Merlin Mann on what makes him sad, tired and cynical:

What makes you feel less bored soon makes you into an addict. What makes you feel less vulnerable can easily turn you into a dick. And the things that are meant to make you feel more connected today often turn out to be insubstantial time sinks – empty, programmatic encouragements to groom and refine your personality while sitting alone at a screen.

I’ve been feeling and experiencing this for a few years now with all of these ‘social tools’. They’re designed to connect us socially, but are in fact isolating us, creating more weak and fewer strong connections. (via Frank Chimero)

We come across a lot of bad design in our everyday lives, both online and offline. For most people, it tends to go unnoticed as they browse the Web, shop for groceries, drive their cars or dispense your own butter on your popcorn at the movie theater. That is, until something goes wrong and whatever you were using doesn’t work as expected.

As designers in the interactive space, we’re blessed/cursed with the ability to see all these nonsensical things that confound and disturb, even when we’re not at work. Things that range from tiny to massive. Why does that door handle look like you can pull it to open, when in fact you have to push? Why are parking and other wayfinding signs so difficult to understand? Why does the ATM have so many buttons when we only use 3-4 of them at most? Why was an offshore oil rig equipped with an emergency shutoff valve that can’t be manipulated underwater?

Read more on the Teehan+Lax blog

Now that we’ve had a few weeks to put the iPad through its paces, it’s moved from being a novel new gadget to something that I use every day. The number one question I get when people find out I have an iPad is – what do you actually use it for?

It’s difficult to describe to people why I’d choose an iPad over my MacBook Pro while around the house. The MacBook is easier to type on, it’s more powerful, and it comes with all the latest plug-ins/extensions to make for a pretty good experience, but it also weighs almost 10 pounds and the battery now lasts a measly couple hours on a good day.

After a few days, I found myself bringing the iPad all over the house. It’s so trivial just to pick it up and throw it on the couch, have it in front of you while you’re eating a meal, or watching a TV show or movie in bed.

So what am I actually using it for?

Read more on the Teehan+Lax blog

Loving ShakeItPhoto – “Perfect Polaroid for your iPhone”. The shot above was a few minutes ago on my walk home from work. (via Gruber)

Living in a big urban centre can have its ups and downs. While you may live within a few hundred metres of a full-stocked grocery store, depending on your neighbourhood, you can easily find yourself faced with a 20 to 30 minute walk. Owning a car isn’t a realistic option for many, and a less than reliable transit system doesn’t help matters either, so what options are you left with?

Longos-owned Grocery Gateway is one such option, and allows you to shop for, buy and have groceries delivered right to your door at a time that’s (usually) convenient for you. It’s a great alternative to hauling heavy groceries home, and can save you significant time and money as well. The online experience Grocery Gateway presents for its customers, however, leaves a lot to be desired.

Read more on the Teehan+Lax blog

I’m fresh off the plane from South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive 2010 and still reeling from some of the amazing people I connected with and talks I checked out in Austin, so I thought I’d share some of my thoughts of some of the top trends and highlights of SXSW this year. This year saw a record number of attendees – I heard as many as 17,000 (a 50% increase over last year’s 11,000) and you could see the difference everywhere.

Panels on user experience and social media were often at capacity, with long lines of people hoping to get in to catch the high-paced hour-long talks. SXSW’s notorious parties hosted by Foursquare, Gowalla, and Mashable and more saw the same surge in people, many even braving the rain on Monday night at the many outdoor venues to get a chance to network and, of course, get in on the open bar.

Read more on the Teehan+Lax blog

In past years, I wrote a fairly long and detailed summary of my year in review in hopes of trying to pull some semblance of a theme together. I shared this summary on Facebook, so its audience was limited.

This year is one that I’d consider the best in my life. Like every other, it had its shares of ups and downs, but ultimately I’m feeling way up coming out of 2009. Here are my most memorable moments of the year.

1. Benny: Earlier this year I got a phone call from my neighbour who was taking care of my family’s dog, Benny, while my parents were on vacation. “I think it’s time,” he said reluctantly, referring to the pretty rough road Benny was going down with his body giving out on him at 15 years of age. When my brother Jason and I made out way out to our family’s home east of Toronto, Benny was happy to see us, wagging his tail, but couldn’t climb a single step on his own.

Not an hour or so later, I was in a small room at the vet’s office with my Brother and Benny between us. I don’t think I’ve ever lost it so much emotionally before, petting my dog, telling him he was a good boy and he ate ice cream the vet gave him to keep him calm just before giving him the injection. He slumped over a few seconds later in my arms and let out a short sigh. I’d never had to say goodbye to anyone that I loved before, much less make the call that it was time for them to go. It was awful, and is still heart-wrenching to this day.

2. SpinTO: Mark and I are born on the same day (several years apart, he likes to add) and wanted to do something special this year for our birthdays. SpringFlingTO (later dubbed SpinTO) was the result of that idea, in which we brought together Toronto’s tech, cycling and queer communities on a single night in May to party and raise money for the Friends for Life Bike Rally (which Mark and I were both taking part in) and Toronto People with AIDS Foundation (PWA). With the generous support of these communities, SpinTO brought in over $12,000 to PWA, and we hope to do it again next year, bigger and better than before! (Photo by Andrew Louis)

3. The Bike Rally: Late last year a group of relatively new friends arrived in Montreal by bike from Toronto, where I happened to be for the city’s Pride weekend. After hearing the many amazing stories and experiencing the powerful bonds they’d formed with one another, I decided to take the plunge this year and try the Rally for myself.

Training was challenging, made a little easier by the spinning I had done last winter, and after a long spring and summer of several 100+ km training rides, we hit the road on our 600 km journey from Toronto to Montreal in August. A physically and mentally challenging experience, I made some incredible friends and learned a lot about myself and the many others with me on the journey. The Bike Rally is something I hope to turn into an annual tradition, and would recommend you do the same!

4. Teehan+Lax: I wrote a lot about my move from IBM to experience design agency Teehan+Lax here on the blog last month, and things seem to be getting better & more exciting at T+L all the time. The work is challenging, the people inspiring, the clients a joy to work with, and most importantly, I really just love my job now. I’m learning a great deal at Teehan+Lax, and look forward to another exciting year there in 2010. Who knew that leaving your perfectly good job could work out so well?

5. The New Hausmates: Towards the end of this year I realized that my condo (and bachelor life) were getting tiresome. My neighbourhood didn’t provide a lot in terms of community, and I knew that more than anything I wanted to have more close people in my life. The stars aligned pretty well, and through a long house hunting process, I moved in with the fabulous Pamela Quiroga and Jaime Woo. My new hausmates make the new place feel more than just somewhere to sleep at night; They make it feel like a home, and I’m truly grateful to have them both in my life. (Photo by Rannie)

Reflection and It’s not always the happiest of activities. It can bring up painful memories and old wounds, and it’s often easy just to try and forget about the past and keep moving forward as fast as possible. However, it can also help you grow immensely by looking back on the memories you truly cherish, and appreciating the obstacles you overcame in those you’d rather not think about. I’d encourage you to take a few minutes and reflect on all the amazing things you took on and succeed at this year, and hope you have a wonderful, vibrant and happy New Year in 2010!

It’s been a few months since my last post, and for good reason. My personal and professional life have both been turned upside down (in a good way) and I’m finding myself busier and more content than ever. First, I decided to leave IBM’s User Experience group and pursue working at a smaller, experience-focused agency.

Since I attended a few choice sessions at South by Southwest earlier this year, I knew my time at IBM was almost up and that this year would bring about a career change. Fortune favoured me and I’ve recently started up at Toronto-based experience design agency, Teehan+Lax, who I’ve always admired and am humbled by all the talented folks I get to work with here. Their visual aesthetic very much aligns with my own and am feeling really inspired here.

The next thing is my living situation – last year I moved into a my new condo in the East end of Toronto, and while I really loved the place after putting a ton of design work into it, a number of factors led me to the decision to sell the condo and move in with some friends. Just last week I moved in to a beautiful house in the West end with two amazing friends, and I’m really loving it. There’s something about living in a house that makes it much more comfortable than a box in the sky, and living with people certainly adds to that as well.

So this year has seen no shortage of change and transformation for me. I’m looking forward to an amazing 2010 and hope to be doing lots of travel and learning along the way!

It’s been an exciting week as the Air Canada for iPhone [iTunes link] hit the App Store! This is the first iPhone app that I designed with IBM Interactive for Air Canada, and I’m really happy to see it finally available for Air Canada’s customers.

In putting together this application, we wanted to design an experience that would allow an Air Canada passenger to find their flights, keep track of it using e-mail/SMS notifications, and check-in when available, having their boarding pass available right on the phone.

We also wanted to think about experiences beyond just flying; When you land, what do you typically look for? The rent a car service is an example of this type of thinking. This is just the first version and Air Canada has many great plans for this app, so give it a try and keep and eye out for improvements and more features to make your flying experience better down the road.

Since its release, the app has already become the #1 most popular Travel app on the iTunes App Store, and is currently sitting at the #3 most popular free app overall. It’s great to see all the feedback people are leaving, good and bad. Air Canada most definitely wants to see more of that and are open to ideas and suggestions. You can get a hold of them directly regarding the iPhone app at iphone@aircanada.ca as well.

This will hopefully be the first of many iPhone apps that I have a hand in releasing for my clients in the coming months. I’ve really become interested in designing mobile applications across a variety of platforms including BlackBerry, Android, and of course iPhone. I’d love to get my hands on a Palm Pre in the near future, too. My portfolio has a few other examples of conceptual designs I’ve taken on in the mobile space.

In an effort to highlight some of my skills and the work I do, I’ve finally got around to putting together my Portfolio. This was the last remaining piece that was incomplete up until now on the site so I’m happy to be able to share some of what pays my bills with you all. I’ll be updating it from time-to-time as the type of work I do and projects I’m on change.