the polarization of design (or, the bowman effect)

Following is a list of links related to the "Doug Bowman Leaves Google" media circus going on right now, and what seems to be turning into a game of "Who's more evil?" Bowman? Google? Design? Statistics? But more than that, it's also turning into a heated debate that is reaching outside of the borders of our industry about the importance of the art/science of design. Or lack thereof, depending on who's talking.

Anyhoo, the links are in chronological order, so Doug's "Goodbye Google" post is not first. News travels fast, to Valleywag at least. As more appears on the topic, I'll add to the list.

• Twitter Claims Valley Crown by Poaching Google's Top Designer | Valleywag
• Google Smothers Designers | Joe Clark, fawny.org
• The center of this firestorm: Goodbye Google | Doug Bowman
• Google designer leaves, blaming data-centrism | CNET
• Google's Data Fetish Drives Away It's Top Designer | Valleywag
• Bowman Leaves Google | IxDA.org discussion, With comments from Dan Saffer, Robert Hoekman, Andrei Herasimchuk, Jared Spool...
• Yes it's true... | Buzz Anderson, Sci-Fi Hi-Fi
• Douglas Bowman leaves Google | John Gruber, Daring Fireball
• Hello Google | Graham Jenkin (Manager, Google Ads UX Design)
• Google's Designer Drain | Adam Howell
• Measuring the Design Process | Scott Stevenson, Theocacao
• Bowman vs. Google, Why Data and Design Need Each Other | OK/Cancel (related comic)
• Google design: The kids are alright | Kevin Fox, fury.com
• Google's Lead Designer Doug Bowman Leaves for Twitter, Cites "Paralyzing" Lack of Design Focus | FastCompany
• UPDATES:
• The Case of Google and the Surly Ex-Designers [redacted] | anne k. halsall, random [non sequitur]
• Design and Google | John Battelle's Searchblog

Now, the following aren't directly related, but I think there are bits and pieces in here that may provide a little insight into UX at Google:

• Google's Irene Au: On Design Challenges | Business Week interviews Google's Director of User Experience, Irene Au
• Google 'Legend' Marissa Mayer Tells Lesley Stahl What's Next | wowOwow interviews Google’s Vice President of Search Products and User Experience, Marissa Mayer

infinite loop of Sears

We bought some fabulous new appliances, and Sears called and left a message last night asking me to call back for important information regarding the delivery.

Today I call the number, give all my info, and the girl says they'll call me on Friday night with information on when they'll be delivering it.

Um.

"The message said I needed to call this number to set it up."
"Yeah, we'll call you Friday to set it up."

"Noooo - it said to call you to set it up."
"Yeah. We'll call you Friday to set it up."

"What I'm saying is that you called me and told me to call this number to set it up."

...long pause...

"Ohhhhh... Well, we don't get any of that info until Friday night, so we don't know this early when we could set it up.
So... we'll call you Friday to set it up."

After I hang up, I'm wondering if human brains are actually getting smaller, less functional. Then I just have to keep telling myself... there's a reason she answers the phones at Sears... and now I know what it is.

here i come, chicago!

Tomorrow morning I leave for a business trip to Chicago. I'll be there through Friday. I'm going on some customer research studies, and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'll be staying on the Miracle Mile, so I'll be doing a little shopping. I had to pack a big coat because it's too big and fluffy and fabulous to wear on the flight, so I have absolutely zero room in my suitcase. It is packed to the hilt, so if I buy anything, I'll probably have to get it shipped home! :) I'm going to have to work extra hard on sticking to my diet, and the plan is to work out at the hotel gym every morning. There will be a lot of other Googlers there for the DUX conference, so that'll be cool.

I'm working on the photos from both the night at the Exploratorium and from JR's birthday party. Hopefully I'll finish them on the flight, and can upload them when I get all settled into the hotel room.

Over and out.

changes and upcoming excellence

Sorry things have been dreadfully silent around here - much has been going on at work. I've switched to a new and exciting project: TV Ads! You may have heard the recent media hubbub about our newly announced partnership with Nielsen.

I've been very busy with interesting new UI work, and an incredibly excited and motivated team. It makes it easy to put in all kinds of time on the work, but it means I've been neglecting the ol' blog. And there has been so much going on outside of work too - exercising, dieting, planning for the trip to Jamaica, planning for both our families to be here for Thanksgiving (don't worry if you've been to visit us - we've rented a big house for the six of them to stay in - we're not all crammed into our tiny little place!), and we had to throw together costumes for a Halloween party on Friday. I LOVE Halloween, and I was completely unprepared. At least we'll be prepared for Wednesday's Googleween party. And even Winston will be getting in on the game. Wish him luck to win the dog costume contest!

it's design week on AVTV!

Tonight, after meeting other designers for drinks at House of Shields, we're going to go see Helvetica. I am very geeked about this - I tried to go see it at SXSWi, but the theatre filled up way too fast. They could have had 2 other showings at the same time and still not handled everyone in line.

Last night, we joined BayCHI and went to the meeting/speaker series. Christina Wodtke (IA expert, founder of boxes and arrows, eleganthack fame, etc.) gave a presentation about Going from Designer to Founder that was very entertaining and enlightening.

Tomorrow night, it's either SFlickr or a class at TechShop, we haven't decided. One of the things that was so appealing about SF was the flickr community here, and we've been here a YEAR and have yet to make a meeting. By Thursday we're both so tired. But we're determined to fix that.

Friday I get my cast off, which has nothing to do with design, but THANK YOU JEEBUS!!! I'm at the point where I don't think I can take another minute of it. And JR offering to saw it off himself isn't really helping.

So that's this week in a nutshell. I have so much back-blogging and back-flickring to do... So you'll be getting a little traveling back in time for a while. You'll take it, and like it!

turbotax update: refund!

I said "I demand a refund!" and they said, "Okay." (I can be a mean mo-fo, so don't nevah cross me.) Actually, they sent this to everyone. Except JR.

Dear TurboTax Customer,

Your refund for the TurboTax products or services you purchased between the hours of approximately 3 p.m. PT on Tuesday, April 17 and 4 a.m. PT on the morning of Wednesday, April 18 will be completed by end of day Thursday, April 26.

You will see this on your credit card statement. The credit will appear on your statement as: "Intuit*TurboTax 800 446-8848" and may appear on two separate lines.

We are sorry for any inconvenience we have caused you. We value your business and look forward to serving you again in the future.

Sincerely,
Bob Meighan
Vice President, TurboTax Customer Advocacy
Intuit, Inc.