Hi, my name is Kevin. What’s yours?

As everyone and their mother knows, summer is nearing an end and I have yet to write anything about it. This will be a preamble if you will of future posts. First will be a quick brief on my travels across Western Europe, followed by my first couple of weeks at my new job, and finally to round things off, my short reflection on moving past the college years. That’s a lot to go over, and it already sounds like it could be an autobiography. Well, it probably will be, and to keep things relevant, I’ll try to anchor these stories around a central theme:

Nuances.

Good word huh? I learned that in 11th grade AP English. Drew a picture of it too to help me remember it.

So until I get off my ass, I’ll leave you with these bits of information to chew on:

Lifehacker posted my picture, along with many others, of all the shit I carry in my bag. In actuality, I carry some of what’s shown in my pockets, but who’s counting? Why? because I was really, really bored.

I will be moving to Eastlake in the following weeks with Scott’s older brother, Jeff in a great 2 bedroom condo. Everyone is welcome to come and hang out, especially when I get my hands on a Wii.

Hope everyone else is doing great, and I will try harder to get some lunches and meet ups scheduled to catch up!

Anyways, I just wanted to write to tell you all that everything is groung great and I am safe, eating 3 meals a day and walking a lot. It’s definitely a healthier routine than what I’ve been going thruogh back in the states.

I’ve taken about 600 photos so far, and you can find some of them here: http://alexkingdesign.com/europe/

I haven’t had a chance to put them on flickr or anything, but I hope you enjoz what’s up so far.  I wish I had my computer so that I can work on them, but whatever. When in Rome.

Even though it’s been great so far, there are some things that I do miss, like family and friends, but otherwise, Europe has a lot going on that I enjoy.

Anyways, hopefully you’re all doing fantastic and please tell me what’s new with you guys and any other update.

Oh yeah! I got a job. I will be starting work in Belltown (Seattle) at a great design consultancy named Artefact.  I will be employee number 12 as their User Experience Design Researcher. It’s perfect and the group is wonderful.  So hurray for disposible income!

Okay, that is all. Bye.

Since graduting from the wonderful University of Washington, everything seemed to just cruise along. I’ve moved back home over on the east side and it has been the most unmotivating experience ever. It reminded me of why I don’t live here. I don’t really do much of anything except eat, sleep and watching a ton of Food Network. Not exactly the ideal post college lifestyle. Fear not though because it really has only been a little more than 2 weeks since walking down the soggy lane where I was presented my emtpy pleather portfolio signifying the milestone of intellectual achievement, if you can call it that.

Anyways, aside from the meandering, I’ve been spending late nights as usual trying to set myself up as a competitive candidate for employment. Right before graduating, three companies reached out to me and expressed interest in my skills. Teague, a product design consulting firm was the first. The position is a Flash design prototyping position. What that means is I take pictures of what software looks like and make them interactive. Valve - as in Counter Strike and Half Life Valve - showed me around their headquarters in downtown Bellevue. I had the privilege to sit in on one of their design discussions, which was quite interesting. The position was actually one that flexed between a lot of responsibilities, but their immediate needs were in marketing and communication (web design). Last to reach out is Artefact Group. This small firm helps software comapnies like Microsoft conduct research and create prototypes of how execution should be accomplished. There are only 11 or 12 people (I was told both) and about a year old. However, the experience in the house per person is anywhere between 5 to 10 or more years. The position I would primarily be researching people and how we can integrate software into their lives without frustrating them (read: Apple).

Each place has been extremely impressive and it’s great to know that there is so much talent in Seattle. It’ll be a hard decision to make no doubt. My professor, Axel, is happy to hear that I’ll still be in town so it’s also good to know I have his support.

Wednesday I’ll be flying out to Amsterdam meeting up with Richard aka “Giggles” Paterson and two other hooligans to experience what everyone should experience, life. Ha. I just picked up the last of the supplies I needed before venturing off into manhood and I plan to keep everyone informed of the misadventures via this blog. I’ll be creating an RSS feed for those who need’em, but otherwise, this will be showing up on Facebook anyways for the majority of my readership, all -9 of you. Be sure to check up on my Flickr account too. I’m going to try to do some moderate uploading as the days pass, but not too much since I need to take more than share for the time being.

Otherwise, I will hoepfully be seeing a lot of you when I return August 5th to share forgotten stories and and photos that would make any man cry.

One final though: I miss school already, I miss the house and I can’t wait to move out into my own place.

Updated
Here is the RSS feed to any and all entries to my time abroad: Travel Log [Yahoo Pipes]

A lot of people don’t know exactly what I do. What is Informatics? What is Interaction Design? You’re artsy fartsy (wrong, but I do love art, and especially great design). So on and so forth. Well it occurred to me that while I have spent my long summer hours exploring Flickr, it came to me tonight to use it as a way to showcase my portfolio work as of late. This is just a nice little intermediate step to show off something while I come up with a more complete design for my online and print portfolio - it’s just so hard committing to a design that will last a long time.

What would I use this for? Well, for jobs of course! Actually, it turns own that Teague and Valve are looking to contract some prototypers/designers (me) on their team because of increasing demands. On the 27th, I’ll be going through a portfolio review followed by four hours of interviews with the Artefact Group. It should be interesting. They are working with some new Microsoft technology that many critics have been raving about. Sounds like a ton of fun. All three opportunities have something in common that I really enjoy, that start up feel.

Enjoy! and wish me luck!

The second place was Motorola. There’s a lot of great talent that’s in the company and it’s something that has become more interesting over time. Like the Motofone, it is an outstanding example of why I believe in what I do. This isn’t the only company that is doing this, but it’s one that has an opening. The position is for their Research and Advanced Technology arm and they have some areas that are applicable. Hopefully the recent work that I’ve put out in class and my general experience in the work place is enough to give me a ring.

This won’t be the last place to look and I will be a little more aggressive in my stance. In the meantime, I need to get back to work on my portfolio. A new layout is already in mind that plays better to what it’s supposed to accomplish. Stay tuned.

Backstory:
I was a little worry wart a few months back concerned with the level of experience I’ve acquired towards being an interaction designer. In fact, I had little, other than school. So after browsing through the interweb, I found this awesome project where I would be working on a Media Player application’s User Interface. After reading over the qualifications, it sounded almost like the perfect opportunity. So I sent in my resume and they acknowledged receiving it. From what I understood the website said they would reach me sometime in December. Cool beans. I sent in the application a month ago hoping to hear back soon~

So here I am now, given this news I am still in consideration to participate in this wicked cool project, but I’ve already accepted my offer with the Center for Environmental Visualization mentioned a couple weeks ago. By all means having the opportunity to work with either groups is a blessing, but boy, would working on a media player be exciting. Why I’m emphasizing this fact is that I have plans to meet with the Senior Lead Developer for the Windows Media Player application early January. Having media player experience prior to graduation would give me huge leverage in my credentials as a usability/interaction/user interface (blah blah blah) designer.

Here’s what the project entitles:

Project Opening: GeeXBoX

The application

The GeeXboX is an awesome standalone media player. GeeXboX is a full operating system, running under Linux and based on the excellent MPlayer. No need for a hard drive, you just have to put the GeeXboX bootable CD into the CD-Drive of any Pentium-class or Apple Macintosh computer to boot it. The whole thing can be managed by a either a keyboard, a remote controller or a joystick, thanks to its full OSD (On Screen Display) Menu.

The project: Design a new, cool and usable media interface

For the next software revision, GeeXboX would like to improve not only the architecture, but the interface. You will get the opportunity to work directly with the developers to help create a new, cool, and usable media interface.

Project tasks include:

User research which includes conducting an online survey, interviews with acutal users, and creating user personas.
Conduct an expert interface review of the current system, and based on user research and your findings, propose redesign suggestions.
Work closely with the developers and iterate design changes, conducting mini-expert reviews after each interface revision until a new, cool, and usable media interface has been developed.

The Mentors

Your usability mentor will be Celeste Lyn Paul. She is an interaction architect in Washington, D.C. and an active contributor to the KDE Usability Project and OpenUsability.

Your Technical mentor will be Ben Zores, one of the core maintainers of GeeXboX. You will work closely with him during the development process to implement your recommended interface suggestions.

Your Qualification

This project requires experience in interface and interaction design as well as some experience in usability analysis methods. This is meant to be a learning experience, so don’t worry as long as you understand the basics in design and usability.

Anyways, I hope everyone is having a great break and I can’t wait to see everyone again!

Cheers

2006 gone by…

Year 2006, where it is six years after the new Millenium, I went sky diving, I started my portfolio, I quit Banana Republic after 5 years, I turned 21 years old and we had the opportunity to experience a date such as 06.06.2006, or 6/6/6 for short. Scary, but interesting none the less. The year 2006 also meant my considerable investment with my fraternity.

Three years ago, my chapter house has been in troubled times with excessive substance abuse and negligence on all responsibilities. Then, a turning point with the senior class of 2005, who took it upon themselves to take the initiative to enhance the quality of our experience. Given that momentum, our executive board has continued a vision of higher standards to lead the greek community back into a brighter light. Rewarded by our own international fraternal organization, and by our local university community, we have proved that 2006 has been a successful story of our efforts. My personal contribution has been specifically on career development and leadership. This involvement became a significant theme in my life moving forward.

Thinking about my career and my impact on my peers as a team player went into overdrive. It was pretty much all I talked about and thought about. So much, that 2007 will be a time to start letting go a little and trusting in progress working out for themselves. I’ve really become a tight ass, strung up on responsibilities and idealistic obligations. However, it has given me the chance to work at Microsoft, and seeing first hand, what it’s like to work for such a large software company in their IT department.

My next step? Well, I accepted an offer to a great part time job at the Center for Environmental Visualization at the College for Oceans and Fishery as their Graphic Designer. From what it sounds like, I may also be an User Interface Designer too. Yay! On top of that, they are looking to build it into an internship program - which I get to help develop - that may lead to a full time position. woot!!

School wise, I’ve completed my required courses to earn a BS in Informatics at the Information School ending with a sweet Senior Capstone. More importantly I’ve found my calling to be an Interaction Designer and found my inspiration through my professor, Axel Roesler at the Art School at the University of Washington. The final 20 credits before graduation will focus on HCI, Usability, User Experience and Interactivity through media and information technology (nerd talk is sexy, no?).

Photography has finally started becoming a serious hobby and it has been long over due. Every since picking up my Nikon D50, I feel in control and more creative with what I can do as I capture the events of my life so that I can share them with you, my friends. Bless Flickr for being such an addiciting inspiring service.

2007 to come…

So with 2007 on the way, there are many things to look forward to and more goals to add to the pile. First I want to mention that my sister Sharon is pregnant, so number 2 will be on the way! She feels it is going to be a girl again. Deep down inside though, I wish she felt it was going to be a boy. I’ll still love the new addition anyways. You guys already know how much I love my niece Lauren.

With 2007, I want to start Project 365. Before during my Xanga days, I used to reflect a lot on my daily/weekly moments. Reading those gave me a lot of insight about what I was thinking about and what actually went on, with detail. Being busy doesn’t allow me to do that anymore. Now since “pictures are worth a thousand words,” I will take a picture(s) each day for the whole year to capture my life. You can do it too, especially new owners of a wicked cool Mac with the built in iSight. You can find useful links to make Project 365 easier for you thanks to a special Lifehacker post.

Last, I want to be more charitable. We are blessed with such fortunate lives and we want even more things that makes our lives better. We compare ourselves with others who are just as comfortable with their lives. Don’t get me wrong, our parents and your parents worked hard to give us our quality of life. On the other hand, what I’m hoping is to just give some of my time that I spend on myself and help out others. Realizing potential in others is something I’ve been experiencing a lot lately, so why not help others realize their opportunities as well? I’ve found a great website that tracks the various charitable organizations internationally. Whether you believe these organizations are worth your time, whether the money you invest is going someplace needed than for salary, or if the research is really making an impact, I urge you to check the website out and to look to your local community and see what they know about how to help others. Get involved! There is something to do if you’re bored with life, help others.

So cheers to 2006 and I welcome 2007 with open arms and an open mind.

Say wha??

“The Center for Environmental Visualization promotes new information technologies and advanced interfaces which integrate ocean research with geo-science education at the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, by combining environmental modeling with applied technologies such as scientific visualization, virtual reality, interactive multimedia and Web development.

Okay, sounds cool right? Technology, visualization, interactive multimedia and Web development were all the right words that describe my interests. So what do Graphic Designers in a place like this do? I don’t know color theory or typography principles…

“Our efforts include innovative combinations of 4-D ocean maps, and networked GIS technologies that let learners interact with near real-time data using interfaces that produce highly visual, interactive exploration opportunities in the ocean sciences.”

Yahtezee! This place sounds bitchin’. A few clicks later, I was set to meet them for an interview. Yesterday morning I went in after a few nights of studying and reviewing my school material as a mental primer.  The result? “Wow,” “really?” “Interesting…”.  The work that CEV does is pretty great stuff.  They take research data from many places and parse it through various programming languages, outputing beautifully colored, high resolution images that are completely interactive.  Think Google Earth World Wind MSN Virtual Earth whatever 3-D planet simulation and on top of that, add in educational value and statistics.  The exciting part is that we are approaching a time where data can output on both a local application and web platform.  Scalability and reach is a big deal in education.  If these visualizations can make learning about the environment increasingly fun, then we’d all be more aware of our surroundings. People may truly see problems as opposed to making funny doodles in their minds, imagining how our world works.

Now I don’t believe the goal is to teach about how our own consumption habits deteriorates our habitat, but more to show how natural environmental processes work.  As a result of these statistics and visualizing them, researchers, and just about anyone else can make better judgement or predictions. So in sum, this opportunity sounds kick ass!  What’s even better is that they are ramping up to turn this “job” into an internship program. So ontop of becoming a savvy designer, I get to help build out their program. Being an evangelist is paying off.

CEV - Graphic Designer

On another note, I want to congratulate my friend Sarah Koss for being such a great person. Why? Well for one if you know who she is, then you’d already know that as a matter of fact. She has a contagiously fun personality that makes you feel better about life just talking to her for 30 seconds.  Anyways, she’s heading into the second round for a rotational program that will ultimately result in a full time position, so wish her the best of luck.  This is a dream of hers since she has been with the company so I applaud you Sarah for taking that step in living what you love and passionately express. I say this to all the other individuals who live their life this way. For those who still have not found success yet in that lifestyle, I encourage you to continue because your resilience will pay off, and it will be the most gratifying feeling.

Title says it all.

I’ve been meeting with a ton of talented people inside Microsoft who are working on projects like Office and Dynamics CRM.  From designers to researchers, I’m learning what it takes to work in Microsoft focusing on the “user experience.”  It is an exciting period of time where you can see that there is a building momentum driving the design influence.  Looking at Vista, Office 12 and even Windows Mobile, you see that changes are more than just slapping on a glossy interface.  That is the obvious artifact of a new design approach.  However, you also see a move away from deep heirarchies and static information that requires your changes in styling done manually.  Comparative to the last iteration of Windows and Office (granted the time gap) you have to admit that working with projects that not only impact millions of people on a daily basis, but is also more complex than your average script. They did some good work, eventually.  Thinking also in context that Microsoft initially came from a traditional computer development vision, this kind of change is really significant. That’s why I think in the next five or so years, it will be really exciting to be a part of the influence that drives the “user expeirence.”

Yes, I am interning at Microsoft.  Yes, I am studying interaction design as an undergraduate degree.  No, I don’t have a proper portfolio.  Yes, it matters, a lot. A lot, a lot.

So what are my next steps? There are some options…

1. Freelance/contract work through a firm
2. Magically find a design position in Microsoft
3. Stay in IT at Microsoft and maybe move into design later (but how long?)
4. Find a design position in another company (most likely marketing and ads)
5. Work at Banana Republic again (ha! never again…)
6. Go to Carnegie Mellon University and earn a MS in Interaction Design

Each having their own pros and cons.  My next steps? seriously find someone else to take over my responsibilities in the frat and focus on my portfolio.  Sheesh!

While I’m still hungover, I find peace in listening to music in my room as the mild summer breeze graces my shoulders.  There is honestly not enough Gatorade right now to save my life.  One side note really quickly - what is the true differences between Gatorade straight up, and Gatorade Rain?  It’s supposed to keep you cool and refreshed, but doesn’t any electrolyte filled - thurt quenching elixir accomplish that?  The commercials don’t even portray that.  Instead, athletes are being born from their repsective sporting device.  I’m so confused.  I guess I don’t get it since I was born out of a computer. Don’t add water please.

Just recently us UW interns headed over to Alki to do some Kayaking.  It was boatloads of fun! (haha).  The place just opened last summer and the guy who runs the shop is gnarly.  It’s located right after Salty’s on Seacret Park. You can check out his website here.  We went on the sunset tour.  It was fun watching birds fly down to catch fish and really enjoy Seattle Summer weather out in the water.  High recommended fun for lovers, outdoor adventurers and anyone who wants to enjoy the different ways of how our fair city blessed us with natural awesomeness.

If you’ve read the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, then you might get this.  If not, it’s not that big of a deal.  From my personal perspective, I am continuing to see more adoption of Apple computing products.  A lot of previous arguments against buying a Mac have slowly been dimishing and consumers these days are looking for two things: what’s popular/trendy and something that signifies exceptional quality.  Apple’s marketing has really started to take hits at the PC market by twisting the old argument that Macs were only for artists or “creative” types.  I think it’s fair to say we are all pretty creative people in our own respects.  I believe that from a consumer point of view, a full package that takes care of my needs without having to push buttons I fear my make my computer explode is the peave of mind I am looking for so that I can focus more on the work, than the computer itself.  That in a design sense is the “user experience.”  It should not be an argument as to what technologies are being used, but more on how they are executed.  Success factors are reliant on customer adoption and utility.  If I’m not using a feature that is supposed to change my life, then it isn’t a life changing feature. And I digress.  That said, now that those who have adopted Macs into their every day lives without being a recording artist are sharing and proliferating the idea that Macs are cool.  It’s like well if Charley is using a Mac, maybe that is something I should look into.  My life seems to be similar to Charley’s and he is really happy with it.  Sold.  A lot of people have already predicted a “big bang” in Mac market share, but I only see that happening in consumer markets.  The PC (personal comupter mind you) market is much to vague to make any sense.  It is mostly dominated by businesses with tons of workstations.  I mean, Microsoft gave me a tablet (which sucks ass to no end) as my working PC.  That’s another computer in the market share. However, when I am home, I use my PowerBook.  See the difference?  I think if there was a statistical analysis of consumer growth, then there should be interesting results. This subject came up out of notice that a lot of people I am around these days are buying Macbooks or plan on buying them as their next personal machine.

This weekend has been pretty interesting, but mostly fun.  Friday was the uber nerdy alcoholic sausage fest Microsoft Intern Pubcrawl.  In all honesty, it was a hilarious time.  Watching a swarm of young men in matching black t-shirts engaged in a battle of wits between their beverages and themselves merit a good time. There were no more than 10 girls in a 100+ person event.  Lucky them as a group of 10-15 circled around each one at every stop.  But that’s okay, I was never really too into competative “game” spittin’.  Plus, my new crush at George and Dragon bartends there.  I will find you, even if I do nothing next time I see you.  Anyways, I met some pretty cool people and had the typical drunken shinanigans (sp?).

Saturday was a night out to Element.  Thanks to Brian Yaminaka, he welcomed his honey home from Japan to a VIP special. Seeing a bunch of old friends and even older (not aging) faces was exciting.  Some people I didn’t even think I would see and some I feel bad that I don’t even remember.  I definately discovered crush number two. Damnit.

Last bit of news: I will be in a video on a new game-centric product.  Apparently my MySpace pictures express the right chracteristics they were looking for, or I just have a friend in advertising who thought it would be funny to have me in it.  Maybe even both!  Anyways, it’s all going down Tuesday.  They will feature it on their website.  I’ll be sure to post it once it’s available.  My internet fame is increasing!  First Safeco’s recruiting website, and now Microsoft! w00t!

That is all… for now..