Medium is pretty good

I've been over at Medium lately -- I like the smoothness but the findability still needs to grow.

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BarCamp Nashville 2013: Ch-ch-ch changes #becauseawesome

BarCamp Nashville 2013 is going to be awesome in the ways that the previous one have been -- the speakers (you know you want to), the new friends, the old friends, the crew, the sponsors, and the lunch.

But #BCN13 has changes that will be like watching ripples change their size but never leave the stream.

It will be a trip back to the future: less curated, more self-organized.

It will be like sailing through the changing ocean tide: more crowd-sourced, less random.

People can be afraid of changes, but everything's going to be all right.

You can't hold back change: change is gonna' come.

Here's the straight dope about this year's incarnation of the once and future geek extravaganza:

First held in Nashville in 2007, BarCamp Nashville is a free, technology-focused “unconference” that is equal parts networking, knowledge-building and fun. BarCamp has become the premier technology and digital event in the city, bringing together the best minds and representations of the top companies in the mobile and web development, entrepreneurial and software industries, among others. 

Attendees are encouraged to get involved through volunteering, presenting an insightful session or inspiring and leading community learning through active discussion and networking. 

In 2013, BarCamp Nashville will take a new approach to determining the event’s schedule by allowing attendees to participate in two voting periods the day of the event. This replaces the random session draw that has been used in previous years.

Be here. Aloha.

#becauseawesome

Experiencing a new medium

Trying out Medium's faster, lighter platform: https://medium.com/@lauriekalmanson

Search results: Pink cadillac tail light

Just a few words bring back so many perfect images.

Search for "pink cadillac tail light" and there it is.

Related: Turn signals are the facial expressions of automobiles.

Smaller, lighter, faster

This is today's example  of yesterday's tomorrows, and how the imagination of the past was locked into its own present.

The thing people couldn't imagine about the future then as we know it now in the year 2013 is the smallness, lightness and speed of things, because their world was glass and rubber and metal. 

Shorter, plastics. 

Today in antique metaphors: CC in your email

Today in antique metaphors: Cc in your email, and explaining carbon copy to a digital native. 

Related: Store receipts. The white copy is theirs, the yellow one is yours.

Building to scale

What is experience design and UX?

When you see a wayfinding sign after you're already on the highway, and it's more of a congratulatory artifact than a piece of help content, someone at the highway department got the experience design and the UX wrong. (New Jersey Turnpike, I'm looking at you.) 

When something just works, the people who manage the experience design and the UX worked with the people who build it to make it that way.

Who is responsible for UX?

The short answer: Everyone who touches something that someone else will use. 

The shorter answer: It depends.

The longish answer: Various people at different points in a digital project, depending on the scope, the budget and the time and space required vs. allotted for the relevant discovery, techniques and tools.

What does specialized UX on large scale digital projects look like?

UX leads and teams add depth, breadth, structure, planning and testing once things get bigger than what a smart visual designer, copywriter and developer can handle on small projects. 

The bigger the market, the more UX is more established as a specialized discipline in startups, agencies and web shops.