Tag Archives: IT

The New Age of Robots and What it Means for Jobs

Posted on January 23, 2018 by John Hunter

I believe we have reached a turning point in the usefulness and effectiveness of industrial robots. For several decades it was pretty easy to predict wholesale adoption of “the robots will save us” mantra would be followed by failure. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management | Tagged Economics, engineering, IT, leadership, management, organization as a system, robots, technology, Toyota

Add Constraints to Processes Carefully

Posted on November 23, 2016 by John Hunter

Take great care in adding constraints to processes to avoid doing so needlessly. Online you will frequently find forms that have required fields that needn’t be. Certainly if you were designing with focus on what is best for customers those … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, IT, Software Development | Tagged bad customer service, Customer focus, customer service, IT, mistake-proofing, process thinking, tips, usability

Functional Websites are Normally Far Superior to Apps

Posted on April 23, 2016 by John Hunter

An email to I just sent to Uber I understand the regular Uber app not having a functional website. Uber Eats not having a functional website is super lame. It strikes me similar to Walmart 15 years ago telling people … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Innovation, IT, Software Development | Tagged commentary, Customer focus, Innovation, internet, IT, Software Development | 1 Comment

Using Technology to Improve The Sharing of Knowledge

Posted on August 4, 2015 by John Hunter

This month the ASQ is asking Influential Voices to discuss methods to aid in sharing knowledge. Manu Vora kicked the discussion off with his post on The Gift of Knowledge Transfer Through Technology. My career has been largely shaped by … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged ASQ Influential Voices, Design of Experiments, internet, IT, learning, technology | 3 Comments

Good Startup Ideas from Startup Weekend JB (Malaysia)

Posted on November 27, 2014 by John Hunter

I like all these startup ideas from Startup Weekend JB (Malaysia). I can’t figure out how to comment on their blog (I am guessing Tumbler just eliminates commenting?), so I started this post – and ended up adding much more … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Innovation, IT | Tagged Asia, business, Customer focus, customer service, Innovation, IT, management, Software Development, startup | 1 Comment

Use Urls – Don’t Use Click x, Then Click y, Then Click z Instructions

Posted on August 14, 2014 by John Hunter

In the 1980s software applications had to use click x, then click y, then click z type instructions to get you to a specific location in a software application (or at least they had a decent excuse to do that). … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Software Development | Tagged Customer focus, internet, IT, Software Development, tips, usability | 2 Comments

Respect for People: Optimize for Developer Happiness at Etsy

Posted on April 3, 2012 by John Hunter

The webcast above discusses the culture of software engineering at Etsy (a very popular site providing a marketplace and community for small businesses – artisan focus). Some of the key points of the talk. Etsy trusts employees. Etsy’s strategy is … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Psychology, Respect, Software Development | Tagged culture, engineering, IT, Joy in Work, managing people, Psychology, respect for people, Software Development, teams, trust | 6 Comments

Engineering Management Thoughts Based on Facebook Experience

Posted on March 8, 2012 by John Hunter

Yishan Wong is the new CEO at Reddit, an excellent social media site I have written about previously. In looking at his background I found some interesting articles he wrote on engineering management based on his experience at Facebook engineering. … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged engineering, internet, IT, leadership, management | 4 Comments

Learn to Code to Help Your Career

Posted on February 22, 2012 by John Hunter

I believe there are big benefits to knowing how to code (programing, software development). What is possible for your organization is often significantly impacted by understanding how to properly use software (and create it, coding, when needed). The lack of … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Creativity, IT, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged Career, curiouscat, engineering, IT, management, programming, Software Development, Systems thinking, technology, usability | 3 Comments

Steve Jobs Discussing Customer Focus at NeXT

Posted on September 8, 2011 by John Hunter

Video from 1991 when Steve Jobs was at NeXT. Even with the customer focus however, NeXT failed. But this does show the difficulty in how to truly apply customer focus. You have to be creative. You have examine data. You … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Data, IT, Software Development | Tagged Customer focus, Data, engineering, IT, management, management webcast, marketing, Software Development