I love Kathy Sierra and her perspectives. She should be my mentor, and I will call her Sifu. Kathy, call me!

Although, I WILL say, that in addition to being passionate about my profession, I really need to be jazzed about the people I work with, and what the company does too. I couldn't, for example, work for a company that produces harmful products. But that's entirely another soapbox, and I'm saying too much.

Quoted: People ask me, "How can I get our employees to be passionate about the company?" Wrong question. Passion for our employer, manager, current job? Irrelevant. Passion for our profession and the kind of work we do? Crucial. If I own company FOO, I don't need employees with a passion for FOO. I want those with a passion for the work they're doing. The company should behave just like a good user interface -- support people in doing what they're trying to do, and stay the hell out of their way. Applying the employer-as-UI model, the best company is one in which the employees are so engaged in their work that the company fades into the background.

Tell it to the trees.

Quoted: A lack of user-friendly technology in the marketplace is exacerbating a digital divide in the workforce between those who can use technology effectively and those who can't and is likely to provoke a backlash among users, according to a new Technology Predictions for 2007 report from consultancy Deloitte, released today.

Quoted: The research predicts that technology vendors will focus increasing resources on the user interface in their products this year, and adds that "certain products have become unnecessarily complex and unusable, due to the incomprehensibility of their user interface"

Quoted: It’s easy to sit back and preach about how a web team should operate, but it’s rare that we really consider and appreciate the realities and challenges involved. We’re going to take a look at how the team behind NYTimes.com, a real team with real constraints, has learned to work together to create one of the best online news experiences in the world. While their situation isn’t perfect, it’s an impressive story of unity, balance, and communication that makes the few imperfections of the site that much more interesting.

Quoted: But then something odd occurs: the line climbs and products becomes more complex again. What's happening? "Improvements", that's what. Manufacturers, determined to increase their share ...

Quoted: Most fashionable offers users the web 2.0 experience of social bookmarking for the fashion obsessed market. Its community is global with a focus and passion ...

Quoted: Holly Buchanan has some wise words on a fundamental truth: Understanding users' intent (why they behave like they do) is critical to knowing how to serve them better. She talks about personas as "representations of your customer base that you can use to model persuasive systems that address the why of customer behavior."

Quoted: This is the most important column I have ever written. Please do more than read it: Visit the new organization at http://InteractionDesigners.com, subscribe to the discussion group at discuss-subscribe@interactiondesigners.com and do your part to make it happen.

Quoted: My career has provided me with a broad and deep background in technology, behavioral science, and user-centered design, as well as a deep concern for the usability of consumer products. I've written both web servers and web pages, conducted many studies ranging from think-alouds and surveys to formal experiments, and done research for such companies as Texas Instruments, Kodak, and IBM. I joined Macromedia as a Usability Specialist in 2004.

Quoted: John Pruitt explains the development cycle at Microsoft -- the interview takes place inside the "watching" part of one of our usability labs where teams can videotape and watch everyday people as they try to use software that we're producing.