Tajriba {UX Month: Nairobi 2015}

It was in 2013 when the first Tajriba event was held and that was the first time a UX month was being done in Africa. You can read how that event went down from this blog post by +Mark Kamau who orchestrated this feat.

[Reblogged: Originally posted here]

Tajriba – A Swahili word which means experience.

Partners from all over the world supported this mission and their stories are the most interesting such as +Erik Flowers Principal Service Experience Designer at Intuit who received his invite through a tweet from +Kagonya Awori or +Susan Dray a leader in the UX field who contributed in the founding of ACM’s sigCHI {Special Interest Group in Computer Human Interaction} chapter and found this new development in Kenya – a must do.

Colour 101

“What colour roses should I buy for my girlfriend?” he asked.

“Well, it depends with what you trying to show.” I replied.

“Love, of course.” he answered.

“Red. Then definitely go with red.” I concluded.

Source

This conversation wasn’t as brief as I have made it seem. Before we arrived at the ‘red roses’ conclusion, I had already confused my friend with a number of information with regards to colours and techniques of mixing and matching {Complementary colours, Triad colours etc.} some of what we popularly refer to as ‘Colour Blocking’.

Career Moves: {Passion Vs. Stick To It!}

When should you quit your day job to pursue your passion? And when should you just suck it up and stick to your current job regardless of how much you hate it? Many articles have been written about this, each with a different perspective and take on the subject matter. And just like every debate, there are always pros and cons of each option.

Source

 

I have had this discussion with a number of my friends over the past couple of days either after reading an online article about successful entrepreneurs or listening to motivational speakers talk about how they came to their success. Different opinions have been raised during out chats and I consider each valid. However, I tend to lean on one side at the moment. Just a slight lean though, more like a head tilt…

Time Management

If you are anything like me, I am sure that almost every morning you wake up with a mission to make the most out of that day. You set goals and make to-do lists and hope that by the end of it all, you would have achieved them. However, by the time it clocks 5:00 pm you realize that you weren’t as productive as you’d wished. And a little part of you dies, or maybe not. Just work with me here…



You set these bars and make all these lists, but are they the right ones? Although you understand intellectually that time is your scarcest resource, you probably find it difficult to gain a strategic perspective on how you actually spend each and every day.

9 Habits Of Profoundly Influential People

Not so long ago (about one month actually), our country had the pleasure of hosting one of the most influential people in the world, the POTUS. President Barrack Obama’s visit nearly brought Kenya to a standstill. The last time I had witnessed such rigorous cleaning and organization was while I was in high school as we made arrangements for visiting days and PTA meetings. LOL, story for another day.

 

President Obama’s eloquence, sense of humor, counsel, value for women empowerment and great mastery of the subject matters being discussed kept everyone keen and interested in everything he had to say. His quotes and punchlines made for great status updates and tweets which were liked, retweeted and shared for days to come. He commanded a following and an audience, without a doubt and it is no wonder most of us had a sense of ‘What now? Who are we? We weren’t ready! What next?’ after we saw his plane depart that Sunday evening.

Giving Thanks {2nd Blog Anniversary}

I still can’t wrap my fingers around how fast this year has gone by, not that I am complaining though. I didn’t start off 2015 with the resolve that I would make it my year but without a doubt it has become just that! I have so much to be thankful for and I am not going to wait for November to do just that.

Everyday above ground is a blessing. I almost always see this tweet every morning when I do my usual online scroll-a-thons before I leave the comfort of my bed. And it’s until you realize that so many people never made it to see the beautiful morning that you become truly grateful for life, family and friends.

Just Checking In {Part V}

Happy new month folks!

Remember how I talked about my much needed mini vaccay sometime back? Yeah, I am currently enjoying every moment of it and I’m guessing that the crickets and the cobwebs on this site might have already given me away. However, in the spirit of the new month, how about a Checking In post? Shall we...

Excited: About my new look. Yeah, I cut off my hair and I am so happy I took the plunge. I love how it looks already with all the curls and all. It is just a fresh feeling! So don’t be so shocked when you see me rocking my #TWA {See Picture}

Google UX MasterClass { 2nd Edition }

The first edition of the Google UX MasterClass was a blast and that's why I am so happy to announce that the second edition is here with us! ...and the crowd goes wild...

This April, designers from the Google User Experience Team will be visiting Sub-Saharan Africa to conduct hands-on user experience MasterClasses in Cape Town, Nairobi and Lagos.

We Are Hiring! {Graphic Designer Internship}

Hey guys,

I come bearing good news this evening. As you all know by now, I am proudly associated with Waridi Events Limited so it gives me great pleasure to inform you that we are hiring! +Waridi Events  is an events management company and we are looking for a Graphic Designer intern to join our team. We would like to offer you the opportunity to interview for the position. Read more about: Waridi Events Limited

The Graphic Designer internship role entails creating visual concepts, designing 2D and 3D events concepts. As an intern, you will be required to work hand in hand with the events team, during the event design phase to bring our creative, experiential and fresh event concepts to life.

GSoKites Virtual Classroom {Google Summer Of Code}

The +Google Summer of Code is a global program that offers students stipends to write code for open source projects. GSoKites Virtual Classroom (GVC) is a community which is best suited for University students interested in coding and want to enhance their open source development through +Google Summer of Code. 

If you are interested in participating in the Google Summer of Code 2015, join or invite your developer friends to this community in order to get every update and guideline that will prepare you before you apply.

5 Year Tech Bash

+iHub has come a long way as a tech community in the last 5 years. It is therefore time to celebrate the growth and appreciate all the people who have made this happen. +iHub is facilitating the largest tech gathering in Kenya...ever! All the tech companies and individuals who made this happen are welcome. It's a community event by all of us, for all of us!

It starts on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm with a tech job fair, speed dating for techies, and a chance for everyone to demo what they’re doing. There is tons of space available, so there are few limitations on what you can do if you want to show off what you've done as a company, and what your focus for the next year is. Plans for big media to be at the event are underway.

Personas

In user-centered design, a persona is a fictional character created to capture the important aspects of your target users. They represent the different user types that might use a site, brand or product in a similar way. Personas are useful in considering the goals, desire and limitations of the users in order to help guide decisions a service product or interaction space such as features, interactions and visual design of a website – Wikipedia

A user persona is a representation of the goals and behavior of a hypothesized group of users. In most cases, personas are synthesized from data collected from interviews with users. They are captured in 1-2 page descriptions that include behavior patterns, goals, skills, attitudes and environment, with a few fictional personal details that make the persona a realistic character. For each product, more than one persona is usually created, but one persona should always be the primary focus for the design.

Smart Phone, Dumb Battery

I have never been so frustrated with an inanimate object the way I was frustrated with my phone these past couple of weeks. Reason: Battery life! I noticed that it was deteriorating towards the end of last year but it wasn’t until the beginning of January when things took a turn for the worst.

Image Source

When I first got this phone back in 2013 I couldn’t be happier. You know, despite the fact that I had to sell a kidney to pay for it...I was still excited! It had everything I wanted in a device. It was smart, it was loyal and I appreciated it.

Just Checking In {Part IV}

It’s been a while since I did one of these checking in posts. And a lot has happened since the last time I did one.  However, I am currently in the KISS {Keep It Short and Sweet} business so I’ll just mention some it. If you missed the previous check in, you can find it here.

Needing: A new phone battery. The fact that is number 1 on this list, should really tell you something. I will rant about this lost love in my next post…stay tuned. #SmartPhonesDumbBatteries

Meet Mombasa's Young Techies

When I read this story in one of Kenya's leading newspapers, I knew I also had to have it on my blog. This is not only because I have a soft spot for technology and community but also because the mentioned young techies happen to be my very good friends as well. They shared with me their story of how they it all started some time back and it was nothing short of inspiring. With that said, read the article that was published about them and get inspired as well.

From L-R: Said Fuad, Abdulswamad Nassir, Alifiya Ganijee
and Aisha Mohdhar

They met at the university both pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in computers systems. Little did they know that their passion for computers will one day give birth to the first networking organisation at the Coast.

Intel Student Partner Program {Applications Open}

The Intel Student Partner Program is an opportunity for students to act as liaisons between Intel and their universities.This program is designed to enable students at leading universities across the country to have the opportunity to work closely with Intel and understand our latest technologies. The program is for students who realize the best technology careers come to those who chase their dreams.

Blog originally posted here by +Rachel Gichinga, Developer Outreach Manager at Intel.

Our amazing Student Partners have run hackathons on their campuses in which they've trained their fellow students on Android and Intel architecture; as well as helping to organize and participate in events such as the Intel Inter-University Apps Challenge, the Internet of Things Challenge, and Code for Good. In addition, our Student Partners have stood out as exemplary performers. Some have gone on to win regional tech competitions such as the Ampion Bus Challenge, while others have been awarded prestigious scholarships to study abroad.

Fundamentals Of UX

I learnt a lot during the Google UX MasterClass, and I shared my experiences with you in this brief recap that I did. There, I said I would share with you some of those nice points that I jotted down during the wonderful presentation by Masumi Matsumoto and Ben Davis and here is me doing just that! I know it is a bit overdue, please pardon the delay.

So, what is UX and why does it matter?

UX is everything you need to know, think about and do to make sure that you are launching the right product for the right people. UX matters because access to your competitors is only ever a tap or two away…

Who Wants To Be A Tech Millionaire?

Receive my greetings this lovely Sunday evening from a cafe somewhere in the middle of the city. How are you doing? I hope you are awesome! Because I don't want to my coffee to turn unbearably cold as I write this, I will just dive straight into the matter at hand! So, do you have a cool idea, are interested in technology and want to upgrade your business skills? Then this coming event is the opportunity for you to do just that.

Intel Corp has just signed a partnership with She Leads Africa to host educational workshops for tech entrepreneurs in cities across the continent. The workshops will start in Nairobi before moving to Johannesburg, Lagos and many more.

Happy New Year {Post #100}

Its 2015 folks!! Wow! So before I go any further, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I know I am bit late to this party but seeing that we haven’t conversed in a couple of weeks, I think I am allowed. Yes? Plus, people will still be on this vibe up to say…February so I’ll take comfort in knowing I am still in the acceptable time frame.

So how have you been guys? How were your holidays? Mine were awesome albeit short! I went home with a mission to overindulge in meat and cakes and all other sorts of unhealthy bitings and feel no remorse…and I am happy to announce that I did just that, LOL!