January 2018

Canadian Tech and IT Jobs in 2018 from Randstad

January 23, 2018 Happenings

Randstad Canada sent me an email update today titled “Boost your job search in 2018”, in which they included data on Tech and IT related jobs within Canada. Randstad is one of the many staffing agencies in Toronto and they share this data every year, along with the salary range for different roles categorized by Canadian cities which helps job-seekers in tweaking your job search outlook. What surprised me was the absence of any designer/creative role in software development, so where did they go wrong? They have information for UX/UI job seekers on their website which is not part of the 2018 report though, and I have blogged about my hiring methodology to stress upon the importance of getting creative designers onboard for any product development lifecycle.

The UX Design Collective released The State of the UX in 2018 survey in which they have spoken widely about various global UX career trends and one of the key lessons was the rightful transformation of the UX Designer into ‘Product Designer’ in 2018.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]This shift from UX Design to Product Design is only accelerating in 2018. As our role and responsibilities grow inside our companies, understanding more about business and design strategy becomes inevitable.[/perfectpullquote]

Could it be that Randstad ignored this trend of UX Design vs Product Design? If the report mentions tech as “one of Canada’s best job sectors” then digital products could be the driving force behind it and generally, creative design skills should rank higher in demand on par with programmers. I believe it’s a matter of perspectives, and that Randstad got too involved in pursuing “IT/Tech” as an exclusive developer’s domain while keeping the strategic/creative angle outside its purview. Only they could tell why, but 2018 is the time to give the creative (product) designers a fair handshake!

Source: Best Tech and IT Jobs in Canada in 2018 by Randstad Canada

The Mac TV Commercial That Changed The World

January 22, 2018 General

That iconic TV commercial which changed computing, the Macintosh “1984” ad, was aired this day on January 22, 1984, during the telecast of Super Bowl XVIII. It’s difficult to imagine computing before Macintosh’s GUI interaction where users worked with command-line interfaces (CLI) which required memorizing commands (I worked with CLIs once). Which also reminds me of the time when I laid my hands on my first Mac, that experience was pretty amazing!

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“1984” was a TV commercial that introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer. It was conceived by Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas and Lee Clow at Chiat/Day, produced by Fairbanks Films and directed by the legendary Ridley Scott. English athlete Anya Major performed as the unnamed heroine and David Graham as the Big Brother. It was first aired in 10 local outlets in the U.S. but it’s second televised airing, and the only national airing, was on January 22, 1984, during a break in the third quarter of the telecast of Super Bowl XVII by CBS. The ad was an allusion to breaking away from the conformity set by the “Big Brother” (IBM machines).[/perfectpullquote]

True Grit (2010)

January 21, 2018 Movies

True Grit

This was my third movie directed by the Coen brothers after Fargo (1996) and No Country For Old Men (2007). True Grit is also executive produced by Steven Spielberg and set in the American wild west in the 19th century, about a 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) teaming up with an ageing U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) to hunt down the killer of her father Tom Chaney (Brolin). The classic western movies have a distinct semblance about them which compelled me to watch True Grit, the story along with the action was well-paced and the casting of Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Jeff Bridges was superlative. To summarize, True Grit has wonderful direction and beautiful cinematography and gripping in parts.

This line from the young Mattie is worth contemplating:

You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Concorde

Concorde’s First Commercial Flight

January 21, 2018 General

On this day in 1976, the British Airways Concorde (G-BOAA) made its inaugural commercial flight between London-Heathrow (LHR) and Bahrain (BAH), which mostly flew overland and a good part of the flight was sub-sonic. But on this day, yet another commercial Concorde flight took off at precisely the same time as the G-BOAA operating between Paris-Charles de Gaule and Rio-De-Janeiro (via Dakar). Incidentally, this aircraft (with tail number F-BVFA) was also featured in the James Bond movie Moonraker (released 1979). Without a doubt, this supersonic marvel (the Soviet Tu-144 aircraft deserving a handshake too) has proved to be a remarkable achievement in aviation engineering.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Concorde was developed from an Anglo-French government initiative which started in the 60s that combined the manufacturing ingenuity of Aérospatiale and The British Aircraft Cooperation. Its first test flight was on 2 March 1969 and it entered commercial service in 1976. It was a supersonic turbojet-powered passenger airliner that flew transatlantic flights in less than half the time of other airliners. Sadly, after its only crash of Air France Flight 4590 on 25 July 2000 and the decrease in air travel post the 9/11 attacks, coupled with rising maintenance costs, both British Airways and Air France ended their Concorde flights in 2003 after 27 years of service. [/perfectpullquote]

Airline Safety Videos – Here’s One Creative Approach!

January 20, 2018 General

Airline safety demonstration videos shouldn’t feel lifeless. With some ingenuity, they could be designed to keep the users engaged. We all agree that safety demos play a critical role from the perspective of passenger safety and I have flown quite a bit to tell that the audience generally looks the other way. However, I stumbled upon a creative approach in connecting entertainment with information, in which British Airways partnered with a UK-based charity Comic Relief to create a unique airline safety demo video featuring British celebrities.

In a nutshell, it’s a compelling shoot, with the presence of prominent celebs lending their unique acting talents in conveying the pitch. Besides, the perceived gravity of airline safety being delivered using wit and humour which also adds to its overall recall value. Not to mention that the presentation also does a fantastic job of promoting a good cause for a donation. In contrast, the prevailing airline demos continue to be monotonous either through its use of deadpan animation or short films with actors as flight attendants, with absolutely nothing that grabs our attention. Kudos to British Airways, not just for the entertainment value but in inventing a template for the airline industry to emulate.