Proof students need to take over the world

I submit to you as ironclad proof this project: 

Oakland's homepage in wordcloud format

City of Oakland homepage wordcloud:

Word clouds are a visual way to see word frequency. Note the 3rd most important word, Click.

Of high importance:

• Click
• (City) Council
• Budget
• Illegal (Fireworks)
• Business
• Parking
• Night
• Public
• Information 
• Report

Notably small or absent:

• Citizen
• Services
• SeeClickFix

Does the word cloud tell us something the visual design does not? I'd say so. The Banner photo of Chinatown, Mayor Jean Quan, and the Maintenance Notification feature prominently.

Where men are men, women are moms.

One of these things is not like the other..

• A mom's invention helps kids.
• A man is expecting Quintuplets.
• A mom meets her baby.  

Pulled from story titles on Huffington Post

A quick citizen experience tour of Government websites

At a quick glance, which website would you rather use?

Ireland

 Australia

 The UK

New Zealand

Canada

United States

I know what technology wants.

It's the same thing we all want. Attention. Energy. Care.

Help, I'm sick! Go plug me in.

Seriously, Upworthy

Stop it.

My remote usability testing setup

After a recent grueling round of recruiting : ( then testing and sharing results, I was wiped out. Testing is intense, but recruiting and testing? I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

I wanted to share my basic setup:

• Computer 1, on speaker: Webex as the host and recording tool, Silverback (backup recording) audio through google voice on speaker
• Computer 2, muted: Sococo (to communicate with coworkers), view observers live notes on ideaboardz,  Participant contact info (in case of issue), the Schedule 
• Printed: Script
• Often overlooked but important  Participant compensation/gifts, a practice run, Dialing and webbing in 15 minutes early, a deep breath, one medium sized beverage, a smile in your voice to put the customer at ease, and immediate feedback for front-line stakeholders who are thirsty for input they can put into their product.

Why modern cars are no fun

Confusing navigation systems, limited styles. Face it, modern cars are a fucking bore.

The design of cars is disappointing. Cars don't evolve, they only iterate. Why don't car companies innovate both the driving experience and the sales experience? Commercials tout luxury, practicality, and style but how stylish could it be if most every car looks the god damned same and it replicates but doesn't improve upon your phone's navigation system? Or how cool could it be if the person selling these machines didn't tell you why he really needs this sale.

What car shopping feels like. 

For the sake of simplicity in terms of design, let's just talk about physical appearance. I feel like most cars on the road look the same.

Look at this sexy BMW with a Vintage Makeover on Messy Nessy Chic. Yow. It looks ah-mazing, right?

Well, this is a custom job. Don't expect this kind of style from the car manufacturing industry.

"I'm too sexy for this world" says the custom BMW.

Can you imagine if modern cars actually innovated? 

To tease us, Fiat released a "1957 edition" pictured next to their actual vintage version.

Do you see the resemblance? Me neither.

I want the body on the right and the engine on the left!

Vintage gender thinking: the idea that white people are wealthy & awesome & dudes ALWAYS drive. How about he's opening the driver's seat for her? Or they're both getting into their own cars? Or they're people of color? Or they're gay? or  Trans. #inclusion!

Just look at the modern version! WHERE IS THE CHROME? Yeah, I all-capped it. What is 1957 about the new one?

Emoticon what you thought of the service

Seen in Montreal, Canada. 

Makes me wonder is quantitate feedback really useful without the qualitative? Checking out their Yelp page though made me confident they have the data they need to start making the experience better and this method will only quantify a trend they should already know. 

Twenty-seven developers in training provide answers to "What is User Experience?