Natasha is a professional train rider, an amateur photographer, an avid kayak paddler, a long-time cartoon watcher, and a User Experience Designer at SAP. She lives in Massachusetts, on the outer outskirts of Boston.
Don’t make me read while driving
Photo Credit: Right Lane Must Turn Right by Manish Bansal If I drive to work, on my way home I encounter 6 or 7 signs like the one above all in a one-mile stretch. To make matters worse, the signs alternate between “Must Turn Left” and “Must Turn Right.” Even though I’ve made the trip [...]
Not art
It is now.
Glad that Tufte agrees
I’ve always had a problem saying “he” or “she” when I really want to say “they.” For example, “The user can read the help information before they decide on the best option” just sounds so much better than “The user can read the help information before she decides on the best option.” The user, in [...]
Making the switch from developer to designer
Recently, Jared Spool and Robert Hoekman, Jr. addressed the question of making a career move from developer to designer on their Userability podcast. I listened to it with great interest, having made this move myself not too long ago. Jared and Robert had some great advice, like to just start observing how people use your [...]
Better hurry
I only have 28 years 11 months 17 days 13 hours and 3 minutes to complete my changes and check them in.
An homage to winter in New England
There’s nothing quite like a commute home from work in the snow. It started off with me slipping and sliding along the barely-cleaned sidewalks of Cambridge to get to my T stop. It’s really quite an adrenaline rush as you feel your legs slip in odd directions, anticipating the fall that is sure to follow, [...]
A collection of Kennedy history
The Boston Herald: Saturday, November 23, 1963 When my parents bought their house, we found a box in the attic full of newspapers and magazines from 1963 and 1964, all about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. All the newspapers are local to the Hartford area, with a few exceptions like The Boston Herald. [...]
Corporate hairdryer
Nothing says “we care about our employees” more than a corporate hairdryer in the ladies’ room.
Red
I counted 13 red lights telling me a train was coming. I guess better safe than sorry?
365 days of music
At the start of 2009, I launched a mini-project called 365 days of music. I put this together in about a month and it’s not nearly complete, but there it is for now (maybe forever). The idea was that I wanted to share songs I like on the go and have an easy way to [...]
