I recently read an article from Jared Spool, of User Interface Engineering, that was written as if he were writing about my personal experience. The article, Essential UX Layers for Agile and Lean Design teams, identifies key concepts I have found helpful with agile UX…
The mobile product page redesign was a typical agile engagement. We had a two-week window to concept, develop and code the front-end. The project had an assigned Business Analyst, Project Manager, Marketing Manager, Mobile Product Manager and Lead Developer. At the beginning of the project I gathered high level goals from the product manager that [...]
For those who are involved with Product Development, the Process Classification Framework is a must have reference to ensure your organization has the necessary processes in place to succeed. The Process Classification Framework or PCF is a cross industry product development lifecycle standard that has been developed by an open source community of product development [...]
When developing a strategy to institutionalize user-centered product design within an organization, it is important to understand your audience. There are many different roles within an organization however, when it comes to product development there are 2 main groups you need to work with when institutionalizing user centered product design. The first group includes those [...]
This may sound obvious but I have to say it. Companies cannot succeed without clear, easy to understand business objectives. Business objectives provide direction. Easily understood and highly socialized objectives are fundamental to efficient and effective operation. So how do companies clearly define business objectives and ensure all development and operational efforts align directly under [...]
Getting everyone in a n organization to work together can feel like an impossible task. Experienced experts have referred to
I recently attended a sketch boarding workshop with Leah Buley from Adaptive Path. Sketch boarding is a collaborative design technique developed to capture concepts, iterate through lo-fidelity comps and work toward more detailed interfaces. A sketch-boarding sprint could be as short as 5 days which works well with agile development teams. Sketchboarding combines…
What makes an icon? Most often, we experience icons that are a graphic representation of some utility, content, concept, or culture. I have been designing icons for years and it is pretty straight forward. You want to convey some utility, you identify a theme and blow-it-out. Add some dramatic rendering and the icons will
fter-all, that is is the essence of what makes a mac a mac. It’s not tedious. The system doesn’t ask me to go and read some manual or, what’s more, buy some additional software just so I can contribute to the mac experience. Developer Tools are included (as always) with the operating system.
While working in Chicago I often produced imagery for clients that ranged from American icons like Radio Flyer to International Universities like Kazakhstan University. The imagery would end up on a collection of advertising specialty items and print pieces making up a promotional campaign. Here are a few of those campaigns.
While working in Chicago and New York, I picked up a lot of direct mail and print work. Always fun and creative. This work included NYTimes ads for Fabricant Jewelers, Direct mail for the furniture stores and Northwestern Memorial Foundation. The challenge and the fun with print is engaging your target audience with the minimal [...]
Websites and more websites. Looking back it makes me feel old to know I first started designing and websites in 1996. Here are some links websites and templates from 1996 through 2008. Please note, many of these older sites and prototypes are
Washburn Guitars creates some of the world’s most unique guitars for their clients and in some cases, their clients have their own design vision. This is how I was introduced to Washburn. Dimebag Daryl from Pantera was a creative genius who lived for his music and his fans. He cultivated a persona and lifestyle that [...]
Working as an Art Director through the 1990’s, I developed designs for American institutions, national corporations, museums, and internationally recognized brands that include the Art Institute of Chicago, Umbro Sports Apparel, the Sara Lee Corporation, Native Girl, Radio Flyer, & RiverWest In 1993 I began designing and developing developed proprietary order tracking and scheduling systems in FileMaker [...]
The River West Brewery was under construction when I first met the owner. He had been working with a freelance-graphic artist to design his new sign when the freelancer decided to quit halfway into the project. In a bind, he needed the logo finished and his sign art created. Working closely and quickly together, we [...]
I first met Robert Pasin (President and CEO of Radio Flyer) in 1996. We were working together to develop a promotional line for their 80 year anniversary. The goal was to create a fresh campaign to introduce their expanded product line and reintroduce their traditional brand to a new, younger, target audience. We bounced ideas [...]
Like many of my clients, A.H. Schreiber was a referral. They were launching a new line of swimwear and needed a logo for their new brand Beach Native. The swimsuits would be sold in major department stores and needed to appeal to juniors. Their new logo had to work well for hangtags, clothing labels, catalogs [...]