Oh Joe! is a must read for anyone who has experienced grief and loss and struggles to survive. Other books have been written about the stages of grief. This one eloquently conveys in poem the complex feelings of the grieving process that others describe with clinical observation. There are no platitudes, no easy answers here. Joseph LeBlanc speaks from the heart about the anguish of loss and how it feels. It is a father's personal struggle to survive the loss of his son so piercing you will feel you are there and fall to your knees in thanks that you are not. He speaks to us of feelings of loss we all have in a way that cannot help but leave you touched. It is rare that a man would expose this much of himself. It is rarer still that he would write about it for all to read. We should be thankful for this glimpse into the recesses of soul within us all.

Creating an app, site or any product that succeeds -- or sells -- is most definitely a tall order. Designing anything for people is tough, because we're inherently complex and...well...messy. Which means that things like market share and ROI don't come easy. But time and effort spent finding the right problems to solve allows designers, developers and product teams to take quantum leaps forward in exceeding the expectations of everyone involved. In Think First, Joe Natoli shows you exactly how to do this, using lessons learned from his 26 years as a UX consultant to Fortune 100 and 500 organizations. You'll find proven principles, step-by-step methods and straightforward, jargon-free advice that can be applied to any kind of digital product. Think First proves that while people are indeed messy and complex, designing for them doesn't have to be. Here's what a few well-respected UX practitioners and authors had to say about Think First: "A very practical guide to success in business." - Dr. Don Norman, Director of the DesignLab, UC San Diego and Author of The Design of Everyday Things "Think First is a practical guide to UX that makes sense of strategy and structure. Highly recommended " - Peter Morville, Bestselling Author of Intertwingled "For designers and developers, understanding strategy and UX is an increasingly necessary skill. Joe Natoli's Think First demystifies these foundational ideas in a very conversational, easy to read style." - Ilise Benun, Founder of Marketing-Mentor.com and Author of 7+ Books Author Joe Natoli explains why he believes Think First is unlike any other book on the subject of UX strategy and design: "I didn't want to write yet another book that covers the narrow, tactical pieces of the design process," he says, "because great design and great UX are the result of multiple activities across multiple people, roles and disciplines. It's everybody's business. Think First walks you through everything that must be considered to create great UX -- and gives you a roadmap to make it happen." Think First details Joe's no-nonsense approach to creating successful products, powerful user experiences and very happy customers. He share countless lessons learned from more than 26 years as a UX consultant to Fortune 500 and 100 organizations -- including a few he's learned the hard way: -) Think First serves as a roadmap to building a solid foundation for UX that's strong enough to withstand any weather as projects move into design and coding. Here are just some of the things you'll learn: - Simple user research methods that anyone can perform -- even if you've never done research of any kind. - The right questions to ask stakeholders and users at the outset of any (and every) project. - The 3 crucial questions you must ask of every client, every time. - How to tell the difference between what people say they need vs. what they really need. - A better, simpler way to generate meaningful UX requirements at the outset of the project. - How to figure out what features and functions will result in great UX and deliver value to both users and the business. - How to avoid scope creep and the never-ending project scenario.

Lifelong Vanderbilt fan Joe Daily would like nothing better than seeing the Commodores win the SEC title and the National Championship. Then he meets Allistair Appel who promises to make him the greatest player to ever play the game and maybe even give his team a title as well. But will the price be too high? Will Joe Daily, now Joey Goodman, be able to turn back before it's too late?