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Jorge Arango's



No. 20
Thanks for signing up to get more information about Living in Information. If this is your first time receiving one of my emails, welcome!

Strengthening the connections

Usually, I take time off for the end-of-year holidays. Not this year. Besides client work, I’m also busy preparing the classes I’ll start teaching soon at CCA.

In addition to the systems studio class I taught last spring, I’ll also be co-teaching a prototyping studio to the same cohort. For the students, it’ll be an excellent opportunity to put into practice the theory they’ll pick up in the systems class. It’ll also be a lot of fun for me since we’ll be messing around with Arduino, sensors, projection mapping, and a host of other fun technologies.

In addition to teaching, I have several other things in progress. I’m preparing a keynote for World IA Day Switzerland in February, a couple of new workshops and presentations, new blog posts, and other cool projects that aren’t quite ready to see the light yet. 2019 is lining up to be another busy year!

My career thus far has given me the opportunity to pursue various things that have interested me. Sometimes these interests have been rather disparate, the connections between them tenuous. But as Charles Eames said, “Eventually everything connects — people, objects, ideas. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.”

My goal for next year is to strengthen the connections, including the connections with the people in my life. That, of course, includes you. Thank you for allowing me in your inbox. I wish you the very best for next year and look forward to continuing to share with you in this information environment.

Five practices for using information more mindfully

With the New Year coming up, you may be thinking about making some changes in your life. If you’re like many other folks, you’ll be wondering how you can use information environments more mindfully. Here are five concrete practices that have helped me:

  • Take a digital sabbatical
  • Start a book journal
  • Periodically uninstall time sinks
  • Create a daily information ritual
  • Use tools to monitor your screen time

You can see details about each of these in my blog.

How to use sticky notes

Sticky notes are useful for more than note-taking; they can also be a useful thinking tool. More than that, they can be a useful group thinking tool. A team can think better if its members have a way to externalize and manipulate information extemporaneously. Stickies are ideal for this — when used properly.

Rapid Problem Solving With Post-it® Notes — a short book by David Straker — teaches you how you use sticky notes properly. I first read it many years ago, and it's proven its value over time. It's one of the books I've most gifted to others. See my book notes or buy it on Amazon.com.

Other things I've been thinking about...

Elsewhere…

About Living in Information

Living in Information book coverThe book's description and table of contents are on its web page. If you want a succinct overview, my presentation at UX Week 2018 is a good introduction. You can buy the book from... 

... and other fine purveyors of the printed word.

“If you look at history, innovation doesn't come just from giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect.”

— Steven Johnson

Thanks for reading!

-- Jorge

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Disclosure: this newsletter includes Amazon affiliate links.
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Copyright © 2018 Boot Studio LLC, All rights reserved.

Jorge Arango
P.O. Box 29002
Oakland, CA 94604

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