I’m a gadget geek.  There I confessed it.  I love gadgets.  Yes, I stood in line for the first iPhone.  And for the second generation (it’s a different body style! and gps!).  And for the third generation (speed and camera improvements, oh boy!).  Probably will for the fourth as well.  And yes, I had an iPad on the first day.  My iPhone was lonely and needed a friend. 

However, I also love to evaluate gadgets, web sites, desktop software, and “experience” in general.  (My non-designer friends call it complaining.)  It’s the “designer’s curse”.  The experience, most of the time, can always be better. I’m also the person who keeps “bad apps” on her phone to show stakeholders what does not create a good app.  Many of the photos on my iPhone are screen captures of interesting bits of UI I discover while using a variety of apps.  Things like non-standard UI just for the sake of being non-standard really irks me.  But a well designed application with clear navigation and a few unexpected moments of delight really makes me happy.  

In my spare time, I can be found taking photographs of anything that stops in front of my lens long enough.  Usually at one of the many national and state parks on the east coast.  My photos can be found on Flickr.

~ Mary Austin-Keller

mary at guigrl.com