Definitions of "User Experience"

In a recent interview, Jesse James Garrett of AdaptivePath talks about his recent book on user experience. The interview is a really great read.

His definition of the practice of UXP is really telling, particularly in grounding user goals and ROI:

"'User experience' simply refers to the way a product behaves and is used in the real world. A positive user experience is one in which the goals of both the user and the organization that created the product are met. "Usability" is one attribute of a successful user experience, but usability alone does not make an experience positive for the user. Historically, product design and development has considered the mere existence of a particular feature as evidence that a user goal is fulfilled by the product -- with no attention paid to the experience the user has with the product while using the feature. "

The full interview is here

Tea in the City 2003

Well, it took us awhile to put together another Tea at LoveJoys's Tea room in San Francisco, but it was well worth the wait. We had 13 people come and more food than we could possibly eat in one sitting.

Pictured L-R: Rhonda, Wendy, Dan, Art, Kevin & Jen

Pictured: Maddie & Monique

Pictured: Lanette & Angela

Pictured: Rhonda, Wendy,

Pictured: Angela, Maddie, & Monique

Pictured in Foreground: Kevin & Jen

Columbia...The best & brightest

Like most people this morning on the west coast, I woke up to the news on CNN that the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry after a two week mission.

As a boy I watched this shuttle go up in space for the first time, and to see this end with the crew is truly a tragedy. This is definitely a moment of shock and horror.

My thoughts go out to the families of the crew.