My Back Pages

We discussed usability consulting today, specifically, a proposal from HFI, and how we incorporate the best practices of figuring out what works best for customers into our software development projects. We're using our flavor of Scrum and several other agile engineering practices on my current project, and there really isn't a set model for where the customer research techniques of designing for high usability fit in. It will be interesting, and I'm bound to write more as it evolves.

I heard several rumors this week of people intending to leave Arbitron. Every time this happens, people tend to get worked up and wonder if the departure was pre-empted by information the general employee populous does not have. Rarely is it that coordinated, methinks, but in a Machiavellian way, others' departures do have a way of making one ponder how it affects his own role moving forward.