Workspace Traditions

Every company, every team has their different traditions and specific culture and Microsoft is no exception. Christian Buckley of BlueBadgeMojo.com pokes some fun at what I think is a Microsoft specific tradition of "decorating" offices of people gone for an extended period of time. I remember carting in sand for a "beach house" office decoration way back. Where did it all start? I guess I'll never know.

What funny workspace traditions do you have? Have you seen the office decoration thing outside of Microsoft?

Can it be? Yes it is...

zPhone!

Note: Many thanks to Andy Klepack for the Hi-Def image. Food and beverages not included. :-)

Following Directions

Did you ever get one of those tests on how well you could follow directions? I remember a sheet of paper with more than 20 step by step directions (not unlike some usability studies...) and when you get to the last step you realize you've gone all wrong because of a careless reading of the instructions before step one? Well, here's your chance to redeem yourself. Maybe. ;-)

P.S. I must have clicked it at least 100 times before I stopped...

IT Collaboration

Christian Buckley is friend of mine, and not only was he recently hired on at Microsoft, but he works in the same building as I do! MacBU shares the same building with, of all groups, our Microsoft IT department! I love that when they walk into work each day or schedule meetings in the conference rooms on our floors, they get to see all our Think Different posters. ;-) Anyhow, for the IT folk in the audience, Christian just got a new shirt that you might appreciate:

Customer Signature

In July 2003 I was issued an American Express credit card. It just expired. I've used it for almost two years and I never signed the back! I have never, not even once, been asked to sign it! I guess I'm not alone! I wonder what the signature on the back of the card is supposed to mean anyway. If it is just to verify against the receipt I sign then it seems it is a sorely under-used security precaution. Once again, security is so very dependent on human process. If the process fails, so does the security.

A good example of the human factor in security is this article. An estimated 500,000 people (perhaps as high as 1,000,000) had their account information stolen in "what may the biggest security breach to hit the banking industry." Who did this crime? "Account information on the customers was illegally sold by bank employees to a man identified as Orazio Lembo, whom police said was doing business by illegally posing as a collection agency." Brilliant.