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Testing Testing Testing…
Hey ThoughtWorkers, So at TWU we learned about a ton of different ways to test software: Unit Tests, Functional Testing, GUI Testing, etc. Here’s my question: What’s the point of a tested tool that the user (or perhaps customer, if you prefer) finds difficult to actually use? What about Usability Testing? How about testing to…
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Coming Soon!
I’ve been hard at work on a new template for my blog. It should be up soon, once I figure out this whole WordPress Themes thing…it seems harder than I had originally imagined. Here’s a sneak preview:
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A note to TWers who visit India
I just wanted to make a note that the experiences of those who live in the Diamond District’s (infamous?) G-Block live a very different life from those of us who live in other parts of the District. Not that I’m whining, you should just realize that there are some major differences in your experiences. Here’s…
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Nearly there
I know, I know. You’re all going to scold me, I’m sure. I haven’t blogged in a while, and you, my ever-patient readership have become quite used to me not spewing out any of the drivel that you’re used to seeing on my weblog. I’ll try to do better. I really will. The past few…
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Why can’t we find a way to speed up web apps?
Now, I try to stay away from such technical subjects, but I’m just wondering: Is there any way to make our web applications go faster? Why do sites like Wikipedia and other content-rich tools (like Confluence, for all you TWers) have to load soooooooooooooooo slooooooooowly? It really inhibits my attention span.
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What the users really think…
I was inspired this evening by this post on Creating Passionate Users. It reminded me of one of my favorite phrases from all of graduate school: Design Like You Give a Damn. Don’t just think about the design you should be doing. Actually do the design. Actually care for the people you’re designing for, and…
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Partying with the Taj’
The infamous poseOriginally uploaded by josh.ev9. Sure, I could have posted one of my more skilled shots of the Taj Mahal, but I did not. Instead, the infamous pose. This weekend a group of us went up to Agra, via Delhi, for a trip to the Taj Mahal. That’s the start of the story. Let…
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UCD @ TW: What You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know
When I came to ThoughtWorks University a little less than a month ago, I set as my main goal the task of discovering what kinds of User Centered Design practices were occuring at ThoughtWorks, and how I could help progress those tasks. After two blazingly fast weeks of class, I’ve learned a lot, hopefully taught…
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My Agile Excitement, Part 1: Stories are based on Users
As noted in my first agile worry, I am often scared that features of a given piece of software will be built based on reasons other than user needs. Yesterday I learned that story cards are, indeed, quite user centered. The format we learned for creating a card is as follows: As a [ person…
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It’s all starting to come together…
…a little bit at a time. So yesterday at TWU we had a session called Analysis in Context, which was (for me at least) exactly what I have been looking for in terms of lessons that I can wholeheartedly agree with. During the session, the “dirty secret of software development” was revealed to us. I’ll…