How chopsticks came to symbolize user experience design
Several years ago, I discovered East Japanese Restaurant in Milford, Connecticut while visiting a nearby client. This discovery had quite an unexpected impact on me: not only was I shocked to find that East served the best sushi I had ever tasted (and it still holds that distinction today), it also served as a textbook example of the payoff that occurs when you sweat the details of the user experience.
I was travelling alone that day. I pulled up a chair at the sushi bar and received a friendly greeting from Jason, the sushi chef. He immediately began to investigate my preferences. “Ah, so you like tuna? Chu-toro, from the belly? Very good. How about unagi, barbecued eel? Not tonight? Something more subtle. OK, I see. Here, try this.” He slipped me a plate of ridiculously fresh hamachi (yellowtail) sashimi beautifully garnished and accompanied by a fruity ponzu sauce. Aaaah, heavenly.
