Ideas and Discoveries

I kicked Microsoft Word to the curb seven years ago, and my plain-text world has been more productive ever since.

I was flattered last week by several pointers from various “design inspiration” sites which featured this site as a destination.

A creative totem distracts you from the mundane and everyday just long enough for your mojo to kick in and save the day.

Currency may well be the most important travel interface. In that match-up, Europe wins the coin toss against the US, whose coins border on the unintelligible.

“Avoid premature optimization” is one of the axioms of software development. It’s basically fancy talk for “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The Seine overflows its banks, a sure sign of spring.

I expected nostalgic photos, but instead got insight into how technology works to spark design innovation.

Audio-obsessed museum visitors prefer to listen to their audio guides rather than look at the art, revealing a lesson in interface design.

An “empathy suit” helps designers discover how well their creations work for aging customers. Are there clues here for software and web developers, too?

Today my personal odometer hits 36, and egad, I’m suddenly on the north side of my thirties.

An architecture exhibit offers some useful usability lessons for web and software designers.

Don Norman despairs that simple doesn’t sell, and the blogosphere reacts. What makes simplicity so difficult?

It’s always fascinating to see what misguided winds have brought people to the Big Medium shores.

Gift ideas, eye candy and brain food for the design-obsessed

When designer’s block strikes, hit up Mother Nature. You’ll be surprised what you might learn.

In which thousands of fantasy fans are spotted at the Louvre.

I’m giving myself a new challenge: Take a day off.