October 2013 Summaries

This past week, the author attended UserConf SF, a conference that brought together engaging speakers and attendees. The conference highlighted several key themes, including the importance of using data to guide decisions, making it easy for humans to deploy support resources, humanizing interactions with users, and recognizing that user experiences vary across companies. The author emphasized that while the conference had great talks, it was also about engaging with the larger support community, leading to a renewed sense of ideas and excitement to implement changes.

The Breaking Bad show didn't always have high viewership, but its writers never strayed from their story to appeal to a broader audience. Instead, they created a "safe room" where ideas were freely shared without criticism, encouraging collaboration and iteration. The team plotted out general scenes in group sessions and then wrote the dialogue individually, allowing for flexibility and execution of their ideas. To replicate this process, organizations can set aside time for generating ideas, establish a no-criticism rule during brainstorming sessions, realize that not all ideas are ready for primetime, and have a leader to guide progress while allowing good ideas to rise to the top.