And sometimes I do this...

Riding in the Murder Bus (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:17:55 -0400

Riding in the Murder Bus (Taken with instagram)

It’s a brave new world #songster #mtv #jerseyshore (Taken...

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:09:07 -0400

It’s a brave new world #songster #mtv #jerseyshore (Taken with instagram)

Rooftop work session #songster #mowgli #work (Taken with...

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:20:53 -0400

Rooftop work session #songster #mowgli #work (Taken with instagram)

Back on top eh? #cnn #mobile #elections (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:10:33 -0400

Back on top eh? #cnn #mobile #elections (Taken with instagram)

universalkingdom: Al King feat. The Listeners - Camera...

Fri, 04 May 2012 08:49:09 -0400

universalkingdom:

Al King feat. The Listeners - Camera Clique

May 4th is rapidly approaching. The Kingdom will be dropping some cool tunes in the meantime. Download Camera Clique here

http://www.youniversalkingdom.com

Toto, We're Not in Jersey Anymore: The Nets' Design Goes Hipster

Tue, 01 May 2012 15:43:11 -0400

Toto, We're Not in Jersey Anymore: The Nets' Design Goes Hipster:

What might seem a “basic” or “boring” approach to branding is much deeper than meets the eye.

Video

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:23:28 -0400

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

BFA's and MFA's vs MBA's: Who makes better business decisions?

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:25:42 -0400

Apparently (and as I suspected) it’s designers.

With only 15 minutes to convince a skeptical panel of experienced professionals about a new idea that doesn’t exist in the world today, they fared significantly better than their MBA counterparts. Why? Because they shared real user insights to engage us emotionally, used narrative and stories to compel us, drew sketches and visualizations to inspire us, and simplified the complex to focus us. It’s proof positive that numbers and bullet points, while important, aren’t necessarily what drive executive decision making.

via FastCompany

Make Sleep a Priority—And Get More Productive

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:32:50 -0400

I started a company in San Francisco with some friends. I didn’t quit my day job, so this was an after-hours project. We set up an office and established a routine of working from 6 p.m. to midnight. After we started working for the new company full-time, I fell into a classic trap of San Francisco startup culture: I confused work hours with productivity. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that working smart was better than working hard, but I convinced myself that I was doing both.

UX is at the heart of any company

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:50:54 -0400

“While this [UX] is often associated with the Web, consumers who experience good UX online don’t switch off their expectations when they switch off the computer. The principles and theories of UX have created a new normal in terms of brand delivery and interaction. They state that how people actually use your product is much more important than how it was intended to be used. So engaging your consumer in ongoing, iterative product development is more valuable than holding out for a “perfect” product launch.”

Via FastCompany

A Kickstarter Campaign I just backed: Pebble, a smartphone...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:51:14 -0400

A Kickstarter Campaign I just backed: Pebble, a smartphone friendly watch

via Mashable by Kickstarter

The case for investing in UI and UX Design

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:50:00 -0400

The case for investing in UI and UX Design:

Today, usability is a must-have for optimal return on investment with new technologies. Companies focusing on user-experience (UX) and user-interface design in product and application development create better solutions, improving revenue, loyalty, and market share. Numerous industry studies have stated that every dollar spent on UX brings in between $2 and $100 dollars in return. Already, household names such as Samsung, Charles Schwab, Motorola, Logitech, and Dell are leveraging UX and interface design in the development of their products and applications—with strong results.

The new “Paper” app for iPad looks lovely

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:59:01 -0400

The new “Paper” app for iPad looks lovely

#songster (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 11:11:56 -0400

#songster (Taken with instagram)

5 Must have game mechanics GEN Y requires

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:42:41 -0400

5 Must have game mechanics GEN Y requires

Dubstep Class

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 02:43:23 -0400

Dubstep Class

Songster on Facebook #music #songster #games #facebook (Taken...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:20:41 -0400

Songster on Facebook #music #songster #games #facebook (Taken with instagram)

Songster is Facebook’s First Music-Creation Social Game

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:51:55 -0400

Dr. Dre never had it this easy. Music-creation social site, Songster, launched at SXSW on Wednesday for the musicportion of the conference. Songster lets you feel like a musician and mix various beats and vocals to make your own tracks.

Rest of the story via Mashable via Play Songster

I no longer think it's okay that my TV is your billboard

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:53:36 -0400

About two months ago I freed myself from the clutches from Comcast cable subscription service and have lived with iTunes and Netflix via my Apple TV. As a person who doesn’t watch many sports and reads news online more than I ever watched it on TV I didn’t feel like I was missing anything when I cut the cord. Unfortunately this wasn’t exactly true.

What I was missing wasn’t the thing you’d quite expect like a recent episode of some show or a news event. It was commercials. Let’s be clear — When I say “missing” I mean that literally. I had no nostalgic longing for being force fed ads every 7 minutes or so like traditional television, it was just something that was stitched into everyday television watching I didn’t realize was gone until I decided to add Hulu Plus into my cable-free bliss.

I was excited to add Hulu Plus into my line of services. Ideally, iTunes would be my Pay-Per-View, Netflix would be my a la carte source for TV and support old couch potato habits during weekends of binge-watching, and Hulu Plus would keep me current on latest episodes and almost act like a DVR.

Unfortunately, that DVR came with commercials.

Despite the fact I could finally watch Community, SNL, Family Guy, The Daily Show, Colbert Report, and other programs just a day after they aired I was completely put off by Hulu’s ads. For nearly two months the one sanctuary I had from ads was my TV and I hadn’t realized it until Hulu threw them back in my face. It was like I had been sitting in low light and someone just flashed bright lights into my eyes — It literally hurt.

Long story short, at this point of me writing this article it has only been 72 hours since I have had Hulu Plus and I’m already thinking about canceling the service. I miss the zen-like TV watching I had just days ago that was ad free, and I may be willing to sacrifice instant gratification of having the shows I want now in efforts to have a relatively ad-free home.

Ads are everywhere even on two and a half minute video clips on the internet. Think about that for a minute — You now get 15 to 30 second ads on something that’s about 2 to 5 minutes long. Percentage wise that’s a huge waste of time. In a world where we are constantly hit with advertisements as soon as we open an app, a webpage, walk outside, or listen to radio, it was nice to have a sanctuary in the form of my TV.

All in all I think the experience of not being harassed by advertisers via your TV outweighs the ability of watching all of your favorite shows. If you don’t believe me, go about 6 weeks with only Netflix and/or iTunes and come back to ad-saturated television watching and you’ll see what I mean.

Inspired by “Why we canceled Hulu Plus” via Speed of Creativity

Everyday Interactions: Making the Case for Relaxed Usability Tests

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:03:00 -0400

Everyday Interactions: Making the Case for Relaxed Usability Tests:

everydayinteractions:

Most usability test how-to lists began with, “Make the user feel at ease, explaining to them that this is not a test. Every time I rattle off that preamble, I get the feeling I really come across like this to my testers:

Photo Credit: Daria Wiki

Show me, don’t tell me. Show the tester…