Nerd Stalker

Amazing in depth talk by Designer Al Abut at a recent IXDA San Francisco meetup. The topic is Product Manager vs. Designer, what is more important in a startup? Al presents from the Designers perspective followed by a Q&A of both sides. Al Abut is an interaction and visual designer specializing in building applications and websites for technology startups, with an emphasis on usability and collaborative team prototyping. He brings a unique understanding of how to bridge the gap between design and development and is currently exploring the intersection between agile programming and user-centered design on small teams with short timelines. More info at http://alabut.com .

Part 1 Part 2 While product managers and designers usually have well-defined roles at established companies and agencies, roles at startups are less defined, requiring each employee to wear many hats. The average early-stage startup is made up of one or two engineers; many also have a product manager, but few have a full-time designer. These observations raise several questions: - Why are there more product managers than designers at early-stage startups? - How can product managers and designers work with small engineering-focused teams to create engaging and usable products? - Can a research-centric UX process work in the high pressure environment of light speed release cycles? - At the end of the day, what are the key differences in what a product manager and a designer bring to the table at a startup? Designer Al Abut and product manager Dan Olsen will be debating these points and more. Al Abut is an interaction and visual designer specializing in building applications and websit...

Tom Hakel CEO of GoldMail speaks to Nerd Stalker, GoldMail demos incredibly well . GoldMail seems to bring together voice mail, visual presentation and email into one simple to use experience. The client side needs nothing more than a flash enabled web browser, and the author uses a windows desktop application to create these slick goldmails. GoldMail has taken an interesting approach to the business, they have conquered the enterprise space and now make the application available to individuals. The challenge I see is that there is no freemium model (to avoid advertising in the experience), instead they choose a monthly subscription approach.