Christopher Fahey – Page 15 – graphpaper.com (under repair)

BIKEZ MY RIDIN / TRAIL RAIL UR ON I’M

Jul 13, 2007

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in Cycling & Running, Design, Images, Information Design, Interface Design, Language, Personal, User Experience Design

Quick, what does this sign on the bike trail say? If you’re like me, you will probably initially read it as saying “XING ROAD”. Then, maybe after a fraction of a second, your brain kicked in and told you that maybe you should reverse the order. You do this mental correction because you’ve probably grown…

My First Podcast

Jul 11, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Behavior, Branding and Marketing, Business, Information Architecture, Personal, Storytelling, User Experience Design, Web, Work

A few months ago during an intermission at the 2007 IA Summit, Christina Wodtke and Bill Wetherell accosted me in the hallway of the Las Vegas Flamingo hotel. The next thing I knew, Christina was interviewing me for a new series of Boxes and Arrows podcasts. The 16-minute interview has just been published, and I’ve…

Should Bloggers Assume that Their Readers are Dumber than They Are?

Jul 10, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Branding and Marketing, Business, Design, graphpaper.com, Information Architecture, Information Design, Personal, Reviews, Social Interaction, Storytelling, User Experience Design, Web

Several bloggers I know have confessed to me that occasionally they’ll compose and publish articles or posts that they don’t feel especially passionate about, writing things that they aren’t particularly proud of or inspired by, simply because they know that certain topics, ideas, or opinions will give them an easy and predictable traffic boost. For…

Technology and War

Jul 2, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in History, Politics, Technology, The Future

I’m disappointed in the pace of technological change lately, in particular when you consider that we live in a time of war. During World War II, some of the most astounding technological developments of all time were developed, both by the Allies and the Axis powers. In some cases existing technologies advanced by leaps and…

Simple is Best

Jun 27, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Branding and Marketing, Cycling & Running, Design, Reviews, User Experience Design

“Simple is Best” is the motto of Jinbei Yamada, founder of Japanese bicycle maker Arrow Bicycles. I love this motto for its elegant phrasing, completely devoid of pretention and utterly consistent with its own meaning. There is no false dichotomy of “form versus function” to drive a pointless wedge between functional and decorative simplicity and…

Muddling Through eBay

Jun 24, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Branding and Marketing, Business, Design, Information Architecture, Information Design, Interface Design, Reviews, User Experience Design, Web

The online auction site eBay recently redesigned their site, and (as it usually has in the past) the new design is being subjected to some pretty harsh critique. When critics bash eBay’s design, they usually focus on the site’s general visual design, or on the information design of individual pages. Even I have in the…

Grace, not just Efficiency, in Queue Management

Jun 23, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Architecture, Branding and Marketing, Business, NYC, Reviews, Social Interaction, User Experience Design

Large retail stores and fast-food restaurants have a simple choice when designing their checkout customer experience: Multiple registers, multiple lines, one line per register Multiple registers, single line This problem is known in the retail industry as “queue management”. The New York Times today features an article comparing the checkout experiences of several New York…

The Don’t Stop Believin’ Game / Bristles on the Long Tail

Jun 17, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Art, Business, Music, Personal, Reviews, Storytelling, The Future, User Experience Design, Web

At least Tony didn’t pick Heart’s “Magic Man”! Almost every Friday near the end of the day, someone at Behavior will start playing loud music to help remind everyone to stop working soon — the musical equivalent of the whistle that tells Fred Flintstone that it’s quittin’ time. This Friday, my partner Jeff blasted “Don’t…

The Google Street View Racial Gerrymander

Jun 14, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Architecture, Business, History, Images, NYC, Personal, Politics, Reviews, Social Interaction, Technology, Web

I love Google Street View. But what a surprise I had when I tried to view my own building and found out that the Street View photo-truck decided that they would limit their coverage to upscale (i.e., white) neighborhoods.

Sopranos and Seinfeld: Plus Ã‡a Change…

Jun 11, 2007

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Christopher Fahey

in Art, History, Personal, Reviews, Social Interaction, Storytelling, TV & Movies, Work

Sartre would be proud. The shocking (and to many viewers, utterly disappointing) ending of The Sopranos series finale was perfect. The tableau itself was a perfect jewel: the nuclear family all together, happy it seems for the moment, but completely surrounded by unknown and unseen danger. David Chase pumped the scene full of more tension…

Author: Christopher Fahey