe, he offered me a novel, alternative tool – a corkscrew. We easily fixed the shoe. This is an obtuse way of saying – collaboration is the key to this game. Partner with people who think of things you don't. Who make you stronger. Who make you better.

And enjoy it.

The rise of the user experience design sector

Originally published on August 12, 2010 by guest blogger Cecilia Brenner

Last week, the Guardian Careers hosted a live Q&A on the topic "The rise of the user experience design sector". Whether you are an experienced user experience designer or someone just setting out it might be an interesting read.

Create the Future, Follow the User

Originally published on August 5, 2010 by Catherine Nygaard

Following the user isn't necessarily new to us, but Natalie Massenet, the founder of Net-a-porter, has an entrepreneurial spirit that's infectious. http://vimeo.com/13732972

UX Myths

Originally published on July 19, 2010

Jung, a designer in my team, sent this around the office: http://uxmyths.com/. Some of them are quite good.

Women in Digital

Originally published on July 16, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

On a final note on the CaT conference, I wanted to touch on something that I found a bit surprising that day. The conference had a hashtag (#CRCAT) and live tweets were being pushed to the stage, but not displayed to the audience.

(Sidenote: I made a snarky remark about being hungry that was read aloud. And I felt a little guilty about my tone, even though I was indeed hungry. Good reminder to be polite when broadcasting a message. Sometimes, when you're talking in your own head and using digital media, someone's actually reading.)

I guess a number of tweets collected that day started to comment on the lack of women speakers at the conference. I had no idea and, as someone who usually gets on my soapbox about such things, hadn't even really thought about it. Well, it got bad enough that the conference organizer, Teressa Iezzi, felt a need to defend herself. And she seemed pretty upset. She said that she is a woman. And of course she considered the gender split when inviting speakers. One speaker was actually standing in for his female CEO, who couldn't make it last minute. She said that she had invited a number of women to speak and that they actually TURNED HER DOWN.

Then Teressa made one of the best points I've heard anyone make about the gender issue. If women are quick to complain about the lack of women leading the industry, then they need to step up and be leaders in the industry. Now, I understand to be a leader in the industry there needs to come some sort of combination of opportunity, support, mentorship and luck. I get that in a very deep way and learned some tough gender lessons the hard way in my own career. But her point was well made. When she asked women to speak, they said no. When she asked men to speak, they said yes.

And I've noticed it on projects in the office. When a killer project comes in the door, the boys are quick to call dibs. The girls are prone – I'm being a generalist here – to think: well, if my boss thinks I'm an appropriate fit for that project, in skill, personality or seniority, I'll be asked to work on it. And when given the opportunity, they are more prone to second-guessing themselves. There was a gender panel discussion a few days after CaT that I was scheduled to attend at the new Trump Hotel on Varick. But I had a client meeting in New Jersey and couldn't make it.

But a short time later, I was personally faced with Teressa's accusation. I got an email from the Art Director's Club inviting me to an interview on behalf of AKQA. My Chief Creative Officer, Rei, wanted someone in New York to handle it and he very generously entrusted me with this responsibility. The scary part wasn't the interview, as I've done a few in the past, but the fact that it was going to be filmed. And aired at an industry event in San Francisco in mid-July. I'm used to writing a pull quote for a printed article. One that I edit a few times before sending. Or being the interviewer in a film scenario. Not the subject being filmed. I talk a lot as it is. It can be charming when I'm giving a presentation at a SheSays event. But when I get nervous, I prattle on too much. And too quickly. And I learned from an editing assignment last year, talking slowly is the key to not appearing like an idiot in the final cut (thanks for that one, Galen).

The thought of embarrassing myself is something I can live with (it happens frequently enough). But the thought of embarrassing the man whose initials are on the door, or my CEO Tom, or Rei, was a bit overwhelming for me. My gut reaction was to decline. And I knew if I said no, any number of guys in my office would be more than willing to take the slot. Then I thought about what Teressa said. And I thought: THIS is what she was talking about. This moment right here. And ohmygod, she's totally right.

So I said yes.

I did the interview. I was thrown when the interviewer said, "Well, I looked you up on Facebook and you've won quite an impressive number of awards..." I thought to myself: Facebook? I don't have my resume there. And I wouldn't say it's an impressive list....hmm, I wonder if she checked out my scuba diving photos... Then I realized she meant 'AKQA' when she said 'you' and I felt like an amateur. And I was grateful I had kept my mouth shut and waited for her to finish the question she eventually posed. It was all terribly amusing. I haven't seen the result yet, but colleagues in SF will see what I had to say. I hope I make them proud. As a colleague, and for representing on the girl front.

Interactive Projection Screens? Yes, please!

Originally published on July 15, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

My other favorite from the CaT conference last month was Theo Watson. And ironically, Theo was one of several speakers in the opening panel discussion. He spoke for about 10 minutes and rushed through his work so we could get a flavor for what he did. Yet, I could have listened to him talk pretty much all day. For me, this was one of the most innovative speakers at the conference. I'd kill for a single project like his!

Boston-based (with a studio in Amsterdam as well), Theo and his wife/creative partner work on interactive projection software projects.

He talked about a project called the Eyewriter, in which a famous, LA-based graffiti artist who is bed-ridden creates digital graffiti with his eyes via custom-designed software. His designs are then projected on buildings. He's even selling his work, which funds his medical care.

Theo also did a project called Funky Forest, which is on display at a kids cafe/play center in New York. Standing in front of the screen, children strike a pose to create a digital tree illustration. Then their tree grows and blooms and the children are called upon to nourish their tree, feeding it water and understanding what it takes for nature to survive.

And then they did this awesome project in Rotterdam (where I lived for a few years) called Laser Tag. Which allows users to write a message that is displayed on a building. I can't even do it justice in my write up.

Compelling technology, gorgeous visual design and a certain do-gooder underpinning drive Theo's work. My colleague Kaare and I spoke to him for awhile, asking him if he'd stop by the office to talk to our crew, and on top of being brilliant, he's modest, sweet and even a bit shy.

Check out his work here: http://www.theowatson.com/

#Events #Cool People

Creativity & Technology Conference

Originally published on July 13, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

A month after the UnConference, I was again afforded an opportunity to leave the office for a day for additional brain food. As someone that never gets to go to these types of events (and admittedly, many of them aren't great), it was nice to spend a day with a few colleagues and fellow digital geeks looking at new technologies.

The CaT Conference was interesting, but not quite as inspiring as the UnConference proved to be. With a traditional conference format – a speaker or panel of speakers preaching to a large audience of onlookers – I missed the interactivity of my previous month's experience. The room was freezing cold and there were so many speakers that there was little time for networking, chat and general absorption of information. But, it's only the second year of this conference as well, and the subject matter was well-intentioned.

My main criticism of the conference was that, in its name, I thought the subject matter would be really, really edgy. And some of it was. There was a nice Adobe demonstration. And a Microsoft talk about the power of Photosynth, which was really nice. But as someone that's worked in digital for a long time, I found it to be a little remedial. For those looking to get more insight into digital, the conference had the who's who list of speakers and covered a nice, broad range of topics and relevant trends. Ultimately, I told my colleague Kaare (who heads our Creative Research & Development team) that he should have been on stage. He's brilliant. And engaging. And charming. And if anyone wants to know what a 'Creative Technologist' is, ask anyone on his team. And if you want to debate whether or not they're really 'creative,' be prepared for a fight.

Yet, I have to give a shout out to two speakers that really inspired me. Kevin Slavin and Theo Watson (next post).

Kevin stole the show (as evidenced by the number of mentions of his name on twitter that day) with a talk about how we are socially connected and that the power of the crowd is what's needed to release the magic of storytelling. I managed to snag him for five minutes as he was leaving that night and told him about my own crowd-sourced t.v. watching experience. It was a Sunday night and I was taking care of admin – paying bills, reading mail, answering old emails. The Grammy Awards were on and I was watching, or rather listening, while sorting through my business. I started to notice friends of mine on twitter were commenting on the show. And one friend/former colleague/fellow experience designer was actually AT the show in LA. His office had done a site for the Grammy's and, as a gift, a few of his team got to attend. He was tweeting from the show that the rest of us were watching. And I was responding to him, and other friends, while sitting at home on my sofa with my laptop. Kevin liked this story and said it was exactly was he was talking about. The power of digital technology to connect us, to rally us, around something that in its design, the television, is a one-way communication vehicle. Food for thought, surely.

As a sidenote, I mentioned Kevin's talk to my colleague Greg the next day, who graduated from Tisch's ITP Master's program. And he said Kevin was one of his professors and that people clamored for this classes. He's just _that_ engaging and smart. Definitely look him up. Or check out his site: http://areacodeinc.com/

#Events #Cool People

My Big Fat Facebook Wedding - Real-life Social Networking

Originally published on July 12, 2010 by Catherine Nygaard

I recently had a Facebook social mashup of posted comments that made me cringe. Friends from the past swooping in to comment along with friends from the present- all on a collision course of impending awkwardness. Why Facebook, why must you lump everyone altogether into My Big Fat Facebook Wedding?

A "wedding" is exactly what User Research Lead, Paul Adams from Google coins the social experience of Facebook. Not really a fault of Facebook's, but often your social spheres in the real world never cross-over. In the digital space however, social networks like Facebook, change that landscape and suddenly your past, present and future all funnel into the same place. The Real-life Social Network v2.0 is an insightful Slideshare presentation on how to consider this design challenge.

NewCity Labs

Originally published on July 12, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

I'll get off the UnConference topic soon enough, but there was just so much great information!

So another great seminar I attended at the conference was hosted by David Poteet, who runs a company called NewCity in Virginia. With the aim of keeping his team inspired with innovative, pet projects but also focused enough to keep his revenue in the black, he and his team developed a 'Labs' model. Four days a week, the office did their work work. One day a week, they got to spend the day experimenting. Either everyone would work on one experimental project, or the group would divide across a few different projects. But there was some focus, so the day wasn't just a play day for everyone in the company to be unbillable and browsing the interweb for cool stuff.

This approach led his team to the idea for the Nomad Mobile Guide, which has been so successful that they've actually spun this project off into its own company! The concept (I paraphrase) is a "make your own guidebook" that allows its users to download relevant chapters to their phones when touring a new place. So – if you're in a city but don't want to carry a guidebook, or more importantly you really are only interested in one part of the guidebook (for me, it would be local information on great, organic restaurants) – you can just buy that part. And as you travel, you can collect other chapters and other destinations. Users pay for their chapters and NewCity (well, now Nomad Mobile Guides) gets a cut via a revenue share model.

The night before the UnConference, I had spoken at a SheSays event in which I was asked to talk about three jobs of the future (they're really present jobs, but not necessarily popular outside of uber-digital shops). I happened to extend my topic into three areas in which I think we'll be working as well. My hypothesis was that hybrids are our future. I'm biased as I consider myself a hybrid. And naturally, hybrid talent does well with hybrid subject matter. Obviously, we're seeing an integration of traditional and interactive. Next, I talked about digital and physical (we can thank R/GA for moving the needle way forward on that one). The last one I talked about was design and business entrepreneurship. Personally, I find my attention seduced these days by briefs that look at how design, and design thinking, affects business change. From product and service design to new revenue streams or cost-savings. So to meet David and learn that he managed his team from a project of the heart to a successful, independent business was pretty amazing to me. I guess for some people, putting together business plans and raising capital comes naturally. For me as a designer, it's completely foreign.

David said to be creative in designing your business model. To think of the cost of time not as an hourly rate, but as a product that multiplies over time. He suggested checking into Angel Investor groups. And I suggested people check out Kickstarter.

When asked how they made the leap, David answered so beautifully that there came a moment when they had to decide if they'd go for it or not. And he said to himself – I need to know how this will turn out. Even if it doesn't work out, I'll regret it if I don't know.

That's actually the reason I took my job at AKQA. Lars Bastholm offered me a job on a silver platter. To come to NY from my cushy life in Amsterdam and just build something. And I was intrigued. And I had to know what would happen, whether it succeeded or failed. And, it's turned out ok. For NewCity, it proved to be a huge success as well.E

#Cool People #Cool Projects #Events

Meet Maria

Originally published on July 9, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

In every session I attended at the UnConference, I learned something and met someone interesting. But hands down my greatest connection came when I met Maria Scileppi. She was a burned out Art Director with a big job at a big advertising agency in New York when she realized she needed a life re-boot. Quitting her job with cupcakes in tow, she set off to Chicago, where she is the Director of the Chicago Portfolio School. New to Chicago, and an artist at heart, she set out on an amazing social experiment. To meet one person every day for one year. And she did.

Maria had rules. She couldn't go home until she'd made a friend for the day. She had to have an authentic experience. And as such, she didn't ask the person to be her friend (and she didn't tell them about the project) until she felt the moment was right. She didn't want people to say yes just for the sake of the project. It was deeper than that – a richer exploration into human connection. Which, given the digital environment today and the power of social networks, is a pretty interesting topic in my mind. A few people refused her offer, forcing her to find a new friend that same day. One person was even offended. But she succeeded and over the course of a year, she met a woman who has become one of her best friends to date. She met a man recently returned from the war in Afghanistan struggling with dark personal demons. She even met an ex-con who'd just been released from prison on a murder wrap and had missed the whole digital revolution. He didn't even have an email address!

Maria asked everyone one question – why are you here? Some answered literally. Some existentially. And she documented these people, their answers and her experiences with them. After a year she created an exhibition at a local gallery. To attend the show, visitors were asked to write a secret on a card and place it in a jar. Taking someone else's secret, they had to find the owner of it before the night ended. Which gave everyone an excuse to talk to someone they otherwise wouldn't have spoken to. Because that's all many of us need to step outside of our comfort zone and just connect.

Her project's ethos even started to spread. Two of her friends from the project met each other randomly and became friends, realizing they had Maria in common after the fact. One woman was so inspired by the idea of talking to strangers that she slowly befriended a woman on a flight and realized they shared a lot of personal difficulties, namely parents suffering from medical problems. And they struck up a great conversation.

Maria tried to tailor her UnConference talk into a framework of how we as marketers can take lessons of social interaction and apply it to what we do. And she said she was thinking of writing a book about her project. She asked the group for feedback. And I felt the entire tie to marketing, although totally valid, was actually underselling her message. So I blurted out (as I'm prone to do) that I thought it was a book about humanity. About how most people sitting on a bench late at night on a Sunday, when asked to spare change for an ex-con, would shun that person rather than suggesting they sit down. That Maria's openness to the real, physical connections we have to other human beings and the places in which we exist, are powerful lessons we should all stop and appreciate. Maybe it resonated with me as I've just been through a tough personal year myself.

Someone else suggested she try the experiment on Facebook. And write a book about the two projects, showing how they were different, but also how they were similar (as we all suspected there would be some natural parallels). Our session, filled with maybe 15-20 people, became an intimate conversation. The group huddled together and spoke quietly. When time was up, a few of us stayed to talk more. And Maria was encouraged to host her session again the next day.

I told Maria I wanted to be her friend for THAT day. And even though the project is over, I was. We stay in touch. And we ran into each other a month later at the CaT Conference in New York. And she is working on that book! In fact, we started accidentally brainstorming an iPad version, with social networking and physically mapped GPS tie ins, a la Foursquare. An inspiring project, and an inspiring woman.

To learn more about what she did, check out her project's site: http://peoplescape365.com/

As a designer of user behavior, of interaction with digital (and physical) things, I think we can all serve ourselves by thinking of the humanity of our users and the designs we produce for them.

#Cool People #Cool Projects #Events

Digital 'Flexi-Paper'

Originally published on July 8, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

Not a new article, but I've only just now made time to read it I find this sort of technology fascinating. And I also find Nicholas Negroponte fascinating.

The question I have is – if you want to do this sort of work, how do you find it?

I met a woman last week that has done a lot of Microsoft Surface application design. And because she lucked into one project, she had relevant experience to get the next project. And so on.

Yet, ironically, she applied for a job recently to design something tablet-esque. With multi-touch design elements. And the job post called for 'mobile' experience, but not mobile as in a .mobi site. Mobile as in an iPhone app. And because she hadn't done an iPhone app, she was turned down. I wondered what the hiring manager was thinking not even interviewing her. And I wonder if it's the same manner in which procurement departments function during agency selection.

Do we have to leave agency life to work on innovation technology projects? Do we have to move to San Fran? I hope not (not that I don't love San Fran).

#Technology

One Show's UnConference

Originally published on July 8, 2010 by Mehera O'Brien

This was about two months ago here in New York and was amazing. The entire purpose of the UnConference is an open format that inspires interesting dialogue about different topics in the industry. For me, it was a nice opportunity to step away from the ins and outs of managing a team and designing niggly things everyday to thinking about the bigger picture of where we're at in time. And how the evolution of digital technology and our interaction and adoption with it in our lives governs how we live as a global society. Ok, some of the seminars were functional and I accidentally ended up in a debate about Agile vs. Waterfall project management methodologies (how did that happen?). But, for the most part, I attended thought-provoking seminars and met really intelligent people. People who wanted to talk, share ideas, garner feedback and be inspired. The general vibe was one of sharing and learning, rather than criticism or preaching from one's soapbox.

For two full days of break out sessions, including an evening of networking, the conference was also a great deal financially – $250 per ticket. For both days. As a New Yorker, it was a no brainer. The conference was well-organized. And creating two days of activity that feels fluid and relaxed, but is actually confined to an agenda, is really hard to pull off well. The only downside – all the break out sessions were in the same room, making it easy to float but hard to hear.

To check out the site (and track this conference for next year), check out the link: http://www.creativeunconference.com/

A model for UX Career growth

Originally published on June 22, 2010 by guest blogger Cecilia Brenner

Stumbled upon a blog post from Leah Buley (Adaptive Path) sharing a model for UX career growth. In true co-creation spirit, I added a few details as I believe there are more ways to Rome for us UX proffessionals.

The updated model shows two main paths, one being the general management perspective, which is a possible UX career path as a result of growth in general management and organizational skills. For example, people responsible for the management of a multi-disciplinary group of professionals. The other path is the professional specialist perspective which is the result of growth in professional expertise and skills within a specific capability. For example, people responsible for the management of a group of (UX) specialists.

In both career path, you are climbing up the leadership ladder, but with different focus and possible end goal. Of course, the paths are not always straight and jumping from right to left or viceversa happens, but I guess that is all a part of our UX career journey.

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