NYC Doesn't Care, but it's fine

You can have a life, a DEVOTION around the cult of NYC.  You can be its slave for years, trying to get it to love you back.

But it doesn't give a fuck.

You can starve, can live in a closet, can work 24/7, can work as a barista, can perform on Broadway.  you can make it there one day and feel like you are starting over the very next.

Other cities will welcome you back with open arms.  Embrace you like your Mom.  Alumnae returning to the geographies of their youth.  New York will be like, 'Oh, did you leave the party?"

Every neighborhood, every block is a new beginning.  You start from scratch, you reinvent yourself.  Hopefully smarter this time. 

You can go for years and never run into any of your previous friends, or selves.  And then you can spend 24 hours playing "This is your life", and seeing mirrors everywhere you go.

UX and Design Discourse is in a state of disarray

https://www.fastcodesign.com/90155005/design-discourse-is-in-a-state-of-arrested-development

UX doesn't criticize itself.

All the articles are about how-tos, case studies and "aren't we great?" articles.  Very few, in any address the bigger questions, like about Evil UX, and when and where to include friction in interactions (Hawaii warning system anyone?)

We are creating the interactions that create patterns for the future.

We should be aware of what we are doing.  And be critical of ourselves as we try to move forward.

A Dream of Escape

A dream of escape.

Here in the Northeast in America, we are under a cold snap.

Since Christmas, we have been suffering with below zero temperatures and into the predictable future (according to the iPhone).

And then, with or without a cold (which I have), we are essentially trapped indoors.

I've been lucky to have a writing project to take me out of myself.

The BEST vacation I can ever have. 

Gamification of Relationships

Some aspects of relationships CAN be Gamified.

Some already are in ways we think are appropriate.  Measuring marriages in years (1 point per anniversary), kids (1 point per human created).  Artificial numbers which seem to mean something; especially when there is little to no other tangible signifier.

Note that the fewer number of relationships is an indicator of "being haunted".  The fewer experiences, the more likely the few have tremendous impact. But the number seems to want to be low-note that we hardly ever confess the truth here in numbers.

Beginning relationships can be gamified too-but must be considered in terms of Game Theory-Theory of Mind.  Think of playing a game of chess and predicting your partner's next move and deciding on your moves based on the outcome you predict.

The question remains: do people want PREDICTABLE relationships?

Theater and Software

The idea comes first.  Something brilliant, that bugs at you until you DO something about it.  (UX at this stage will involve people responding to this idea, is it something they even want? What is closest to it?  How is this different?  How can you iterate before you even begin?)

Then there is the planning.  Laying out a skeleton and working your way through it.  Revise and rework. (In software, this stage may be Agile, built 2 weeks at a time.)

The final draft, the final blueprint.  Now you have to build it. Program it, cast it, hopefully you'll have enough money to see it to birth. A real prototype of what you want it to be. You can test it out on people before its actual release, the UX testing is equivalent to bringing in your directing mentor for the final dress.  "Tell me its fatal flaws before we open!!"

Then finally, its on its feet.   Opening night, the day everything goes live. Maybe its an MVP, Minimum Viable Product.

2 weeks of previews, features added to the next iteration. People get to see it and clap or yawn.  If they are somehow trapped into usage, then hopefully their suffering won't be too bad.

And then it is out there. The longer it is out, the longer it has to be polished, or to have the shine taken from it. Have all its faults displayed openly, prominently.

Or more likely, it will be a bore.  And will get washed away by the tide of exciting and better.

And new.

Why the Monkees Are Good UX

This is a show from the 1960's, full of youth and culture and fun.  Built to be full of delights, to be commercially viable for kids and teenage girls.  Good music that can stand on its own, and an assemblage of character actors who can act the pants of of the 4 main costars.

The boys are young and handsome, innocent and charming, attractive in their own way.  Blank slates that we all can put our minds into.  You want to kiss them or be them, or maybe both.

But the references inside of each episode are countless, and I enjoy trying to count them all.

It is the ideal medium for a Lesson plan of what America was in the 1960's, or what we thought we were, or what we wanted to be.  There are enough names and old-fashioned props to fill an encyclopedia.  Their pad is similar to the internet, packed full of random goodies that you can stumble over.  Mid Century Thrift Store.

It is an easy way to digest history.  It looks like candy, but is actually full of protein.

Comparing NYC to Waltham

And vice versa.

At the end of August, Waltham is very green.  And lovely,  Summer is great here.  The smell of the sun on the leaves is beautiful.

Whereas the subways in NYC are full of smoke in the tunnels and random stoppages.  Its merely a matter of time until you are in an Instagram worthy position to document the crazy of the commute.

But just wait until winter, when the streets are cold and everything is about your cold car and digging it out of the snow.

You CAN get a great NYC job in Waltham, especially if everything works virtually!