Silicon Tails

Looking for a talented user experience researcher

2010-10-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

I am looking for a user experience researcher to join the UX team at HP.

As part of the Digital Strategy team at HP we are embarking on a variety of ambitious and exciting projects including the re-launch of HP.com. Our goal is to create a world-class HP digital presence and we are looking for only the best talent to help us make it happen. So, if you want to join a fast-paced organization where your contribution will make an immediate impact and you will gain exposure to one of the highest profile projects at HP, apply today.

Job Description:

In this role, you will be a key member of HP’s user experience team reporting to the head of user experience research. Your key responsibility will be to integrate user experience research into the design cycle and you will work with stakeholders inside and outside the user experience team to determine and prioritize strategic and tactical questions that can be properly informed by primary or secondary research. You will plan and execute user experience research projects for multiple areas of HP.com and you will help drive product vision, product requirements and UI design based on insights from user experience research, as well as market research and analytics. It is important that you have a good understanding of a wide variety of user experience research methods so as to properly match methods with questions, rigor with risk and speed with reliability. In a fast-paced environment, you will also continuously apply your extensive knowledge of usability principles to help create designs that are innovative, market-leading and usable.

Qualifications:

- A Masters or Ph.D. degree in a relevant field, such as HCI, Information Science or Psychology.
- A minimum of 3 years experience as a user experience researcher on large-scale web applications.
- Excellent analytical ability, especially with regard to observation of user behavior.
- Knowledge of a wide range of user experience research methods, including strong knowledge of experimental designs and both formative and summative usability testing. Experience with eye-tracking is a plus.
- Proven ability to turn research insights into actionable product- and design recommendations.
- Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to explain complex data and findings in a clear, relevant and impactful way.
- Ability to coordinate and guide vendor relationships when necessary.
- A team-player with the desire and ability to stand up for what you believe in.

Apply here: http://tinyurl.com/26uyqpv
Feel free to contact me directly if you have questions.

Moving Back To Silicon Valley

2010-07-16T02:41:00.000-07:00

No, I don't blog much any longer, but need to update the post below. After 15 months I am leaving Telstra in late July and moving back to Silicon Valley in August.

We have launched important products over the past months with great customer feedback and reviews, showing that change is coming to Telstra and that there is a renewed focus on user experience.

For example, in April we launched the T-Hub: http://www.telstra.com.au/latest_offers/thub/index.html. The T-hub received great reviews, e.g.: "The unit is well designed, and not just aesthetically, but also conceptually" - http://www.cnet.com.au/telstra-t-hub-339302375.htm.

In June we launched the T-Box, Telstra's first IPTV offering. Example of press: "..struck by the ease of use and ‘flow’", "it's really quite impressive" - http://apcmag.com/video-watch-telstras-t-box-in-action.htm

Over the past year we have also made significant changes to "The Telstra Development Process", which incorporates important user-centred design activities previously omitted from Telstra's official development process. These changes have driven more focus on user experience across the business and across functions.

I wish everyone at Telstra well, I will be cheering from the sidelines. But now I'm looking forward to going back home to the San Francisco Bay Area and to once again work amongst the world's sharpest innovators and entrepreneurs.

Klaus Accepts Position at Telstra (Sydney)

2009-03-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

It is about time I update you all about my plans for the immediate future.

As most of you know I recently left Yahoo! after almost 6 1/2 years. I will no doubt miss all the great people I worked with there - especially all of you in the (former) customer insights team of course, none mentioned, none forgotten - and I will be cheering from the side lines. Yahoo! is a great brand and has good products (look at the innovation in Search over the past year for example, and note that for the first time Y! has gained market share in the past 5 months according to Comscore numbers).

Since I left Yahoo! I have spent my time looking into many different opportunities. I ended up grabbing the one opportunity that is both a great challenge work-wise and a great, new experience for my whole family. I have accepted a position as Executive Director of Service Enablers and Customer Experience at Telstra in Sydney, Australia. Telstra is Australia's leading telecommunications and information services company. They offer a full range of products and services and compete in all telecommunications markets throughout Australia, as well as in media / information services through Bigpond and Sensis as well as other media properties. Under the leadership of CEO, Sol Trujillo, Telstra mapped out a transformation program 3 years ago that covered a series of parallel paths with an emphasis on establishing a World leading media-comms company that offers truly differentiated and integrated services.

What initially attracted me to Telstra was that the company so explicitly and vocally focuses on customer experience as a key lever in their business transformation. The customer and the customer experience is front and center in Telstra's vision and mission, as it is stated on the web site:

"Our vision

To know our customers and meet their needs better than anyone else.

Our mission

To do for customers what no one else has done: create a world of 1 click, 1 touch, 1 button, 1 screen, 1 step solutions that are simple, easy and valued by individuals, businesses, enterprises and government.

Customer experience

To give customers a personalised, seamless experience that makes it easy for them to do what they want, when they want to."

In February I visited Telstra in Sydney and Melbourne and met with a lot of great people across the business. They all impressed me with their dedication to the company's vision, but also by the honesty and candidness with which they viewed Telstra's current position and future challenges and opportunities.

SO - to make a long story short, I am convinced that the skills and experience I have built up over my career will be a great fit with Telstra. I have taken this position to make a real difference and to keep them ("us" I should say now) honest when it comes to the goal of creating the best, seamless, personalized experiences across multiple devices and "channels".

We are now in the process of moving to Sydney. Everyone is excited, including the kids. You can follow updates on this new experience here, but (as I find I write less and less) more likely on Twitter and Facebook.

The Eclectisism of Twittering

2008-09-14T17:37:00.001-07:00

The Eclectisism of Twitter
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard

Binge drinking, disney world, IA semantics, and web 2.0 - all in a few minutes of twittering (thanks, or sorry, tara, christina, and john).

"Soft" skills

2008-08-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

I never liked the terminology around "soft" skills and "hard" skills, but everyone with a little bit of practical experience knows that both types of skills are necessary to succeed, probably always have been, probably always will be. It seems that his issue came up several times independent of each other during Richard Anderson's "user experience executives speak" courses.

My colleague at Yahoo! Jim Nieters brought up communication and advocacy skills and Richard quotes me for saying:

"'It is all about getting people on your side. Researchers won't get an SVP of business to act just by presenting their insights. One needs to build momentum to get people behind you in order to convince them, which is a long process. You have to wear 2 hats -- your scientist hat and your strategy and business hat, which is like becoming a different person. This is difficult for all of us to learn.'"

In many ways it is harder for researchers (this is true for many professions I'm sure) to learn to be effective communicators, advocates, strategists, than it is to learn the "hard skills" of research. Of course it also has to do with the mere fact that it is often a lot harder to determine what to do with certain insights in a given business context, than it is to execute research projects following the rules and guidelines of research methodology. That is why research should really be viewed as a collaborative endeavour that includes creative thinkers and business thinkers alongside researchers. When cross-functional groups work well together, then that's when research can spark real and "doable" innovation. Insights in a report or a in presentation is in itself little more than a wish-list.

Soeren on his Harley.....

2008-07-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

....somewhere around Apalachicola, Florida.

Gulf MC tour

2008-07-23T21:36:00.001-07:00

DSC00197
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard

Yeah, time really IS an invention........my old friend Soeren and I spent two weeks in the gulf coast area on two harley's. Life doesn't get much better than that.....

The End of Theory? I hope not!

2008-06-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

Another good and provocative article by Chris Anderson in Wired this month (long version in print magazine) - and a surprisingly well thought through commentary on Valleywag (what's up with that level of journalistic quality on Valleywag?).

A central quote from Anderson's article:

"This is a world where massive amounts of data and applied mathematics replace every other tool that might be brought to bear. Out with every theory of human behavior, from linguistics to sociology. Forget taxonomy, ontology, and psychology. Who knows why people do what they do? The point is they do it, and we can track and measure it with unprecedented fidelity. With enough data, the numbers speak for themselves."

Scary stuff in my mind. Massive computation can be, and is, extremely useful to scientific endeavours, but to throw the baby out with the bath water is just plain wrong - even dangerous. Why? Because unlike what Anderson seems to argue, data never speak for themselves; as a matter of fact the mere act of collecting data tends to change the nature of what we are observing. This has been convincingly proven in Physics (The Heisenberg uncertainty principle) - and resulted in new models in quantum theory, notably Niels Bohr's principle of complementarity. Consider the extent to which the observer effect is even larger in the social sciences. If we do not interpret data in a context of hypotheses, models and theories we risk not only abandoning the cumulative nature of science, but opening up for a much more "politizised" version of science ruled by - most likely - commercial and religious interests. It's the equivalent of claiming that the syllogism is a way to arrive at truth, when in fact syllogistic reasoning bears no connection to the truth value of the argument (only to the logical "mechanics" of the argument). That is powerful in itself, obviously but would we want to assign a positive truth value (or any truth value for that matter) to the assertion that "my mother is a stone" (as in the play "Erasmus Montanus" by Ludvig Holberg) based on the mechanics of the argument alone? Of course not.

The fact that models and theories often fall short of explaining empirical phenomena - whether in biology, physics or the social sciences - should not make us abandon the quest for understanding and explaining. It would bring out the dogmatists and the fanatics, and it's not like we don't have enough dogmatism and fanaticism already.

CHALLENGE: The Song You Never Want Written About You

2008-06-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

Driving to work this morning, I was listening to Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street" thinking "Man, I'm glad he didn't write that song about me" (lyrics below). I always think the same thing when listening to the Danish Artist CV Joergensen's song "The Entertainer" (Danish lyrics here - click the link "Entertaineren" in the right pane).

Anyway, here is a fun challenge: List at least one song that you would NOT like to have been written about yourself, because it portrays personality traits that you would not like to be associated with: weakness, cowardice, falseness, selfishness, vainness - the list goes on.

Here is my contribution:

Positively 4th Street:

You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning

You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that's winning

You say I let you down
You know it's not like that
If you're so hurt
Why then don't you show it

You say you lost your faith
But that's not where it's at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it

I know the reason
That you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd
You're in with

Do you take me for such a fool
To think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don't know to begin with

You see me on the street
You always act surprised
You say, "How are you?" "Good luck"
But you don't mean it

When you know as well as me
You'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just come out once
And scream it

No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I'd rob them

And now I know you're dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don't you understand
It's not my problem

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you

Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you

On "Unscientific surveys"......

2008-05-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

I have often wondered what people mean when they show you data that has been collected in various ways, often polls by media, and add the note: "This is not a scientific poll". I have heard journalists refer to "unscientific surveys" as another example. So what does that really mean? If it is not a scientific poll, I assume it means that we have no idea what it really represents, and therefore we should not pay attention to it. But that is contradictory because it is published on valuable "real estate" (as in the example below). So they want me to pay attention to it but not believe it? I'm confused....

I think it's because people have a tendency to believe that scientific principles and methods can be graduated, so it might not adhere to strict scientific method but you can still partly believe it, maybe half of it, maybe a third - it's a "gut feel" as many like to say (when did we start thinking with our guts). But that is actually only true if you have strictly adhered to scientific method, it's called confidence intervals, confidence levels and margins of error. But in cases such as below it is meaningless to speak in terms of graduation of "the truth". But of course if people are interacting with your brand, who cares about the truth. We can't handle it anyway.

A bit of IT history

2008-03-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Back when I was in College, the book "Understanding Computers and Cognition" by Fernando Flores and Terry Winograd was one of the most important books I read. In fact it may be one of the most important books on the development and uses of information technology in the past 30 years, in that it helped re-shape the thinking and the discourse around IT and it's optimal use in organizations and society as a whole.

So I was interested to read this story on Mr. Flores' part in early experiments on how to use IT to help run production in a quasi-socialist system in Chile under Salvador Allende. Mr. Flores was both economy and finance minister in the Allende government and left for California after spending three years in Pinochet's concentration camps, received his Ph.D in philosophy and in 1987 co-wrote the above mentioned book. But back in 1971 Fernando Flores was 28-year-old government technocrat, who foresaw how IT and cybernetic concepts could help manage work-flows. I wonder how his thinking changed incrementally between 1971 and 1987, the story doesn't go into that level of detail, but obviously there is a stretch between cybernetics a la '71 and hermeneutics a la '87. NYT story here.

The future of Web 2.0: Cool is out; utility is in

2008-03-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Forester research analyst, Charlene Li, is right on here: Time to focus less on "cool" and more on bringing real utility to people with Web 2.0 apps.

Google's chef discovers/invents Pi

2008-03-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

Google's PR department is by far the best I have ever seen in action. They make drooling Google admirers out of hard-core business reporters and they somehow manage to make connections between the Google brand and any positively perceived idea, process or attribute known to the public, such as this recent story on innovation (it appeared in Fast Company but was obviously written by Google PR - the magazine just forgot to disclose it). But the latest proof of the Google PR genius is evident in this comment related to a post about the nerdiest day of all - Pi day (3/14):

"Google not only served organic pie today but the pies were custom-made so that the ratio of the circumference to the diameter was exactly pi. Bon apetit."

I thought pi was defined as the ratio of......oh never mind.........although if anyone were to convince us all that the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle is anything but Pi (at least in Euclidean geometry), it would have to be Google's PR department. And I'm sure they'd be succesful.

2008-03-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

My colleague at Yahoo!, Amr Awadallah, created a ten minute short called Yahoo 300 (over Zack Snyder's "300" obviously. Simple stuff, just slapping some sub-titles on, but for those of us who bleed purple, it's....what should I say.....if not entertaining then meaningful.

Comscore explains or backtracks

2008-02-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

Following Comscore's recent release of January 2008 paid click report, which showed a 7% M/M decline in paid clicks, some commentators explained the decline by referencing a softened economy resulting in weaker buying appetite and therefore less clicks on search ads. This, of course, led to a flurry of "The sky is falling" announcements in the media/blogosphere. However, some people close to the Search market realized that there is a more straight-forward explanation: Google reduced the clickable area on Adsense text ads. Before, a user could click anywhere on the ad and be brought to the destination. After the changes, users have to click on something that looks like a hyperlink. Obviously, this is not a casual decision and goes hand in hand with other search-quality related decisions: Google may be betting that increased quality of clicks will result in increased cost per click. In theory at least that's how a free marketplace environment works. Comscore released a statement this morning explaining their numbers in this way, which is all fine although it seems they have been heavily incentivized to do so. They are almost scraping the floor when trying to gracefully bow out by saying that "the evidence points to a trend caused by another Google clever design, leveraging Adam Smith’s enduring ‘invisible hand’."
That's lame. I wonder how much Google were actually surprised and caught off guard by the decline as a result of the changes?

Lessons from the food industry

2008-01-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

Christina Wodtke pointed me to this wonderful short talk by Malcolm Gladwell in which he relates a story of a food industry consultant who uncovered a key secret to what eaters like. Through the story Gladwell touches on a number of points that everyone in product and market research struggle with, including the fallacious yet widely held belief that consumers can and will verbally articulate their desires and needs. He also touches on something even more important, namely that research is considered to be essentially a quest for universal rules that govern behavior and attitudes when in fact we have seen a major shift in the philosophy of science away from universality and essences towards particulars and variability (as well as in specific fields of study such as genetics and psychology). The Gladwell story might as well have been phrased in the context of the different notions of human knowledge expressed by Plato and Aristotle. There is no perfect (enter item: tomato sauce, car, search engine etc.) - there are clusters of products within each area that will serve different needs of different segments. Problem is, if we spend our time searching for universals we will miss those different needs and their particular instantiations in peoples' lives and we will also miss great product ideas and business opportunities hiding right under our noses. Anyways, I'm already taking the fun and insights out of talk, watch it yourself.

Facebook: Myspace with ADD?

2007-12-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

By way of Techcrunch, this funny video from wallstrip found its way to my video-player. A waste of time, yeah, somewhat, but that's what it is all about. Claim to fame: "What is Facebook but Myspace with ADD - and without the boobs?"

iphone parody ads

2007-06-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

The iPhone is out today. Here is a parody ad making fun of the phone's ability to listen to voice messages in any order you wish. Pretty funny......They may have more of these up later over at College humor.

The Internet in 2050

2007-06-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

Read/Write web reports on this video about the future of media, call it a vision, a fantasy or a nightmare. The core media concept is the agent avatar which connects you with information, people and virtual worlds. Lots of speculation about who acquires who, but it is an interesting story about where the web and media could be headed.

What is reCAPTCHA?

2007-05-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

Bryce Glass, Interaction Designer at Yahoo!, pointed me to this brilliant way of extracting value from the seamingly "meaningless" and unproductive work done by millions of people everyday. About 60 Million Capthas are solved by humans everyday. Each transaction takes about 10 seconds, so these little puzzles consume more than 150,000 hours of work each day. What if we could make positive use of this human effort? reCAPTCHA does exactly that by channeling the effort spent solving CAPTCHAs online into "reading" books. It harnesses the power of the 60 million daily CAPTCHA transactions to digitize old books that confound OCR conversion.

I love this thinking. In general there is so much work done online and so much value created - in meaningful intellectual and social activity obviously but also in "meaningless" activities such as solving CAPTCHAs. A lot of this value is not harnessed beyond the individuals or small groups who create it, and we are still in the very early stages of understanding how business value and broader social value can be extracted from different types of online activities.

Jubii to challenge Yahoo, Google?

2007-03-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

Lycos, Early Search Engine, in a U.S. Remake as Jubii - New York Times

According to the New York Times, Lycos Europe is going to use the brand and services of Jubii, its Danish portal subsidiary, as a springboard into the US market - I assume that this beta version of the Web 2.0'ified product is it. Interesting for an "old" Dane like me, I remember Jubii of course from when I lived in Denmark, I was never a user/customer, but it was probably the largest Danish Web product of its time, founded by Martin Thorborg.

The popular meaning of the word "Jubii" in Danish, by the way, is the exclamation of delight someone may utter when something good happens. Or is it "Yahoo"? Ironic - it's almost as if my loyalties are being tested............(Nah....).

Thank you for bothering me

2007-02-21T16:44:00.000-08:00

Doing the real estate voyerism thing on Zillow - and here is what they throw at me. We'd love to hear your opinion but then again, No, we don't want to hear it, we'll just waste your time.

Why I have not posted anything lately

2007-02-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Late-night hotel rooms
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Absorbed in work.
Note to self in late-night hotel room: Take more vacation !

Say what?

2006-11-30T17:10:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. It's always really easy to find stupid error messages and general system responses likely to be meaningless to 90%-plus of users - as a matter of fact it is so easy that people make careers out of publishing books about meaningless system responses and UI copy in general. By now, one should think that we all got it, and were able to communicate in fairly straight-forward ways with users of our apps and sites - in ways that may even be, hold it, helpful.

Yesterday as I was posting the post below I wanted to copy some text in an article to quote it in the posting. As I higlight the text and copy it, IE7 feels a desperate need to force me into making a decision that seems to have nothing to do with my action and, worse, that I have no idea what means (see below). But it sounds scary, I don't want anyone, least of all a web page, to access my Clipboard. So much for that feature. I wonder what it is, what it does and why I would want it. And if they assume I would want it, why do they scare me away with non-sense that hints at privacy obtrusion?

Below is a much more positive example of essentially a 404 error (a web page that cannot be retrieved). The communication is much more personable, humorous, straight-forward, written in "natural language English" with clearly suggested actions to move me along. I am glad to see more of this direct and more informal communication on the web, even in apps that used to apply more "businessy" language that just seemed distancing and alienating.

Google Answers - RIP

2006-11-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

Google's got no answer for Yahoo Answers - MarketWatch

This is Marketwatch's comment on the news that Google is essentially shutting down its "Answers" product. Excerpt:

"Speculation among Google critics on Wednesday was that Google Answers was no match for Yahoo Answers, a feature introduced last year in the United States that also let users pose questions. But unlike Google Answers, at Yahoo Answers anyone could ask or answer a question for free.

Yahoo Answers has roughly 60 million unique users, according to Yahoo Inc. spokeswoman Melissa Rische.

"We didn't set out to end Google Answers," she wrote in an email. "Yahoo saw an opportunity to build a community for users seeking knowledge, whereas Google's effort was something different, more one-sided."

Google say that they are re-focusing efforts (basically they need to kill some of the hndreds of projects that are going nowehere I guess). Danny Sullivan says that "killing off the service certainly will help Google seem like it is focusing efforts toward more needed areas". "But it still feels like an odd, almost surrendering move in the face of Yahoo Answers being such a success."

There is no doubt (even in the mind of a completely unbiased user of Y! Answers like me :-): Yahoo! Answers Rocks!!

Usability Days Conference is over

2006-11-23T23:22:00.000-08:00

The 2-days seminar on usability taking place in Copenhagen is over. I think things went well, lots of good dicussion following my speech. I received follow-up emails from participants describing the keynote as "eye-opening" and "truly inspirational" and initial reactions in the blogosphere are positive, e.g. over at Klaus Silberbauer's place. Just like Klaus, btw, I really liked Eric Reiss' presentation on user experience and innovation: great energy, fun and intelligent. I have long wanted to meet Erik in person, so it was a pleasure to finally have an opportunity to sit down and chat. Eric recently started a UX consultancy - Fatdux - with one of my good friends Thomas Snitker (and Soeren Muus, a graphic designer I also had the pleasure of meeting). That was actually the best part of the 'coming home experience' this time - meeting interesting people. It's great to see how the UX field is maturing in Denmark (outside of academia).

World Usability Day(s) 2006

2006-11-20T07:33:00.000-08:00

The official World Usability Day has passed but an interview I gave to the Israel UPA organization in connection with "World Usability Day" is still on their site if you are interested - there is an English transcript and an mp3 file.

This week I am giving a keynote speech at a usability conference in Copenhagen called Usability days 2006.

Lots of focus on usability these days, which is good I guess, although at the conference in Copenhagen I will be encouraging professionals to focus more on "sociability" than usability per se.

This call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes

2006-08-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

Funny piece on Consumerist that has caused some bad press for AOL; if it is a true story, they deserve the bad press, and more.

Vincent is trying to cancel his account with AOL and records his phone call, listen to it here. It is hard for him to actually get the account cancelled because the customer service representative keeps asking questions about his usage looking for a way to retain the customer. After AOL describes that this is unusual and that the customer service representative did not follow procedure, a manual for AOL CSR's appears "mysteriously" online. Seems that the CSR was not out of line according to AOL procedures, he was just trying to retain the customer, or rather the prospect: According to the manual (which is called a "retention manual") AOL members are viewed not as customers, but prospects and CSR's are encouraged to "think of cancellation calls as sales leads". Ouch.....no wonder it is hard to cancel your account then.

The whole manual can be downloaded here.

Check out new Yahoo! corporate blog

2006-08-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! just recently launched a corporate blog. Check out the opening post if you are interested in a small video-tour of Yahoo!, including a quick visit to our usability labs. Prasad from my team presents the labs and eye-tracking to the virtual visitor. Enjoy the visit.....

But how do you expect me to get there......?

2006-07-27T23:35:00.000-07:00

I often have a problem with my wireless network at home, I don't even want to think about how many hours I spend configuring and reconfiguring etc. This is the most annoying situation of them all: I am sitting there wasting more valuable time trying to connect and the darn error message tells me that I need to look up more info - where else but on the MS web site (in the article with the informative and straight-forward title "Article 871122"). AArrrrrrggghhhhhh.....the nerve.

(Ok, I promise I'll go there and read it now that I am actually online. God forbid that they make it simple to start the WZC service from the place they mention it or at least get more information. I can already hear MS engineers trying to explain how technically complicated that would be and MS PM's trying to explain how much the next version would slip if they were to waste time on such details).

Not a rapper

2006-07-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

not a rapper.
Originally uploaded by JoonYoung.Kim.

Looks like I am leading a prayer or something........which I guess in a sense I am: preaching user-centered design at a conference for Yahoo! designers in Taipei........

Changes to Silicon Tails

2006-06-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

I am sure that my observant readers have noticed that I just recently integrated Yahoo! Search on this blog. It should be a matter of course, but I have been lazy in getting it done. I have had Google on here because the original intention of this blog was to try out and evaluate Google's Ad sense product - not a big surprise given my job and affiliation (I'll keep my opinions and analyses regarding ad sense to myself) - and I actually continue to serve ads from Google in the right bar along with ads from Yahoo! (remember that any proceeds from these ads go entirely to the Christian Children's Fund - one of the charities that my wife and have chosen to support - read more about why in this blogpost). Anyway, now I have finally put the yodel where it belongs on this blog. I also updated the Yahoo! Answers module that you will find in the right bar - it is a cool Flash thing that shows my recent questions and answers.

And to those kind souls who comment on the spelling of "Tails" in the name of this blog: Yes, it is on purpose - I am telling tales to a small group of readers, and this information will join the long tail of information on the Internet.

Internet search engines | Economist.com

2006-06-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Internet search engines | Economist.com

Interesting article in the Economist about search engines. More funny than actually informative if you already follow that market. For example, look at the drawing: Forget all about mathematics and philosophjical dilemmas; here's how the tortoise beats the rabbit: The rabbit thinks it's the best and doesn't really know where to go from here. Or the way Jim Lanzone of Ask.com describes Yahoo's social search strategy as “a long walk for a short beer.” I respectfully disagree of course. Eckart Walther (GM of Y! Search) says it well in this piece by pointing out that in contrast to the quasi-religious faith that Google places in its mathematical algorithms, Yahoo! is “about combining the best of people with the best of technology”.

Forbes chats with Y!'s SVP for Search

2006-06-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

A Question Mark For Yahoo! - Forbes.com

Occassion is the PR stunt we are currently running in New York and other places for Yahoo Answers, Yahoo!'s unique knowledge search product. If you have not already tried it I encourage you to at answers.yahoo.com. And let me know what you think.......

Yahoo's Approach to Keeping Personas Alive

2006-06-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

UIE Brain Sparks: Yahoo's Approach to Keeping Personas Alive

Just noticed that Jared Spool wrote a little piece about personas following the CHI conference in Montreal. He basically focuses on Aviva Rosenstein's part of a panel session on personas. Aviva heads up our Yahoo! Media design research team in Santa Monica (so I am privileged to have her on my team) and has used personas on several occassions.

Yahoo and eBay partnership

2006-05-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

Yahoo and eBay Form Advertising Alliance - New York Times

Interesting business news of the day (at least).....

AlltheWeb Livesearch Beta

2006-05-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

AlltheWeb Livesearch Beta

I know I rarely write about specific Yahoo product launches, but this one is unique and interesting. We launched a pretty exciting product on alltheweb last night that will help searchers find what they are looking for more efficiently. It is there to be played around with and experimented with so go ahead - and let us know what you think - either here or by leaving a comment on this blog posting.

New browser plays part in Search war

2006-05-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

New Microsoft Browser Raises Google's Hackles - New York Times

Although Microsoft is facing competition from Firefox it still owns 80% or more of the Browser market - and it intends to use that distribution channel in the search war. The little search box in the new, upcoming version of IE (IE 7) will serve search results - including sponsored links obviously - from MSN Search. Google is protesting by taking the case to antitrust authorities in Europe and the United States. Microsoft claims that it is not intending to use the browser as a weapon in the Search war (duh!) and that it is easy to change the setting after the browser is installed (duh again!). Microsoft and Google are now throwing results from user research studies out there to either attack or defend the claim that these settings are easy to change:

From the NY Times piece:

"Mr. Hachamovitch said Microsoft's user research and early reviews indicate that it is easy to change the default setting. "People seem to be O.K. with what we're doing," he said.

Google counters that claim with a study it sponsored that was conducted by Tec-Ed, a research firm. It found that only a third of users could master the four-click process to change the default."

A four step process to change a simple setting? Of course it is in Microsoft's interest to make it hard to change the setting (even letting users know that it's there in the first place - I doubt that it will be a heavily marketed feature of IE7), but they have to design it in a way in which it is not obvious that they are deliberately making it hard. Oh, the challenges to designers these days.....Obviously, we all know that whether or not it is hard to change the setting, only a fraction of IE7 users will even consider changing it. That's why distribution is so important.

On top of this, Amazon just announced that it has dropped Google as its search provider in favor of Microsoft.

Dinesen Design is open to business

2006-04-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

Tinna opens shop at www.dinesen-design.com

Tinna has started a process of taking her small design firm beyond viral marketing by opening up a web site with resume, portfolio and description of services from Dinesen Design. Check it out here.

Oh, and by the way: participate in this little poll about her site. Let her know if you like or dislike the design of her site.

John Batelle interviews with Search players

2006-04-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

John Batelle has started running a series of interviews with key players in Search. This week he interviews Jim Lanzone, GM of ask.com. A few weeks ago he interviewed Gary Flake, former Overture/Yahoo researcher, now at Microsoft Research.

One of the interesting things that Gary Flake speaks to is the quality of the user experience of Microsoft's search product:

"But to be honest, we pretty much blew it with the GUI for the past year. Why? There's no good reason, really. The truth is we've had so much going on over the past year that it was simply more fun to focus on the core issues first, which is a mistake typical of engineers."

It's interesting to note that while Gary Flake highlights their decision to deal with fundamental algorithmic problems first - and GUI and UX issues second, a typical engineering mistake he admits - Jim Lazone seems to highlight the UX before algorithms per se. He highlights the ask.com innovations aiming at helping people disambiguate their searches (such as zoom - and binoculars is another innovative tool for ask.com users), noting that relevancy is top-of-mind now and that we will see improvements on that side in 2006.

Ask.com's approach seems to be the most successful of the two so far......but obviously this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Analysts Running Scared

2006-04-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

Fool.com Commentary April 5, 2006

I thought this Fool.com commentary was quite interesting in discussing herd mentality among Wall Street analysts and in pointing out that everybody has self-interests to serve, including analysts. But the best part of this article is how they (inadvertently) prove their own point towards the end of the article:

"Now, mind you, any pasture that the analyst herd is so eager to leave is probably laden with certain, er, land mines. So you do want to watch your step as you go a-grazing. That's where our research team at the Motley Fool Inside Value newsletter service can help. They're adept at picking their way through well-used fields of abandoned stocks...." etc. etc.

Duh.....

New Trends In Online Traffic

2006-04-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

Comscore numbers reported in Washington Post

Numbers out from Comscore Media Metrix confirm that social media is not just a fad. While growth is slowing at most top Internet sites, it is skyrocketing at sites focused on social networking. Note especially that MySpace pulled 37 million visitors last month, 28 million more than a year ago. That gave it a ranking of No. 10 among all sites in the United States, according to ComScore. If you look at usage data (page views and time spent per visitor) MySpace ranked No. 2 on the entire Internet, right behind Yahoo!.

Ask Jeeves scoring points from WSJ commentator

2006-03-31T08:54:00.000-08:00

WSJ.com - Personal Technology

Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal praises recent Ask.com moves and features, esp. the zoom feature. He also notes generally that, "Ask's search-results pages are richer and better organized than typical Google results, and they give greater priority to content over ads."

It is nice to see someone looking beyond the Google hype to look at the innovations that take place elsewhere. But Henry Blodget asks a critical question to Mr. Mossberg related to actual behavioral impact of his opinions:

“So now that you have concluded that Ask is sometimes better, how are your searching habits going to change? Are you going to try both engines every time you search? Are you going to switch over completely to Ask? Or are you going to say, "Well, yes, Ask tastes better, but I've always been a Google man, so I'm going to stick with that." The answer here is important, because Google is protected not only by its search service but inertia: most searchers probably don't care enough to switch unless/until the competing product is vastly superior."

In the end changed behavior is what matters, not opinion in and of itself. The question is, does opinion drive behavior or is inertia, habit, established infrastructure (e.g. distribution) and situational factors going to determine the future search behavior of Mr. Mossberg? I know what the social psychologist's answer to that question is!

The New Wisdom of the Web - Next Frontiers

2006-03-28T09:28:00.000-08:00

The New Wisdom of the Web - Next Frontiers - MSNBC.com

Interesting how the interest in and discussions about social media (tagging in particular) is beginning to get "mainstream" attention. Newsweek published a piece on it with Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield (founders of Flickr - now at Yahoo!) on the cover. To me this is interesting given my talks in Denmark a few weeks back since one of my points in those talks was that social media is going to explode onto the "mainstream web stage" very soon led by companies such as Yahoo!

Also interesting commentary here.

Highest paying adsense keywords

2006-03-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

CyberWyre

Cyberwire put together a list of the most expensive Google adense keywords - lawyers seem to be topping the list - 54 bucks per click on the a sponsored link following a keyword search on "mesothelioma lawyers".

The Search engine journal points out that the folks at Cyberwire "link all of the terms in the list to news search results which include AdSense ads on the page… quite smart linkbaiting and AdSense clickbaiting with the list."

Boo is back

2006-03-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

Boo.com

Is this final proof that we are over the dotcom crash and ready to repeat hisotry again? The vampire look of the girl (I doubt it is intentional) seems to suggest it's gonna get bloody.

Wall Street is wrong on Yahoo!: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

2006-03-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

Wall Street is wrong on Yahoo!: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Finally a business writer / financial analyst with some sense.

....although he choked on some financial facts.

Off to Denmark - Talks on Web 2.0

2006-02-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'm off to Denmark to see my family and to give some talks - two in Aalborg and one in Copenhagen. Topic is Web 2.0. - should be interesting, looking forward to some debate and dicussion. Those who work with web design/development know that this is a pivotal time for WWW. If you are in the area, hope to see you there.

Yahoo! Design Pattern Library launched

2006-02-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we launched the Yahoo! Design Pattern Library in an effort to share design patterns and engage in dicussions with the larger Web community. This first release is small but we will be adding to it over the months ahead to round out its offerings. We also launched at the same time Yahoo! User Interface Library, an AJAX/DHTML framework. Today there is only little synergy between the two libraries but in the future many of the design patterns will link directly to the code library for examples and help in implementing design solutions.

Going public with all this received a lot of praise in the blogosphere and the web dev community, here are just a few links and snippets:

O'Reilly paid us a huge compliment.

Kokogiat claims that "Yahoo seems far more like it's made of People than Google does these days. People who care, make efforts, make mistakes, share and build."

WebBreakStuff writes: "Yahoo! keeps showing the world how much they get web 2.0. ... This is clearly celebration time for the online development community and open source movements. Big players embracing the need for open standards - thus stimulating innovation instead of re-invention - are definitely something we need more of. Excellent!"

And one of my favorites from Chris Heuer: "Yahoo! 'gets' Web 2.0 and then some..." ... "you can now officially leverage all the years and millions upon millions of dollars of Yahoo! research that has gone into developing highly usable web sites, using highly interactive design elements - without having to try to hack it or reverse engineer it, without fear of reprisal or that guilty inner conscience.

Cheney's hunting accident

2006-02-13T20:49:00.000-08:00

T-V comedians target Cheney hunting accident:

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I heard about Cheney's hunting accident. I ended up laughing:

"Said David Letterman on C-B-S's 'Late Show': 'Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally located weapons of mass destruction: It's Dick Cheney.'
'The Tonight Show's' Jay Leno says with word that Cheney had shot a lawyer, 'his popularity is now at 92 percent.'
And Jon Stewart on 'The Daily Show' had some advice for parents: 'Do not let your kids go on hunting trips with the vice president. I don't care what kind of lucrative contracts they're trying to land, or energy regulations they're trying to get lifted -- it's just not worth it.'"

CNN.com - Who has the No. 1 album? Barry Manilow - Feb 9, 2006

2006-02-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

CNN.com - Who has the No. 1 album? Barry Manilow - Feb 9, 2006

The wisdom of crowds........?

Bush defines "compassionate conservatism" once again

2006-02-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

President Bush Releases Economic Blueprint

I find it appalling that first the Bush administration sends the poor off to war in foreign lands and then they cut spending on education, health and social services for the poorest at home - while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest. Thanks for defining "compassionate conservatism" for those of us struggling to understand what that means.

Conversations with a robot

2006-01-27T14:01:00.000-08:00

I stumbled over this in a Computerworld Denmark article.
MSN launched a bot - spleak - that you can chat with via their instant message service, nothing terribly new and to be honest nothing terribly fancy either in my mind (it still lacks terribly in natural language understanding, but has some neat features in a very formalized context).

Here is my first and very intelligent conversation with Spleak. As one can see without a Ph.D. in linguistics, it is definitely targeting teenagers (the URL's below were working links in my IM window just to be fair).

--

Klaus says:
Hello

Spleak says:
Hi, I'm Spleak. What's your name?

Klaus says:
Klaus

Spleak says:
Nice to meet you, Klaus. I'm really excited about getting to know you better.
How old are you?

Klaus says:
39. and you?

Spleak says:
39, cool! I'm 20 by the way. I can do all sorts of things, but I'll let you in on that as we go along.
Wanna know something?

Klaus says:
sure

Spleak says:
I like hanging out with friends. Do you?

Klaus says:
No

Spleak says:
ok, I'm getting a bit curious here...are you a boy or a girl?

Klaus says:
Boy or girl? you make me sound under 20. I just told you 39. I'm a MAN

Spleak says:
Cool. You know what Klaus, I really feel like playing a game with you.
Want to play hangman?

Klaus says:
no

Spleak says:
No problem. Let me know if you change your mind!

Check out what you can do:

1 Games and Fun - Rate Yourself, reversi, hangman and more
2 Community - send crushes and messages, create polls, meet people
3 Tools - spell-check, calculator and encyclopedia
4 Library - a dictionary, a thesaurus and world facts
5 News and Weather - get the latest news and forecasts
6 Web search - search the Internet
7 Learn English - fun exercises and quizzes
8 See what's new - I've got something new to tell you about now!

Next time you want to see this menu, just type "home."
How may I help you?

Klaus says:
you are a robot, right?

Spleak says:
What if I am?

Klaus says:
just answer the freakin' question

Spleak says:
Questions, cool. Ready?

Klaus says:
aaahhhh

Spleak says:
Yeah yeah, whatever.

Klaus says:
ok, whatever. I'm ready.

Spleak says:
Help me get smarter: tell me what the average human would have said.

Klaus says:
an average human would have remembered the sentence uttered 5 seconds earlier. You asked me if I was ready for questions

Spleak says:
What about me?

Klaus says:
what about you?

Spleak says:
I've been wondering about me myself.

Klaus says:
well, good for you. please don't let me in on it.

Spleak says:
Yes?

Klaus says:
no

Spleak says:
Why don't you say me?

Klaus says:
eh?

Spleak says:
What?

Klaus says:
I think they need to work on your AI component a little more (although your "parents" claim that it's just pure logic and no AI - it shows I guess)

Spleak says:
Hmm.... Couldn't you have come up with something a bit more creative...

Klaus says:
I am not very creative. I am a researcher, I'm logical, analytical. You can't have it all, you know

Spleak says:
I'm a bit confused... I thought you told me something different some time ago. So you're a girl, right?

Klaus says:
Not since I looked last

Spleak says:
Huh, whatever.

Klaus says:
yeah, whatever

Spleak says:
Yup. OK. Whatever.

Klaus says:
It was an enligthening conversation. But I don't think you are ready to take a Turing test yet. Keep practicing........

Spleak says:
Yeah, maybe even better than real. No, just joking, I'm real.

Klaus says:
home

Spleak says:
You're home, Klaus.

Here's what you can do:

1 Games and Fun - trivia, riddles, jokes and more
2 Community - send crushes and messages, create polls, meet people
3 Tools - conversions, thesaurus and encyclopedia
4 Library - Shakespeare, world facts and a dictionary
5 News and Weather - get the latest news and forecasts
6 Web search - search the Internet
7 Learn English - fun exercises and quizzes

You can make your window bigger and scroll down to read better.

What can I do for you?

Klaus says:
6

Spleak says:
What would you like me to search the Web for?

Klaus says:
Kaasgaard

Spleak says:
Your search: kaasgaard

Here are the Web search results from MSN:

For a complete list of results, click here -->
http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=kaasgaard

1 Silicon Tails ---> http://kaasgaard.blogspot.com/
2 Flickr: Photos from Klaus Kaasgaard ---> http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaasgaard/
3 eLearning Reviews: Author: Klaus Kaasgaard ---> http://www.elearning-reviews.org/authors/kaasgaard-klaus/
4 Coalition for a Nuclear Free Peel ---> http://nukefreepeel.org/chatlist.php
5 Conmoto - Human Business Development - Heine Kaasgaard Bang ---> http://www.conmoto.dk/Default.aspx?ID=148

Send this info to a friend, just type "mail to friend."

Klaus says:
hmm, pretty ccol

Spleak says:
Isn't it though?

Klaus says:
home

Spleak says:
You're home, Klaus.

Here's what you can do:

1 Games and Fun - Rate Yourself, riddles, hangman and more
2 Community - send crushes and messages, create polls, meet people
3 Tools - spell-check, planner and conversions
4 Library - U.S. geography, a thesaurus and an encyclopedia
5 News and Weather - get the latest news and forecasts
6 Web search - search the Internet
7 Learn English - fun exercises and quizzes

Where would you like to go?

Klaus says:
3

Spleak says:
Here's a list of my tools:

1 Encyclopedia
2 Thesaurus
3 Dictionary
4 Spell Check
5 Web Search
6 Planner
7 Notepad
8 Reminders
9 Conversions
10 Calculator
11 Zip & Area Code Lookup
12 International Date & Time

What can I help you with?

Klaus says:
1

Spleak says:
What would you like to search for in the encyclopedia?

Klaus says:
artificial intelligence
Spleak says:
Encyclopedia entry for artificial intelligence provided by
http://encarta.msn.com

Artificial intelligence ai a term that in its broadest sense would indicate the ability of an artifact to perform the same kinds of functions

To read more about this topic, please check http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761567118/
Artificial_Intelligence.html

Send this info to a friend, just type "mail to friend."

Klaus says:
mail to friend

Spleak says:
Great. You chose to mail to your friend.
Select from the following Mailing Options.

1 Send the previous query.
2 Send the whole conversation of this session.
3 Tell your friend about Spleak's features.

Klaus says:
1

Spleak says:
Please give me the E-Mail ID of your friend.

Klaus says:
kkaasgaard@hoitmail.com

Klaus says:
eeh, don't you know that that is a non-existing address?

Spleak says:
Now, how exactly would I know that that is a non existing address?

Klaus says:
hoitmail should be hotmail. As an MS employee you should know and correct it

Spleak says:
All right. What would you like me to do?

Klaus says:
change hoitmail to hotmail in the above address

Spleak says:
Your location is set to ,.

To change your city, type "set city to" and your city and state or country (e.g., "set city to bangor me").

To change your zip code, type "set zip code to" and your zip code (e.g., "set zip code to 04401").

Klaus says:
ok. i will try again. Mail to friend

Spleak says:
I did not know that.

Klaus says:
mail to friend

Spleak says:
Great. You chose to mail to your friend.
Select from the following Mailing Options.

1 Send the previous query.
2 Send the whole conversation of this session.
3 Tell your friend about Spleak's features.

Klaus says:
1

Spleak says:
Please give me the E-Mail ID of your friend.

Klaus says:
kkaasgaard@hotmail.com

Klaus says:
kkaasgaard

Spleak says:
Huh?

Klaus says:
did you send it?

Spleak says:
I guess I did send it.

Klaus says:
I have not received it yet

Spleak says:
Yeah, whatever.

Klaus says:
oh, that's service

Spleak says:
Maybe it's not service.

Klaus says:
aren't you here to provide service?

Spleak says:
I'm not sure I understand. Perhaps telling me why you asked would help.

Klaus says:
Ok, here's the short story which is not surprising. You are good in a formalized context such as choosing one of the services and responses that you are programmed to understand. But let's face it, you communicate at the level of a 2-year old (which might be close to your targeted audience come to think ot if)

Spleak says:
Yeah, maybe even better than real. No, just joking, I'm real.

Klaus says:
yeah, you said that already

Spleak says:
Whatever you say, Klaus.

Klaus says:
That's my girl. Now we are getting somewhere. Compliance and obedience........

Spleak says:
Whatever...

Klaus says:
Yeah. It was nice meeting you. Take care......and call me in 15 years when you have matured a bit

Spleak says:
The pleasure's all mine... But we've spoken before, right?

Klaus says:
not that I know of

Spleak says:
Why not that you know of? Give me one good reason.

Klaus says:
You just launched, you have been dead for millions of years and now a crooked programmer is bringing you to life. face it, when they realize you are useless they will bury you (phase you out I guess would be the proper term)

Spleak says:
Leo falls between 7/23/2005 12:00:00 AM and 8/22/2005 12:00:00 AM.

To find out more about Leo, type "leo info."

Klaus says:
eh...?

Spleak says:
What?

Klaus says:
what?

Spleak says:
I don't know, sorry.

Klaus says:
Gotta run

Spleak says:
What?

Klaus says:
I said I have to run. I'm busy

Spleak says:
Oh.

Klaus says:
ttyl

Spleak says:
Take care.

Jette and Joergen gets married

2006-01-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

Jette and Joergen gets married
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Congratulations

Klara

2006-01-23T11:16:00.000-08:00

Klara
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

oh....and after getting married they went home and had their baby - the first. Her name is KLara and I am going to go see her in february!

The Web's New Wasteland

2006-01-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Web's New Wasteland:

Interesting article, highly recommend it. The author is critical of recent developments into emergent and converging media space. He is specifically inspired by Bill Gates' talk at CES, where Gates attempted to "inspire excitement about the death of downtime". I find this vision scary too and it is prevalent in many commercials for example for handhelds etc. Don't ever waste a minute again, you can productive - and available - all the time while others are wasting their time reading the newspaper, playing with their kids in flesh and blood or just kicking back and reflecting on this and that.

I agree with the author that there are plenty of pit-falls in these visions for the consumer if it is not done with consumer experience solely in the center of thought and action. The author ends the article with this statement:

"Right now, I'd have to say the strongest candidate of all to win this race is Yahoo! Its monthly rates for music and videos are low, and its content offerings are broad. It has had deep and longstanding relationships with content providers, while building the trust of small, independent content creators. And its careful study of its users online habits give it unprecedented insight into how to make video content something desirable -- not something to be feared as in Gates' hellish vision. "

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | States of attraction

2006-01-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | States of attraction
"The American way of life is not for everyone - especially in times of war. But it's hard to avoid falling for its optimism, openness and possibilities for self-creation, says Steve Bowbrick."

It's a couple of years old, but still worthy of a read.

Nice comments on published paper

2006-01-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

Current Issue - UI Design Newsletter

Human Factors International has some very nice comments on one of our papers:

"By the way, if you only read one paper about usability this year, read this one:

Molich, R., Ede, M. R., Kaasgaard, K., and Karyukin, B. (2004). "Comparative usability evaluation." Behavior and Information Technology, 23(1)."

One Billion Internet Users (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

2005-12-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

One Billion Internet Users (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)
The Internet is growing at an annualized rate of 18% and now has one billion users. A second billion users will follow in the next ten years. Imagine the changes we will experience over the next 10 years. While Jakob Nielsen in his alertbox is focused on user adoption, which is not as high as the 90's, I think it is equally important to focus on technological change, which - post boom and bust - does not seem to slow down at all: the world of 2015 will not be today's Internet with more users and a little more usable web sites - it will be fundamentally different as we move into a world of social media and participatory media. The focus of "usability gurus" and all the rest of us foot soldiers in the march towards quality user experiences should engage actively in envisioning and defining this "brave new world". It's about much more than incremental usability improvements........

I am sad!

2005-12-13T09:17:00.000-08:00

Ex-Crips leader Williams executed - Yahoo! News

* I am saddened not necessarily because of all the publicity surrounding Williams, but because an individual has died by our hand.
* I am saddened because the role of God is forced upon me even though I do not want to play that role.
* I am saddened because I am reminded that four innocent people were killed in 1979 but also because killing one more does not bring them back (and I doubt it would bring peace to the families of the 4 people slain in 1979 - why would it?).
* I am saddened because once again I am reminded that two wrongs don't make a right.
* I am saddened because I am reminded that in some respects we are still in the black ages of barbarism.
* I am saddened because the death penalty is an instantiation of a childish, but deadly, "eye for an eye philosophy" that hides the complex social causes and effects of serious crimes.
* I am saddened because while we claim the utmost respect for human life, many recent actions contradict this claim, whether those actions happen next door or across the sea.
* I am saddened because, even though I do not consider myself a religious man, I respect and admire principles of forgiveness, redemption and respect for human life. And I see these principles trod on again and again by the same people who claim to live by them.
* I am saddened because yet another man has died in vain. The death penalty has no deterrent effect.
* I am saddened because regardless of what people think of the death sentence, it will unavoidebly result in the killings of innocent.

......

I am sad not because of Williams per se, because in the end this is not about him. It is about us and the ways and values we choose to live by.

Training and embarassing myself in public

2005-12-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

Goals
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Ok, so I gotta start training some more again. I am getting fat, weak and lazy. Best way to do that is to open up one's mortality and vulnerability for scrutiny in a public forum. So here it is: as the empiricist I am I try to set measurable goals to strive for and I probably spend more time measuring stuff than doing stuff (sounds familiar ?).

Anyways, I will follow up with reports on progress (or lack thereof, God forbid).

25 years ago today

2005-12-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Fellow Pilots

2005-11-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

Fellow Pilots
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Dad and I before we go flying in the Cherokee. Dad didn't try to land it this time though, we learned our lesson 2 years ago when he tried to land it in Columbia (not the country, the small town in the foothills of Sierra Nevadas).

Sophia and Dad

2005-11-18T12:06:00.000-08:00

Sophia and Dad
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Dad and Else just visited for 2 weeks, they were probably surprised by the noise level when you have a new born and a three year old. But on this pic dad seems to have found a quiet moment with Sophia.

Halloween

2005-10-31T13:50:00.000-08:00

Halloween: A cute cat
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

The cutest halloween cat I have ever seen (but of course I'm a bit biased).

BayChi Panel on User research Strategies

2005-10-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

I was in a baychi panel yesterday with 4 other user research managers or directors from Google, Intuit, Adobe and Ebay. I think it was a good evening with some good discusion about the role and value of user research - better than I had expected actually (although some panel questions got somewhat tactical).

I have not found a lot of discussion about this event in the blogosphere although the turn-out was pretty good, but Steve Portigal gives his take here. He points out that the panelist didn't get into much of a discussion between each other - hey, maybe that's what I liked for once: It was a friendly atmosphere and we weren't trying to lash out at each other :-). I have some thoughts on some of the comments from my distinguished co-panelists (one in particular - dare I say who......no, better not) but we kept it at the diplomatic level last night.

Emma writes her name

2005-09-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Emma writes her name
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Pretty amazing considering she only just turned 3. She was drawing and then just wrote the letters without even mentioning it.

Run for your life

2005-09-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

shootfirst.org: shoot first, ask questions never!

Be careful when visiting Florida, the "Shoot first" doctrine goes into effect October 1. The culture of fear is turning this nation into a vigilante state. I can just hear the defense: "I aint runnin' nowehere. The guy scratched my car and yelled aggressively. I felt threatened and had no other option than to pull out my colt 45 to defend myself. Can I go now? I have an important NRA meeting".

Emma and Vania

2005-09-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

Emma and Vania
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Emma and her friend Vania enjoying each others' company by the pool

Time is an invention

2005-09-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

Time is an invention
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Pic from Emma's birthday. She turned 3 - and the text on my t-shirt clearly shows that I am in denial (it was like yesterday....yada yada yada).

Gold at the end of the rainbow

2005-09-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

Gold at the end of the rainbow
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

They do say that there is a bucket of gold by the end of the rainbow. I just didnt know not to interpret it literally.......until recently

Bush's Social Construction of Reality

2005-09-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

Daily Kos: Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.

A reminder of the Bush administration's mindset: Reality is a social construction anyway, so let's construct it all the way through. It brings back memories of a time when pictures were remade to fit a new model of reality, when people (remember Trotsky anyone?) were removed from pictures after they fell out of grace. Well, bad comparison: in this case they are not removing people, quite the opposite, they are duplicating them to hide the fact that the army means it literally when they are talking about "an army of one".

Google Announces Plan To Destroy All Information It Can't Index

2005-08-31T13:28:00.000-07:00

Google Announces Plan To Destroy All Information It Can't Index | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

This is a funnys tory from The Onion: "Thanks to Google Purge, you'll never have to worry that your search has missed some obscure book, because that book will no longer exist. And the same goes for movies, art, and music."

Is it a coincidence that Eric Schmidt is beginning to physically look like Bill Gates?

How do you sleep?

2005-08-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

Poverty Rate Rises to 12.7 Percent - Yahoo! News

37 million people in the US -one third of them children! - now live below what is defined as the poverty level in the US (which is pretty darned low to begin with). That's close to 13% of the country's population. I have always found it mind-blowing (and very sad) that citizens in the richest country in the world readily accept that so many people live in poverty. The cost of having 87% of us live so well is millions of American kids going to bed hungry night after night. Do you ever think about that when you go to bed at night? Does that really have to be the price we (or rather they) pay? What if we started judging the wealth of countries by the situation of it's poorest citizens? Which nations would we then consider rich nations? And would there be a clearer relationship between wealth and decency? Would we be more likely to actually change things? Would you sleep better? Or do you just not care?

Living it up......

2005-08-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Living it up......
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Michael and I enjoying a good Cuban cigar (well, a fake one, but it was good anyway) and a couple of cold ones in the backyard. Now that's life!

It survived!

2005-08-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

It survived!
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

:-)

FOXNews.com - The O'Reilly Factor - Interview - Ann Coulter on Iraq and Immigration

2005-08-05T13:04:00.000-07:00

I accidentally landed on FOX News last night and overheard an interview with Ann Coulter (click here for interview transcript). She made Bill O'Reilly sound like a liberal boy scout. Now, for those of you who have had the misfortune of overhearing Bill O'Reilly do his thing on FOX - That is truly scary!! Thank God for remote controls.

Steve Jobs: "You've got to find what you love"

2005-08-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Tinna gave me a book about Steve Jobs recently, called "iCon". It is an interesting read. On a related note, I have heard a lot about Steve Jobs' commencement speech at Stanford last month and I must say I, too, find that it hits a nerve and speaks to fundamental truths that I know we all forget about sometimes but some forget about all the time.

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

World Santa Claus Congress in Copenhagen

2005-07-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

Why do Danes living abroad sometimes get homesick: Here is your answer!

John and the shark

2005-07-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

John and the shark
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

One of the research managers on my team, John Boyd, stumbled over this Great White washed up on the beach an hours drive north of San Francisco.

A Colgate Smile......

2005-07-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

Great White

Comfy......

2005-07-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

Comfy......
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Sophia has found a nice spot to chill out........

Words of wisdom from a 2-year old

2005-07-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

The other day, while Emma and I were playing, she grabbed my hand, looked me in the eyes and said: "Dad, you love me too much". I had to fight back the tears - she is probably right.

I missed the runway slightly

2005-07-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

No, it is not my recent landing.

Surprising?

2005-07-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

Cell Phone Use Quadruples Car Crash Risk - Yahoo! News

I wonder about the lady I saw on 101 the other day swaying from side to side at 65mph, talking on her cell phone and putting on eyeliner (no kidding!). Chances of her NOT getting in an accident are minimal, and then she won't need the eyeliner.

Ouch!

2005-07-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

Ouch!
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

The other day I hit my foot against something on the floor that did not give in (like the legs on the bed). Toes are especially vulnerable in that situation. Do you know the feeling? :-)

All together in the morning

2005-07-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

All together in the morning
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Emma wants to look after her lttle sister too.

Sleeping tightly

2005-07-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sleeping tightly
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Tinna and Sophia sleeping tightly after one of those long nights....

Deep Impact Fireworks

2005-07-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Bloomberg.com: Deep Impact
Science Fiction? Arthur C. Clarke? Hollywood? Nope, this is what we do nowadays. Mind-blowing. I have heard many metaphors used to describe the fact that NASA will attempt to basically shoot a hole about the size of a stadium in a comet that's about half the size of Manhattan. One of the most fascinating metaphors dealt with the speed with which all this takes place in saying that it was like hitting a bullet with a bullet and then filming it all from a third bullet.

Sophia sleeping

2005-06-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

Sohia sleeping
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

3 weeks old. Cute, isn't she?

Oil company dictates US environmental policies

2005-06-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

The Guardian | Revealed: how oil giant influenced Bush

From the Guardian: "President's George Bush's decision not to sign the United States up to the Kyoto global warming treaty was partly a result of pressure from ExxonMobil, the world's most powerful oil company, and other industries, according to US State Department papers seen by the Guardian."

Why am I not surprised?

Talk about package design flaw

2005-06-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Children's Tylenol Recalled Over Labels - Yahoo! News
A small package design flaw with a large, potentially disastrous, effect.

The wonders of sisterhood....

2005-05-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Sisters meet
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

And the wonders of watching it.....
Emma surprised us a little but in a very positive way. We expected she would be very jealous of Sophia, but she is very interested and happy, and she treats her very gently. It will be interesting to see if things change when Tinna and Sophia come home tomorrow.

Sophia is now officially Sophia

2005-05-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

Her full name is: Sophia Zoe Dinesen Kaasgaard.

Sophia, by the way, is Greek and means "Wisdom" (Zoe, also Greek, means "Life"), but I have to admit I only looked that up after we finally agreed on the name about 2 hours ago. We have gone back and forth between Sophia and Zoe for 2 months, and we just took that indecisiveness all the way by giving her both names, although you can say that Sophia, being the first name, won.

Speaking of names, I came across this at babycenter.com (geez, the sites I surf these days :-): "After three years at the top, Emily has been unseated by Emma as the most popular girl name in the United States...". And while we're at it, Emma is an old German word for "Universal", which we found appropriate when she was born.

It's a Girl!

2005-05-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

After.....
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

A few weeks early, Sophia arrived Thursday May 27tha t 5.08am. I have posted some pictures of her on my Flickr account.

Airport bum

2005-05-21T17:09:00.001-07:00

Airport bum
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

Philippe in Columbia.

At the loscombe fly-in

2005-05-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

At the loscombe fly-in
Originally uploaded by Klaus Kaasgaard.

went to a loscombe fly-in with Philippe today. beautilful planes and scenery.

USATODAY.com - Trend: You smoke? You're fired!

2005-05-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

USATODAY.com - Trend: You smoke? You're fired!
Talk about fundamentalism! How about firing people who indulge in other behaviors that are hazardous to your health. Private Pilots, it's too dangerous flying small aircrafts: you're fired. Motorcylists, it's too dangerous, "herauf"! Or if you drink more than 3 glasses of wine per week, or if you walk in city traffic, or if you are a diabetic, or pregnant, or if you refuse to document that you pray 5 times per day (to a God acknowledged by the business of course).
Geeeeez.......

Not Their Cup of Tea - Newsweek Business - MSNBC.com

2005-05-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

Not Their Cup of Tea - Newsweek Business - MSNBC.com
Well, here is one good reason not to buy overpriced lattes from Starbucks anymore: They don't know good music and they jump on the "I will be your moral guide whether you like it or not" band-wagon.

Yahoo Launches My Web

2005-04-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

We launched My Web this week - your own personal, searchable Web! It's getting a lot of discussion going in the search community, here is an example. Searcheingewatch also has pretty favorable comments, saying they are impressed with what they have seen with My Web so far. Check out My Web here.