Improve your observational powers.
In-person meetings are my best window into how the client organization works. I am always looking for the risks in the room. I could assume the best, but that hasn’t tended to help in the past. Sometimes paranoia pays. Phone meetings still frustrate me. I don’t know which is worse: sitting at your desk alone trying […]
This one is quick and fun. I heard this from my first boss, and a variant follows from one of my university profs. How to read a table: Find the person who is running the meeting. People more worried about establishing control over the meeting will sit at the head. (My observation: the most powerful people […]
Very early on in our design education, we have drilled into us that “designers are not users”. We need to understand our users’ needs. We cannot assume that users will share our needs, attitudes or comfort with technology, or that our users will have the same mental model about how a product or process works. Guess what? Designers […]
Even the best of us have days when we just want to smack someone we work with. Don’t smack. Smacking is bad. Let off steam. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell http://Dilbert.com and http://shitclientssay.net/ http://shitclientssay.tumblr.com/ http://shitmyclientsays.tumblr.com Make sure to leave time to laugh at yourself. Shit Interaction Designers Say Take a deep breath, and then move on.
Understanding Clients 