The most underestimated, underused, and unknown element of Human-Centred Design that I have ever encountered is the Question. That sentence that pitches up at the end, and finishes with a beautiful and quirky uncertain squiggle with a supportive dot underneath. When we are five, we tend to be great at questions. We ask the Queen […] continue reading »
Category: Favourites
These are some of my favourite posts. Things I am proud to have made or to have written.
Five principles for fostering a feeling of inclusion
A few weeks ago I ran a small ideation & affinity mapping workshop with some colleagues on the theme of Inclusion. And I want to tell you what we discovered. What’s a DE&I activity? The premise of the workshop was simple. I needed to put together a proposed budget for DE&I activities in the coming […] continue reading »
When was the last time you asked yourself “why am I here”?
When was the last time you asked yourself “why am I here”? And I don’t mean in the context of a three-hour meeting that is not needing your expertise after all… I mean existentially. As in, “Am I going to accomplish anything more in this life than turning food into shit?” (Leonardo Da Vinci thought […] continue reading »
The mental health forest
The forest I built a little forest. Or so I call it. My corridor has a bend. It makes a right angle to the right, that you can’t see from the entrance. So in that part of the hidden corridor, a part I only transit through – like all corridors – I hid a forest. […] continue reading »
How to prepare for and run a Design Thinking / Gamestorming / Creative workshop. And what to do with the outputs, too.
In June 2017, I was hired for a few days by a consultancy to help with a design thinking workshop they were running for a client. They needed to run it with 80 participants, and to make it work they’d split them up into cabaret tables of 8, each with a facilitator… who needed to […] continue reading »
Two heads are better than one
I’ve been working with someone. This is note-worthy, because I have mostly worked alone. Most companies today think that one UX Architect is enough to fix All The Things going wrong in a project. We are UX co-leads on a Big Fat Software Rewrite project. On our first day, a Monday, we were told that […] continue reading »
heuristics of giving and receiving gifts
I love giving gifts. I also love receiving them. Over the years, I have discovered a few basic rules about gifts. Good gifts. Both the giving and receiving. December is upon us, so I am sharing them in case someone finds them helpful. Getting the right thing, seeing the reaction of surprise, delight and happiness. […] continue reading »
“you don’t look like a geek” or why trains and legos are for girls too
“I bought it because it was shiny, how does it work?” is something you’ll never hear a man say, I’m told. When does the gender bias start? […] continue reading »
Harry Potter duelling wand – HCI Project
Task: The project consisted of creating an interactive toy of our invention for the market. Idea: I suggested we create motion-sensitive dueling wands based on Harry Potter. Different motion patterns cast different attacking or defensive spells. The shielding level was shown on the wand, and a “hit” wand timed out while it recuperated. Approach: After […] continue reading »