Kathy Sierra
Editorial Kathy Sierra is another one of my heroes. Back in 2007, fresh from a job teaching mathematics, I learned about her blog Creating Passionate Users. At the time, the blog was still actively maintained and posted to. It was the Golden Age of blogging and Kathy Sierra was a significant force for good. She was teaching about teaching. It resonated with me enough to make it believable and had enough new ideas to get me hooked.
She brought a new perspective on marketing, teaching, and product design. The focus wasn't on user experience, simplicity, or any of the typical buzzwords of the day. She kept reminding us to focus on making the users extremely good at something. Marketing was about teaching how good you could get with the product. Marketing was teaching.
What was also striking was how much research went into the ideas. They were based on studies (both formal and informal) and delivered very convincingly. She used the same techniques she was teaching to write her blog. They included stimulating the desires for food, sex, and status in order to teach your subject. These are the same that marketers have used for years.
Her style had such grace and ease that it seemed as if, at least for a time, we all could write a successful blog in our spare time. Many of the early articles on my blog were inspired by her callout-on-a-photo style. Her graphics taught at a deep level through humor, sexiness, juxtaposition, and 1960's stock photos.
Alas, she stopped blogging shortly after I discovered her work. And then later she canceled her Twitter account. But she has been slowly resurfacing on the internet. And a few days ago, she started a new blog. So, I thought I would take this opportunity to reacquaint the world with her work!
Sincerely,
Eric Normand <ericwnormand@gmail.com>
P.S. Feel free to email me any time. I love hearing from readers. |
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