The Big Design Conference was a huge success! Over 500 in attendance. It was a fantastic inaugural event. Overall, I think my presentation went very well despite display issues at the beginning, the person introducing me did not show up (shamelessly had to plug myself) and I had a complete brain freeze that lasted maybe an AGONIZING 2.5 minutes. Here is a version of the slides. I will be updating the presentation with some additions soon. Thanks to everyone who attended and thanks for the kind words on Twitter. Enjoy.

I really really wish I had taken the time to look over and rehearse the presentation I gave way back in March at IA Summit 2009. Why do I do this to myself on nearly every single public speaking engagement? I think I am an adrenaline addict. Or, I must like hurting myself in this way for the endorphin rush. Will post how well/badly it went.

File this under Last Year’s News, but a new font called Calibri is being distributed by Microsoft and it is actually good. If you have installed IE8, any Office 2007 product, or are running Vista, you have the font installed. In fact, it is the default browser font replacing Arial in IE, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. It has also replaced Times New Roman in Word.

I like that its taller x-height allows for increased legibility at very small type sizes. In fact, I may be changing the CSS declarations of this site to see if I like the fit. Think of it as the new Trebuchet. Remember the day you woke up and every website under the sun was sporting the Treb look?

Now opening a Microsoft application is just a bit less painful. Here that bell, Arial? It tolls for thee.

Starting on New Year’s Day, I vowed to track some pretty mundane statistics for an entire year using Daytum. Daytum is a pretty interesting concept put together by Ryan Case and Nicholas Feltron (author of the brilliant Feltron Reports).

Daytum is currently in private beta and after receiving my invitation, I spent a few days trying to decide how I would waste spend my time tracking some trivial pursuits. Tracking the animation I watch with my two year old son is my personal favorite.

Check out my online report. Decide for yourself if you want to share the absolute minutia of your existence. I assure you, it can be addicting. Sign up for an account today.

Economy got you down? This recession depression can’t last forever but in the meantime, head on over to Big Lots! for some cheap and um, interesting foodstuffs.

If beef jerky is taking up too much of your monthly budget, why not give ham jerky a try? And don’t get worked up if the pork isn’t cooked thoroughly. It couldn’t be any more dangerous than peanut butter these days.

The breath freshening power of ham

You know, I was just asking myself the other day, if the Unabomber was still on the loose, what would he drink when thirsty? The answer is Bomba — the fruity flavored energy drink bottled in a glass grenade. As some of you know, I have a real weak spot (in my heart and arteries) for energy drinks so I am happy to report that I actually bought a case of these stubby little weapons. The pull tab was just like pulling the pin on a real grenade (and I know this HOW?!?).

I didn’t want to be wasteful but let’s just say I sure was glad when I finished the last one. How would I describe the taste? Next time you are dying Easter eggs, be sure to pick up the cup of dye and drink it down in one big gulp. Did everything just taste blue for a second? It sure did.

Warning: May cause changes in the color of urine

If you are like me, you go out of your way to combine your favorite things in life to create super awesome new things. I have always wanted to pair my love for soup with the excitement of the circus. Thanks to the good people at Stauffer’s, I can realize my dream. Just make sure you don’t accidently get the ones with pink and white icing on them. That happened to me once. Worst. Clam Chowder. Ever.

Bread and Circus

We have a problem with rabbits in our backyard and well, I don’t want to be gross but the following cereal with the unfortunate name of Cocoa Drops, strikes a little too close to home. And what is up with that ridiculous tag line: Keep it simple! Pay only for taste. Sounds a little Engrish to me.

Not Cocoa Puffs

This last item may be perfectly fine. But as for me, I just have a problem with all snacks with hot cheese. With the exception of a nice pepper jack, I just don’t know of too many hot cheeses out in the wild. But hey, if hot cheesy popcorn is your thing, then who am I to judge.

Hot cheese. Not natural.

Design Commission has an awesome stencil for the ultimate in rapid prototyping. Do yourself a favor and get one now!

Do you sometimes quickly prototype a Website on a piece of paper? Have you ever wanted a browser chrome on top of your sketch book? Looking for the ultimate gift for your UI/UX designer girl/boyfriend?
The kit includes:

• Stainless steel stencil with all your favorite user interface iconography
• Heavyweight paper pad with browser chrome on top
• Zebra mechanical pencil
• Vinyl sleeve for stencil
• Design Commission Sticker

I really do wish I had seen this at Christmas time.

I would like to present three websites that can be easily consumed (bad pun) over the course of a working lunch at one’s desk. The idea is to draw the three together for a purpose. Today’s Menu Includes:

http://www.ecommr.com/
“ecommr is a website showcasing the best (and sometimes worst) in e-commerce design, with a clear focus on the individual elements that make up online stores. We break down retailers and focus on individual user interface elements in order to provide a gallery of inspiration for designers, developers, information architects, and anyone working with online retail.”

http://www.slideshare.net/contest/results-2008
So, now you have some ideas for a new e-commerce approach to your company’s website. Now what? You need to influence others, particularly decision makers, that your ideas have merit. Check out this link for brilliant presentations to inspire you how to present your fabulous new ideas.

http://www.iaonesheeters.com/iaonesheeters.asp
Having been given the greenlight to take your concept and go conquer, take a moment at the above link to see what tools are at your disposal to bring your concepts to fruition. Flesh out the foundation of your interfaces and get some usability testing deliverables knocked out to boot. It’s just that easy.

My son saw Lucky the Leprechaun on my Lucky Charms t-shirt. I told not to touch it because leprechauns spread leprosy. I can’t wait until he starts school.

Lucky the Leper

If only there was some product or drink out there that could keep me buzzed yet loaded with energy.

In tall boy cans no less

Upgrading WordPress has munged all of my categories and looks like it might take a while to sort out. I may need to reverse-engineer each and every post in the database. Sounds like time I already don’t have to waste on such a silly problem.

I recently had the chance to see Josh Bernoff, one of the authors of Groundswell. The book and Josh’s presentation are all about the importance of companies tapping into the power and potential of online social networking– and how not doing so is very unwise in the new economy.

I cannot recommend this book enough and wish I had time to give a better review. If social media is on your radar as an enterprise endeavor, you really must get this book.

Groundswell

Our 21-month old son painted this on or about the 4th of July. Watch out for this kid. He will definitely grow up patriotic and talented.

Google basically *is* the Internet for people in Europe, particularly France. Recently, I was in France conducting some web usability testing and we made it a point to have Internet Explorer and Fire Fox open to a blank page. Several people were nearly unable to begin a browsing session without the familiar search engine. In fact, several people were simply unable to type any URL at all,lacking all sense of correct URL syntax.

Some attribute this to the fact that Internet usage in France took off at or around the time Google assumed its place as victor of the Search Engine Wars. Lastly, and I do not know why, Google’s Ad Sense ads were nowhere to be found. It was odd yet definitely nice to see screens resulting in a lot less clutter.

When it rains it pours and this week was like a category 5 hurricane. Only five days into my trip to Europe, I was in Paris when I found out that I needed to get home right away, as I only had 15 hours until Julee’s unexpected C-section. Thankfully, I had hardly unpacked and I spent nearly 90 minutes canceling my travel to Italy and booking new passage back to Dallas via London.

When I landed, I spent nearly 20 agonizing minutes going through customs and nearly the same waiting for my luggage. It was a good thing Julee’s hospital was close to the airport. As they would say in London, I was nearly mad as a hatter in the backseat of that taxi.

Perspiring, out of breath and hauling way too much luggage, I burst into Julee’s room and saw the tiniest, most precious baby I had ever seen. Little Jenna, all 5 pounds 11 ounces of her, was sleeping in her mother’s arms. I had missed her arrival by six hours. At the time she was born on May 15, 12:18 PM, I was 32,000 feet above Montreal, pointing towards home, Needless to say, she has since spent a lot of time in my arms.

Always wanting to be held, she is a cuddly little thing. Skin as pink as sunburn and voice as squeaky as a door hinge. But we are now all together and Jason is on the the path of learning that he is now a big brother. I cannot wait until we can go home tomorrow.