053: Be a Good Ancestor with Alan Cooper (Part II)

User Defenders podcast
Product Design
053: Be a Good Ancestor with Alan Cooper (Part II)
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Be sure to check out Part I

Alan Cooper teaches us what it means to be a good ancestor. He enlightens us to why it’s so hard to build good software. He reveals how money trumps good UX and ethics far too often. He explains why UX is not about finding the best location for a hamburger menu, but about solving the big problems that exist for the user and the business. He also inspires us to consider (and potentially redirect) the footprints we’re leaving now, for the generations to come.

Alan Cooper wants to be a good ancestor. That is why he is the co-creator of the “Ancestry Thinking Lab”. It’s an organization dedicated to finding and teaching practical methods for assuring that technology products behave in an ethical manner. This is just his latest effort in a long career as an inventor and thought leader in the world of software. In 2017, Alan and his wife, Sue, sold Cooper, the company they had founded 25 years earlier. It was the very first interaction design consulting firm.

Early on, he established the basic design methods that are used across the industry today and helped to popularize the notion that digital technology shouldn’t terrorize its human users. In particular, his invention, design personas, is almost universally used in the field. He shared his tools, knowledge, and experience in two best-selling books, still in print and widely referenced. The company’s new owners are a European design firm, Designit, owned by Wipro, a tech company based in Bangalore, India.

In 1988 Alan invented a dynamically extensible visual programming tool and sold it to Bill Gates, who released it to the world as Visual Basic, arguably the most successful programming language ever. This is how Alan earned the sobriquet, “The Father of Visual Basic.” He started his first software company in 1976 and produced what has been called “The first serious business software for microcomputers.”

In 2017, Alan was named a Fellow of the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, California. In 1998 he was named a Visionary by the Silicon Valley Forum, and in 1995 Bill Gates named him the first Windows Pioneer. In 2011, Cooper left Silicon Valley to live on a 50-acre former dairy farm in the rolling hills north of San Francisco where he continues to advocate for more humane technology.

Fun fact about Alan is he’s a former aircraft pilot, and a sheep and chicken farmer.

TIMESTAMPS

  • Should designers code? (4:40)
  • Specialization vs. generalization (7:41)
  • How do designers get business on board with building great products? (13:19)
  • How do you be a good ancestor? (25:30)
  • Ancestry Thinking (40:03)
  • What does the future of UX look like to you? (43:00)
  • What advice do you have for aspiring UX designers? (51:48)
  • What do you want your legacy to be? (56:14)

Continue reading 053: Be a Good Ancestor with Alan Cooper (Part II)

053: Be a Good Ancestor with Alan Cooper (Part I)

User Defenders podcast
Product Design
053: Be a Good Ancestor with Alan Cooper (Part I)
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Check out Part II after this.

Alan Cooper teaches us what it means to be a good ancestor. He enlightens us to why it’s so hard to build good software. He reveals how money trumps good UX and ethics far too often. He explains why UX is not about finding the best location for a hamburger menu, but about solving the big problems that exist for the user and the business. He also inspires us to consider (and potentially redirect) the footprints we’re leaving now, for the generations to come.

Alan Cooper wants to be a good ancestor. That is why he is the co-creator of the “Ancestry Thinking Lab”. It’s an organization dedicated to finding and teaching practical methods for assuring that technology products behave in an ethical manner. This is just his latest effort in a long career as an inventor and thought leader in the world of software. In 2017, Alan and his wife, Sue, sold Cooper, the company they had founded 25 years earlier. It was the very first interaction design consulting firm.

Early on, he established the basic design methods that are used across the industry today and helped to popularize the notion that digital technology shouldn’t terrorize its human users. In particular, his invention, design personas, is almost universally used in the field. He shared his tools, knowledge, and experience in two best-selling books, still in print and widely referenced. The company’s new owners are a European design firm, Designit, owned by Wipro, a tech company based in Bangalore, India.

In 1988 Alan invented a dynamically extensible visual programming tool and sold it to Bill Gates, who released it to the world as Visual Basic, arguably the most successful programming language ever. This is how Alan earned the sobriquet, “The Father of Visual Basic.” He started his first software company in 1976 and produced what has been called “The first serious business software for microcomputers.”

In 2017, Alan was named a Fellow of the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, California. In 1998 he was named a Visionary by the Silicon Valley Forum, and in 1995 Bill Gates named him the first Windows Pioneer. In 2011, Cooper left Silicon Valley to live on a 50-acre former dairy farm in the rolling hills north of San Francisco where he continues to advocate for more humane technology.

Fun fact about Alan is he’s a former aircraft pilot, and a sheep and chicken farmer.

TIMESTAMPS

  • There’s no such thing as UX Design? (8:13)
  • Why do you put so much emphasis on Interaction Design? (24:41)
  • How important are design patterns? (31:35)
  • How do you build a product you can’t prove is valuable yet? (45:58)
  • Why are there so many bad products in the world? (50:50)

Continue reading 053: Be a Good Ancestor with Alan Cooper (Part I)

052: Shining a Light on Black Designers with Tim Hykes

User Defenders podcast
Personal Growth
052: Shining a Light on Black Designers with Tim Hykes
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Tim Hykes shines a light on black designers. He shows us how an inspiring idea, and a lot of hard work can make a huge impact. He inspires us to challenge everything, especially the status quo. He motivates us to not wait to be asked to solve a problem, but to be a self-starter and solve it. He also teaches us how being a great designer starts with being a great person.

Timothy Hykes aka Tim Hykes is a User Experience designer and Illustrator working in Saint Louis, Missouri. He’s had the pleasure of seeing his work featured on FastCompany, Adobe, nationally with AIGA, InVision App, and socially with Behance and many other sites and publications. He is nationally known for his side projects which includes the 28 Days of Black Designers project, the Design + Diversity conference, and podcast, the #WeStandTogether project, and on YouTube on the Tim Hykes channel. A fun fact about Tim is that he’s really shy in a one on one situation.

  • Secret Identity (6:55)
  • Criminal Justice Background (11:47)
  • Why the Web/UX? (13:47)
  • Racist Hand Soap?! (17:00)
  • 28 Days of Black Designers (20:39)
  • Why aren’t there more Black Designers? (26:17)
  • Design Superpower (38:11)
  • Design Kryptonite (40:05)
  • UX Superhero Name (42:51)
  • Fights for Users (44:09)
  • Habit of Success (48:07)
  • Invincible Resource (56:11)
  • Recommended Book (57:30)
  • Best Advice (60:21)
  • Contact Tim Hykes (64:10)

Continue reading 052: Shining a Light on Black Designers with Tim Hykes

Season 5 Teaser Reel

User Defenders podcast
Special Episodes
Season 5 Teaser Reel
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Just a small taste of what’s to come in what could possibly be the best season yet.

Season 5 of User Defenders podcast begins 08.27.17

Featuring in order Alan Cooper, Tim Hykes, Denise Jacobs, Jason Ogle, Josh Clark, Alan Cooper.

Be sure to subscribe to automatically receive the incredible new episodes.

The dope song playing in the background was written by my friend Alan Oakes from his incredible project, Let Em Riot.

Show Update: Days of Future & Past

User Defenders podcast
Special Episodes
Show Update: Days of Future & Past
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Here’s a bit about what’s been going on with me, and what’s to come with the show and the forthcoming/exciting Season 5.

Bi-Weekly Bugle edition where I go into a lot more detail about my slip on ice/injury and immediate trip to SoCal for my wife’s Uncle’s Memorial service, and what it all made possible.

Continue reading Show Update: Days of Future & Past