Bedside table

I saw this idea on Brené Brown’s site and it coincided with a comment from Cliff Anderson during a panel discussion on the past, present and future of user research at the recent UXPA 2019 conference where he stated that he read 1-2 books a week.

Suffice to say, I’m aspiring to rediscover my love of reading. Two books a week seems a lofty goal for one so easily distracted by social media, TV, online and Summer! Here’s a start.

Links go to Amazon. Anything earned from affiliate links will go in gift-cards to Keystone Community Services Food Shelves, a local Twin Cities nonprofit working to “provide quality, healthy food for our neighbors in need, helping them be self-sufficient, stable and successful.”

Want to read

UX Reference

Some of my ‘go to’ titles either for inspiration or pragmatic ‘how do I?’

Favorites

A sample of favorite authors and books.

Podcasts

I confess that I either listen to podcasts while driving or as an antidote to insomnia. A few that I tune into …

talking with painters

Wonderful intimate series by Maria Stoljar with Australian painters at all stages of their careers.

User Defenders Podcast

Lots of great listening material here including #2 in the series on Landing a Job in UX from Sarah Doody “Building an Effective UX Portfolio”

Unchained

Laura Shin helps me keep up-to-date with what’s going on in the world of blockchain (crypto focus).

witness history

Compelling storytelling from BBC World Service. I’ve stopped listening to this when I wake up during the night as it usually wakes me up further!

The Bible for Normal People

Weekly … and don’t be put off by the title. Pete Enns and Jared Byas are critical thinkers and empathic storytellers, offering a transformative way to look at the sacred text.

Rob Bell

Weekly … I started listening to this several years ago after discovering his series on ‘What is the Bible’ via tumblr (bite-sized and thought provoking). Episode 86 with Richard Rohr on “Alternative Orthodoxy” is a breath of fresh air, and I often return to Episode 7, “Changing the Tapes” when dealing with negative self-talk.

Odds and sods

MIT Media Lab: The Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence

I return to this link when pondering things AI as it offers both a great reading list on the topic, together with video recordings of a series of lectures given by people with different backgrounds and expertise covering perspectives from a technology, legal and ethical viewpoint.

MIT MEDIA Lab: How Blockchain is Like or Not Like the Internet

This is a video of a keynote given by Joi Ito and though it is dated (January 2015), is one that I would recommend as foundational for anyone interested in this technology. I came across it while doing research for “Blockchain and the public sector: Four questions to ask”published on Thomson Reuters ‘answers on’ blog in 2018.