December has been relatively slow on the  human factors front. Not to say I’m not busy. I’ve been working on converting over 440 icons to a more contemporary version. I think I’m about 3/4 of the way done. I’ve never really liked making icons that much, but recently I’ve started having a fun time with it. There’s definitely a challenge in trying to convey a message or an idea in an 18×18 pixel square. And the thing about icons is that usually less is more. You don’t need to have all of the complex details that you would show in say a 64×64 pixel space. I think the most important thing to do is to keep your ideas simple.

In January I hope to go on a Contextual Inquiry visit with a customer. In this visit I will do an interview while watching the user perform tasks that they do in their everyday work flow. This is a discovery visit where I will collect user information so that I can use it for future personas, and/or mental models. Until then I will continue to work on my icons, and try to enjoy the holidays. The good news is that I finally got my Holiday cards out!