Duncan Stephen

Article — 21 May 2019 — 455 words

Brewing Alex & Duncan Black IPA — our wedding beer

Personal

We went to Stewart Brewing’s Craft Beer Kitchen to brew our own beer for our wedding.

Article — 14 May 2019 — 164 words

Making our wedding rings

Personal

In September, Alex and I made each other’s wedding rings with Scarlett Erskine.

Article — 8 May 2019 — 409 words

It’s time to lose focus

User experience — User research

Focus groups are probably the user research method that most non-specialists are familiar with. They are also still among the most common user research methods used. This, despite their many flaws.

Article — 24 April 2019 — 328 words

Coming face to face with real life at the Service Design Academy user research bootcamp

Service design — User research

Work: The University of Edinburgh

I’ve had a great time over the past two days on the Service Design Academy’s user research bootcamp. These bootcamps are truly intensive. We were working with a live brief in a serious problem space.

Article — 10 April 2019 — 627 words

Are users rational? It depends on what you mean by rational

Economics — User experience — User research

It’s fashionable to dismiss rational choice theory out of hand. But contrary to what you may have been told, aspects of rational choice theory can still be helpful in understanding the world. And I find it a useful way to think about user experience.

Article — 12 March 2019 — 754 words

30 years of the world wide web

Current affairs — Web

Today the world marks the 30th birthday of the web. I could have said ‘celebrates’ instead of ‘marks’. But despite — or perhaps because of — the fact that it’s the most revolutionary advance in communications of our lifetime, the mood seems reflective rather than celebratory.

Article — 24 February 2019 — 138 words

Alex and I are now married!

Personal

Last Saturday, 16 February 2019, Alex and I got married.

Article — 14 February 2019 — 25 words

Getting married

Personal

Alex and I are getting married this weekend, so the blog is going on the back burner for now. I’ll be back later in February.

Article — 6 February 2019 — 293 words

Why emails and meetings are good

Business

I’m tired with arguments that email is a productivity destroyer, and meetings are a waste of time. Or that they somehow prevent you from doing your “real work”.

Article — 23 January 2019 — 539 words

The limitations of the phrase user experience

Digital — User experience

The meaning of user experience has changed over time. While it can still be a useful phrase, its limitations are becoming problematic.

Article — 1 January 2019 — 938 words

A year of blogging daily

Personal — Web

Last year I began a routine of publishing shorter posts on an almost-daily basis. Today marks a full year of blogging on a daily basis. It’s also the day I’ll stop posting each day.

Article — 25 December 2018 — 316 words

Merry Christmas — reflecting on 2018 and looking forward to 2019

Personal

Thinking about it, 2018 hasn’t been a particularly notable year. Then again, in 2017 I got a new job, and I got engaged. So that was always going to be a tough act to follow.