Art & Exploration = Passions

Art is form of exploration, of sailing off into the unknown alone, heading for those unmarked places on the map. If children are not permitted–not taught–to be adventurers and explorers as children, what will become of the world of adventure, of stories, of literature itself?

Because it's in the action of letting me mind flow that most of the great ideas have come from... it's in the disconnect from the virtual and the reconnect with the physical that you can in itself get the most of both and to strive in beauty, form and action.

This little excerpt from Manhood for Amateurs reminded me of me been a kid and painting, playing and running; climbing trees and just think in the hugeness of the world... now I realize how much I need that to start happening again.

I need to kick start my passions... and you? What are your passions?

PS. Thanks to Swiss-miss for finding it for me ;)

Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions

A few years back I had the chance to collaborate reviewing the book Reality Check by Startup Legendary, Guy Kawasaki. That book changed the way I looked at startup formation and made it spark the fire of entrepreneur in me... in a lot of ways this book was the reason that made me resign to my status in the industry and head across the world to Korea to restart, and as result Discovr Places was born.

Now, 2 years later, a new book comes from the vault of his ideas and with Enchanted, Guy tries to show us the value of soft skills in practice. Something that, in my personal opinion, is key to succeed as a leader, regardless of your industry, in what you do or have to offer.

I just bought the book today and from the early look at it I believe it will become a most read for explorers, for those early stage startup CEO's, that just as technology savvy, it's expected of them to become enchanters in their practice and as service providers.

The info-graphic below is a guide to the book, something you can print and hang in your wall or just around the office so you and your peers can be reminded of those little things that can make a difference in the way you can be perceived. Take a look.

Enchanted Infografic

I like the way Guy writes, it's just like having a pal over for drinks and tell you stories that work. I hope you guys find as much motiviation in his ideas as I've done, and don't worry, be happy and trust you can do a great change in the world by enchanting others.

Cheers!

It's all about making happy products

via youtube.com

These days there are a lot of us in the business of making things... wether they are tangible or intangible products we are constantly creating. We are creators! And it's under this reality, the rapid advancement of technology and the easy access to it that now, more than ever, the creation process has been democratized world wide, from north to south, all over the place.

But with this democratization of creation there comes a responsibility... a responsibility of making happy products. Products that don't get in our ways and more often than not, help us live a better life, at work, at home and on the streets.

In this short video Don Norman talks us into what he belives are the 3 keys to Emotional Design:

  1. Beautiful products
  2. Functional products
  3. Reflective products... or those that make a connection with us even after we stop using them

We need to convey emotion into what we do, into the people who uses our products and even more with the surroundings.

It has to feel organic to our shores... so go ahead and have fun creating!

PS: if you feel like exploring more on this subject, here is Don Norman's book on the subject.

Dynamic Prototyping with SketchFlow in Expression Blend

via amazon.com

After a few months in the writing, Sara Summers and my friend Chris Bernard just started shipping their book Dynamic Prototyping with SkechtFlow in Expression Blend.

You can download a sample chapter from their website to try and see if this book is for you or go straight to amazon to place your order (as of now only 2 paper books are left in stock, but if you have a kindle dx or one of the kindle apps you can hit buy and start reading it within seconds as it was optimized for larger screens).

I'm happy for them and can't wait to get my hands on it. These book comes to fill a gap in the interaction design world where only recently Microsoft has started addressing and coming from two of the best UX Evangelists in the field I'm sure it will fit well among designers.

Go ahead and get yours now and sharp up the saw of prototyping.

Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems

Media_httpecximagesam_fdgdi
via amazon.com

Today I came along with Steve Krug's latest work on Usability, Rocket Surgery Made Easy, and have to say I couldn't wait a minute before placing an order for it... this probably is one of the best investment you can do for your team (on top of his first book) and I'm sure it will pay back enormously within moments of putting it in practice.

I'm a fan of Steve Krug and ever since I read his first book I knew I had to dig a bit more about Usability and Human Factors... hence here me in grad studies on it.

Usability is not something one should leave aside, it's us as designers and technologist who are in more responsibility of the users productivity than any other craftsmanship before... we make what they use and what they use more (hopefully) and it should be our main goal to make them feel empowered in their experience.

Stop reading this and go ahead and get the book and if you haven't started thinking about how people interact and uses your product then it's about time you start.

It ain't easy but you will find out that in the minimal things can reside that feature that will make the difference in your product or website.

Still here? ... then go on and watch Steve's talk from the Business of Software conference and you will grasp on some of Steve points from his latest book.