August 2007

The Archives

• Honesty, Collaboration

  Off to UX Week

  08.10.07 | Permalink | Comment?

  UX Week starts Monday - it’s going to be a great program. This entire event is one huge collaboration. From content to catering, over a hundred people will make this event possible and 250 people will come to participate.
  So, this is where I get teary. Events like UX Week aren’t about a single person or […]

• Creativity, Workshops

  Create: An Idea is a Combination of Other Ideas

  08.08.07 | Permalink | Comment?

  Right on time… Scott Berkun has shared yet another great essay, this time on Creative Thinking Hacks.
  Out of this essay, come to critical point:
  an idea is a combination of other ideas.
  I love the simplicity of this description. But there’s a catch:  you must both be open to ideas then fearless about using them. Ah, the […]

• Space

  Create: Work Spaces

  08.07.07 | Permalink | Comment?

  Yesterday, I looked at the definition of create. I became enamored of re-examining ordinary processes and potentially changing them to support creativity. In that spirit, I decided to pay attention to my working environment today and try to figure out why, in some places I can easily stay focused and productive and in others, I […]

• Definitions, Creativity

  Definitions: Create

  08.06.07 | Permalink | Comment?

  A wise woman I know has encouraged me to take on a beginner’s mind, and closely re-examine words I thought I knew. Looking up common words in the dictionary is a simple but powerful activity. Understanding actual meaning can be a powerful way to get clear around my work.
  Today, I started with the word “create”.
  Create
  to […]

• Methods

  Getting Quick and Dirty Feedback

  08.03.07 | Permalink | Comment?

  When working in large groups or teams, it can be hard to know how things are going. Was this meeting useful? Did a workshop session go well? Is there some issue that needs to be addressed, something no one is talking about?
  Regularly asking people for their observations and feedback accomplishes two important things. First, it […]

• Collaboration, Idealism

  Brainstorming: only bad if you don’t know what you are doing…

  08.02.07 | Permalink | Comment?

  Over the last day or so, there has been some buzz around Marc Andreeson’s post “Brainstorming is a Bad Idea” with Scott Berkun writing a succinct and useful response “In defense of brainstorming.”
  I posted my response by writing “Skills and Practice Make Brainstoring Useful” on Adaptive Path’s blog today.

• Events, Creativity, Collaboration

  Creativity, Collaboration, and Consensus in London

  08.01.07 | Permalink | Comment?

  Yesterday, I promised to write about the six basics of teams from that Wisdom of Teams as they had worked in my experience with design teams. I am in the final days of preparation for UX Week so, while I intend to go through these, I don’t have as much time to dedicate this week […]

Cartographies of Imagination

Collaboration, creativity, and the collective

about

Cartographies of Imagination, by me, Sarah B. Nelson, is about navigating the world of collaboration, through methods, tools, techniques and ideas. I'll share methods, tools, and ideas to inspire you to draw on the collective wisdom around you. I'm an interaction designer and design strategist at Adaptive Path.

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recent thoughts

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