Christina Wodtke, Author at Boxes and Arrows

Author: Christina Wodtke

An established thought leader in Silicon Valley, Christina is a “curious human” with a serious resume. Her past work includes re-design and initial product offerings with LinkedIn, MySpace, Zynga, Yahoo! and others, as well as founding three startups, an online design magazine called Boxes and Arrows (that's us!), and co-founding the Information Architecture Institute. She is currently a Lecturer at Stanford in the HCI group in the Computer Science department. Christina teaches worldwide on the intersection of human innovation and high-performing teams. She uses the power of story to connect with audiences and readers through speaking and her Amazon category-bestselling books. Christina’s work is personable, insightful, knowledgeable, and engaging. Her books include Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web, Pencil Me In, and The Team that Managed Itself. Her bestselling book is a business fable called Radical Focus, which tackles the OKR movement through the powerful story of Hanna and Jack’s struggling tea startup. When the two receive an ultimatum from their only investor, they must learn how to employ OKRs and radical focus to get the right things done. To connect with Christina or to get more information on how to become a whole-mind, high performing team, visit http://cwodtke.com/ or http://www.eleganthack.com.

Articles by this author:

Long Tails and Short Queries

Posted by Christina Wodtke

Why haven’t we figured out search yet? Amanda Spink talks with Christina Wodtke on why searchers still can’t ask a useful question of a search engine, and how Google may be part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

October 2, 2006 Case Studies / Foundational Thinking / From the Editors / Interfaces

Are We There Yet?

Posted by Christina Wodtke

It’s true: even simple projects get messy. Christina Wodtke comes clean on Swiss Army knives, the writing on the wall, and the untidy glory of the Boxes and Arrows redesign contest.

July 25, 2006 Design Principles / Learning From Others

The Elements of Style for Designers

Posted by Christina Wodtke

What if E.B. White had written “Hanging Commas 99% Bad” instead of a gentle list of reminders for young writers? Wodtke outlines how White’s list of 22 reminders for writing can be just what young designers need.

July 5, 2006 Design Principles / Learning From Others

Putting the White Back in Strunk and White

Posted by Christina Wodtke

Where do we look for standards and guidelines that we can incorporate into our design work? In addition to the canon of trusted advisors, Wodtke reminds us of a teacher and student who created a series of uncommon guidelines that have a lot to teach about web design.

December 4, 2005 From the Editors

Under the Boxes-and-Arrows hood

Posted by Christina Wodtke

Think we look different? No, we didn’t change our hair. We’ve launched some new features, and they’re all for you. Starting today, you’ll begin to see some changes. And you (yes, you) are invited to be part of it all.