steve kwan user experience designer

How to kill a company

(November 30th, 2006 - 11:52PM)

It's easy. If you want to kill a company, don't listen.

I don't pretend to be a business expert or genius, but I've witnessed people far smarter than me get themselves into lots of trouble by disobeying the advice above.

When you want people on your side, you must listen. Listen to your customers and prospects, because you're ultimately serving them. And listen to your staff, because you'll achieve much more by pooling your expertise. And you'll keep them on your team, too.

"Listen" is hardly world-class advice. But it's amazing how people toss it out the window when they're in leadership positions. I'm done justifying my point, because it mostly speaks for itself. If you can't figure out why listening is important, then there's really no point in me trying to convince you otherwise.

The next time someone you work with brings you an idea or grievance, I highly recommend listening to him. And by that I don't mean shutting up and letting him talk. I mean actually absorbing and understanding what he's saying, acknowledging the value of his input, and - here's the most important part - acting on it. Take that person's advice, determine its value, and put it into action where it's useful. Thank the person for his great input. You'll be amazed at the difference.

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(November 27th, 2006 - 4:37PM)

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Once again, more brief movie reviews

(November 26th, 2006 - 11:49AM)

Babel

(2.5 / 5 stars)

One sentence summary: Great acting, but it's ultimately a long, rambling and somewhat pointless movie.

Casino Royale

(4 / 5 stars)

One sentence summary: At first I was skeptical of Daniel Craig, but it's nice to see Bond as something more than a two-dimensional character.

Crank

(4.5 / 5 stars)

One sentence summary: This movie really surprised me.

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny

(3 / 5 stars)

One sentence summary: Funny, but not hilarious.

I passed my road test!

(November 23rd, 2006 - 10:10AM)

Goodbye, Translink.

Goodbye, legion of white/Asian homies stalking the SkyTrain.

Goodbye, creepy old dude who asked me if I had any pot.

Goodbye, fat ladies who sit next to me and drape their many rolls across my lap because they can't fit in their own seats.

Goodbye, somewhat cute girl who keeps trying to make eye contact and smile at me.

Goodbye, little white trash puke who assaults black guys on the 106 and gets beat up.

Goodbye, old guy who sings to the other passengers.

Goodbye, chatty girl who won't shut up and get off her cell phone.

Goodbye, cranky bus driver who won't let me bring my coffee onto the bus.

Goodbye, inquisitive punk who stares at what I'm doing on my cell phone.

Goodbye, tiny old lady who reads her pocket Bible.

...

Hello, Monty!

Going for my road test

(November 22nd, 2006 - 12:46PM)

I hope I pass!

Just a thought.

(November 21st, 2006 - 9:18AM)

If gay marriage is legal in Canada, does that mean that my roommate and I are common law spouses?

I am too stupid to manage my own files, so MSN deletes them for me.

(November 19th, 2006 - 1:35PM)

Richard sent me a .wav recording via MSN. I tried opening it through MSN, and received the following error message:

By "blocked access to this file," Windows apparently meant "deleted this file from your hard drive without warning," because it's gone.

For all I know there may be an option in my settings that will prevent Windows from doing this, but if there is I can't find it. Maybe it just needs a clearer label. Something like, "Don't haphazardly delete files that my trusted contacts send me."

Movie reviews

(November 13th, 2006 - 12:22AM)

An Inconvenient Truth

(3 / 5 stars)

One sentence summary: At times boring, but carries a powerful message.

Borat

(4.5 / 5 stars)

One sentence summary: A few moments of pointless immaturity are the only thing keeping Borat from a perfect rating.

The Departed

(4 / 5 stars)

One sentence summary: It's just as good as everyone says.

The Queen

(4 / 5 stars)

One sentence summary: A great movie by all accounts, and I'm sure I'd like it even more if I were British.

And the Democrats take the Senate, too!

(November 9th, 2006 - 4:54PM)

There's really not much else to say. This is what you've been wanting for years, Democrats. Prove to your people that this was a good idea.

What a great day for democracy

(November 8th, 2006 - 12:32PM)

1. The Democrats take control of the House.
2. Donald Rumsfeld steps down.

The only thing that could make this day better is if George W. Bush and Dick Cheney got into a fistfight and rendered each other incapable of working.

What an amazing world we live in!

(November 4th, 2006 - 6:22PM)

Check out this octopus.

This is the class I lectured for

(November 4th, 2006 - 5:41PM)

ARST 593B: Information Technology & Archives (3)

Aftermath of the lecture

(November 4th, 2006 - 5:37PM)

I had a great time lecturing at UBC yesterday. I haven't felt that alive in a long time. I think that, perhaps, what I want in life is to speak publicly.

I discovered recently that one of my clients, the City of Toronto Archives, hosts the historical records for NDP leader Jack Layton. I demonstrated this data to the class at UBC. Take a look at what's there.

Jack Layton fonds

Guest lecturing at UBC

(November 2nd, 2006 - 9:53PM)

Tomorrow I speak to a class of Archival Studies students at UBC. I get to present Eloquent's software and let the students compare it to software from other vendors.

Also, this is post #619. Props to Rey Mysterio.