Urban Peacock on Design

I’ve been inside too long today, so I thought I’d take a quick break from unpacking… a little while later… I admit… I’m totally addicted…  to the iPhone Musical created by David Pogue of the New York Times which I just found through some surfing.

Maybe I’m just missing NYC and the vibrant energy of creativity which infuses my former city; maybe I’m wondering how long I’ll hold out till I get the very cute and versatile, not to mention sleekly designed iPhone.

I just moved a few weeks ago and am now pretty much settled into the new place. The office is 99% unpacked and functioning. Today I needed a break, and I came across these videos on the NYTimes site. I also thought I’d check it out on YouTube.com, but the picture quality wasn’t nearly as crisp as on the original NYTimes site.

So, if you have a few minutes to spare in the name of digital humor, check out not only ‘The iPhone Musical’ but the following video clips created by David Pogue. Very entertaining and a nice way to bring a smile to the close of a high tech week here in Silicon Valley.
http://video.on.nytimes.com/index.jsp?fr_story=f390265dcbb9e1f1da97a69637e921d39b6c99aa

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

(c) 2007 Kavita Bali, UrbanPeacock

(05.23.07) A quick note for today. Just got back from an entertaining lecture on design by John Maeda held at Stanford University. I’ve been a bit under the weather lately, and was thankful to my colleagues at eBay who organized a group of folks to enjoy dinner at the CounterBurger on California Avenue in Palo Alto, followed by a quick drive to the University. We arrived on campus as the golden light of day was fading away. It’s always a beautiful experience to meander through the historic archways of the University, so much more richness in architecture than what we encounter in our daily visual diet.

John Maeda began his career as a computer scientist then moved into the realm of graphic design and the arts. Today he’s part of the MIT Media Lab faculty and author of ‘The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life’.

The room was packed to the brim, overflowing with an assortment of students and folks curious to hear about this man’s thoughts on simplicity. He not only shared with us his creative journey as a thinker and artist, but made us all feel at home by his unabashed honesty and mildly self-deprecating humor woven throughout the talk.

The time flew by as he invited us into his world of understanding and seeing. He spoke with respect of the mentors in his life at one moment, then he told us that one day he bought 5 orders of McDonalds french fries, and scanned all the fries. Not sure what he’d say next, we progressed to share some of his imaginative explorations with modern day artifacts of daily life. The crowd was roaring with laughter as he shared one image after another of the creative humor of it all. The tone for the talk was set. Let’s think about complexity, simplicity, Paul Rand, iPod art, Paris Hilton, french fries, love, computer theatrics, the journey of tofu, MySpace, business, life… and oh yeah, don’t forget the most important ingredient… to have fun along the way.

He left us with a gift of thought. Conversations were started, people were inspired, the seeds for debate had been planted, art, science, business, creativity, curiosity, life. Thus, the evening came to a close. He left us with the seeds of: think, design, create and enjoy.

To learn more about John Maeda and his new book, check out:

http://lawsofsimplicity.com/

http://weblogs.media.mit.edu/SIMPLICITY/

Have a great day!

– (c) 2007, Kavita Bali, Urban Peacock

April 1, 2007 entry

It’s been sometime since I took a moment to sit earnestly at my computer on a weekend. So much time is spent over the course of a week communicating via this cute laptop, that it’s nice to just get away in the sunshine & fresh outdoors to fully embrace the vitality of life itself. Stopping to smell the flowers, an ancient saying, perhaps, but one that never loses it’s ability to remind us of the truth & beauty of life’s experiences in real time.

The more we empathize with and understand people, the better we can design effective solutions to meet their needs One perspective is to look within at how we interact in the physical world and how we choose our own communities for socialization. What is it that we seek/ gravitate towards in our own lives? Do we seek out others of similar ways of thinking out of comfort, or do we challenge ourselves to understand those who may be listening to the beat of a different drummer? Do we gently question an alternative point of view or shy away from a controversial and untested approach, should we stumble and falter in the unknown? Do we risk unearthing the unknown of how we normally interpret information/ life experiences in the name of creative adventures and understanding? I wonder.

A few quotes that come to mind as I jot down these thoughts are:

” I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work ” – Thomas Edison, inventor ” Change and growth take place when a person has risked himself and dares to become involved in experimenting with his own life.“ – Herbert Otto, psychologist ” The harder you work, the luckier you get“ – Bela Karolyi, gymnastics coach. And lastly, a favorite from the Finch School of Maxims: “Believing in people usually brings out the best in them”

Synchronized emotions - we are members of real & virtual worlds:
We are first and foremost a member of a physical community journeying through our own life experiences, and secondly the creators of online communities propagated by virtualities. The way we behave in one speaks to the way we behave in another. Each nourishes the manner by which we potentially create the social networks of tomorrow.

If we dare not step beyond our comfort zones in our everyday realities, are we primed to truly step outside of the mainstream towards true innovation in our virtualities? How do we expand our mindscapes of imagination towards the outer peripheries of possibilities of yet to be defined futurescapes? How do we maintain a level of steadfastness in our personal definitions of self yet at the same time synchronize with those of other mindsets in the name of societal comraderies? We are at the very core, speaking of unraveling the nuances of interpretive realities between individuals. These individuals, one by one, you and me, our friends and neighbors, we are the societies of reality, how we interact and how we mingle, how we share in thoughts, how we resolve differences, speaks volumes for how we will eventually build our future societies. As we plunge head first into such inventions of futurescapes, it’s good to take a moment to assure that we have 2 of each species of thought entering the ark of creative possibilities.

Alternative perspectives on a team:
Do you have, if not 2, at least one representative of each major mode of thinking in your cross functional team? Are you pulling together a team that all thinks the same way, and thereby may approach their cognitive realities in a similar way? Perhaps this will be easier in the short term, faster decisions, we all think alike… but is this the proper fertilizer to nourish our imaginations towards next generation innovations?

Shake it up, mix it up, sparking imaginations:
Maybe what our industry needs is a bit of the mix them all up, shake them all around and see what happens when the sparks fly with alternative perspectives. It may feel uncomfortable at times, as if we don’t know where we’re headed, that’s natural. Perhaps it will feel like we are unsure of ourselves, or perhaps we will resist the changes on the horizons. We are after all, still human. Our emotions are a large part of who we are, whether we choose to express them or not, we can not deny the emotional aspect of our life experiences.

So, maybe today’s musings are really just about how we personalize the innovation revolution in creating the next generation of societies, so that we can be proud of our contributions. The innovations of today, are we looking at how these can benefit our societies of tomorrow? Are we listening to our hearts, minds and souls as we venture forth toward defining & realizing the physical and virtual geographies years from now? What do we wish our internet legacies to be for future generations? What may this internet revolution morph into in distant years? How do we wish to play a role in this evolution, this time sculpting of information and humanity? Hmmm…. I’m getting hungry, and the sun is fading quickly!

Ok, I think that’s enough pondering for today. I have to now put the fresh flowers in a vase and am excited about the new ceramic stew pot I just bought in Half Moon Bay yesterday. Hmm, I wonder if one of these new social networks will offer cooking in the virtual world?

What I’m up to these days:
Oh, lastly I should mention that one of the reasons I’ve not been tapping away at my home studio as much lately is due to an exciting opportunity I was offered at eBay late last year. I was convinced it was the right time to head back to the corporate world full time and found a company that has a heart, values people and life. When I read the eBay values, I thought I was reading the Urban Peacock values, that’s when I knew this was the right home for me for this time in life

Since last November, I’ve been at eBay, serving as a Lead UI Designer in their UED group, adjusting to corporate life, meetings, coffee chats, off-sites, enjoying new friendships with cool, intelligent and kind hearted folks. The warmth I have encountered at this company reminds me of my old days at PSBN (PeopleSoft Business Network) back in 1999. The sense of family is strong within this group. With our recent move (you may have caught the story in the NY Times, I’ll see if I can hunt down the URL to put here), it is a time of getting to know our new neighbors and journeying forth with added vigor to transform our definitions of future realities

Sometimes the weeks pass by so fluidly, without a trace or demarcation of the days along the way. Sometimes weekends become times of restful reprise. Sometimes taking a moment to absorb the frolicking sunshine as it dances between glistening leaves, giving ourselves to the warmth of it’s embrace, allowing time for true understanding of the experiences around us. Perhaps it all just comes down to the nudging along of an inner smile as it radiates outwardly to inform us of the delicacy of life and the fleetingness of beauty …should we take a moment to stand still… breathe… look up… and embrace the truth of our lives, the wonder of time, the joy of it all.

Ok, on that happy note, I think it’s totally time to brighten the interior, nature’s light is dimming to sleep out there, and my stomach is totally growling for nourishment. The flowers also need tending, they will brighten up the home for the coming week. I hope you’ve enjoyed this jaunt into the imagination of possibilities. Have a great Easter and April and much joy to you all Till next time, happy designing!

– Kavita Bali, Urban Peacock

PS: Since the beginning (for me that’s 1994) I’ve always been a huge fan of emoticons, and I think it’s now getting slowly out of control in a totally happy way!

It’s been sometime since my last flurry of blogging activity. Today, as I sit here listening to Bing Crosby, beside the Christmas tree (it’s a cute little thing decked out with all it’s mini lights) on a typically grey winter afternoon, I am thinking about the nuances of vocabulary and how such verbal permeations affect our perceptions of our own experiences in life.

It’s sort of a chicken or egg scenario. Does the word (or language) we use to describe an object/ an emotion/ a concept affect how we perceive/ experience/ live or interpret that moment? How much does language nudge us toward thinking in a certain way about what we are experiencing? Advertisers and Brand experts have utilized this type of ’suggestive marketing’ in their industries for ages. Both as a means to demystify ideas or bring them to a higher level of prominence in the minds of their target audiences.

Conversely, how much is our command of language and ability to navigate/ dissect nuances of meaning a factor in whether we opt for path 1 or path 2? How much does our confidence and trust of ourselves affect the patterns of our thought processes when facing a fork in the road of meaning? How much time are we willing to spend on trying to figure these things out on the Internet or in life in general?

I opt for a common language for our industry. Something simple, not heavily branded and easy for diverse disciplines to embrace.
On the Internet, we are bombarded with an excess of information. It becomes cumbersome to wade through what is important and what isn’t. We as designers should sift for relevance on behalf of the user. This is what ‘user centered design’ is attempting.

However, there is another angle to consider. Good design is not only about thinking about the user’s needs and the messages we want to communicate to people (an age old concept in communication design). With the internet and other digital modes of communication, there is a great deal of integration between technology and content, or hardware and software (think industrial design meets design in motion). We as designers really need to be sitting side by side with the engineers to jointly articulate future visions. This doesn’t mean that all designers should be able to code or program. If they can, cool. Conversely, all engineers don’t need to have to be able to juggle typography and understand informational clustering and layout paradigms either. But, it is really a great place, when different members of a team understand and respect what their teammates bring to the table of innovation. Again, this isn’t really a novel concept, just one that folks in our industry are still grappling with.

Our ability to simultaneously see the forest as well as the trees from multiple perspectives is key when designing within a multi-disciplinarian global environment. This is true for the product as well as for the team dynamics of workflow. Different members of the team may choose to be more focused or more multi-tasking contributors. Often this type of creative behavior arises from personality over a particular discipline speciality. Though most designers I know prefer to have uninterrupted time to focus on a project to allow for ideation rotation This is not only a challenge in today’s digital environment, but also a necessary part of the design process worth making time for. A desginer can try to segment their work schedule to suit their creative pattern of thinking, so that there is an appropriate amount of time to ponder and conceptually rotate ideas as well as being a contributor to collaborative meetings which bond teams and propel thinking forward.

Common language, knowledge of each other’s expertise and mutual respect as common denominators can transform a team’s productivity in the arena of sustained innovation life cycles.

The winner of such a calibration with product development teams in our industry is the end user. The more we are in synchronization with our efforts to serve the user’s needs, the more effectively and efficiently we can meet those very needs. The bottomline, care about the people you are designing for while you care about the people you are designing with.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah and a joyous, peaceful holiday season full of warmth and wonder

–Kavita Bali, Urban Peacock (Sat. December 16, 2006, 2:00pm CA)

(Most current: Slight modification from the Yahoo 360 post).

It’s Wednesday, a few days prior to the long weekend here in California. I need to make a correction on an earlier comment I made. The Yahoo360 blog actually IS accessible to the general public without having to log into Yahoo. I just found it doing a search and came directly to the blog. So, cool. One potential user roadblock removed.

I should also note that after creating this blog a few weeks ago, I did go back to Google to try out their BlogSpot once again. I am happy to say that both Yahoo and Google have done some good work. Both companies are making it easier for users to write entries and add images. I do like Yahoo’s ability to create some more fine tuned formatting (the designer in me loves this ability), but I like Google’s Blogspot templates more than Yahoo’s, and I like WordPress’s clean cut, friendly attitude towards independent thinkers. So, My dream would be to have all these 3 elements under one roof.

RSS PAIN POINT:
As a new blog user, I have stumbled upon RSS while surfing the net. I have seen RSS and ATOM and other subscription options all over the blogosphere. The dream list, aside, one of the big pain points which remains unsolved on all of these blogs is making the RSS subscription feed easier and more intuitive to use. This is a feature/ service I’m still having difficulty with as a regular technically innocent user. None of these blogs have made the RSS feed feature an accessible user experience. A user should be able to figure how to use any feature in less than 10 seconds (and that’s generous on the Internet) or most are out of there and not likely to return.

RSS ON WORDPRESS:
Ok, here on WordPress, the RSS set up is currently not intuitive for a non-developer, a regular, real world user. This is what I encountered when I clicked on the ‘Entries (RSS)’ text link at the bottom of the page.

“External Protocol Request. An external application must be launched to handle feed links….” Ok, I don’t get it. What am I suppoded to do now? I hit the ‘cancel’ button and decide I don’t have time for this right now. Maybe I should write to Matt and ask for his help to straighten out my blog and make it more presentable and in synch with the rest of the world

RSS ON YAHOO 360:
Now, for blogs on Yahoo360, when I went to click on the little orange ‘RSS” button at the bottom of the page, I don’t get much more than a separate page that opens up and I’m bombarded with a bunch of undecipherable code and more code and more code… I’m overwhelmed, there is no guidance on what I’m supposed to do with this code, so I’m stuck staring at a page of stuff that makes no sense to me, and I’m wondering as a user, “why exactly am I looking at this? Did the service crash? What’s up?”

DEAD END PAGE FULL OF CODE:
After being scared out of wits with undecipherable code, I close the window a bit deflated feeling that these people don’t care about me and I feel like the kid left out of the popular club because I didn’t think the same way as the rest of the club. That’s not a good user experience for a first time user. In this case, I’m in the high tech industry, so I revel in the journey to figure things out from the perspective of a technically innocent user so that hopefully by the time these applications get to your screen, the kinks are already figured out and you can have a happy user experience

So, here I am, a technically innocent user, staring at a bunch of code with absolutely no guidance on what I’m supposed to do. This wouldn’t be so bad, if they had a basic help section, a guided tour, or an audio stream that was taking me step by step through some sort of set up process (which would open up an additional set of usage issues). Or, at the very least, a line of text telling me why I’m subjected to looking at this heap of code??

LIFE IS SHORT, DON’T WASTE MY TIME:
My main issue is that when I approach these blogs as a regular person, busy with life, short on time, maybe not up to speed on all the coolness that technology has to offer, and all I want to do is write an entry for my friends to check out, well, then I really don’t have the mindset to stop my train of thought, to figure things out. The navigational process should be an intuitive, not disruptive experience. Bombarding me with a bunch of code when I innocently click on a little ‘RSS’ button, is like dropping a concrete slab at the end of an entry ramp just when you’re merging onto the highway… there is no rationale for it…it just doesn’t make sense to stop somebody in mid-acceleration or in this case, mid-thought. So, where is the reasoning here? What was the intended user behavior? What are users supposed to do when they get to this page of code with no entry or exit strategy for navigational continuity?

IF THEY REALLY WANTED ME TO USE THIS . . .
So, if they really wanted people to use the RSS and subscription options, you’d think that it would be made a little bit more straight forward to set up. I guess they don’t really want me to be able to do this, or I get the feeling that this is an invitation only sort of club for people in the know, and they don’t care about regular folks like me (their customer).

This doesn’t make for a pleasant user experience, and in essence the sites that do this miss the opportunity to create a positively memorable brand. Why? Because your first time user, a potential customer was made to feel inept, and that creates a sense of unease with people. The result? The user may come back, but the experience didn’t win them over enough to recommend it to others (loss of potential revenue).

BOTTOMLINE:
If you want people to use your products, make them easy to use. If you want people to come back and become a promoter of your product, make it easy to use, empower the user so that they are able to figure things out with relative ease. I’ll have more in my next entry on putting together an effective innovation team to achieve maximum creativity in project articulation. In the mean time, have a great day, and take time to view the world through an alternative perspective, a user’s perspective, should you get stuck in your development cycle.

We all have the capacity to view the world with an alternative perspective, should we take the time and effort to do so. You don’t need to be a researcher to create user-centric solutions, you need to have empathy for your end users. And that is something we all can do. Best of luck and have a great long weekend!

PS: Until I can figure out how to set up an RSS, I’m going to cut and paste this entry into my multiple blogs and create a manual distribution channel. So, if you can help me figure this RSS thing out, I’d greatly appreciate it

Ok, well, I’m addicted. It’s official. I’ve been sitting in front of this computer practically all day, and it’s edging towards late, late evening… dare I say it? It’s nearly midnight, and I’m here playing with these social networking web 2.0 technologies (which here in Silicon Valley, are considered almost ancient… and well, I’m just getting on this bandwagon and checking out the terrain I guess sometimes I do wait when a brand new technology arrives on the scene… mainly because 9 out of 10 times, I KNOW they are thinking that ‘well, it’s at least out there, and I we can work on tweaking it (to making it user-centric) later on… in the next release… at least we hit our target time to market and wall street should be happy we’re on schedule…’

So, here, I usually will wait at least a few months after a new product has been released (sometimes even longer depending on what type of product it is), till the kinks have been solved, and I, as a user, don’t have to tinker away to make the product work the way I was told it was going to work. If I like fixing things as a hobby, it’s fine, and this is a great challenge and learning experience…. but if I’m a person in a hurry (like most people) who wants things to work right out of the box (like most real world people), then I rather wait a little longer to get what I want, then waste valuable time figuring it out. I mean, come on, I rather be outside in on a walk in nature with my camera

My translation of a product release which jumps the gun in addressing valuable user-centric issues:

(1) As an industry professional, this is part of real life and being competitive in the business arena. You need to get your product out there before your competitor comes out with something darn close to what your team / company has created, and the continual challenge is to try to get the release product to be as close to perfection as your company can get it, and still get it out the door before your competition. This is the cycle of business life.

(2) Now, as a User, I of course want everything to be perfect. I’m spending good, hard earned money on this product and why exactly should I wait for the ‘fixes’ (in 3 months) when I’m buying the product now? If I buy a product today, I want it to work properly (as advertised) today, not tomorrow, not in 3 months, not in 2 weeks, but today. I give you my money today, I purchase a product today, I expect it to be functioning today. It’s really pretty simple. So, why have we, the general public become so lackadaisical in our demand for higher quality products from our online world? Why do we relax our standards with online products so much? Ok, I’ll stop here, it’s late, and this is the topic of a totally new post.

FLICKR - http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanpeacock
So, to conclude for tonight, I’ll just state simply that, I’m all excited about my Flickr page. I did manage to get the simple URL set up (don’t ask me how, I doubt if I could repeat the user experience even if my dinner depended on it), but its’ done. Also, I realized after I made 3 sets (groupings of photos), that with my free account that’s all I get. So, that’s where they have me. They got me hooked, and I invested a good amount of time to figure things out (since the user experience is still undergoing development to be more user-centric), and now they want me to pay a yearly fee to access the ‘pro’ features. Well, let’s see how it goes. I’m going to first test out how far I can go for free ☺

Well, thank you for visiting my site, and for staying around to read all these thoughts on the user experience. Life is short, and the easier we can make life on the internet for folks, the happier our customers will be. So, with that in mind, may you all have a wonderful week! I think this is enough blogging for a few weeks for me ☺

© 2006 Kavita Bali, Urban Peacock, Silicon Valley. All Rights Reserved.

Ok, well, the thrill lasted only so long. It turns out that this blog is really not accessible to the general public, as I thought it was. A user must join yahoo 360 first in order to view a yahoo 360 blog. I sent a link of the blog to a friend, and they didn’t want to sign up with 360, so in essence, for all it’s cool ease of use (in setting things up), the areas that could use improvement include:

(1) AFTER the user sets things up, it should be as simple to maintain and edit the blog (which at this stage is rather cumbersome and confusing in regards to navigation).

(2) A user shouldn’t have to be part of the 360 community in order to view a blog, if that’s to be the case, then we (the users) should be made aware of this prior to completing the entire set up process. It wasn’t until I finished creating my blog that I found out that others couldn’t view it. So, that’s not very public in regards to accessibility.

(3) Lastly, it’s rather confusing when I edit something. I hit the ’save’ button, but I can’t tell if anything really happened… or whether the system even acknowledged my changes. There is nothing in the regards to a friendly confirmation of any sort…. As a  user, I’m just sort of hoping that everything progressed in a happy way.
The navigation is confusing (mainly because there seems to be little to no attention (at this time) to the navigational system being created). I feel like the site is being developed by different people creating different elements of the puzzle, but nobody seems to be looking at the complete UI navigational system as a cohesive whole, and thereby the user is stuck trying to sort through a myriad of links and dead end pathways… I’m just going around in circles trying to figure out basically via hit or miss what I’ll find. It feels more like a scavenger hunt for navigation clarity … I want a more peaceful user experience please. I have hope. This is simply an early Beta.

In fairness, maybe (since the site IS in beta), Yahoo only had the resources to devote to the first part of the user equation - (getting people interested and signed up). Then, they decided they can take their time in regards to working on a user experience strategy that would benefit real world users… because right now…. well, it IS a beta. I have hope ☺

I still will check in and try this out again. But, maybe I’ll go back to WordPress, (but wait, look, I AM back on my good ‘ole buddies site, wordpress) where I can get the help of a real human to kindly guide me through the process. For it’s modest to no budget, WordPress is a far better product overall than this Yahoo beta, and easily better than Google’s BlogSpot blog (in my humble opinion as a frustrated former user).

There is something to be said for dedicated innovators of tomorrow, they have learned early that it is important to respect and care about your users/ customers. Getting a customer to log in and set something up is only the first step, the real win comes when you are able to KEEP your customer, and inspire them to stay with your service. So, far, I’m a customer on the edge. I will give Yahoo a little more time to help me out, but if not soon, I will move on and search for another solution for my online publishing dreams.

Ok, that’s enough blogging for a day. Time for dinner!

Have a great week, and remainder of the summer (for those of you who are part of the 360 yahoo community). For all the rest, I may just copy and paste these blog entries into my really public blog on WordPress. …. Oh wait look, I had to do that so that I could have my blog read by people not part of the Yahoo 360.

The last observation I’ll make here is that AFTER I set up the 360 blog… I couldn’t even find it again via the Yahoo search engine. I could swear that I set up the easy link feature (sort of like a short and easy URL ) to take folks to my blog without any pain. Pain being defined by having a URL address that consists of a series of undecipherable numbers which normal human beings don’t like when it comes to identification purposes. At least most people will opt for an easy to remember combination of words. I wonder if it will just take the system a little while to figure this out/ digest the new information. I’ll check it out again in a few days.

The last social networking I thought I’d try was to see if I could set up my Flickr account with my 360 Blog (since they are now both Yahoo services), and well, I’m still having difficulty in navigating those sites… that’s one reason I never got into using the Yahoo Groups… way too much thinking and effort in managing it. I’m simple. Give me the information easily and quickly without any fuss, and I’m a pretty happy person. Make me work for what should (in my regular human being opinion) be straight forward and common sense…. I’ll be out of there before you can say ‘but wait, we’ll be addressing those user-centric issues in our next version in about 6 months…’ …. I’ll have found another service provider with a core philosophy which respects real users by that time! ☺

Ok, well, this blog entry (which initially was my entry on the Yahoo 360 beta blog, has grown a tad. Oh, one last comment. My curiosity did manage to sidetrack me for a whil on the 360. I created an avatar for myself (something I truly never thought I’d ever do in life), but yes, I succumbed to the playfulness of this online act. I even went through all the outfits, trying to find a professionally hip outfit. I think I found something close… though I’d never wear brown boots with a black skirt, just not my personal style, but it’s close ☺ So, I guess I’ve turned into an online junkie (in the mildest of terms of course).

Till next time, enjoy your online adventures, and more importantly enjoy the real world and make sure to spend time with the real, live people in your life away from the computer and in nature, maybe playing with the kids or your siblings in the green grass while it’s still summer.

Enjoy your real world experiences and live life with joy.

–Kavita, Urban Peacock

© 2006 Kavita Bali, Urban Peacock, Silicon Valley. All Rights Reserved.

It’s Tuesday afternoon in Silicon Valley. As I was browsing my multiple email accounts and online communities, I thought I’d check out Yahoo’s 360 beta. I’ve tried out the other blogs, in search of one that was really easy to set up, and didn’t require more than a minute. So far, I have to admit, I’m surprisingly satisfied with Yahoo’s 360. It took me less than 60 seconds to set this up, and overall, (so far), it’s been rather painless. Let’s see what happens after I publish this.

One of my pain points with the other blogs has been trying to decipher how to get syndicated. I know for many folks out there in the cyberworld of social networks, this is an elementary question, however, as a representative for regular folks, it is not that easy to figure out if you aren’t a techno guru by trade or hobby.

Here, though, on Yahoo’s 360 beta, it was actually pretty simple (I think, again, I’m not sure what I did, but I guess we’ll find out after I publish this post). There was a check box to add the RSS feed as part of the general set up for the blog. This made a lot of sense, as the subscription mechanism was integrated into the beginning set up process, and that’s when most users are thinking of what they want (and are ok with multiple options, since they are just getting started). So, I found this straight forward introduction quite refreshing. I almost feel like a happy camper, but again, I’ll restrain my enthusiasm till I see what I actually end up with.

So, let’s consider this my first post on Yahoo’s blog. My first post on Google was a failure, and I have had greater success on my WordPress blog, but there are still things there I can’t figure out. I did, however meet the founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg a couple of weeks ago at the first WordCamp in San Francisco. He was a cool guy with a sense of techno/business savvy yet retained his down to earth Houston roots. I had a brief yet enjoyable chat with him about my difficulties as an end user in understanding how to do things on WordPress. He was rather kind, and offered to help me out. I intend to take him up on this offer of assistance, but haven’t had a moment to work on that quite as yet.

So, let’s see, I only wanted one blog, who needs more than one? But, it may end up that I’ll have 3!

(BLOG #1) One dead blog on Google, their BlogSpot which ate up my first blog back in March 2006, and there was no help provided to figure out why that happened, and nobody to talk to for assistance or guidance. So, that’s a deserted blog facing an online grave.

(BLOG #2) Then, there’s Blog #2. It’s the only active blog (so far), and is where I’ve been putting up my Design/ User Experience thoughts. It’s my WordPress blog.

(BLOG #3) And, now Blog #3, the Yahoo 360. Ok, I think I like this blog the best so far (in regards to my user experience.) I especially love the fact that I can do a little bit of formatting (basic stuff like bolding and adding emoticon happy faces). I think my paragraph breaks will also be adhered to… my fingers are crossed, I may have found the easiest blog yet, I am hoping, I am hoping…. let’s see
Ok, this blog, 360 beta, may just end up being my playful blog for friends and family. Let’s see.

Well, thanks for checking this out, and wish me luck as I attempt to join the rest of the online world in social networking via the blogging scene as a regular human, real world user

Have an awesome day, and make sure you get away from your computer and enjoy some real sunshine today!
Happy blogging, happy living, happy real world experiences to you,
–Kavita, UrbanPeacock

PS: I THINK I LIKE THIS BLOG
Coolness, I think I like this blog. I also just had a bit of fun, and created an avatar. I didn’t see an option to allow me to select is as one of my photos, so I’m going to try to do the cut & paste thing (as they suggested) and see if it will insert here properly. One thing that I like about this blog is that I don’t have to think to figure out how to add photos. Somthing that I couldn’t figure out easily on all the other blogs. So, I’m having fun now. I was able to set this entire thing up in less than 60 seconds, that is the type of user experience I like. I may actually end up using Yahoo more, just because they were so nice here. I have stayed away from Yahoo for search and other featuers, and I can’t stand their Group navigation, but I am pleasantly surprised by the ease in use of this blog set up. I hope to be continually surprised in a good way with future user experiences here. Now, it’s time to check email again as the day comes to a close.
–Kavita, Urban Peacock

PSS: ADDING AN AVATAR TO MY BLOG
Ok, well, the copy & paste of my avatar code (placing the code here on the post ‘edit’ section) didn’t seem to work. So, I tried the other intuitive option which was to download my avatar image as a jpeg (and easy suggestion made on the page where I made my avatar, I kept that window open, while I kept editing this post). So, then, I went into my editable post, and simply added an image (the jpeg avatar which had been saved to my desktop). And, upon preview, it seems to work. Coolness. My only comment, I wouldn’t wear brown boots with a black skirt, but that was the closest outfit to what I would wear in real life, so it’s ok to get started.

PSSS: THE RSS FEED SUBSCRIPTION SET UP
Ok, the RSS thing is still not easy to figure out. I think it’s more an issue about how I need to go to my other blog (which doesn’t have the things this blog as asking for in order to set up an integrated relationship for the RSS). So, that’s just going to have to wait for another day.

Saturday, July 22 it was 103 degrees Fahrenheit (almost 40 degrees Celsius) here in the South Bay, 100 degrees in Palo Alto, 87 in San Francisco… Fresno is the only major CA city that appears to be more heated at an unfathomable 113. It’s hotter in CA than in Washington DC, Austin or Houston, Texas… New Delhi was 89… so it is hotter in California than it is in India during the summer time….???

Okay, something is very odd with this picture… if you ever needed a physical experience of global warming, come on over to Northern California, where it’s even hotter than Southern California… now how often does that happen?

Today it is a little better, only 99 degrees here in parts of the South Bay, 96 in Palo Alto, 109 in Livermore (where today the power was also out) and then our dear San Francisco, a city on the water at a bearable 82, with a thin layer of fog rolling into the evening.
Queens, New York City, the power has been out in the middle of their heat wave… it’s been well over a week… what’s going on? What is happening to our infrastructure? First hurricane Katrina, now the power in Queens, NY… I’m sure there will be countless others that we will not be aware of… what’s going on?

New Delhi, India is cooler (at 89 degrees) than Paris, France (94 degrees) and Heidelberg, Germany (93 degrees)… aren’t these countries further NORTH of the equator… what’s happening to our weather??

Oh, and BOTH Seattle, WA (one of our northern most cities, bordering Canada) is exactly the SAME temperature as Los Angeles, CA (one of our southern most cities, practically bordering Mexico)… both Seattle, and Los Angeles are 89 degrees….

Washington DC is 87 degrees… a city just a bit south of the coastal city of Seattle (89 degrees)…. that’s a little odd, isn’t it?? … so, who is doing the study on our weather patterns and our weather experience? The dramatic changes in the last 10 years are exponential…

Maybe, if you haven’t already had an opportunity to see it, head on over to a nice air-conditioned movie theater and check out the Al Gore film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ which speaks about the accelerated rate of global warming which is engulfing our precious environment… Take a moment to explore… It’s a good, informational jump start of a film, which gets one’s brain cells re-activated…

I wonder, are we all too wrapped up in our digital imaginations of cyber worlds and media contraptions to notice the rising temperatures of the world around us… are we the frog sitting in a pot of tepid water where we are so happily self absorbed by our media that we fail to acknowledge the rising heat which surrounds us? I just wonder…

Maybe we need to take time to stop, and truly wonder what it is that we are creating in the name of cyber realities… What is happening to our habitable world while we pursue our precious cyber innovations? Will we still have a reality to experience after we have created the digital worlds which are not really habitable? Where will be go when the waters boil and rise?

I have hope, we are an intelligent lot, are we not? May this heat wave be a reminder, to take off our blinders to the realities which may sometimes bewilder our senses of mortality. Alas, all I want is a breath of pure, fresh air… and for geography to go back to where it is cooler in the north and warmer in the south (this is my northern hemisphere perspective at this time of year).

(c)2006 Kavita Bali, Urban Peacock. Silicon Valley, CA, it is 76 degrees outside as Californians approach midnight on Monday, July 24, 2006.

One of my favorite quotes by Walt Disney: “ If you can dream it, you can do it.”

Today, while taking time to do some googling (my favorite computer pastime) I pleasantly stumbled across this piece of research conceptualized by Robert Merton a professor of sociology at Columbia University well known in management and educational arenas.

In the 1957 book ‘Social Theory and Social Structure’ Professor Merton speaks of self-fulfilling prophecies as a mechanism for expectation management. It is amazing how contemporary his findings are.

It is clear from reviewing the Berman Blog (where I came by this research) that it would be great for management teams to take stock in the value of some of his thinking. I shall paraphrase here, but please do visit the Berman Blog, as it is a fascinating read and surely can benefit us as a refresher regarding the value diversity of perspective holds within the context of human management and the larger realm of societal relations.

“Once an expectation is set, even if it isn’t accurate, we tend to act in ways that are consistent with that expectation. Surprisingly often, the result is that the expectation, as if by magic, comes true.”

http://iit.bloomu.edu/pam/blog/index.cfm/2006/3/14/

The-Role-of-Selffulfilling-Prophecy-in-eLearning-Projects#h1_03_14_06

Now, consider the expectations of the era of computer technology and it’s ascent into the educational arena. Over the past decade much fanfare has surrounded the advent of such a move prophesizing a new era of learning. Yet, as is customary with the introduction of any novel mode of thinking or tool, time is the determining factor in regards to its overall effectiveness.

I have yet to see any amazing results from the era of computer education. If anything, I am somber as I see more and more people less fluent in problem solving / free form creative thinking than even before. There is instead a flurry of single minded, linear progressions of thought when it comes to approaching innovation or an allure for strict research induced data specifics. It seems that as a society we are becoming more and more weary of the possibility of making a mistake or failing in our quest for innovation. Why? It is part of the creative process…

Or can it be that we simply fear the intangibility of creativity? As it can not be quantified or dissected as easily as some may wish? What we don’t understand often creates hesitation in people. It is human nature, yes, but is it not also true that the sheer beauty of discovery is to enter the realm of the unknown in search of greater meaning and self understanding?

Why fear? Why not rejoice in the advent of potential discovery? Why such a need to lasso the sunrise? Why not sit back and enjoy it’s beauty and enjoy that moment of life and wonder? A peaceful mind is the greatest reservoir from which creativity and innovation germinate.

‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” –Thomas Edison.

Those visionaries who recognize the need for such a multi-disciplinarian approach to problem solving truly benefit in the long run. Their product development teams are not only encouraged to understand each other’s needs in order to communicate effectively, the mere fact that the team members have gone through this very exercise of conversation fosters a level of understanding, trust, and mutual respect. A great foundation to build a team. This team building time, at the onset of a major project should not be sacrificed. The entire product development process will run a lot more smoothly if people are aware of each other’s high level deal breakers.

The notion of expectations plays a key role here. Whether it be in the corporate development arena, the educational arena or on a film set.

Set the expectations high, and value those involved, and watch your ideas flourish.

“Those who are good at doing what they are told will be able to survive, but they won’t excel in the increasingly competitive marketplace. Nonetheless, support people will be valued to the extent that they can adjust to change while maintaining the healthy corporate culture. They will implement the crazy ideas of the dreamers and risk takers.” – Esther Dyson on ‘Creativity and intelligence’ , pg. 68 (from her 1997 book: Release 2.0, A Design for living in the Digital Age)

Well, there you have it, another ten mile post. I guess I need to be more frugal with my words. It is far simpler to be verbose than it is to be concise. Keep that in mind when you ask a designer why it’s taking so long to do something you feel is quite simple. It is all a matter of perspective. The more we understand about each other, the more easily we shall be able to communicate and work together. I wish you all great adventures in the world of product development

© 2006 Kavita Bali, Urban Peacock, Thus. June 29, 2006, 9:00pm, Silicon Valley, CA