Wearing the Entrepreneur Hat

Well, I've done it. As I revealed in my last post, I'm so addicted to Etsy. So addicted that I opened up my own store.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I have a habit of creating things, making grand plans for them, and then never doing anything about it. Well, I finally decided to break the habit and Etsy made it easy to do it.

So, my shop is called Audrey's General Store. I'm still figuring out some of the details, but check it out and let me know what you think.




Well, I've done it. As I revealed in my last post, I'm so addicted to Etsy. So addicted that I opened up my own store.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I have a habit of creating things, making grand plans for them, and then never doing anything about it. Well, I finally decided to break the habit and Etsy made it easy to do it.

So, my shop is called Audrey's General Store. I'm still figuring out some of the details, but check it out and let me know what you think.

Enablement Junky

Hello, my name is Audrey and I'm addicted to Etsy.

What started out as mindless browsing (you know, once a day, just to see what the latest and greatest was) quickly turned into a full-blown addiction (feeling a small rush every time I would click on the "pounce" button unsure of what treasures were soon to be served up to me).

It's pretty amazing, really but for better or worse, with a little bit of effort, commitment, and investment, Etsy makes it possible for anyone and everyone to become an entrepreneur. It takes the pressure off of starting your own business (be it brick and mortar or online) and lays it out in easy to follow steps. It creates a community with forums, blogs, and helpful articles. It uses "success stories" to plays to that part in all of us that wants to leave our 9-5 in the hopes of being able to live off of our hobbies. Etsy is the new lemonade stand for adults and boy is it fun.

In this online age, I'm finding that the sites that enable and empower individuals are the ones that I'm most drawn to. There's Etsy, Blurb, Google Analytics, Vimeo...lots of places that break down the barriers of the old school, making once specialty services more accessible, and enabling each of us to explore our inner-entrepreneur/our inner creative/ourselves. Access is at the root of empowerment, and great ideas can come from a public that is empowered. (Ok, there are a fair amount of bad ones too.)

Thinking outside of yourself and beyond the active user

The other day a blind man borrowed my elbow to cross the street. As we made our way across Dolores Street, he told me that street-crossing had become particularly precarious in our neighborhood of late. Why? Because of electric vehicles. When they're coasting or running on battery, they're completely silent. So, an entire population that relies on their other senses (hearing in this case) to get by, is seeing the downside of our so-called vehicular advancements.

We often pride ourselves on having a "user-centric" mindset but this conversation on that Sunday highlighted for me the fact that we need to not only consider the active user but the passive user as well.

As designers, we are responsible for any interactions with our products whether it be the person behind the wheel or the one trying to cross the street. In this case, we need to adjust our lens and think of a way to add some noise to EVs so that they can be seen as a positive contribution by all instead of only by the majority while the minority, the blind, add them to another list of things that are life threatening.