This past Saturday, I had the honor of speaking at A Web Afternoon, held at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. The day was—hands-down—one of the best Atlanta events I’ve been to since moving here. The event was designed to feature short talks that happen at a rapid-fire pace…pausing in between speakers only for book giveaways. It was so much fun, and really relaxed, in the way that events can only be when they are thoughtfully planned and carefully executed. A big thank you to J Cornelius and his incredible volunteers for making it look so easy!
And then there were the speakers…wow, the speakers! To be counted among them just makes me want to shout from the rooftops. Our collective expertise was varied enough to cover the digital landscape, giving everyone something that they could immediately apply to their work as well as new information that stretched us all beyond our respective comfort zones. Good advice and insights popped up during every talk; multiple times I was hit with profound advice (thank you @seiden…or shall I say Vnla Ice?) or a new way of looking at what inspires us to design (hats off to @lcalandrella and @mickwinters). All around, an incredibly inspiring group… I learned so much, and the more I think back on it all, the more I take away.
My ten-minute talk was about the four different types of researchers I’ve encountered over the past ten years. It gets at the heart of one of the reasons why I wrote Universal Methods of Design: to remind us that the freshest among us (those who may be low confidence/low knowledge when it comes to the research landscape) may need an understanding of mechanics and method context, and the more seasoned among us (who have experience and knowledge) need to be occasionally reminded to take a fresh look at the methods in our toolbox. Without further ado, here are the slides.
