I don’t know about you, but some days my little monkey brain has about had enough. Enough change, enough global anxiety, enough information, enough speed of business, enough of being under the fire hose. Then I meet someone who doesn’t even have a cell phone, e-mail, or internet access.

Sounds like whining, huh? Or a grass is always greener talk. Not at all. When I meet people operating in such a different information space, I see it as evidence of the great global transition we are experiencing.

Recently, I’ve been watching this new show on BBC called “Victorian Farm.” In the show, two archaeologists and an expert in the history of domestic arts spend a year living on a farm 1880’s style. They live as authentically as they can, even down to the breeds of animals they tend to. I know what you’re thinking - but it’s not one of those “20th century family meets old way of life and complains about it” shows. These people are excited about viscerally experiencing the life of victorian farmers from a scholarly perspective. They nerd out on everything from original nails to using milk to shift ink stains to playing victorian parlor games.
According to the show, the 1880s were a period of great transition. Society was changing from an agricultural one to an industrial society. During this period, people were discovering new ways of mechanizing labor while still using ancient techniques. These two ways of living were co-existing. Consequently, it was a time of liberation, social change, uncertainty, and great upheaval.

Sound familiar? It seems we are in our own version of the 1880s, with huge changes afoot in all aspects of our lives: social, intellectual, spiritual, and economic. It means we are both being liberated and thrust into a sometime overpowering sense of instability. Uncertainty and anxiety rule the day. We need turn on the news, talk to our friends, or even listen to our own heartbeat to know that’s true.

Sometimes, when I am watching Victorian Farm, I wonder if the people felt a similar sense of fear and anxiety or were they relieved to have these labor saving devices emerge? Were they worried about where the world was going, what it all *meant,* the way we seem to? Probably. But my sense is that they were still so tethered to the grind (literally) of daily life — four days to do laundry from start to finish *including* help from a machine — that most farmers didn’t have time to stop the show for an existential crisis.

As a society (in global terms), we are in a huge transition. Sometimes its hard to see where we are going or imagine what our future will look like. We have a little time for an existential crisis — thanks forty hour work week! — but what I believe is needed is creative leadership. Tolerance for ambiguity, willingness to take risks, willingness to ask challenge assumptions plus a set of problem solving techniques and methods are the design leader’s toolbox.

For creative people, it is our time to be leaders, to wear the headlamp into the dark cave, our clients tethered to our waists, and take one step at a time towards an unimagined future.

I was playing “one thing leads to another” this morning (aka following links) and came across this fantastic article by Allison Druin of the University of Maryland’s  Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. In Druin’s article, “The Role of Children in the Design of New Technology,” she builds a case for the involvement of children directly in the technology being designed specifically for them. She goes on to describe four primary levels of involvement (user, tester, informant, and design partner) and discuss the methods, historical context, strengths, and weaknesses of each level. If you are interested in participatory, cooperative or collaborative forms of design, this article is an excellent starting point. It is packed from beginning to end with Druin’s experience, wisdom, ideas and resources.

It opens with this great reminder for designers (and can be applied to any user group):

Children have their own likes, dislikes, curiosities, and needs that are not the same as their parents or teachers. As obvious as this may seem, we as designers of new technologies for children, sometimes forget that young people are not “just short adults” but an entirely different user population with their own culture, norms, and complexities (Berman, 1977). Yet, it is common for developers of new technologies to ask parents and teachers what they think their children or students may need, rather than ask children directly (Druin et al., 1999; Druin, 1996). This may in part be due to the traditional power structure of the “all-knowing” adult and the “all-learning” child, where young people are dependent on their parents and teachers for everything from food and shelter, to educational experiences. At times, these relationships may make it difficult for children to voice their opinions when it comes to deciding what technologies should be in schools or at home. In addition, we as designers of technologies have our own biases and assumptions about children.

I’m a strong believer in the power of user involvement in design. Unfortunately, user involvement is more time consuming and therefore, can be expensive. I was inspired by Druin’s article, though, to re-visit user involvement in my design work (whether children or adults) and start to look for creative ways to include it.

If I have learned nothing else in my design life, I know that a great project manager can make the difference between a successful, even joyful project and a painful slog to the leaden finish line. It’s rare that project managers of design projects (in the broadest sense of the word “design”) get the support and training they need. The project managers at Adaptive Path decided they would change this and have designed “Managing Design Projects,” a day long conference on February 5th, here in San Francisco.

Here’s what they say about it:

“Whether you call it product management, program management, or project management, it all boils down to managing creative teams. If you are a product manager, program manager, or project manager for creative teams, this is a prime opportunity to join peers for a day of inspiration, education and networking, removed from the hustle and distraction of your working life.”

And some of the topics they’ll cover:

• Facilitation
• Tools
• Client Relations
• Conflict Resolution
• Managing for New Methods & Technologies (including Agile Development, Design Sprints, Rich Internet Applications and Mobile)
• Extreme Scope Change
• Elevating the Practice

Scott Berkun is the keynoter. Julia Houck-Whitaker and I will be presenting some information on facilitation basics and work session planning. Lynn Waldera, a long-time organizational consultant to Adaptive Path, will be discussing conflict resolution. Finally, Brian Cronin will discuss the need to elevate the practice of project management. I am really looking forward to it and am very proud of the organizers!

Here’s more information on “Managing Design Projects.”

I just finished another UX Week, this time here in San Francisco (a four-day event for user experience professionals put on by Adaptive Path. I co-chaired it with Peter Merholz.). It was exhilarating. It was also exhausting. I’ve got a bit of those post-event blues.

But, pouring the experience of others into my brain through a 4-day long firehose leaves me inspired. I’ve made some connections I wasn’t expecting and feel ready to explore some new territory.

Creativity lesson? I cultivated a beginner’s mind all week - and was rewarded for it with ideas, new technologies to nerd out on, and just a love for the people I am privileged to work with and near.

I also did not use my laptop, except during one session, which meant I was right there the whole time.

Sometimes in life, experiences are really a matter of perception. One day, you might see nothing but pink clouds and blue skies in a situation. The next, you might see storm clouds and leaking roofs. As managers (or, in my case, as an advocate), sometimes we are called upon to help our co-workers see through their own fog and glimpse the sunshine.

But how? I don’t know about you, but I’m no therapist. I’m a designer and a strategist so I use the tools I have.

A few weeks ago, one of my advocat-ees (we have an advocate system rather than a management system) was struggling with a project. It was actually a really cool project but it had been going for a long time. There was no end in sight. She was having trouble keeping perspective, feeling buried under it.

She needed, and asked for, an attitude adjustment.

Here’s what I did. I took three large stickies and on each one I wrote one of these questions:
a) What excited you about this project when you first started it?
b) When this project is finished, it will…
c) When this project is finished, I will…

I gave her a stack of small stickies and a sharpie. I handed one question to her at a time. I asked her to take three sheets from her sticky pad and on each, write one answer to the question. As she completed each set, I handed her a new question and posted the previous question and her answers on the wall.

Once she finished all of them—about five minutes later—we stood back and reviewed her answers. I had her talk through each set. We discussed her answers and I asked loads of questions. I pointed out things that seemed to be really important to her and asked her about things that seemed to be contradictory. Mostly, though, I just let her talk. She was able to remember the things that excited her about the project in the first place and remind herself how both she, the client, and our company would be affected by its outcome.

It didn’t change the nature of the project or its timeline but it changed the way she felt about it. When we were done, she was visibly refreshed, and ready to move forward.

I was speaking to a friend this morning, a musician and songwriter who has been experiencing some depression. For her, this type of depression has been a long-time burden and she is taking some steps to get better. But, she pointed out, she is deeply afraid of losing her creativity to happiness. I knew exactly what she meant.

Do you have to be unhappy to be creative?

A few nights ago, Craig Ferguson on the Late Late Show asked Ben Kingsley the same question. Kingsley responded:

“I think we all accommodate to what we have. We all go through periods of wilderness and I’ve been through mine. I think most men and women, when they are adults, have earned their adulthood, have earned their humanity. It does involve some bleak times. I do think we create better when we are happy. I honestly do.” — Ben Kingsley

Right now Kingsley says he is really happy. Recently married, raising a chicken, building a life in rural England. And, according to IMDB, he has something like four movies to be released this year and five more in production or recently completed. So I believe he knows something about it.

For me, I’ve learned that happiness, like creativity, isn’t a destination. It’s more of a process. So I just show up every day, do the best that I can, make something, try to be helpful to other people, and use the gifts I was given.

My co-worked Bryan Mason and I will be speaking at SXSW on Monday, March 11 at 3:30pm.

The focus of our talk is on tools and techniques creative professionals from other disciplines use to keep the juices flowing. We’ve talked to a number of people in different areas (theater, classical music, comedic writing, restaurants) and drawn on our own experience in theater and music. It’s been a super fun process and we are excited to share the results.

When I go to Amsterdam, I like to hit Nijhof & Lee, a great little design book store located near Waterlooplein (and while I’m at it, I hit De Beesten Winkel for stuffed dinosaurs and creepy crawly bugs for my nephews). For the size of the store, they have a great selection of both US and European design books. I almost always find something I haven’t seen before anywhere else.

This time I found “Design Management” by Kathryn Best. This book is a great survey of skills, tools, and methods for designers and managers a like. She covers managing the design strategy, the design process, and implementation. It has a strong graphic design emphasis but many of the examples and methods can be adapted to other forms of design.

I’ve been lots of places, which has unfortunately disrupted the nice writing routine I got going over the summer and early fall.

For instance, I:

1. spoke at Oredev, a conference for desktop developers in Sweden in November
2. gave a talk at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco
3. gave a talk with Sharon Greene from the Neo-Futurists at MX East in October
4. conducted a 20 person user research study in Phoenix, Sacramento, and San Francisco

And, in addition, I spent some time with my sister and her kids in St. Louis and Luxembourg.

No wonder I was so tired when Christmas came around.

This week I am facilitating a series of visioning workshops for a super sweet client. I’m hoping for some good posts to come out of that.

If graphic designers can learn anything from their past, it should be that the best graphic design doesn’t use the past to solve the complex problems of the present: it uses the present to reveal the possibilities of the future. —Jeffrey Keedy, Designer and CalArts instructor

I recently stumbled across a book of design meditations and have added a review of one each day to my morning routine. Some of the meditations are more platitudes, but some have some meat to them, like this one.