In the middle of the night, when I wake up with that middle-aged worry, tossing and turning, I sometimes put on a podcast, or an audible book. Somebody please tell me a story, help me to fall back asleep. 

Last night’s lullaby was the Hidden Brain by Shankar Vedantam. It was a little too interesting to put me back to sleep, and I was intrigued by how loss affects us, mentally and physically. Loss; you know, losing a game, losing the job opportunity, losing a loved one. The opposite of winning. 

They highlighted a Win/Loss Analysis of the teams in the NBA who were trailing by just one point at half time. 

After study of 18,000 NBA games – the researchers were able to conclude that when the team had more than a one point deficit, the likelihood to come back and win was of course less likely. So it turns out that being behind by just one point behind is a strong motivator to push harder to gain the win or the lead.

Now, turning it back to me, because this is my blog, afterall. I play like I am losing by one point in everything I do. It means I am earnestly pressing forward, not asking for much. I’m operating at a one point deficit, under a tighter deadline, with a limited, incomplete set stimuli to test – it’s the nature of UX Design Research. Work with what you’ve got — be agile, be just in time.

Work with what you’ve got — be agile, be just in time.

The nature of User Experience Design Research

Scrappy. 

Sweating. 

Cursing. Iterating.

This might translate well if I played in the lady NBA, but I don’t. I play in the SF Bay Area, the playground of the rich and famous and an inventor’s paradise. The center of the technological revolution that all started with a grain of sand. I play here, in the business of corporate America in late stage capitalism, startups that don’t start, workplaces that are as varied as families, and I study consumer behavior, human desire. The latest gold rush of The Next Big Thing and what we called “Web 2.0” a few years back have been the court on which I play and the positions I’ve become skilled at have morphed from 1999-2019.

You could say I am selling shovels to all the gold-diggers and I would not argue with you.  But I’ve fashioned the best gold digging shovel out there, and you’re gonna want this version, which is just a bit cheaper than my competitor’s…we’ve iterated on it for years now!