I was in my second semester of grad school at Michigan when I was first exposed to color coding usability findings. A student in our program had used the system in class the year prior. Our professor wanted to share the method as an example of visualizing usability findings in a manner that’s easy for stakeholders to understand. We all agreed with our professor that a table of color coded findings seemed like a novel way to present our data. …

I know you’ve been waiting with bated breath for the latest updates in my home renovations.

Not so much? :)

In any case, the past three weeks have been very busy with various projects and decisions. So busy that I’ve been tardy with my updates both here and on Instagram. So here’s a recap of the past three weeks.

Week 8: June 28, 2021

I spent most of that week in Illinois visiting my mom. But a lot happened while I was away including the arrival of the much awaited tub!

Along with the tub, most of the shower fixtures and the sinks were also…

This week, the construction and tile crew got to work on the tile in the kitchen. I’m blessed in that the prior homeowner had done a lot of renovations to the home, especially in the kitchen. But I wasn’t in love with the kitchen backsplash or the kitchen pendants. A lot of people who saw photos of the house loved the blue tile and pendants but I found them a bit too Grecian/masculine for me. …

When I first started this publication/blog, my intention was to write about the process of renovating the house pretty regularly. Alas, between work, the actual renovations, and life . . . time got away from me. In this post, I’m going to try to recap the past six weeks of renovations … as best as I can from my memory.

Week 1: May 10, 2021

You may have missed it in the chaos of the 2020 Election and the pandemic but last October, David Perdue, a senator from Georgia, mocked Kamala Harris’ name at a Trump rally. After intentionally butchering her name, Perdue ended his remarks with, “I don’t know, whatever.” The crowd laughed because apparently being so ignorant (and arrogant) as to mispronounce an ethnic name is funny. Perdue’s people dismissed the whole incident because apparently Perdue didn’t mean anything by it.

But Perdue did mean something by it — else he wouldn’t have even bothered to mock Kamala’s name. By pretending that Kamala’s…

Hi,

We had the day off yesterday so an outing to Santa Cruz was in order. It was gorgeous! We even spotted an otter playing in Monterrey Bay. Before the pandemic, I always took the Bay Area’s proximity to beaches for granted. Now I’m really grateful that I can see the water within an hour’s drive. When I first moved to the Bay Area, I had this idea of trying to visit every nearby beach up and down the cost. I may resurrect that project this summer and fall.

I hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend and get…

I was having lunch at a team offsite (remember those?) a couple of years ago. A bunch of us who normally don’t work together were sitting at a table chatting about the things that people chat about when they don’t really know each other that well. Somehow the topic of where people live and how long their commutes are came up. One woman talked about how much she hated the South Bay. “It’s all strip malls. No character,” she proclaimed. It was an odd (rude?) statement to make given that you could probably characterize most of California as a bunch…

Hi,

It’s been one of those weeks where by the time Friday comes around, I’m thinking, “It’s been A LONG week.” I’m hoping you didn’t have one of those weeks … and if you did, I hope you have a restful weekend.

Some recent blog posts:

• Top 5 UX interview mistakes. Don’t get in the way of your own success.
• Wanna get far in your career? Show gratitude. Nobody gets anywhere by themselves.
• Tactical isn’t a four letter word. The humble usability study has become maligned by UX researchers … and it shouldn’t be.
• UX research isn’t QA. And it isn’t an ombudsman. It’s…