ryanmdschmidt » Writing http://ryanmdschmidt.com Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:12:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 +- familiar. // http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/familiar/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/familiar/#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:12:26 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=863 shuttered; battered. lost.
casual(ly) embraced, yet braced unhinged
through reckless/glances
full romance and trouble mirrored past.

unknown, however familiar.
bad choices. lies. unfair
same choices.. again. : ___

waiting, hoping dropped
and-all the flood returns

cast_aside. and/and and. and……..

gone;

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/familiar/feed/ 0 Notes from SXSW Interactive http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/notes-from-sxsw/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/notes-from-sxsw/#comments Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:20:27 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=766 Continue reading →]]> SXSW was everything it was hyped up to be. In a word, SXSW was “overwhelming”. There were so many people and so many great talks. It took me a few days to figure it out, but the experience was extremely enriching.

I told myself that I would transcribe my session notes from my moleskin. A month later, I’ve gone through that exercise and realize I take terrible notes. The material from each talk is still fresh in mind and I’ve done my best to translate my messy, disjointed notes to something easily digestible. Here are my key takeaways:

1. Mobile is the new black. It’s cliche, but mobile is the new thing and every session mentioned it at some point. One recurring theme, however, was: though mobile is the newest platform for development, we should build on what interaction design lessons from Web 1.0, 2.0, and even print. Mobile is new and game-changing, but we shouldn’t throw everything out the window just yet.

2. Emotional content, not clever ideas, drive engagement. It’s amazing how few tech professionals don’t get this. It’s common to try to solve problems by looking for the newest, greatest idea. That may not always be the best solution, however. Simply put: figure out what people want, then give it to them. Don’t do things because it’s cool and everyone else did it.

3. Agencies need to learn from software companies. I heard a lot of agile development ideas… especially from the UX guys. This one is simple: don’t reinvent the wheel. Software companies have decades of developing rich, interactive tools. Learn from their mistakes. Adapt. Make it your own.

4. Metrics & research should drive strategic direction. Strategy without measurement is like trying to solve algebraic equations without defining the variables. If possible, measure everything. Then analyze the data, searching for trends. That brings me to my last key takeaway…

5. Iterate quickly and often. Foster an atmosphere of testing and don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. If your analysis is wrong, change it quickly. One track and field quote that I love is: “if you improve every day by just a little bit, eventually you’ll hold the world record”. Don’t try to make drastic improvements all at once, small incremental ones are easier to make and easier to recover from if they aren’t the correct choice.

All in all, SXSW and Austin was great. I’d definitely like to go back, staying for the music and film portions next time around.

More to come…

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/notes-from-sxsw/feed/ 0 10.10.10_haiku// http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/10-10-10_haiku/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/10-10-10_haiku/#comments Mon, 11 Oct 2010 01:04:44 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=767 i loved a girl once
said i was all she wanted
guess we were both wrong

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/10-10-10_haiku/feed/ 0 from the past: lining http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/from-the-past-lining/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/from-the-past-lining/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 08:32:17 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=757 Continue reading →]]> sca
led atross
ca                      pture
s camed l                osted
seari     n g    fl
ash
list   l   ess

beauty                    steal

til        edtapt
nas    ti                 lychang
e          bea                 ring

withinsideyoulining

beautylove

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/from-the-past-lining/feed/ 0 c’est http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/cest/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/cest/#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:48:36 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=635 heaVy
IsthE hardest

part     without

thedrEam     that iS
it wenT.    and  changed.

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/cest/feed/ 0 yo         u should     not have http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/yo%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0-u-should%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0-not-have/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/yo%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0-u-should%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0-not-have/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:12:26 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=591 Continue reading →]]> yo         u should     not have
as sumingit   all
grows on you
tie    dd     own

lost
dri            ven
l ost

cau ghtup     torn
tor           mented
you i
de c       id  e
f           or

lovehate

-from sometime between 2000 and 2004, idk when

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/yo%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0-u-should%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0%c2%a0-not-have/feed/ 0 though fearful http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/though-fearful/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/though-fearful/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 21:41:21 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=559 Continue reading →]]> though fearful of the casual eyes and harsh
judgemental attitudes, alive more now
than oft before, my soul breathes deep. just as
untimely circumstance presents truly
a troubled thing, i keep in faith that time
will bring the resolute confirmation.
noble ways are all that remain, betwixt
many sharp words and stolen glances. a
hope so great creates tension, at least that
i can confirm. weathering the trials
will likely be the most difficult of
things i ever attempted, but when i
am eagerly pursuing it all, the
beauty calls and will be coy no longer.

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/though-fearful/feed/ 0 kindle. http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/kindle/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/kindle/#comments Sun, 26 Apr 2009 07:39:45 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=510 Continue reading →]]> spark.             battle.             freeze.

finally a               gain.
the restless_ness now ceased
thoroughly overwhelmed
, but moving through and forward./

slowly. calm. enchanted.
trouble/scrap e.

kindle.             caught.             dream.

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/kindle/feed/ 0 had not she first gazed deep http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/had-not-she-first-gazed-deep/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/had-not-she-first-gazed-deep/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:47:04 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=462 Continue reading →]]> had not she first gazed deep, azure brimming
laughter, contentment so sublime, into
those curiously naive eyes, maybe
the last of many years would have been void,
as those of the all to bleak past. of late,
those eyes, those gorgeous flames, engulfed every
waking moment, as it did of the vast
eternity of slumbers reveries,
intensifyingly haunting in a
perfect mode. stale air cramped the room, became
thick, leaden as she passed. breathing, walking,
all things simple complexed in the presence
of this royalty, perfection rich. time
accumulated, things deepened. growing.
still the fixed gaze on that glorious day
lingered. latent content in that blank stare
of angels eyes had soon to tear into
surreal, reality then thereafter,
ever so gently pushing limits. array
of noble things, choses de mal, within
such brief a confine of time, had passed in
supreme eloquency though those fair spheres
direct to an inadequately equipped soul.

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/had-not-she-first-gazed-deep/feed/ 0 new.txt http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/newtxt/ http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/newtxt/#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:33:26 +0000 spyke http://ryanmdschmidt.com/?p=458 am  ong    the
  j ackals,, t   he wolves of

those that     hunt in gen   eral
forfeiting most.   .    al  most
 al    lof  those th   ngs

foreign  false , ye    t fast   an
d past wispers different
    mysteries s   eem t    o

hold ac   countable.
           piercing  those   fierce
magical     sphe    res  for with
              out

                       meanness
facad         es  fade

           catch               my
me                     lody
 

_feb 2005../

]]> http://ryanmdschmidt.com/personal/newtxt/feed/ 0