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Decoding Google’s secret UX weapon
A peek into the brain of Scott Jenson, Google’s UX strategist.
Scott Jenson is a proper nerd, and I’m fully qualified to make this assessment because I’ve watched the extended LOTR trilogy about 9 times in the past 3 years.
World of Warcraft is one of the many games Scott plays on a regular basis, but he doesn’t just stop there. He also gets angry at poorly designed shower handles, buys $29 watch bands just to see what they’re all about and can write an entire chapter about 1984 MacBook’s boot sequence.
But when Scott Jenson puts his serious pants on, he’s capable of some real damage. During his time with Apple, he helped design QuickTime, and when he was with Google, he lead teams that designed mobile versions for Maps, Search and Gmail. Nowadays, he’s all about the Physical Web and the Internet of Things.
I’m a big believer in reverse engineering stuff. Luckily, Scott Jenson has an amazing blog where he expertly writes about personal stories, lessons learned and his ideas for the future. I went through all 27 of his long-form blog entries and summarized recurring thoughts.
1. Sweat the small stuff.
“Why can’t you just stay in the lane?” — Scott Jenson, Assertive Instincts
