The impressive folks at UX Wizards invited me to join them on their podcast. You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, or visit the podcast site. I had a really lovely time talking with them about a range of topics from how my training in Philosophy has been valuable for my UX work, …
Fostering Trust through Effective Communication and Action
This week I’ve been reflecting on a passage from Mencius (the latinized way of referring to Mengzi 孟子), an important person in the early development of Confucian philosophy: “Benevolence (仁 ren) is like archery. An archer corrects himself and only then shoots. If he shoots but does not hit the mark, he does not resent …
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Transitioning from Academia to User Research
It was a real pleasure to join the User Research Atlanta Meetup group earlier this week to talk about the experiences of some folks I know who've made the move from academia into UX.
Reflecting on a Terrible Year & Giving Thanks
By a number of measurements 2020 has been a terrible year, and so I am almost embarrassed to say that it's actually been a very good year for me and my family. I am really grateful for the year we've had. A Year of Service As the Federal and State responses to the Covid-19 pandemic …
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UX Careers & Kungfu [Video]
https://youtu.be/pKmFKXK2WVs Earlier this year I posted a bunch of words that I used as part of my talk at the UX Hustle Summit. Now you can enjoy the dulcet tones of my voice and video of my Covid grief beard. My sincere thanks to Abriel Shipley and the organizers of the UX Hustle Summit this …
Reflecting on a Year of Death
The Verge has published a memorial for my friend, Molly. The Covid-19 Pandemic began for me, in earnest, when my friend called me and told me that Molly had killed herself. I was in the office and I got the call. In my lectures, when I was a professor of Philosophy and Art History, I …
UX Research Is an Aesthetic Activity
What I'm thinking is that the UX Researcher plays the role of sensory organ for the larger organism that is the organization.
Confucian Philosophy for UX
Reconceptualizing my career is something that my Confucian training enables because, fundamentally, a career is a matter of kungfu mastery.
For PhDs Seeking Jobs Outside Academia
With a new year and the new decade I am thrilled to be starting a new career with a new job in a new company, in a new industry. Below are some of the insights I gained from my job search. Although this is written with PhDs in mind, I think that much of what …
Ars Contexualis and UX
Ambiguity kills everything in User Experience (UX) design and research. And yet, the field itself is perplexingly ambiguous, "With the lack of consistency and simplicity in how we define UX, we've stripped it of its meaning and, more importantly, reduced the job to a mere buzzword," as Yazin Akkawi states. For example, what is the …