After a weekend of working in the yard I’m stiff and creaky on Monday, each keystroke of this update requiring a supreme effort (well, maybe I exaggerate just a bit).

• Last week’s webcast about Interviewing Users was a huge success. Good comments from the large audience during and afterwards on several platforms. The recording (available at that link) should be available very soon (Update: it’s here!)
• If you’ll be in New York on June 19, you are invited to the NYC book launch party. The San Francisco party on June 3 is full-up (we’re taking waitlist names, so if you can no longer come, please let me know!)
• I’m thinking ahead about a couple of new workshops I’ve been asked to develop. Exploring new ground is energizing and intimidating at the same time.
• Ten years gone: From May 2003 – AFLAC duck heads to Japan, Atari is back, Oreo Ban.
• What we’re consuming: Amatriciana pizza, Eddie Cochran as the origin for a Bowie riff, Bowie’s in space, zillions of free movies online

Howdy Monday and Monday-accessories:

• You can find two interviews about Interviewing Users now online. A readable interview at Ethnography Matters and a listenable interview with Denise Lee Yohn.
• Grant McCracken posted his awesome foreword to Interviewing Users.
• Coming up in a few weeks is the Interviewing Users launch party, June 3 in San Francisco. Stay tuned for info on the New York party.
• This Wednesday is my free webcast about Interviewing Users. O’Reilly will be recording it if you can’t make it.
• I just received another great War Story and will posting it in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, check out Susan Dray’s thought-provoking take on these stories.
• I’m talking to prospective clients in the Middle East and in the Midwest. Verbal, if not geographic, symmetry.
• Ten years gone: From May 2003 – FreshMeat: The Houses of the Wholly, Weight Loss Through Brain Washing.
• What we’re consuming: Bob’s Burgers, I Don’t Want Your Fucking App, Iron Man 3, Kutschy Rye.

Voila les deets:

• Interviewing Users is out! Huzzah! There’s been lots of enthusiasm and already some good feedback!
• Core77 has posted an excerpt here.
• I’m doing a few interviews for the book. Look for them to start showing up online in the next couple of weeks.
• You’re invited to the Interviewing Users launch party, June 3 in San Francisco. And stay tuned for info on the New York party, too!
• Don’t forget about the free webcast next week.
• Some good networking on hand for this week, catching up with people and talk about their businesses, careers, goals and of course mine.
• Ten years gone: From May 2003 – Why Calvin Pees, Bugs and Daffy for Landmine Awareness.
• What we’re consuming: Little Yangon, Black Blizzard, Teddy Bear.

Greetings at the head of the week!

• This is the week! Interviewing Users will be available on Thursday!
• On May 15th I’ll be doing a free webcast entitled Interviewing Users: Uncovering Compelling Insights. Hope to “see” you there!
• I’m putting together a pitch presentation for a long-time favorite client, where we haven’t worked together for about a decade! It’s fun to learn how things have changed in their organization and think about what we can do for them now.
• Ten years gone: From April 2003 – In Their Hummers, Right Beside Uncle Sam, Rolling Stones lingerie.
• What we’re consuming: Shanghai Dumpling King, capybaras, The Death of the Author, Party Down.

In the US, it’s Tax Day. Happy, er um, whatever…

• If you run a small business, depending on how it’s structured, it can be a very different tax process. Personally, I don’t receive a salary, so I don’t pay income tax every two weeks. That means my income tax is calculated annually and paid in advance, in quarterly payments. Those are usually some significant-sized checks to be throwing down. It’s further complicated by each year’s actual income determining next year’s estimations but because things fluctuate (the economy, the size of the staff, etc.) then those estimates can be way off. Good times!
• I’m off to Baltimore early tomorrow morning. I’m part of an event for the McCormick Design Advisory Panel, intended to spark some conversation – and planning – about how design and insights can drive innovation. I’m looking forward to hearing the team talk about their challenges and how they can address them.
• I’ve received first drafts of two new War Stories. Look for those later this week.
• Ten years gone: From April 2003 – The Life Cycle of a Wash Rag, Obituary: Anita Borg.
• What we’re consuming: Jason Becker, La Strada, Stairways of San Francisco, The Urges.

It’s a deceptively sunny Monday, despite overnight high-winds that brought the power down in my neighborhood. A strange time of year, indeed!

• I’m sticking around town this week, putting some time into preparation for this week’s keynote address (The Power of Bad Ideas) at the SJSU Human Factors/Ergonomics Alumni Symposium and next week’s presentation as part of the McCormick Design Advisory Panel.
• Interviewing Users is imminent. I shared the cover last week, but you can also see the acknowledgements and FAQ.
• I’ll be meeting with the team from Rosenfeld Media this week to talk about promotion for the book; lots more to be shared here once that plan is under way.
• Ten years gone: From April 2003 – Trix rant, drybay.
• What we’re consuming: Rust and Bone, Hi Lo BBQ.

Hey-ho!

• I’m about to get on a plane to San Diego where I’ll be leading a full-day workshop on planning user research, interview techniques, and synthesizing data into new opportunities. I’ve worked with many of these folks before so I’m looking forward to seeing them all again.
• The book is at the printer! It should be available in about three weeks! You can sign up for notification here.
• Despite (or maybe because of) my low expectations, last week we had another new War Story, from Kavita Appachu. More are coming, but who can say when?
• More networking meetups this week. It’s always great to connect with real people that I only know from the Internet!
• Ten years gone: From April 2003 – Hey is a bad word, Patti Smith, urine games, Hindi casting call.
• What we’re consuming: The Clock, dextromethorphan, Craft & Commerce.

Welcome to the week

• I’ve been down for the count for at least a week, with coughing fits and overall unwellness. I may have turned a corner but am trying to keep things quiet for now.
• The book is at the printer! It should be available in about four weeks! You can sign up for notification here.
• Last week we had a new War Story, the first one in quite a while, from Whitney Hess. I know there are more out there (someone mentioned to me at a workshop last week that they’d be working on one!) but I am not expecting anything this week.
• There’s a few folks I’ve been putting off for weeks or even months for a chance to meetup/catch-up. Looks like this is the week!
• Ten years gone: From March 2003 – Hussein Translator Used Fake Accent, Kiss French Horn.
• What we’re consuming: Ramen Parlor, Fat Kid Rules The World, expectorant, The Flat

Happy Monday fellow humans,

• It’s the first day back in the office after a while. SXSW was its usual combination of overstimulation, socialization, inspiration and meat. I’ve come back with a unappealing cough that I hope recedes before the next time I am actually meeting with people in the flesh.
• While I’ve repeatedly referred to the conclusion of a project with some small document revisions, I was honestly a bit surprised to see another round of revision requests arrive in my inbox, while this project was for all intents and purposes completely done weeks and weeks ago. I’ll hope to be closing it of with some finality today.
• My other refrain, especially as of late, has been about the final steps for my book. My last and final (?) task is to proofread the whole thing as they plan to go to printing on March 20!
• Later this week I’ll be at Mozilla to lead an Interviewing 101 workshop.
• Ten years gone: From March 2003 – early forays into online social networking (for business)
• What we’re consuming: 20 Feet from Stardom, Politicians In My Eyes, Tern P9.

It’s a March Monday, everyone….

• We expect to put the final edits in place for a post-project summary document that wraps up all our findings and points towards possible next steps that came out of our workshop. That will finalize the project for us, always a point of a relief.
• We’re reading transcripts and prepping initial takeaways for a collaborative analysis workshop later in the week. It’ll be pretty exciting to get everyone together and see where the data – and our interpretations of it – take us.
• It’s the home stretch for the book as I get testimonials, foreword, author photo, introduction, FAQ, acknowledgements and everything else nailed down.
• On Friday I fly to Austin for SXSW. I’ll be working this week to revise my talk “The Power of Bad Ideas” which was an hour-plus closing keynote at UX Camp Ottawa to the 12-minute version I’ll be presenting this Saturday.
• Ten years gone: From March 2003 – cultural reverse engineering, Gathering of the Gargolyes, Toymaker Study Troops – and Vice Versa.
• What we’re consuming: Zero Zero, 18 Swedish Pancakes, domestic robots, The Perils of Perfection.

Happy Monday, folks!

• I’m on a plane now, exhausted but exhilarated. Chicago was snowy and cold but we completed a full set of interviews with fascinating and inspiring people. The team in SF also met with an equally wonderful set of folks, so we are wallowing in stories and thoughts and emergent themes. We’re diving right into analysis, expecting transcripts to be coming in – and divided up – very soon.
• This week I’m giving an improv presentation to kickoff the creativity at Walmart’s Global UX Summit. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up with my friends who are attending the event.
• Some great progress on the book – I’ve seen initial PDFs and have been making corrections, meanwhile working on the introduction, finalizing imagery, arranging for a foreword and filling in the other details as the plan is to go to the printer in a few short weeks.
• On Friday I’m wrapping up the week with a full-day training workshop on interviewing and synthesis.
• Ten years gone: From February 2003 – The Rolling Stones use WiFi
• What we’re consuming: La Scarola, The Americans, Uber Taxi.

Welcome to the week. It’s a holiday for some today but here we go…

• Back into the field we go. We’re interviewing people at various career stages both locally and in Chicago (where I’ll be through the end of the week, hopefully not freezing my fingers off). The team is curious and enthusiastic and we’re excited about spending so much time with them and their customers.
• A fieldwork week is pretty all-consuming so not much else to report; I’m looking ahead to next week’s improv presentation at Walmart’s Global UX Summit and to leading a full-day training workshop on interviewing and synthesis.
• Ten years gone: From February 2003 – crazy in-flight experience, Google buys Pyra
• What we’re consuming: California Academy of Sciences, Tom and Jerry theme song, Evil Homer.

Here’s the deal for this week…

• Last week we had a couple of great days with our client team concluding our project with a presentation and then a subsequent workshop. It was great to see them off and running with putting the insights and opportunities into action – or at least exploring the boundaries of what that might be. I’m pleased with how it went but also eager to check it off the list as fully complete; meanwhile it’s those last few bits and pieces that need be defined and then completed before I get my wish!
• I’m with a team of researchers, product managers, designers and others today, leading a full-day training session on gathering insights from users and translating those into paradigm-shifting opportunities. I’m sure we’ll all be completely exhausted by the end of the day but hopefully exhilarated as well.
• Our newest project is starting to take form as we introduce ourselves to recruits, confirm calendars, and oh yeah, meet with the team to finalize the field guide. Then, it’s fieldwork time coming right up!
• Ten years gone: From February 2003 – Mr. Mitt
• What we’re consuming: Burning Love, cheeses of the world.

Welcome to Monday. Here’s the week:

• Time to wrap this thing up: Tuesday we deliver a final presentation and Wednesday we lead an ideation workshop to help translate the opportunities into possible design and product solutions. It’s been a long time on this project so it’ll be good to close it up.
• I’m teaching a full-day workshop next week so I’ll be putting the finishing touches on the material later this week. The audience for this class are part of a much larger effort to infuse a culture of innovation inside a leading technology company and I’m eager to be supporting that.
• We’re getting ready to go back into the field on a new project that is in the middle of logistics (travel planning, statements of work, Google Doc coordination) but will soon be dominated by content.
• I’m back from a successful if freezing week in Toronto running the Student Design Challenge at the Interaction13 Conference. Check out our winners: Bethany, Mani, James, Soon and Ari. They all did an amazing job and I think found the experience really valuable. Also in Toronto, I spoke about Skill Building for Design Innovators at TorCHI.
• Ten years gone: From February 2003 – World’s Worst Farmer, Jim Spagg’s body parts.
• What we’re consuming: The Mindy Project, Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society.

Here’s the scoopage for us

• Our largest project is wrapping up. Beth is working on finalizing a document that turns our insights, a-has and visual models into a story that points towards next steps.
• I am in Toronto this week for Interaction13, specifically the Student Design Challenge. Check out the amazing jurors who will be reviewing the student work, and the generous set of prizes that folks have given us for the winners.
• While in Toronto I’m speaking at TorCHI (a group I helped found in the mid-1990s) about Skill Building for Design Innovators. Join us!
• Ten years gone: From January 2003 – Putzmeister
• What we’re consuming: Steam Whistle, Evan Penny, Momofuku.