Human Factors is an all encompassing title for being knowledgeable and thoughtful about people. There doesn’t have to be a difference between designing a vegetable peeler for a stranger who has arthritis and reorganizing a living room to be mobile-friendly for a grandparent.

A project you pick at each and every day is like taking a shower, it helps to be naked.

It’s also about doing it every day at 7.

Write like you talk.

Tell a story.

Be persuasive.

Involve other people.

Why is it, how is it, what is it?

Ask unique questions, often specific.

it pours, and designers should collect the abundance of water now to save a trip to the reservoir later.

Crisis can lead to amazing ideas. It forces us to confront the truth about how our systems work, or rather, don’t.

Thomas Edison didn’t invent the lightbulb, he invented the first good one. Edison liked to test the limits of electricity so he could make it do something new. His discoveries were used to improve upon other scientists’ ideas.

A maker makes because they have something to say. Makers are initiators with a voice, a vision, and a value. Each day they contribute to make their difference in the world.

I am the designer, my grandfather is the maker.

Expensive guitar picks were my introduction to premium priced products. After guitar lessons started at 10 years old, I experimented with guitars and accessories.

I discovered that my $2,400 dream guitar (a Martin Vintage Series with a slotted headstock) sounded better than my Yamaha at home, but expensive guitar picks were worse than the cheap ones.

You can tell who is in an unfamiliar grocery store, or at least, that’s what it feels like being that person.

Like goes with like, and the parameter of a grocery store displays the healthier options, so shopping at a new store shouldn’t be an issue. Not unless someone breaks the rules.

The invention of a product like the gait belt is a given. The purpose is clear: to better assist a person with a physical disability to walk, transfer to a seat, or to be lifted. They come standard at your local hospital, rehab facilities, and nursing facilities right next to the wheelchairs. It’s a given because the need has always been there, and the technology has existed since a thriving Roman Empire. So, why was such an obvious design patented only 10 years ago?

A young 1950’s U.S. Air Force Lieutenant discovered a fatal flaw in cockpit designs. Pilots couldn’t fit in WWII jets because the average pilot had grown. The averages of 10 body part measurements were taken from thousands of pilots to create new cockpits. Once complete, not one pilot fit all 10 dimensions because there is no such thing as a perfectly average, proportional body. The U.S. Air Force centered on fitting individual body sizes instead of standardizing around the average. This lead to the invention of adjustable seats, adjustable foot pedals, adjustable helmet straps, and adjustable flight suits with ranges that fit the most extreme percentiles of pilots.

OXO changed the world of culinary tools with their vegetable peeler designed for people who have arthritis. As it turns out, if someone with severe arthritis can grip a handle well, then most of the population can too.

Human Centered Design is the wrong tool for the most important problems a designer may approach. Deep within us all lives a feeling of wanting to love and to be lovable. The best thing we can do is to let someone know that they are loved and lovable. If this seems familiar, it’s because it was Mr. Rogers’s ultimate message to you.

Because it’s a skill, or rather, a collection of skills that create a bigger picture. Both use guides for unique processes and consider customer preferences. When these processes are applied, the best of both worlds are created by teams, not individuals.

This is my personal reminder to sketch the ideas that I am certain will not solve all the problems. A reminder that researching, thinking and waiting will never be as useful as sketching something decent now.

It can be trying to iterate another 25 designs after generating 100 of them. If you’re stuck, it may be time to approach the project with broader questions. When we ask different questions we get different answers, just like a different design approach will lead to a different solution.

Great comedians, like Jerry Seinfeld, don’t try to make their audience members laugh non-stop. Stand up comedy’s purpose is not to make us laugh, laughter is a byproduct. Even Carlin and Dangerfield, who often did keep their audience laughing nonstop, were there for the same reason as the audience.

Google has categorized much of my life. I use Google apps more than any other company’s. Google was the most approachable search engine throughout my childhood. When Bing released in 2009, I decided to stay with Google and this decision was the start of my journey under a Google umbrella. Two months ago, the umbrella’s handle cracked.

I’m stealing this story from Simon Sinek and running it through my filter because I can’t stop asking myself some questions it raised. This story reminded me that when I am at my best, I call on others to help me confront the challenges I cannot face alone. This is true with design and in life.