Nick Finck

The Magic of Jared Spool Apr 27th, 2011

Photo by D. Decker

Of the people for whom I have such great respect, Jared Spool is at the top of that list. Jared is a seasoned veteran in the field of usability and user research.  With a background in software development he founded User Interface Engineering in 1988.  He is a faculty member at Tufts University Gordon Institute and perhaps one of the most prolific presenters in the user experience field.  He is a kind soul with a wealth of knowledge.  He is showman with the experience to back up his claims. 

However, Jared doesn’t just keep the knowledge he gains to himself, he shares it with the community through his workshops, keynotes, and presentations worldwide.  It would be easier to count the days that he has been on terra firma than not as he travels.  He has become an advocate for good design, usability, user research, and good experiences with products and services.  Jared has personally helped mentor me through some very challenging times and tough decisions in my career.  I very am grateful for his insights, advice, honesty, and motivation over the years.

The WVIL concept camera Apr 18th, 2011

Here is an interesting concept camera by Artefact here in Seattle.  It’s a very interesting concept of what amounts to essentially a wireless lens.  No more “MySpace photos” for self portraits here.  All image adjustments can be made on the fly on the base of the camera in your hand (like you would do with a smartphone after you took the photo).  You can read more about the concept camera here: Artefact’s WVIL concept camera. (via Aza Raskin & Brian Henderson)

The Cross-Channel Experience Apr 16th, 2011

Recently I was asked to speak at Microsoft’s MIX11 conference in Las Vegas.  I decided to give a presentation on the cross-channel experience, that is, the experience one has with a business across and between all touchpoints one can have with a business.