Curious Pursuit » Book Reviews

Review: The Awakening Course

Tom — Tue, 03 May 2011 20:51:41 +0000

I was actually one of those that purchased Joe Vitale’s “Spiritual Marketing” years and years ago off Amazon. I believe it was self-published and I read it around the time I was discovering the whole genre of “law of attraction”.

To be honest, I haven’t really touched any of his stuff since then and I’m not sure why (or at least I don’t remember). I might have been turned off with the whole idea or maybe I just didn’t run across it again. I also have grown to have a bit of a distaste for the “Secret” crowd and their ilk. The fact is I just think it’s a very shallow philosophy and mostly designed to make author’s rich.

All of that said, I enjoyed this book. I think it does a much better job of explaining how the “law of attraction” can actually work in your life. He doesn’t discount the role of effort and, in fact, emphasizes it’s importance. He explains that for him it doesn’t feel like effort anymore because he loves so much what he does. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t put serious hours into what he does.

Nobody can claim that Mr. Vitale hasn’t led an interesting life and this book does a great job of “framing” his experience with what he has learned from it.

Overall, I think this book is a more mature treatment of this topic and worth the read if you are either fed up but still interested or are just starting to read in this area.

Review: Undercover User Experience Design

Tom — Tue, 03 May 2011 20:46:51 +0000

I really enjoyed this book. It was easy and engaging to read and also offered great material for doing UX planning.

The book starts with a definition of the problems of UX design and some of the difficulties in engaging in this area of work. It is an often overlooked discipline by site builders and buyers alike. The first sections have some good advice on creating organizational energy around UX principles.

The later sections of the book get into the meat of discovery, heuristics, planning, etc. There are great examples and tips on how to move a project through the different phases from discovery of site purpose and needs all the way through wireframing, testing and more.

My favorite section is probably chapter 2 on Exploring the Problem. I like the tips and ideas around using hard data, common sense and expert knowledge to combine for the best solutions and possible ideas. I’m definitely in the “design to a solution” camp and found a bunch of very good ideas around really focusing on the needs that the project will fulfill. I think that mindset gets too easily lost in too many projects and is a major cause of failure in the end.

The last bit of the book is about how to work with different stakeholders in the development process. This too is a great section and worth the read alone … although the entire book is definitely worth your time.

Anyway, definitely read this one if you have any interest or needs around the UX field.

“Eat That Frog” Review

Tom — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:10:38 +0000

This is a great book with a ton of useful and (importantly) doable ideas to “get yourself going”. It’s often difficult to figure out ways to actually get over the mental blocks that cause procrastination and the associated “friction” of working. This book has a TON of ideas that range from the motivational to the practical. Exactly what I need.

Some of my favorite ideas/sections are …

I particularly like the idea of “positive addiction” layed out in the Introduction. It seems that this is a lot of the answer that most of us are looking for. If we can get that wheel spinning of finding success and enjoyment out of productive behavior … what else is there to conquer, really?

I also like the “Apply the Law of Three” section and it’s get down to business attitude. The “Work All the Time You Work” is a big deal and an important idea. It sounds so simple, but is seemingly so difficult to execute on a daily basis. Finding that focus and energy to do nothing but what you intend as you sit down to work each day is so important. Too much time is frittered away with random acts of wasted energy.

Creative procrastination is a great idea too. It reminds me of the “management by broken glass” theory of getting things done.

Honestly, I guess I could just go through section by section on the book because it’s all good. Definitely worth the read.