1. The document discusses various sources of inspiration for the author, including her parents who taught her skills and supported her dreams, disliking her job but finding inspiration to change careers, and finding inspiration from nature, feedback, and seeing others' passion. 2. The author also finds inspiration from memes, procrastiworking on side projects, and recognizing that people find inspiration from different things and inspiration comes from paying attention to details. 3. Inspiration is subjective and changing, but the overall message is to keep seeking out what inspires you and find ways to turn inspiration into action.

1. @katskii
Inspiration
– the act of being mentally
stimulated to do or feel something
(e.g. something creative!)

2. 1. Let me introduce you to the most
inspirational people I know.
• My parents.
• Yes, I’m a cliché.
• I remember being dressed in a sweater covered solely in 100s of
buttons – and in the process being taught the beauty in crafting
skills
• I remember how hard working my dad was – he had
accomplishments and achievements and I wanted that as a result.

3. 1. Inspired by their patience
• Some people don’t “get” technology
– Ever catch yourself shouting inside your head at someone
• JUST SCROLL DOWN, ITS NOT DIFFICULT!
• Then I remember the tireless hours my parents spent teaching me
things as I grew up – their patience at my need for help
• We all need more patience – for clients, for colleagues, for bosses -
and for bloody Internet Explorer!

4. 1. The old “follow your dreams” routine
• My parents let me find my own path – I wanted to move to a giant
city where I knew nobody, they gave me unconditional support.
• They sneakily instilled humility and tolerance upon me – like
inspiring ninjas!
• I see them get involved in things related to my job (Facebook!) and it
excites me two-fold
– Facebook demographics
– My parents caring about the work I do – I’ve learned to care about what
others do

5. 1. Good bits and bad bits of people
• Make your own family
• Yes, another cliché.
• Remember the people around you are there to support you – and
take those people for their good bits and bad bits
• Mostly though, my dad writes a really great complaints letter –
that’ll get me far.

6. 2. Do jobs you hate
• It’s okay to hate the job you’re doing…
• …but only if you do something to fix it.
• “So I’m standing there getting yelled at by some guy about not
having a £14.99 Wiimote in stock…”
• …but wouldn’t it be awesome to be a web designer?

7. 2. And then the novelty wore off
• Really though, it was an awesome job.
• But… yeah, the novelty wore off, thanks to a meany pants
developer.
• Instead of sitting around hating my life and the world around me, I
was inspired to change something, to improve my circumstances.

8. 2. So what’s better than the bad stuff?
• I found a new agency.
• It’s awesome. We’re hiring. Talk to me later.
• Take notice of the people you work with
• I work with such a range of people with opinions that differ wildly
from mine. It’s good though.

9. 2. Liberated, illuminated
• Accept the bad stuff – even in your private life
• Use it as a driving mechanism to become better – you might not feel
it at the time, but the stuff you hate can liberate you.
• I’ve started to realise how good things can be if you take control
• Maybe the bad stuff is the illumination you need to move on.

10. 3. Stuff I don’t understand
• Why did the London riots happen?
• People described it as fun? What kind of fun is this?!
• It makes me start thinking about what people see as fun – from a
UX point of view, it’s a weird eye-opener.

11. 3. Why do you like that?
• The riots got me thinking about behaviour and what drives people
• Some people were driven by pure greed – but others through what
they considered necessity
• A corny reminder to be grateful for what I’ve got

12. 3. I like knitting and kittens and CSS..
That’s fun, right?
• The whole situation made me think about what I respect
• I became more aware of my own behaviour and attitudes
• I want to act the opposite way, and make a positive impact

13. 3. People like different stuff. That is
fun.
• As a UX designer, it reminds of how varied people are
• I use the bad times to help me create user personas and understand
a wider range of people
• What do people want and need from your product – what drives
them
• Ultimately, the London riots increased my understanding of people
(well, that’s how I see it)

14. 4. So like, the interwebz, that’s cool
yeah?
• The internet is pretty big – but as a result, there’s probably
something on there to suit everyone.
• It’s exciting to think of how ingrained the internet is in our daily
lives – even more so for babies being born now.
• So what is my favourite part of the internet? What is the one
failsafe way of bragging about some awesome work you did, or the
megafail you had?

15. 4. Memes!
• Zomg lolcats! My face when! Gifs of dogs dancing! Geeks
fistpumping!
• This is a whole new way of communicating and conveying emotions
• When I’m having a bad day, I often tweet “send help and kittens!”
• I did that awesome work, you know the stuff, so I’m gonna show
you a dancing bear!

16. 4. But I am (procrasti)working!
• Jessica Hische introduced me to the term procrastiworking
• Side projects that you do to postpone the regular work – but
actually, they’re pretty cool (and don’t involve Farmville)
• Maybe your boss won’t care about the 2 hours you spent making
CSS3 animations or the typography poster, but – you inspired
yourself!

17. 4. “Oh it’s not IRL, it’s just on the
internet!”
• Except, the internet is real life now!
• I’m excited and inspired to try more and more because of the
possibilities online
• You guys, lets stop bitching about the internet – we wouldn’t be here
if it wasn’t for the internet!

18. 5. So what inspires other people?
• This inspires me too!
• People threw their suggestions at me – designs in nature, trees,
leaves, waves, patterns and shapes.
• What others see as ugly, you might love, and vice versa. But…
doesn’t this just encourage you to find more of what inspires you?

19. 5. Sometimes it just comes naturally
• Can I throw another cliché at you?
• Stop and smell the roses! (…sorry!)
• As designers and developers, maybe sometimes we just need a
reminder to pay attention to the small details.
• Stop overthinking everything! (my mantra to myself sometimes)

20. 5. Recognise the learning cycle
• See the links between your emotions and inspiration, and the work
you ultimately do
• Give and receive constructive feedback – don’t bitch, but help; don’t
get butthurt but see it as a chance to improve
• Look back at what you’ve done and be proud of your
accomplishments

21. 5. Accept the changes
• My view of inspiration probably changes daily… or hourly.
• It’s quite hard to pinpoint what is inspiring really – and it’s so
subjective
• Tonight is pretty inspiring – even the concept of letting a bunch of
people talk at you for 5 mins on something they’re passionate
about.
• Find me online – I’m all over the Twitterz @katskii – and lets have
a drink!