Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala Some trips are well researched and planned ahead of time. Other times, you’re standing on a Panajachel dock gazing out at a beautiful Guatemalan Lago Atitlán wondering how to fill your afternoon with the few Quetzales you still have in your pocket. You might pull out your phone Read more…
You know that investing time and cash in development without really knowing the situation you’re building for is dangerous. You need to know more about your user, but do you need a serious, large-scale design research project, or some quick user validation? It’s really not too hard to find out. Read more…
Guadalajara, Mexico; Mexico City, Mexico; San Salvador, El Salvador; I grew up on the east side of a north-Texas suburb called Plano. When my parents moved there in the mid 80’s, the Dallas area was booming as oil money started turning into tech industry growth. This growth brought immigrants from all over Read more…
Seattle, The United States Larry sits on a step out in front of Seattle’s pier across the street from the touristy Park Place Market. A pile of wood chips is growing at his feet as he slowly, methodically, chips away at the block of wood in his hands. I ask Larry if he’s always Read more…
Designers, world changers, we have a problem. Nobody has been happier than me about the recent uptick in pop-psychology books. I’m known among my friends and coworkers as that guy who tries to read everything – an I’m relatively successful – but I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been consuming too Read more…
Mexico City, Mexico; Guadalajara, Mexico; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Moving to Mexico was really the first time I got to live in a city that one could truly consider “walkable.” Austin, Texas is trying, and making great headway, but it still struggles a bit once you get outside of downtown. Read more…
Mexico City, Mexico This flower cart sits up the street from my apartment in Mexico City. Where I’m from, I’ve only really seen flowers sold at the grocery store. There is a dedicated flower section in most of them in the US middle-country, they always reek of flowers – to Read more…
Austin, Texas Texans are known the world over for a troupe-y spaghetti western version of what it meant to be a cowboy. Horses. Hats. Boots. Guns. Today Texans have shed most of these – at least in the cities and suburbs of north Texas where I’m from. All save one: the Read more…
I have a list of books to read as long as my arm and, I’ll admit, Wisdom wasn’t on that list. I came across the book in a rather serendipitous way as I wandered around Portland visiting a friend. Dotted through Portland’s peaceful little neighborhoods are “Little Free Libraries” – Read more…
Portland, Oregon Riding back from a hike in an amazing lavatube in Washington, I noticed this small cross on the dashboard. Its owner, a new friend of mine who had recently migrated to the west coast from Lawrence, Kansas to visit some mutual friends and find a place to settle – Read more…