Irene's Blog September 2008 Archives

Archive for September 2008

Tags: Business, Gartner, Hype Cycle, Social media, tcehnology, web 2.0
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Meet Wystan

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Our newly adopted kitten, Wystan

James recently picked out Wystan from a lot of great animals that were presented at the Adopt-a-thon held in Jack London Square. He was the only Maine Coon kitty that we saw, and had very similar coloring to Weston. We took him home and then proceeded to spend the rest of the day thinking about the proper name for him. In the end, James named Wystan after W. H. Auden.

Wystan is nothing like Weston, in spite the physical resemblance in their gray tabbiness. Weston was completely fearless, where as Wystan is a bit of a scaredy-cat. We’re hopeful that Wystan will relax a bit more in the coming weeks. At least he is really taking to being James’ boy.

Here’s a video of Weston that was recently extracted from our Camcorder:

I still think it is so cute that Weston growls when he catches the toy mouse in his mouth.

Koxinga has been adjusting very well to Wystan’s presence. This has strengthened my theory that Koxinga only disliked Weston because Weston feared nothing, therefore did not respect Koxinga’s authority. Wystan is sufficiently scared and subservient to Koxinga’s authority, so Koxinga’s now back to having unchallenged alpha kitty status.

James and I still miss Weston. That kitty was special in so many different ways. I miss having Weston take naps with me during the weekend.

Tags: adoption, kitten, maine coon, pet adoption
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The Importance of Pet Insurance

Sunday, September 28, 2008

After the sudden death of our cat Weston, James and I are totally schooled in the importance of pet insurance. Had we not let our busy work schedules get in the way of getting pet insurance right away, we would not be able to prevent the death of our kitty WEston but would nto have been out $3,000 as a result of his emergency care. We would also be spared those horrible moments where you are deciding between love and money.

Information is not exactly easy to come by, but I was able to find one website that I am excited about:

http://www.petinsurancereview.com/

This site has a lot of good content, and with a quick redesign, can really be even better than they are now.

I wonder if there is such a site for human health insurance?

Tags: Health insurance, kittens, pet care, pet insurance
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UX or PM? How about UX+PM?

Monday, September 15, 2008

As I worked toward my Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) credential and especially since I became a CUA, I am often asked whether I am moving the direction of my career from Product Management to User Experience. Part of me thinks that maybe I am reaching one of those points in my career where I can take one direction vs. another, but another part of me also believes that I should not have to choose between UX and PM.

User Experience (UX) is a part of good Product Management (PM). A product designed without thought to user experience or usability is less likely to be a truly good product. A truly successful product will be one that keeps the end user in the forefront of the product process from concept to launch.

I enjoy the creative process involved in UX, but ultimately, I am a pragmatist instead of an idealist. I have to be the realist when no one else will. As the product manager, I hold responsibility for the overall success, including the user experience. I am ultimately accountable for decisions and execution, instead of recommendations. I have to play a very diplomatic role of managing conflicting ideas and priorities while making progress and getting things done. I need to be the uber-collaborator — to sweat the details, coordinate everything that goes into a successful product, communicate/champion/evangelize internally and externally, and still keep an eye out on the big picture.

I enjoy the dynamic, broad, strategic, tactical, and communication roles that a product manager is responsible for. I never get bored by the constant challenge between balancing users’ needs and the needs of the business, competition in the market, resources and support available to the product. I not only have to be close to the users/customers, I also need to understand stakeholders. The ultimate ideal for me is to be where the user desires meet business goals (more overlap the better), which is why I I tend to gravitate toward the consumer internet space.

There is nothing like making a kick ass product that helps other people kick ass.