The reality is no single interview format is perfect. Someone has a bad day. They’re too easily faked. They are problematic for people who aren’t neurotypical. They test the wrong things. They’re not respectful of time. Passion isn’t the same as skill. Look. Interviews aren’t fun for anyone. The whole process from initial contact to […]
Author Archives: Daniel
Admin note:
A recent WordPress update appears to have duplicated sections of some blog entries and mangled more than a few others. If you see weirdness, I discovered this while writing at 11PM on a Monday evening. I will fix it when I am less likely to make things worse.
So what HAVE I been doing?
One thing that fascinates me is learning how people learn. The (probably disproven) cliche about people learning best from different methods (reading, watching, hearing, and doing) has intrigued me as there was one thing that my brain had steadfastly refused to learn until recently: 3D modeling. I took one class in college and every single […]
What’s in a title?
I’ll start with the disclaimer that this is my own opinion, based on my own experience. take everything here with a giant grain of salt (or at least many small ones). Onward! After six and a half years at eBay and multiple roles on several products, I was given a team to manage. Then I […]
Ingress, Egress & Failure.
I’m not sure if anyone reads the NY Times regularly, but a few days ago, they recently published an article about the most recent findings around the Boeing 737 Max crashes earlier this year. In summary, many changes happened simultaneously and in near-isolation – the removal of backup sensors, the increase in scope, the decision […]
Conflict resolution, take 3
After taking some time off and considering the previous entries in the system, this are my latest thoughts around conflict resolution for an RPG system. To summarize my previous goals: The system should allow to strategy and semi-predictable outcomes. It should be neither totally random (dice rolls) or totally predictable). If the order of play […]
New job, new distractions
First, I’ve taken a break from my game design experiment because I started a new job. I’m no longer a UX Manager at eBay. I’m now a Senior UX Designer at Indeed. My thoughts on job titles, taking a management (or individual contributor role), and looking for and leaving jobs will come later. I had […]
Game Design – 4 Eras
Each of the 4 pre-defined eras (and any custom eras) starts with understanding the time period, state of the world, and the location of the story. What is the defining event that begins this era – whether it’s a deviation from our own history, or a future timeline? What is scarce, exciting, and new? What […]
Game Design – The World
The gameplay in an RPG is shaped by the system, which is shaped by the world. A high fantasy world doesn’t involve computer hacking, and an alternate-present sci-fi adventure doesn’t take well to magic spells (or at least needs some interesting hand-waving). Personally, I’m tired of ‘standard’ fantasy settings (think anything Tolkien or D&D inspired). […]
What isn’t UX design?
To summarize Christina Wodtke: User Experience Design is the design of: The concept or model for the system (or product) and its organization and use. System behavior, including feedback. How data is ordered and expressed to users. How the user interacts with all of the above, whether it’s a digital, physical, or voice UI, or […]