Last night, we kept our kiddos out late to do something a little nerdy. Well, cereusly nerdy. We drove around from 9-10pm, admiring the flowers of tree-climbing cacti that bloom for (usually) just one night per year.
UX in Remote-First Organizations
It’s fair to say that remote work is a hot topic. A growing number of visionary organizations like Zapier, Automattic, and Buffer have demonstrated for years how successful a remote-only model can be. On the other hand, many product companies have doubled down on maintaining centrally located, in-office teams.
Fifteenth
Today, Ames and I are celebrating our Fifteenth wedding anniversary. Even as I’m writing that ordinal out for the second time, it’s still hard to comprehend. It seems like just yesterday that we were walking down the aisle together. Yet, looking at pictures like the one above from when were dating, I can’t help but slap my knee, wheeze a little, and yell, “look at those young whipper snappers”.
Mid-Century Mundane
I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 years since Amy and I moved from Atlanta back to our home state of Florida. We rented a place in Winter Park for our first 6 months and then in early 2017 (actually between Christmas and New Year’s) we moved into our cozy, mid-century ranch home in Orlando’s historic Audubon Park neighborhood. Unlike our epic “Pulley House” project in Decatur or our 1970s cabin house in Columbia, we haven’t really done much renovating.
Unsung Tools of User Research
As I talk to other UX practitioners about the tools they love, I’ve noticed that the conversation tends to focus on their platform of choice for design and prototyping. I’m guilty of this myself and have discussed the topic so many times that I’ve developed somewhat of an elevator pitch…
Craft Beer Drinkin’ Data
On Friday, I logged my 500th unique on the beer discovery app, Untappd. The beer I chose for the occasion was CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout), one of the most sought-after, and highly-rated beers in the world right now from Founders Brewing.
Hard Wiring
Aside from a bit of paint and closet shelving, Amy and I haven’t had to take on many home improvement projects with the little 1950s Orlando Bungalow we bought 8 months ago. We love our home, our daughter’s new kindergarten and our neighborhood. A few recent incidents though highlighted the need for some video security cameras.
Lessons Learned
Once upon a time, I used to write. Most of that writing wasn’t particularly interesting. I was just translating thoughts into words; archiving problems that I found solutions to and sharing the things I was working on. Many of those posts just disappeared into the ether with no comments, validation or rebuttals. Sometimes though, the things I wrote got noticed. Maybe it was because the project was interesting, the problem was a common one, or perhaps I just made people laugh…
Culture Over Everything
Voluntarily hitting the reset button on your life isn’t something I’d recommend doing mid-career, but boy have I learned a lot about myself over the last 3 months. After reaching out to many of my industry friends and quietly applying to dozens of positions, I’ve finally chosen my next adventure. On Monday, I’ll be joining the talented and passionate team at PowerDMS as a UX Designer.
Moving to Orlando
Amy and I grew up in the beautiful, quiet little beach town of Vero Beach, Florida. It’s a small enough city that you’re likely to run into someone you know every time you leave the house. Most of our family still lives in Vero and each visit makes us miss life in Florida. As Amy was finishing her PhD at South Carolina in 2010, we agreed that we would move close to home when we were ready to start a family of our own. Somehow though, here we are in Atlanta with a 4 year old, a 2 year old and 2 crazy cats. We spend most of our vacation time making the 9+ hour drive to visit family and we ask ourselves, “Well, how did we get here?”