Geekend 2009
I attended the first ever Geekend conference in Savannah this weekend. The conference was fun, but as one of only a few developers there amongst a sea of designers, I did feel a bit out of place. I decided to embrace the uneasiness and think outside my box for the weekend, and here are some of the things I learned:
Opening Keynote – Aaron Draplin
If you’re passionate about something and you work hard at it, you’ll be successful. And then the President of the United States will call you up and ask you to design a logo for his economic recovery plan.
Sketching: The Secret Sauce of Design – Dave Malouf
Fortunately for me, this session was not really about sketching at all. It was about rapid prototyping of user experiences. Dave described sketching in much the same way that programmers who practice TDD would think about a sprint: Go into the process with the mindset that you’re going to throw away the result. Don’t get bogged down in the details, but instead think about the problem from a high level. Then, take a look at the result, determine what you want to keep or combine with other ideas, and iterate.
Favorite quote: Design is the intentional creation of an environment that encourages serendipity.
The Test-Driven Web – Phil Peterman
Phil talked about using Google Analytics and Google Web Optimizer to see how people are actually using your site. As developers, we tend to make assumptions about our audience that are often wrong. Instead, we should treat our sites like a wide open field. Watch where people go and find the paths they’re creating, and then pave those paths for them by making small changes that facilitate the things they’re already doing.
Phil also shared some interesting things they’ve noticed while analyzing the new Paula Deen web site:
- Even though they have an extensive navigation system, most people bypass it and just use the search box
- People weren’t looking at a lot of the content (articles, videos, etc) on the new site. Phil’s initial assumption was that people didn’t like the content, but it turned out that they just didn’t know how to find it.
- Most of their traffic occurs during working hours. Apparently Americans like to search for recipes on the web when they should be working.
Nurturing Creativity – Joey Hasty
Joey works for Disney, which (at least in my mind) makes him an expert on creativity. He shared about Disney’s creative process, and how it all comes back to the concept of play. A creative environment should provide a safe place for people to play with their ideas and share them with others. At Disney, they try to stay in the initial design phase of a project for as long as possible in order to give themselves the best opportunity to come up with creative ideas.
Favorite quote #1: Stop self-editing.
Favorite quote #2: Design is learning by making.
I’m My Own Boss! Now What?!? – Jen Consalvo & Frank Gruber
Together, Jen and Frank make up Shiny Heart Ventures, a web company that they started after working for a long time at AOL. They talked about the process of leaving a corporate job to start your own company. This talk was great validation for me of my decision to do something similar about a year ago.
Shiny Heart recently released a web-based gratitude journal app called Thankful For. It’s a simple way to keep track of things you’re thankful for, and even share them with others if you’d like. Jen and Frank talked a bit about the development of this app and things they learned while working on it. Some tidbits of advice I gleaned from their discussion:
- Think big, but start small
- Find focus – when mapping tasks to your available time, create structure
- Balance self-discipline vs. fun
Their philosophy is very similar to mine, in that they are trying to develop web technologies that enrich people’s lives. I spent some time talking with Frank after the session, and I look forward to the possibility of working with Shiny Heart on some of their future projects.
Favorite quote: It’s easy to be heavy; it’s hard to be light. G.K. Chesterton
How I Learned to Dump Electricity and Love Design – Brenda Brathwaite
I’ve been around long enough to be a fan of Brenda’s early video game design work. My personal favorites are the Wizardry and Jagged Alliance series. Brenda talked about getting fed up with video games and taking a break from them for nine months, during which time she fell in love with board games. She went on to talk about several board games that she has designed.
The amazing thing about Brenda’s board games is that she made them for herself, and she decided that they didn’t have to be “fun,” at least in the sense that we expect games to be fun. Instead, her games are meant to teach, inspire, or evoke emotion. Can a game be art? After listening to Brenda’s talk, I believe it can.
Closing Keynote – Major Nelson
If you want to market to geeks, you should be one. Geeks see through PR fluff.
Savannah
This was my first visit to Savannah, and I hope it’s not my last. Savannah is a beautiful city, and I really enjoyed just walking around downtown and taking photos. I’ve included a few of them in this post. I also enjoyed the food, especially at Zunzi’s and Saigon. I wish I had a few more days there to try some other restaurants that were recommended by the locals. Maybe I’ll get that chance at next year’s Geekend.
Comments
Great overview of your #Geekend experience.
I also attending the conference and thought it was the best use of a weekend in a long time. I also know Joey will appreciate your nice comments.
Appreciate this summary. Savannah's people just love this place. So glad others are finding it a great place to learn, grow and geek out in too!
I'd have to say I'm most impressed with the graphic slide ability of Draplin. Must fix my presentation skills now!
Come back anytime… Geekend 2010.
Hey there,
Thanx for the blog post and inclusion of my talk. I'm glad you liked it. I do think my talk was definitely about sketching. Not drawing for sure, but definitely about sketching as in the explicit process of thinking abductively vs. linearly and what steps you need to do to get there.
Your correlation to the developer methodology though re-introduces linear progress into the mix and doesn't quite map to the talk I gave. While you nail it w/ disposability and with some aspect of divergent creativity, it doesn't stop there. The volume of multiplicity is paramount to success as well as the nonlinear approach to convergence that exists in multiple stages. You are always looking through each iterative stage (not just the previous one) and you are connecting with things that you haven't even thought of yet. The use of association with intentional disposability need to work hand in hand.
Glad you liked the quote.
-- dave
Dave - Great comments. I agree that, in my attempt to condense your talk into a few sentences, I've oversimplified your concept of 'sketching.' Thanks for taking the time to clarify.