Andrew Wirtanen is a usability specialist in Cary, NC More »

Krispy Kreme Challenge Oh Ten

On Saturday, February 6th at 8:30am I was at the NC State Memorial Bell Tower at the starting line of the Krispy Kreme Challenge (KKC). An hour and a few donuts later, I crossed the finish line with my box of leftover donuts. I didn’t complete the Challenge as it was designed, but let’s face it: It’s crazy. After running the first two miles, a box of donuts was the last thing I wanted. I debated whether I should even grab one. I struggled to open the box and eat three donuts before giving up and running the final two miles.

The Krispy Kreme Challenge is perhaps one of the most unique things in Raleigh, and I plan on participating again next year. It was my first road race since I started running last summer (with the help of Couch-to-5k). I ran at a nice, casual pace (finishing at 1:01:28 according to the official results) and paused while looking for friends at the halfway point. Next year, I’m not going to look… and maybe I’ll eat more donuts at the halfway point. I just don’t know if it’s physically possible.

Check out my full set of photos from the KKC.

72-Hour Survival Kit

The Haiti Earthquake and this article on Make got me thinking again about emergency survival kits. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry much about earthquakes and hurricanes in Raleigh. But we do have the threat of tornadoes, and there was a touchdown in 1988 not far from where I live. It turns out that 72 hours is the magic number for being rescued after an impact.  Here’s a handy guide if you want to build your own kit (it’s very comprehensive).

There’s also a nice 72-hour kit you can buy from 4 Survival To Go for $99 (pictured). They’re donating 20% of online sales before February 5th for the entire months of January and February to Haiti. If you buy it, make sure to rotate out the Aqua Blox every five years and check the food.  4 Survival recommends you have one in the home, office, and car ($300 per person!). This does look like a very handy kit for the car though, since there’s no way I could carefully fit everything in a compact bag.

Experience Is The Product

Peter Merholz (Adaptive Path) posted on his blog this week that his slidecast “Experience Is The Product” hit 400,000 views. Peter gave the talk at dConstruct 2007 in Brighton, UK. The presentation argues for focusing on the experience rather than technology and features. It’s a great talk that uses examples of good user experience design that we still use today, three years later (e.g. Nintendo Wii, iPhone, iPod, Tivo, etc.).

By the way. Slideshare doesn’t give you valid XHTML for embedding, but I found this tutorial that shows you how to embed valid slidecasts.

The Fable of the User-Centered Designer

It’s hard to explain what I do, and workers in my field have many different titles. I am a Human Factors Specialist, but I could just as easily be a User-Centered Designer, User Experience (UX) Designer, or Usability Specialist.

David Travis from Userfocus authored a simple and easy-to-follow short story called The Fable of the User-Centered Designer that follows one man as he attempts to learn what User-Centered Design is. It’s a free PDF that’s a quick read on the computer screen, but a printed copy is only $14.80 on Blurb, with all proceeds going to Room to Read.

[The Fable of the User-Centered Designer via Usability News]

Waving Goodbye to 2009

Year-end video recaps are special because they make you realize just how long the year was. Whirled Interactive took a stab at it with this great video made with the help of Google Wave:

What are my memories from 2009? Well, off the top of my head:

• Getting snowed in and working from home while watching the inauguration of our first black president.
• Flying home abruptly in January because my grandmother passed away.
• Experiencing my first economic downturn as a full-time employee. It wasn’t much fun.
• Glen Wesley Night at the RBC Center on Feburary 17. The Bruins won.
• Being a part of the Triangle Red Sox Nation green softball team (there are three teams, and green was new in ‘09). We didn’t win much, but we had a lot of fun in the spring/summer and fall.
• Hanging out with Triangle Red Sox Nation while we watched the PawSox defeat the Durham Bulls from under the famous snorting bull in left field (as seen in Bull Durham).
• Playing golf for the first time at Knight’s Play Golf Center in Apex. Someday I’ll get better.
• CHI 2009 in Boston, April 5th-9th. I ran into a lot of old friends.
• Our gesture research at HumanCentric. Will data analysis ever end? I hope so.
• Discovering Bonobos. Well-designed pants with an unlimited return policy. I used to hate wearing anything but jeans.
• Visiting Charlotesville, VA for Rebecca’s cousin’s wedding. The downtown pedestrian mall and Monticello are must-sees.
• Visiting the Outer Banks and staying at a great bed-and-breakfast, the Cypress House Inn. Enjoyed going up Currituck Beach Lighthouse, watching an Outer Banks Daredevils game, grabbing a quick dinner (with a beer) at the Outer Banks Brewing Station, and a more low-key dinner at The Colington Cafe.
• Summer vacation on Cape Cod.  Enjoyed watching the rain-shortened 2009 CCBL All-Star game at Fenway from the covered grandstand behind home, and showing Rebecca around Cape.
• Running. I used to think only bionic humans ran more than 1/2 mile. Now I’m running 5K with ease, but there are no marathons in my future.
• Labor Day weekend in Equality, Alabama. I consider this my first introduction to the deep south and lakeside living. Trivia fact: Patriots LB Adalius Thomas was born in Equality.
• Islamorada and Key West, Florida in late October. It was my first time in the southernmost state. I think about the great Cuban food at El Meson de Pepe every now and then.
• I worked over 100 hours in a week with a trip to Chicago. It was tiring, but oddly fun at times.
• Rebecca and I took a quick weekend trip to Oak Island, NC before Thanksgiving. I’m looking forward to exploring the Wilmington area more.
• I spent another Thanksgiving in Georgia with Rebecca’s family, but this time we ate at a buffet restaurant near Helen, GA. The food wasn’t great, but the reunion part was interesting. Cirque de la Symphonie in Atlanta was amazing.
• Christmas festivities in Raleigh, including two parties in one night and watching The Nutracker by the Carolina Ballet.
• Another Christmas on Cape Cod, but this time there was snow on the ground! I used some fake gift boxes again, but only had a 25% success rate this year instead of last year’s miraculous 80% success rate. Oh well.
• And, finally, I’ll be headed back to Raleigh before the year-end to host a New Year’s Eve house party with Rebecca.