I attended an all day CommunityNext event in Hollywood.

I love the idea of creating television communities and helping others generate activity on screens around the world, and ultimately to affect change. That is the primary reason I attended, but is not the topic of this post.

The one presentation that really stood out to me was titled: "Don't make me click." by AZA RASKIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuELwq2ThJE

REDUCE INTERACTION:
There is an interaction seduction that exists with most designers. They want you to interact with their sites, to have a fully emersive 'cinematic experience.' However the fundamental web tension that exists is with some sites being too boring and some too annoying. Right at the perfect balance point is 'just right' and it's rare.

This was the most important point of the night:

"TO THE USER, THE INTERFACE IS THE PRODUCT."

THE BEST INTERFACE IS NO INTERFACE AT ALL.

To increase interaction you must DECREASE the amount of information or 'information density.'

However, if the level of interaction drops, the level of content and users increases.

Develop with all nouns and no verbs.

I really think it is important to understand that we are in constant change. Most of us fight it, and few of us ever realize the importance of actually pursuing change. Read the following blog post from Trent at the Simple Dollar.

In our everyday lives, it’s very easy to become complacent and content with our current skills and abilities. We have busy lives and often have a skill set that matches our current job, so it’s much easier to just get the work done and move on with life than to take the time to build upon our set of skills.

The only problem is that the simple path doesn’t really build much for the future.

It’s easy to understand the long term benefits of improving your skills: you open yourself up to countless opportunities. It’s much harder to look at building skills in the short term, however - skill building eats away at time that could be used being productive.

How can we get around that catch-22? Here are some tactics for doing just that.

Ten Tactics for Developing a New Skill

1. Clearly identify the skills you actually want to build.

Adaptive Path always does a great job.
Read this:

by The Adaptive Path PM Team
April 2, 2008

The definition of a Project Manager varies widely, especially in the creative fields. Like the approaches and outcomes of a creative project, the team member’s project roles —including the project manager’s — change from one project to the next and from one firm to another. The purpose of this essay is to explore the practice of project management specifically in regards to working with creative teams and their specific needs and challenges.
What’s Different About Managing Creative Projects?

Unlike projects where the approach and methodologies are the same from one project to the next, design projects evolve and change from project to project. They can also switch directions significantly mid-project. As with any member of the team, the Project Manager (PM) has to be flexible while representing the process and structure and tracking budgets and hours. The PM needs to be ready and willing to push back on the often enthusiastic and strong-willed Creative Project Lead and other team members.

This outline example is a general guideline of how the Beta process normally takes place...

The initial sign up period is used to determine the right sites based on criteria defined by the program team. The General Interest Survey included on this page is instrumental in helping the Beta Team gather information and find customer matches for our current Beta program. If there is a match, additional surveys and information will be required before the :productivePRO Beta Team can make a final decision.

Here we are in Nashville for the NRB Convention & Exposition and we're launching :productivePRO beta!

Looking forward to getting your e-mails and comments on why this web based application is interesting to you.

Sincerely,

We're just getting ready to launch a private beta of our new web-based project management application, so sign up for more information and be sure to check back for upcoming details.