anniversary

Today is my one-year anniversary with Microsoft. I hadn't ever considered working for Microsoft, but here I am, and I really do like it. (And no, I'm not just saying this because my manager could remember that I have this blog and read this.)

Looking back on the past year, what really surprises me is how much I've learned. I've spent most of my first year soaking up knowledge. I've spent a lot of time with our planning team to learn more about our users. I've travelled around the US to meet users, find out what they're doing, learn what they've learned as they have used our products. I've read reports from old usability tests and field studies to catch up on what we've already found out. I've spent countless hours in the usability lab conducting new research to discover how our users are going to react to the new features that we have coming in Magnesium.

So what's next for me? I'm transitioning from soaking up knowledge to sharing my knowledge with others. Conveniently, this is happening at the same time that I'm starting to transition from working on Magnesium to working on the next version. I'll still be spending a fair amount of time in the usability lab with Magnesium, of course. But there are some things that I want to think about for the next version: how do I make usability a more integral part of our process? what opportunities are available to MacBU going forward? what are we doing right? what aren't we doing right?

So: happy anniversary to me. :)

Comments

• Anonymous
  October 03, 2006
  What is/was magnesium?

• Anonymous
  October 03, 2006
  "Post magnesium"? Oh you tease so evilly! Now all the Mac BU has to do is move somewhere civilized...like FL...Key Biscayne, just buy the island. Sunrise and sunset over the ocean in the same place.

• Anonymous
  October 03, 2006
  Are you thinking about coming to work for us?  Otherwise, I can't imagine why you care where we're located. :)

• Anonymous
  October 03, 2006
  If you guys weren't out where it's cold and the ground moves, it would not be a bad idea at all. I mean, it's not like the MacMacs are going to hurt MY feelings ;-)Although I think I'd be Bizarro Scoble when it came to blogging

• Anonymous
  October 03, 2006
  Would you prefer Ireland?  We've got some folks over there.   Bizarro Scoble?  Wouldn't that just be someone who could write a post that has something resembling a point?  

• Anonymous
  October 03, 2006
  Cold? Hah. Florida is 90 all the time, and that's just the humidity.Know what's funny? NYC has more rain (in inches) than Redmond does. And it's pretty funny watching people around here complain about the heat when the mercury gets over about 85. The temperate weather here spoils you for the rest of the US, where summers are blistering and/or winters are freezing.And SF or San Jose? Probably one of the few places in the universe with even MORE blissfully Mediterranean-temperate weather than Redmond. Seeing the fog creep in over the coastal ranges while driving over I-280 in gorgeous August weather? Were it not for the ridiculous price of living, it'd be awfully tempting to move there.For that, I'll put up with the risk of earthquakes or volcanoes. There's always tradeoffs. Besides, I have an uncle on the Gulf Coast who made it through 3 hurricanes in 2 years...

• Anonymous
  October 04, 2006
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  October 06, 2006
  Ireland? Where the beer falls like sweet, sweet rain? I'd SO move there! "Bizarro Scoble? Wouldn't that just be someone who could write a post that has something resembling a point?"BAAAAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...OW... Rice Krispies in the nose HURT! Ep...I grew up in Miami...90 & 90 is perfect.

• Anonymous
  October 10, 2006
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  October 11, 2006
  I lived in Atlanta for nearly six years.  The last summer I was there, the temperature was above 100 and the humidity was 99% for more than 100 days in a row.  All that you do in that heat is run from one air-conditioned space to the next.   I'm quite happy living in a place where I turn on the air conditioning for maybe a week every year.

• Anonymous
  October 14, 2006
  Heh...see, we just didn't move fast, nor did we wear a lot of clothes/heavy clothes. (What, you think Don Johnson invented linen?) You just amble. Move slow and think cool thoughts. Because on Christmas night, walking out in bare feet to adjust the lights on the palm tree rules.

• Anonymous
  October 14, 2006
  Yeah, but I've done that in Sydney.  You're right, bare feet on Christmas is quite nice, and New Year's Eve fireworks over the Harbour is even nicer.  But it doesn't require the hellish humidity of Florida. :P