Many times, when I go surfing, I take the day’s toils with me into the water. I paddle out distracted, unfocussed and I simply can’t catch any waves!

I remember one particular Summer’s day at Newport Beach, I was surfing on my own after a long day at work. I paddled around in the turbid water looking for the right wave. I must have been almost an hour and I had had no luck! I took some deep breaths, slid off my longboard and dunked my whole body in the water and relaxed.

Then…When I surfaced a thumping set rolled in and I got one!

I pulled out of the wave with a changed perspective.  I was awestruck by beauty of the sunset lit cliffs at Newport. I was elated to be lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the World. My renewed view meant that, without thinking, I could pick off the right wave and surf its endless curl. I ended up having one of my most memorable surfs, I caught heaps of waves and I felt like a Pro. On the way back in, lying chest down on my board, I felt grounded. I was tired, but so refreshed.

Surfing helps me to focus on the here and now. It lets me forget about what happened yesterday and what will happen tomorrow. It’s like meditation, I centre myself.

Recently, I had the same experience at Paradise Beach on Pittwater. There’s no waves there though! This time I was taking photos.

I arrived, unpacked and took some pretty boring landscape shots. I tried to photograph all the dingys lined up like soldiersagainst the Avalon Yacht Club. But look at the pic, I was having no luck at all!

Then I relaxed and for some reason got down and dirty! After about 45 minutes I was knee deep in sand looking for some great perspective shots on a slip ramp made out of old train tracks. I was immersed in my environment.

It was then that noticed the perspective of the tracks.

My head was so close to the rusty rail that I noticed its powerful colours and took this shot. I felt like I was surfing at Newport.

Surfing brings me into focus. Focussed photography brings me joy.  And with both, I always know there will be a better one.

All pics by me.

Last night I had dinner with Pablo Rodrigues from Chile. He’s the Tobii reseller in South America (not Brazil) and is also a film director.

I asked him for tips about taking videos of my son using my iPhone 4.

Here’s what he reckons:

1. Don’t move the phone, use a tripod and let Ben move.

2. Give Ben another point of view, not your own. Put your camera where you can’t be.

3. Get Ben to interact with the camera, hide it and let him find it.

4. Find something in the view to give the shot perspective.

I also watched Pablo edit a heap of video yesterday and realised it is really easy in Adobe Premier, Movavi or iMovie!

I played with Ben for an hour or so this arvo and this is what I came up with tonight!

I set up our business virtually because working in an office is just not productive.

If you have to work in an office, try these things:

• No talk Thursday. Don’t talk to other people in the office for a day!
• Switch from active (face-to-face) communications to passive communications. We’ve just started using Yammer.
• Cancel your meetings.

Thanks Jason, we love Basecamp.

All to often in presentations and workshops I ask: “Who has done usability?”

What does it mean when people raise their hand?

- Yes! I have been a participant

- Yes! I have facilitated a test

- Yes! I have watched a testing session

My guess is that executives in companies, who engage usability consultants, have never been a particpant and may not know what it is like?

We try and test all our clients now, as part of the test planning process.  This gives them an appreciation for what we do and more importantly, they experience their software just like a test participant will!

What we find is that the client’s feedback on our usability testing scripts is more detailed than normal and our clients are more engaged with the process!

Here’s some great videos that describe how Tobii Studio 2 works. A must see for all of you who are new to Tobii.

Consultants! Are you making your customers’ experience of you:

• Satisfactory,
• Just nice, or
• Are you *Wowing* them at every opportunity?

Remember most of your competitors keep their clients satisfied. Do you Wow them?

has a track ball, track pad, scroll wheel and.. 

that is one reason why mouse eye tracking is bullshit… Watch this! My mouse doesn’t move when I scroll!

Busy day today! But I just had a sec to upload this post while I am in Adelaide! Check out this cool new video of Tobii’s latest machine, the TX300

Book your place!

Internationally, eye tracking is revolutionising the way in which market research is conducted to gain measurable insights across advertising, packaging and shopper research.

The NEW Tobii eye tracking glasses allow wearers to walk around freely, making it easier for researchers to create a real-world environment in which to capture natural user behaviour.

Objective are running 2 launch events to demonstrate the NEW Tobii eye tracking glasses. We will also demonstrate the Attention Tool eye tracking software for market research.

International guest speaker, film director and eye tracking expert, Juan Pablo Rodriguez from EyeOnMedia will be presenting case studies on his use of eye tracking within market research.

Book your place!

Mon Nov 29th, 5pm – 6.30pm Level 1, 530 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Thur Dec 2nd, 5pm – 6.30pm Level 10, 220 George Street, Sydney

(Drinks and light refreshments will be provided)

Please RSVP by emailing me! jbreeze@ObjectiveDigital.com

Objective is the Australasian reseller for Tobii eye tracking hardware and software and iMotions Attention Tool eye tracking software.

Tobii Technology is the world leader in eye tracking hardware and software www.Tobii.com

iMotions Attention Tool® is the world leading eye tracking software within market research and the application combines eye tracking metrics, reading metrics and emotion metrics.

Here’s a neat list of online mindmaps! I still use Mind Manager for Mac [daily] and love it.

I’m also trying out iThoughtsHD on my iPad, looks good and has rave reviews.

Here’s some of my previous posts on mind mapping:

Rapid Information Architecture production - I don’t know how anyone can use any other tool for this.

Mind map agenda template - take notes in a meeting, even on your iPad!

Mind mapping the UX presentation

Mind Map template for a Usability Test Kick Off

Do you like mind maps?