I had a lovely time chatting with @JenSimmons, host of The Web Ahead podcast on the @5by5 network. We talked about interface design, working in design teams, and the joy and pain of critical feedback. Have a listen, won’t you?
Aarron Walter
The Web Ahead Episode 10: On Human Connection
The Art of Lighting a One Match Fire
My weekend morning ritual in these chilly months of fall and winter begins with a fire. I love our fireplace. After eighty years of service to the families before us, we had it rebuilt brick by brick so it can warm our family for years to come. It’s the center of the house. It brings the family together, warms cold feet, and supports hand-made Christmas stockings. How else would Santa visit our house?
A friend of mine has a new fireplace, and has struggled to learn the art to lighting a fire. The first year of our new fireplace was fraught with false starts, incessant relighting, and frustrating fire baby sitting to keep the flames alive. After a great deal of experimentation and some tutelage from friends, I’ve finally figured out how to light a fire with just one match and keep it going with little effort.
Designing for Emotion: Book 5 from A Book Apart
Nearly four years ago I stumbled onto a topic that I just can’t get off my mind. As we’ve started to share more of our personal lives online and the barriers of our public personas have begun to crumble, we’ve started speaking with a more authentic voice. The blurred line between personal and professional is starting to influence our expectations of the products and services we seek.
“Emotion in Design” in .net Magazine
The February 2011 issue (#211) of .net magazine is on shelves now, featuring an opinion piece by yours truly about emotion in design. Here’s a brief excerpt:
We’ve spent the past two years cooing over social networking, but the shine is starting to dim. As we move on to new objects of affection, I can’t help but notice one tangible outcome of our revolution: for better or worse, we’re a little bit more authentic.
We’re openly sharing the mundane moments of our lives, exposing our insecurities, passions, flaws and raw emotions. Our public face is no longer so different from our private one. That shift changes our expectations of the brands, products and services we consume. We want them to be as human as we are.
See Me Speak in 2009
2009 is shaping up to be a busy year for me. I’m going to be speaking at a number of conferences around the United States, and I hope to meet you at one of them to share a beer and conversation about our craft.
What's it Like to Write a Book?
At SXSW last year I met Michael Nolan – senior acquisitions editor for Peachpit Press – and pitched him my idea for the book Building Findable Websites. Almost one year later the book is in print and on its way to a bookstore near you. read on »
An Event Apart New Orleans: Hear Me Speak
An Event Apart is a brilliantly inspiring conference series crafted by Jeffrey Zeldman and Eric Meyer that provides attendees with a deeper understanding of web standards and emerging best practices in web design and development. They’ve recently published the schedule and list of speakers for 2008, and I’m happy to say I’ll be sharing the stage with Zeldman, Meyer, and a host of Web luminaries in New Orleans.
Support for Building Findable Websites
As I have been wrapping up the final chapters of the book, some really kind support has been coming in from some folks I hold in high esteem. When conceptualizing Building Findable Web Sites: Web Standards SEO and Beyond I had hoped to create a natural continuation of Peter Morville’s Ambient Findability and Jeffrey Zeldman’s Designing With Web Standards with plenty of practical, real-world-ready examples to illustrate what it takes to make web sites more findable using web standards best practices.
