It may seem a bit early to write an end of year post, however I believe that consistent reflection is one of the best exercises that one can do. And, since I have been reflecting quite a bit lately, I thought I would apply these thoughts to my 2013 and share with you what I have been up to, where I’m going, and what I’ve learned.
One thing I have realized is that this fall and winter I have not had the time to keep up with writing for my Keeping It Real About UX blog. This might normally be a bad thing, however, the main reason I haven’t had time to write here is because I have been busy contributing to some amazing publications such as UX Matters and UX Mastery.
For UX Matters I partnered with Paul McAleer to write to the UX Community about our attempt at a new way to Map Business Value to UX, and to educate our organizational partners while doing so. So far, we’ve gotten some great feedback about the pieces, and we’re always open to hearing more! I’ve included these posts here, in case you missed them:
Mapping Business Value to UX – An Idea’s Inception
Mapping Business Value to UX Part 2
Mapping Business Value to UX Part 3
For UX Mastery I was invited to take part in their awesome UXMas series. There I wrote about the items on my UXMas Wishlist. If you haven’t already shared your’s, I’d love to see it!
Many thanks to both UX Matters and UX Mastery for allowing me to be a part of such an esteemed community of writers.
The second thing I realized is that, earlier in the year, myself and my interns (who are now real working world UXers!) did get the chance to contribute some pieces to the Keeping It Real About UX blog. Here you can find the top 5 viewed posts from 2013
The Real Business Value of UX
Want to Sell UX? Stop Talking UX!
Mapping Business Value to User Experience
Book Review: Gamification At Work
Learning UX in a Lean Environment: Part 2 – The Journey Not the Destination
Third, as I look into the new year, I also realized I have some amazing speaking opportunities to be excited about for 2014. Top of mind is my full day workshop Interaction Design Beyond the Wireframe that I’ll be facilitating at this year’s Interaction 14 event in Amsterdam! If you plan on attending and are looking to learn all about IxD outside of the interface, I’d love to see you there.
Lastly, one thing I realized in my end of year reflections is quite how busy I, and all of us, have been. Thus, I plan on taking the next few weeks to ease my mind, find, again, some inspiration, and reflect on my goals for 2014. I encourage each and every one of you to do the same. I encourage you to take some time for yourself to reflect on where you have been, where you are going and what you have learned along the way. Only then can you make the next year, even better than this one!