A partir de que el mundo entero ha vivido la mayor parte del 2020 en cuarentena debido al COVID-19, muchas cosas que se daban por sentadas han tomado nueva relevancia, y la brecha digital entre el mundo que continua viviendo en papel y el mundo que vive en digital se ha vuelto ineludible. La implementación de soluciones de software en aquellos espacios que no estaban listos para trabajar en remoto se ha convertido en la panacea que palia el trauma y aunque a los tecnólogos no nos guste admitirlo, el hecho es que en todo el mundo existen muchos espacios fundamentales que aun funcionan igual que hace un centeno, con correspondencia y archivos en papel, negarlo es vivir fuera de la realidad y la cuarentena lo ha hecho evidente.

En mi opinion, una de las razones por la cuales las soluciones de tecnología han tenido tan baja adopción en el pasado consiste en que aun se sigue desarrollando software sin entender al usuario a quien servimos, su día a día y sus necesidades.

Quienes hemos participado de algun modo en algun proyecto de software, conocemos de primera mano que la diferencia entre el cielo y el infierno pende de un hilo y cómo un proyecto que estaba previsto para 6 meses puede durar 3 años, con la consiguiente desazón de todos los participantes.

No existe una sola respuesta a este problema, sin embargo creo que se puede partir bien mirando los riesgos a la cara y discutiéndolos con todos los involucrados desde el comienzo, para esto, al menos en mi experiencia personal, un enfoque de UX ha sido invaluable.

Como disciplina UX se encuentra en la intersección entre el diseño y la ingeniería de Software, donde la investigación de usuarios y el diseño, entre otros, deben resultar en productos de software técnicamente viables. En esencia UX es la disciplina que permite definir qué se debe incluir en el desarrollo de un producto de software partiendo del diseño centrado en el usuario. Esto permite que los productos de software resultantes sean útiles, utilizables y técnicamente viables.

En su articulo “Models for Integrating UX into Software Engineering Practice: an Industrial Validation” 1, Pariya Kashfi, Robert Feldt, Agneta Nilsson y Richard Berntsson Svensson discuten diferentes formas en las que el UX y la Ingenieria de Software interactuando para producir mejores productos de software, a partir de la entrevista a 12 investigadores y profesionales en la industria. Una de las primeras formas en las que el UX contribuye al desarrollo de Software es en el desarrollo de requerimientos, donde la investigación de usuarios se convierte en algo esencial para formular mejores requerimientos y simplificar las cargas de trabajo en el desarrollo de los modulos. En base a la experiencia puedo decirles que hacer una buena investigación de usuarios puede reducir la complejidad de un sistema hasta en cinco veces.

Experimentar es la mejor forma de probar la efectividad de las técnicas propuestas, para esto hay un sinfín de recursos que están disponibles en la web, algunos de los cuales curamos y posteamos continuamente en la comunidad de Ladies that UX. Sígannos aquí:

https://www.facebook.com/LtUXLaPaz

https://twitter.com/LTUXLaPaz

https://www.instagram.com/ladiesthatuxlapaz/

— — — — — -

[1] Kashfi, Pariya & Feldt, Robert & Nilsson, Agneta & Svensson, Richard. (2014). Models for Integrating UX into Software Engineering Practice: an Industrial Validation. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265687414_Models_for_Integrating_UX_into_Software_Engineering_Practice_an_Industrial_Validation

Originally published at http://ceciuriona.com on October 13, 2020.

Viviendo en la Intersección: UX & Ingeniería de Software was originally published in Ladies that UX La Paz on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

For years I have told myself ”I am creative, therefore I'm messy” and I was sort of fine with it, until I got to the homes of my minimalist friends, then discomfort kicked in. But it wasn't until I got determined to change my life after a "traumatic" experience of carrying my belongings from one city to another every few days and playing Tetris every single time so they could fit my luggage.

I have been familiar with Japanese culture for many years and with Marie Kondo's work for some time now, but only when I decided to commit to the process and actually started doing it that I realized:

Every item in your mess is an uncompleted item that occupies mental space

David Allen has been speaking for more than a decade about the value of clear space and it is in the gathering ALL similar items that I am able to understand how many open loops I got in my life and if you have things laying around you probably have those too.

What does all this got to do with my desk?

My dear friend Noelia Villazon frequently says,

"We are the boring repetition of us in every aspect of our life"

so if your home is messy, chances are your desk is messy too, or the other way around.

In sitting in my desk and feeling the anxiety it produces I realize how many incomplete things are diminishing my ability to tackle daily challenges mindfully. Long has been written about the fallacy of multitasking and I have evidence of that in my own life as well, including the shame of poor work derived from that. So how to revert that and make it work in your advantage.

What can you do to become a better and mindful worker?

1. Clear mental space AKA Clear your desk
2. Enjoy the beauty of a clear desk and soak it in
3. Finish a task and put it away properly
4. Use time limited sessions to help

Clear Mental Space AKA Clear Your Desk

Your desk (even you device desk) is a representation of the state of your mind and as Amy Cuddy brilliantly states on her very popular TED, your external behavior can change your brain and therefore the outcome of your business and your life.

Enjoy the beauty of a clear desk and soak it in

The brain needs to understand it is possible and crave it, so help your brain to help you become a better you, let it enjoy it, congratulate yourself on that and even get yourself rewarded for it, habit science is there to prove the effectiveness of that.

Finish a task and put it away properly

"You have to standardise before you can optimize" — James Clear

Just own it, the first time you try to do this is not gonna be perfect, what's more , it's gonna be awful, but stick with it and you will find the sweet spot, the best process for you.

Use time limited sessions to help

Pomodoro technique has been around for a while; 25 minutes to complete a task, 5 minutes to take a break. No rocket science, just simple execution, you can even play with it, download a new app or ask your smart speaker or your smart watch to set the timer for you.

If you feel this is not you and why should you change the way you work, I get it, I was there for a long time, I was effective, it worked for me, until two things happened.

1. I was in desperate need to be more effective in delegating work in business and my friend Wilmer Chura — who for a long time was CHRO for one of the largest firms in the country — pointed out to me "you won't be able to delegate until you organize"
2. I felt the compound effect of more than a decade of incomplete and it left me with ZERO energy to tackle pretty much anything, I couldn't even answer WhatsApp messages (yes, that bad).

So I tried, and it was awesome!! my creativity (yes, creativity) went to the roof as well as my productivity of course. Apparently all I needed is a small change and you can enjoy this too.

And they can get you out of business if handled wrong

For almost 10 years I worked in a boutique CPA and Audit firm, and it gave me the front seat for the coming and goings of more than 200 small businesses spread in different industries, since this is a boutique firm and a really good one, most of the clients were there for more than 10 years and for that long you really get to know people and be there when the sh*t hits the fan to help them get out of there.

No one wants to get to that position, you get there inadvertently and unintentionally, but as many successfull people have repeatedly said:

You learn more from failures than from success

This is the list I wished someone would have handed me when I first started my own business at 19 and when I got my first business partner at 22. If I would have got the presence of mind to reflect on it, it would have saved me tons of problems and financial struggles; it is also something to refer to every time you open a new business, a reminder to be humble and to understand that for every new industry you get into, you got to do your homework.

1. Tax Administration

Every country has a tax administration and its probably the most important and complicated set of rules you will need to learn, and you need to be at least knowledgable enough to understand what your accountant is doing.

2. Register of Commerce

Unless you are living underground you will need some sort of license to have a business and that comes with fees and documentation requierements. Sometimes these rules will be straight in front of you when you sign up for a business license, but more often than not you will need to digg deeper to be aware of them.

3. City Government

If you have a store, a street front office or something open to the public, chances are that your city government will have some sort of license for it, find out before getting a penalty fee about it. Same goes for signs and out door publicity.

4. Industry Responsibilities

What ever industry you are in will probably have some specific regulation about it, a great way to learn the details is working on the industry before you open a business but if that is not your case you can find a mentor or group of mentors to learn from and find an accountant experienced in the industry to point you out to the stuff you need to learn.

5. Professional or Industry Associations

A good place to find the mentors mentioned in the paragaph before and the information about your industry responsibilities. Sometimes, depending on the country, regulation will require you to belong to some professional association, in particular in professional settings.

6. Sector Regulators

Many industries also have sector regulators whose bylaws and requirements have to be met by the businesses in that industry, on a national and international level. Typically those requirements include information to be provided, regulatory fees or taxes for certain operations and even financial performance requirements for business continuity.

7. Labor Related Responsibilities

If you have employees you will have to address any labor regulations that are in place in your country; these typically include salary reports, social security and health insurance, pension funds. You will have to manage many of these as stated by law in your country, but some companies decide to offer better packages in order to get and retain the best talent.

8. Stock Options

Stock options require an special mention, in early stage startups and in employee owned companies it is customary to give stock options to employees and advisors; these have their own legal implications depending on the country and you as a business owner should be aware of them in advance.

9. Real State Ownership Responsibilities

If you decide to own your office this will entail other commitments like Real state and property registration, real state taxes, security and insurance.

10. Environmental issues

Last, but not least, every business has some environmental impact, what that will entail in terms of regulatory compliance depends on the country and industry you are in.

Of course some countries may have other types of requirements, please find out what they are and INCLUDE them as part of the cost of doing business and assess any risks they may represent. An initial approach to this, could be

Make sure that the appropiate people in your organization have all the dealines related to these commitments in mind and that they (or you) fullfill them.

Find a way to keep current with regulation, procedures and deadlines.

Be aware and plan for the financial needs that these commitments require.

PRO tip: Set up an emergency fund just in case.

"Make it fun if you want it finished" — Jon Acuff

I am a nut about habit literature, most of what is out there proves to be psychobabble when you put it to the test of actually practicing it, and it's probably because it depends too much on preconceived and overrated perception of human willpower.

But the Jon Accuff book "Finish: Give Yourself the gift of done" cuts to the chase and tackles the truth about any habit you attempt.

It's not gonna be perfect, deal with it!

Even though we have spent years in school and in life learning to do things, somehow the perfectionist inside us thinks we are gonna do perfectly something we never done before. And that is a fallacy even with decades of experience, sometimes things will go wrong and things won't go perfectly as planned. Let me go one step forward, it most likely won't go perfect. So why do we keep quitting things when they are not perfect?

Perfectionism robs us the joy of keeping on the selected track

The other big truth that the book tackles is: you gotta make it fun if you want it done.

Make it Fun by tracking the data

A dear friend of mine pointed my attention to the fact that every production system tracks progress usually in physical/handwritten boards or charts, Why?, because it's fun when you see how much you have accomplished over time even when the data points are not perfect; that is just one of the many ways you can make something fun.

Make it Fun by converting it to a Game

I use several gamification techniques to do this, but the one that stands out are cards, I have been using those since I was a kid and I needed to study for school tests, at some point I discoverd Merlin Man's Hipster PDA (http://bit.ly/hipsterPDA) made of 3x5 cards, and for a couple of years now I am absolutely in love with ARTEFACT cards.

Make it Fun by discovering new Joy

The main indicator of joy is to loose track of time, and only by trying the activity you will know if and how to make it fun.

For years I have dreaded house work, specifically tiding up and cooking, but recently I found my self lost in both just by trying new techniques, maybe it can work for you too.

Make it Fun by sharing it with friends

Some activities are best enjoyed in group, but if you don't know if the one habit you are trying to build is one of them, just give it a shot and try to do it with your significant other or even a community of friends, creativity is the limit in group activities and you won't know until you try.

In the early 1930 Herbert J. Taylor was trying to save the Club Aluminum Products Distribution Company from bankruptcy, in an effort to address a hopeless climate in the company, he devised a corporate culture change, a focus on ethics of such simplicity that could be applied by anyone in any business situation:

“The Four-Way Test” of the things we think, say or do.

• Is it the truth?
• Is it fair to all concerned?
• Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
• Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Truth to be told, Herbert Taylor himself atributes this not to his own inspiration but as a result of his "Turn(ing) to the one that has all the answers"

In 1954–1955 Taylor became President of Rotary International and he offered this ethics code to the organization and is used today among the Rotary clubs around the world by more than 2 million Rotarians; an association (www.4waytest.org) has been formed around and it can even be found on billboards in court premises in Ghana.

Four Way Test Miromar Lakes, FL 33913

In a more modern source of wisdom, Abria Joseph a Yoga teacher from Pranaforce Yoga (https://pranaforceyoga.com), in his 2015 TEDx talk, how to get rid of negative selftalk, offers three questions that should be used to assess our thoughts and feelings:

• Is it true?
• Is it necessary?
• Does it improve over silence?

(Notice the overlapping of the first question)

As human beings we need social interaction and introspection in equal shares, when one is dismissed it can seriously harm the performance of the other one.

Nothing can be given that is not possessed first, even though the acknowledgement can sometimes come in the giving and other times in the instrospection. We just need to be observant and look closely.

I just hijacked myself from my life for almost two months now… yes you read it correctly. It definitively wasn’t planned and I certainly didn’t mean to worry anyone. But it was long overdue and desperately needed.

The things I found out in my life and they may exist in yours as well:

1. Automatic overcommitment to things that are no longer meaningful or based in the wrong premises.

Much of what I was doing, even job related was based on the wrong values. Some of those things are valuable to continue but need some focus switching.

2. Trouble delegating because of lack of analysis.

I haven't got to the musts of each task, people can't read your mind and if you can't formulate what you want for yourself, then maybe you can find the questions that need to be asked about the job in order to establish quality criteria and a procedure to get there..

3. The status of surrounding space matters.

And If it's cluttered or full of unprocessed or unfinished things, there is no room for anything else.

4. The quality of personal relationships matter and they need to be taken cared actively.

I am slowly coming back to social life but with a more mindful focus starting with my family.

5. The purpose of your life won't come from outside influence, it will come from inner processing and reflection.

External influences can sometimes clutter your vision if not appropriately moderated you have to listen to your physical reaction to things as well.

6. The greatest freedom skill is being ruthless about finishing and its a muscle.

We all have unfinished things and it's consuming mental space even if we don't want to admit it. But finishing not only includes actually doing what we were supposed to, its also about deciding you are no longer going to pursue something and letting it go. And as author Jon Acuff says, perfect is the enemy of done.

7. Ownership of your own health, physical and mental.

Nothing is gonna happen unless you make it fun to happen so I love walking and I love journaling, those are my tools to make things happen in this area you certainly can find your own.

My coming back to life is a work in progress, I am adding activities and social life pice by pice in order to build the life I want. Hopefully this behind the trenches look can be helpful for you too.

From December 1st to 23 last year I have been deeply honored to be part of an amazing group of 54 people from all around the world, in an outstanding IVLP program focused on Women in Entrepreneurship.

For those who are new to this, the International Visitors Leadership Program – IVLP is hosted by the US Department of State, it started more than 50 years ago and is tailored on specific areas of interest for different groups, to enable the exchange of experiences between the group of visitors and several US counterparts across the country. In this case, the program has been prepared by Meridian with several local partners who generously guided us through our visits and meetings on each city.

But before getting into the program itself, the unusual gathering of 54 people (most of us women), each one from a different country has been an incredible journey. As we have been told several times through the program, a group this large is very uncommon for IVLP, but as I have experienced before in other circumstances, the cohort makes the experience even more valuable, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of colleagues and new friends, a single medium post wouldn’t do them justice, so for now suffice to say for each and everyone of the people in this group, THANK YOU!! for the amazing work you bring into the world, you are an inspiration, and I am not only honored but humbled to be counted as part of this incredible group of disruptors and game changers.

Now about the program itself, and these are the numbers: 54 people split in 4 groups, visting at least four cities each, it was quite a challenge. For that special thanks to the team at Meridian, Mayra, Kate, our 8 liaisons, Rachel and Robert that we got to be with in Orlando, and very special thanks to Dragoslava “Mama D” and James “Barry” Lewis, you have made this experience so memorable and earned, not without a little hustle, an special place in our hearts.

Here a list (not exhaustive) of the organizations my split got to meet with:

US. Small Business Administration — SBA

At the begining of our trip in Washington we got to meet with the SBA in a rotating panel to understand how the incentives to Small Businesses are held in a federal level. The panel also included several influencers and personalities in the field of entrepreneurship.

Small Business Administration

National Entrepreneurship Center

In our first split we got to visit Orlando, FL where we got to see in action an on going experiment gathering organizations and volunteers that aim to help entrepreneurs in one single place, a former mall converted in offices and meeting rooms that held all sorts of activities to serve the Small busineses in the area. In this place we also had meetings with local female entrepreneurs and supporters.

National Entrepreneur Center | NEC | National EC | Orlando, FL

The City of Orlando Government

A great highlight of the visit to Orlando was the meeting with the Minority and Women Business Enterprise Office of the City of Orlando Government, where we learned that the City Government has a Law that enforces all public contracts to have a minimum of 6% of the contract to be subcontracted by a Business owned by a woman or a minority.

Minority and Women Business Enterprise

ATHENA International

At the public library of Orlando, an awarded instiution in itself we got to meet with Athena International a volunteer organization that aims to develop, support and honor women leaders and those who inspire them to reach their full potential, based on the principles described in the book ”Becoming Athena" written by their founder Martha Metz.

https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-ATHENA-Principles-Enlightened-Leadership-ebook/dp/B004DNWF4E/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

ATHENA International

Cincytech

Our next stop was the Greater Cincinnati Area comprised by the city of Cincinnati itself and the Northern Kentucky area, where our first meeting was with Cincytech, a VC and a public private partnership helping startups in the area to scale.

CincyTech

Hillman Accelerator

A highlight meeting in orlando was our meeting with Hillman Accelerator, a minority and women focused accelerator focused on solving the problem of inclusion in the Midwest.

Hillman Accelerator

Union Hall

Most of our meetings in Cincinnati were held at the Union Hall. Cincinnati a beautifull work space in the center of the city.

Union Hall Cincy - Cincinnati's premier workspace for disruptors and the creative class.

Kentucky Innovation Network

In Covington, KY, home town of Serena Williams among other amazingly accomplished people, we got to meet with the Kentucky Innovation Network where we got to talk about Female Acceleration Programs and education from early age.

KY Innovation Network at NKY

HCDC

Established in 1983 in Cincinnati, OH, our meeting with HCDC showed us what it takes to be 30 years in the business of helping businesses and be relevant and use the experience to thrive in a changing world.

Home

CoMade

Our meeting with CoMade showed us the beginings of a new accelerator focused on makers and based in the success of a previous program.

CoMADE | People Empowered. Opportunities Amplified.

Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce

Another great meeting was with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Women Initiative, more than a decade running and helping women foster relationships between them.

Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce

University of New Hampshire, Rhino Angel Fund and STEM initiative

Our next stop, New Hampshire where we got to meet with the Rhino Angel Fund and the STEM initiative.

• The Rhino Angel Fund is a unique experience around the country since all the due diligence and recommendations for investment are conducted by undergraduate students with the direction of the Faculty Members.
• The STEM initiative on the other hand aims to drive more girls into STEM fields by working with High School students and encouraging them to implement their own initiatives.

University of New Hampshire

Center for Women in Entrepreneurship

In the exploration of public private partnerships we also got to meet with the Center for Women in Entrepreneurship, a training center focused on empowering Female business owners in the New Hampshire Area.

Center for Women & Enterprise > Home

Cirtronics

Finally, last but not least, one of the most inspiring visits of the whole trip Cirtronics, founded by a woman and now an Employee Owned Corporation, Cirtonics is a small to medium scale electronics manufacturer that serves all kinds of industries with quality and a unique participatory corporate culture.

Cirtronics : Precision Engagement® Manufacturing

That finishes a brief relation of our visits, that hopefully can be helpful to business owners and Business supporters alike.

In the development of the applications of Telecomuncations in our daily life several issues have arrised, these have been addressed by the Students and Faculty members at the Military School of Engineering offering solutions to different problems, some of them are documented here in The Real Telecom. Welcome!

An introduction to The Real TeleCom was originally published in APP:Reality on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This story was originally published in my blog at ceciuriona.com.

I think I fell in love with technology fairly early in life, it probably was when I was about eight years old and my grand father gave me a calibrator as a gift, a car bujías calibrator, I remember seen this beautifully simple tool, that was no longer needed for modern cars but there it was, smaller than a thumb and so clever that I said I want to be able to have such clever ideas.

It was my father though, the one that truly gave me the opportunity to feed my curiosity, He was on his second masters degree, I must have been two or three months after the calibrator, and because of that masters degree he bought the first computer that ever was set in my house, nothing really fancy, an Acer 210 with a 8088 microprocessor. There was only one other guy in my school class that had a computer at home, forgive me, it was the 80’s not even my school had a computer lab.

Yes, there was a computer at home and someone copied me a game, any normal kid would have done that, after all I never had an Atari or a Nintendo, so as I was trying to install it on the PC my father walked in and caught me!!, that was the end of it, no games where permitted in the PC ever, except for chess, so I tried to play or do something with Word Perfect and Lotus-123, nothing entertaining enough, until my father brought home from his office this tutorial about computers. I was hooked. That was love at first sight!!