Education Making Learning A Lifetime Pursuit I could recite my ABCs backwards. I had also memorized several words and could even count to one hundred. As I sat near the back of the classroom waiting for the first lecture to begin, I thought, “This class shouldn’t be too hard. After all, I [...]

Beyond simple sketches and models, high fidelity prototypes allow for realism, making it possible to test out aspects of a user-interface with more precision. While working for a startup called Uncharted, I used Adobe Photoshop and a tool called InVision to build a prototype that allows users to try out a simulated user-interface on their [...]

The simplest kind of prototype is a story conveyed through written, visual, or verbal communication. Formulating well-crafted stories helps people better understand complex concepts. While overseeing the early stages of business model development for a startup I founded, I used storytelling to illustrate a challenge our customers regularly experience – not having enough room in [...]

Helping users visualize what a product might be like is a powerful way to learn and improve a concept even before coding begins. While working on a project for a mobile application to help outdoor-recreation minded travelers have better experiences, I used stock photography and some Adobe Photoshop designs of our user interface to illustrate [...]

Creating a minimum viable product (MVP) is a great way to test a new concept in the market and get buy-in. While working at a media company, I used Adobe Flash to show management my vision for how magazines could be digitized without losing the page-turning feel of the printed product. I took photos, video, [...]

Drawing is a wonderful way to quickly take an idea from the abstract and transform it into something tangible that can be used to get immediate feedback from team members and users. I spent about a half hour making these sketches of a user-interface for a mobile app using a program called Balsamiq. By sharing [...]

Prototyping is a great way to quickly and clearly communicate ideas while establishing stronger vision and buy-in for a concept. While working for a media company, I struggled sharing my vision for how the company could better interact with its audience and attract sponsors. Using Adobe Flash and some content from a past project, I [...]

When creating any prototype, I begin by talking with real customers to make sure I’m building something they need. Journey Mapping is a great way to break down a user’s experience into smaller chunks, making it easier to identify key pain points and gain valuable insights for solving their challenges. While working on an outdoor-recreation [...]

Prototyping is a great way to engage with students in developing curriculum and refining promotion strategies. While working on a project to launch a new course about map reading, I needed a way to quickly gauge the level of interest for the topic and get feedback from potential students so the instructor could use those [...]

I regularly teach this 45-minute workshop at Columbia University’s national journalism convention. The course covers important leadership and team building strategies, skills, and techniques that I’ve developed over two decades working in business, media, and non-profit organizations. I lead students in an exercise where they work in groups to apply what I’ve taught to a [...]