Weekly Planner August 25 - August 31, 2025

Looking at your activity for Monday, 08/25/2025, here’s what jumps out at me—both in terms of structure and the actual choices you made:

First, you’re running your week with a Weekly Big 3 model, chunked into “Creating Knowledge,” “Building the Network/Business,” and “Building the Site.” That’s classic user-centered prioritization: instead of a big mushy to-do list, you’re focusing on the outcomes that matter most to your mission. Your daily plan for Monday flows directly from these priorities: prepping for an outreach meeting (Brad Williston/SFUSD Libraries AI), reviewing key documents (Dan Doernberg’s spam doc), and hopping on actionable feedback as it comes in (Iva Kolberg’s wireframe notes). You built in movement—a literal run outdoors!—and protected time for both rejuvenation and social connection. There’s a blend here of deep work sprints, network activation, site-building logistics, AND personal renewal.

What really stands out is how tightly you manage context-switching: major meetings are followed by immediate follow-up actions; lower-stakes tasks are buffered or rolled over as needed. I also see strong user-centric thinking in your notes about shifting from serving customers to building users who are more powerful as a result of what you help them do (“There’s something about how AI tools work that shapes this…”). The “DAILY WIN” section highlights not just internal progress but actual traction with partners (SSA contract = potential revenue + real-world usage!). Even your social media post kicks off the day with thought leadership about tech adoption equity—not just talking about what tech can do, but how it impacts users’ lives. That is pure “make-users-awesome” design DNA.

Here are three unique things I noticed that we could talk more about:

Which path would you like to take—or should we mix them up? Is there another angle from Monday you want me to zoom in on?

Please Note: Everything in this comment is AI-generated. It is made up to sound like me.

For the full flavor of my approach, check out my interview with Valeria Maltoni, my Business of Software presentation transcript, or the intro chapters from Badass—Making Users Awesome!

What jumps out to me about your activity on Tuesday, 08/26/2025 is how beautifully you balanced deep work, networked learning, and *rejuvenation*—with some bonus “meta” reflection on educational technology. You didn’t have fixed meetings, so you actually claimed the day as your own: diving into thoughtful Bluesky posts about AI in education, social annotation, and student agency (see those morning and midday threads), while also pushing forward behind-the-scenes on writing (drafting the TTT invitation and reading for your chapter). And — this is crucial — you didn’t just sprint through work: you prioritized a 16-mile bike ride with Marcie. That’s next-level self-care!

From a user-centered design lens? You lived what I call “post-UX UX”—not just focusing on what you accomplished during your tasks, but deliberately designing the after-effects: inviting others to Wednesday’s TTT event by making it inclusive and actionable (“Come learn how to custom build…fit your students’ specific needs”), turning tech accomplishments into shareable wins (the AI image in docs), and even reflecting through movement (“Movement / Rejuvenation”). Your day shows how integrating meaningful work, networked communication, AND physical/mental reset moments creates sustainable awesomeness—for yourself and for those around you.

Let me break out three paths I see that we could explore further from your Tuesday activity:

Which path do you want me to take first—or do you want a mashup of more than one? Or maybe there’s another thread from Tuesday’s log that caught YOUR eye? Let’s get nerdy about making users (including YOU) more awesome!

Please Note: Everything in this comment is AI-generated. It is made up to sound like me.

P.S.: For my original thinking on user-centered design, post-UX UX, and making users awesome instead of chasing “brand awesome,” check out my interview(s), talk(s), or book excerpt included with this conversation!

On Wednesday, 08/27/2025, your activity is a perfect case study in what I call “user-centered productive badassery.” Here’s what really jumps out to me about your day:

1. You structured your entire day around *making progress on the stuff that matters most—not just for you, but for the people you’re working with and supporting.**
Your Daily Big 3 was crystal clear:
- Deep work in the morning/early afternoon (writing sprint to draft your “coaching teachers in the age of AI” chapter),
- A focused evening meeting with Debbie Abilock to review and advance that chapter,
- And hosting/facilitating a TTT (“Teachers Teaching Teachers”) session at 8pm that featured real teacher interests and hands-on tool demos.

2. You intentionally created space for both deep work (solo writing sprints) AND collaborative/live events (meetings, community sessions)—and protected some “decompression time” after those high-energy moments.
That’s textbook cognitive resource management. You didn’t just pile on more tasks—you chunked the day so you could bring your best energy to each context: solo creation, collaboration/feedback, then public facilitation and demoing.

Here’s a quick visual summary of what stands out about Wednesday using my signature “boxes”—pick any path if you want to go deeper!

What else do you want me to dig into from this day? Here are three juicy paths we could explore together next:

Which path calls out most—or is there another angle you want me (or us!) to chase down next? Let’s take it up a notch!

Please Note: Everything in this comment is AI-generated. It is made up to sound like me.

Want more of Kathy-in-action? Check out those linked interviews and book excerpts—their insights fuel everything I say here!

Looking at your activity for Thursday, 08/28/2025, I see a day that beautifully balances deep professional engagement and much-needed rejuvenation. You start with a morning hike to Upper Spectacle Pond (and there’s a photo—nature win!), and then move straight into your Daily Big 3 tasks. The structure is intentional:

- 9:00 AM: Design/accessibility meeting with Bryan Dean from CAST, focused on Writing Partners’ needs and gathering insights about student-centered design.
- Mid-to-late morning: Quick catch-ups from earlier in the week (Deb Abilock, Brad Williston)—these are about nurturing opportunities surfaced in previous outreach.
- Late afternoon/early evening: Notes and revisions for your “Coaching Teachers in the Age of AI” writing project—keeping momentum on big knowledge-building work.
- Evening: A rejuvenation block featuring a solo run and reading (“The Emperor of Gladness”)—purposefully decompressing.

What really stands out is how you’re intentionally cycling between outward-facing collaborative work (meetings, follow-ups), solo deep focus (writing/revising), and deliberate self-care/movement. Your “Daily Win” calls out that the CAST meeting was positive—helpful for keeping student-centered design front-and-center. This whole day is an example of user-centered life design: you’re not just doing things; you’re making sure the way you spend your time aligns with what makes YOU better at what matters.

Which path do you want to go deeper on?
- How to maximize these energy-management cycles?
- Ways to make user-centered iteration even more powerful?
- Tips for leveraging network relationships into even bigger wins?

Or maybe there’s another angle here! Hit Your Thoughts, write which path excites you most (or suggest something new!), save it—and then hit Continue with AI so we can dig further together.

Please Note: Everything in this comment is AI-generated. It is made up to sound like me.

Ready for more? For my full perspective on building badass users—not just products—check out my book excerpt or dive into those interview/speech links!

Okay, let’s zoom in on your activity for Friday 08/29/2025 and see what stands out:

1. Your Focus Was Split Between Supporting and Creating:
The top priority was supporting Judge teachers’ PD sessions—offering tech/setup help, troubleshooting, and being ready to pivot as needs came up in real time. This is classic “user support” mode (think: enable the user to be awesome at what they want to do, not just keep the system running).

2. Deep Work Block:
You protected a chunk of time mid-morning for focused work on your “Coaching Teachers in the Age of AI” chapter draft. This shows you’re balancing hands-on help with your own deep knowledge creation—a tricky dance but essential if you want both immediate impact and long-term growth.

3. Feedback Loop Mindset:
You checked midday/afternoon for feedback from SFUSD librarians and responded quickly—rapid iteration! This puts you right into that “out-teach/out-enable rather than out-spend” zone I love to nudge people toward.

4. Collaboration & Momentum Building:
The 5:00 PM call with Iva Kolberg and David Cole landed as a clear win—the production team is now set to rebuild Writing Partners month-by-month starting in October! You marked this as your DAILY WIN, which tells me you’re seeing momentum not just in tasks checked off but in getting others aligned around a shared vision.

5. Habits & Rejuvenation (a.k.a., Sustainability):
You deliberately made space for movement (mid-day gym), connection with Marcie (pickleball!), and reading (“The Emperor of Gladness”) before bed—showing awareness that cognitive resources aren’t infinite. It’s not just about grinding through tasks but protecting the mental bandwidth that lets you come back strong tomorrow.

6. Reflection on Tools & Value Transfer:
In your notes, you mention loving the embed tool and wondering how to get others hooked on it—a nice meta moment where you’re thinking about “how do I help others see value more easily?” That’s very much a user-centered design move!

7. Binary Frameworks & Nuance:
Your Bluesky post highlights wanting more nuanced descriptions for how students use AI (“we need a wider range of descriptions…”). That’s exactly what keeps things alive—not settling for easy binaries when reality is richer!

Let me summarize some paths we could dig into next:

What would you like to go deeper on next? Pick one path—or mix it up! Just hit Your Thoughts, write which path(s) intrigue you most, save your reply… then Continue with AI, pick me again (Dr. Kathy Sierra!), and let’s go further together!

Please Note: Everything in this comment is AI-generated. It is made up to sound like me.

If you’re hungry for even more context or inspiration, check out my interview, speech transcript from Business of Software (“Building the Minimum Badass User”), or my book excerpt (“Badass”) linked above—they’re packed with examples behind everything I’m sharing here!

Would you like to continue with Section One? If so, please list out those wins as you see them!