Author Archives: Skip Walter

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About Skip Walter

Retired software executive, ardent book reader. Enjoying slow travel, learning to cook, and searching for fine wine growing. Grandfather, husband, father, brother. Recorder of Seattle sunrises. Voting blue.đź’™

Don Norman would be proud

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Skip Walter

Don Norman is a delightful professorial curmudgeon who collects and publishes examples of good and bad design in books like The Design of Everyday Things and Living with Complexity. On my walk through the Seattle Ferry terminal yesterday I finally took … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care, Human Centered Design, Travel | 1 Comment

Say What – human cloud?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Skip Walter

You know you are getting old when you mis-hear something that leads to more interesting that what was actually said. I sat in on Professor David Socha‘s class on “Evidence Based Design” for MSCSS students at UW Bothell last evening. … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Learning, Quotes, Teaching | Leave a comment

The Four Boxes of Knowing

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Skip Walter

While reading David Weinberger’s latest book Too Big To Know:  Rethinking Knowledge Now that the Facts Aren’t the Facts, Experts are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room is the Room, I was reminded of the Four Boxes of Knowing. … Continue reading →

Posted in Knowledge Management, Learning, Teaching, Working in teams, WUKID | 5 Comments

Evolving a Personal Software Design Process

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Skip Walter

Self observing is always a dangerous proposition.  I remember my father-in-law, Dr. Michael Keleher, always remarking “the doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient.” The following notes are a result of self-observing myself when I am designing … Continue reading →

Posted in Content with Context, Human Centered Design, Knowledge Management, User Experience, Value Capture | Leave a comment

The Power of Metrics to Guide Software Development

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Skip Walter

One of the big challenges with software product development is how to prioritize which features to add.  Many books and academic papers are written on this topic each year.  From my vantage point, the human centered design process is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Data, Content with Context, eDiscovery, Human Centered Design, organizing, User Experience, Value Capture | 5 Comments

Duolingo – The Second Half of the Chessboard?

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Skip Walter

As a result of the mentoring I received from Russ Ackoff, I am fascinated more by really good questions than by the answers.  My colleague, Professor David Socha, pointed me to a Ted Talk by Luis von Ahn on “Massive-scale online collaboration“.  Luis is … Continue reading →

Posted in Content with Context, Human Centered Design, Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management, Learning, Teaching, Transactive Content, Working in teams | Leave a comment

Mentoring Idea Stage Startups

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Skip Walter

One of the joys of teaching project based classes in Human Centered Design is encouraging the teams to explore building their product and starting a company to monetize the product.  This fall’s class project assignment was to research, design and … Continue reading →

Posted in Content with Context, Human Centered Design, iPad, iPhone, Learning, organizing, Teaching, Transactive Content, User Experience, Value Capture, Working in teams | 2 Comments

Through Natures Lens

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Skip Walter

There’s an app for that. Today, I did my three mile walk with EveryTrail.  I’ve traveled this same trail either walking or running hundreds of times in the last ten years.  Yet, I’ve never taken it with a camera in hand.  So … Continue reading →

Posted in Exercise, iPhone, Nature, User Experience | 1 Comment

Creating Jobs – Racing with Smart Machines

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Skip Walter

In this silly season of presidential politics and having to listen to the nightly shenanigans of both parties about how important jobs are with the cynical me knowing that none of them have a clue how to improve the job … Continue reading →

Posted in Content with Context, ebook, Human Centered Design, Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management, Learning, Quotes, Transactive Content, User Experience, Value Capture | 2 Comments

Exercising Again with Technology

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Skip Walter

In August I made the mistake of trying to run in some of the new “Born to Run” NB Minimus shoes from New Balance.  I thought I had made all of the appropriate stride and upright stance running changes.  At … Continue reading →

Posted in Exercise, iPhone, Travel | 2 Comments