June 30, 2014

An Environment for Successful Design

Each year I work as a designer I devote less and less time to traditional ‘design’ work, like creating wireframes, aesthetic layouts or prototyping interactions. These days I spend most of my time establishing an environment for successful design to occur. For me, this shift has greatly accelerated in the past few years, partially due to specific needs at Kiva, but also, a general shift within Silicon Valley has occurred which has significantly broadened the role of ‘design’ within an organization.

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April 16, 2014

And Then I Understood Empathy

My stomach has been in knots recently. The western edge of San Francisco – where I call home – has experienced two tragic accidents in the past week. A teenager was swept out to sea by a rip at Ocean Beach and a three year old boy was critically injured after being struck by a truck. The emotions and pain these two youngsters suffered haunts my thoughts each night while the pain and loss their families are enduring breaks my heart.

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April 4, 2014

Change Is Afoot

Measured in web years, three years is a lifetime. Yet it’s been that long since I’ve done any serious work on my own website. Over that time significant shifts have occurred in the landscape – responsive design, retina displays and a mobile first focus have changed how websites are designed and built. Not wanting 2 Out of Three to fall too far behind the curve – and looking to scratch my developer itch (something that’s been gathering dust as of late) – I carved out some time to make the most substantial updates to the site since releasing version 2 in May 2010. While I don’t consider these updates a full redesign, there are some meaningful changes that address mobile usability, retina images and a renewed focus on my design work. Here is a full list of changes:

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