Acknowledgments

Writing a technical book is crazy hard, and this adventure would not have been possible without the help of so many people. First, thanks to my wife, Shelley, for her encouragement, support, understanding, and love as I undertook this wild endeavor. I could never have done this without you. Thanks to my daughters, Cali and Carice, for being patient while Dad was holed up in his office banging away at a keyboard for six months. Let’s go play now!

Huge thanks go to Denise Jacobs for tons of helpful advice and for putting me in touch with the right people to make this a reality. I never could have gotten it started without your help. Thanks to Victor Gavenda who got the ball rolling. Thanks to my superstar editor, Nancy Peterson, and her team, Stephen Nathans-Kelly and Darren Meiss, for all the time and effort spent bringing my words to life and making me sound like I know what the heck I’m talking about. Thanks to my tech editor, Tom Johnson, for methodically checking and questioning my instructions so that they make sense to you, the reader. Finally, thanks to Mimi Heft, Danielle Foster, and all the other production people working behind the scenes to make this book look great.

Thanks to all of my coworkers, friends, and professionals who provided ideas, feedback, and support before, during, and after the process: Colt Pini, Nic Johnson, Kaleb Tracy, Juna Duncan, Albert Candari, Jared Lewandowski, Ty Hatch, Michelle Barber, Clifton Labrum, David Lindes, Cameron Moll, and Khoi Vinh.

Thanks to my mentors who helped me immensely as I started my journey into the world of user experience: Gilbert Lee, John Dilworth, Rob Thomas, Todd Ericksen, and the entire NorthTemple team. You guys rock. I miss the old days.