About Bill Westerman

Technology, design, and getting sh-t done

This site serves as my digital notepad, packed full of periodic obsessions over the device of the month, getting sh-t done (a drop-dead-simple to-do management process), straightforward hardware and software that gets the job done right, and a passion for great design in technology, art, and architecture.

Work
I'm a founding principal at Create with Context, a strategic research and design firm focused on digital products and located in Silicon Valley, California. My background ranges across mobile and tablet computing, interaction and visual design, ethnographic and lab-based consumer research, business and technology strategy, technology R&D, enterprise architecture strategy, IT governance, and software benchmarking. Previously, I've been a R&D Executive at Accenture Technology Labs, Director of Mobile Strategy at eBay, and Director of Integrated Strategy at Sapient, among other positions.

Clients
A partial list of the companies I've worked with includes Accenture/Andersen Consulting, Accenture Technology Labs, Amway, Astra Pharmaceuticals, Banamex, Blue Cross, British American Tobacco, British Telecom, Cellfire, Chrysler, Cigna, eBay, ExxonMobil, Graspr, Habitat for Humanity, Hewlett-Packard, Level 3, Microsoft, Panasonic, Progressive Book Club, Qualcomm, Sallie Mae, Sapient, SK Group, Southwestern Bell Corporation, State Farm, Sun Microsystems, Synaptics, UPS, USAA, US Internal Revenue Service, US Postal Service, Victoria's Secret Stores, Vivaty, Wachovia, and Yahoo!

Press
Selected media activity:
Fast Rise Of Online Marketing Has Firms Rethinking Strategies - Investor's Business Daily
Five Qualities of a Great iPhone App - CIO Magazine
Faster Customers: The Final Frontier - O'Reilly Ignite Velocity 2009
Mulling Wind Power? Check Your iPhone. - New York Times
Faster Customers: the final frontier - O'Reilly Ignite Velocity
Youth and Creativity: Emerging Trends in Self-Expression and Publishing - O'Reilly ToC
Going with the Flow: Creative experiences of the future - UPA Europe
How People Really Use the iPhone - AJAXWorld RIA Conference
CNBC Bullseye - CNBC Business News
Sensors Working Overtime - CFO magazine
Wi-fi sensor net aids wine makers - BBC News
Better Graps Through Technology - CIO Magazine
New Technology for Vineyards - Radio National Breakfast, Australia

Contact
Via Twitter at twitter.com/billwesterman
Via email at bill ... utilware.com (replace the ellipsis with an at sign)

What's with the 'útilware' name?
I’ve always been interested in simple, useful things, and I also have an interest in the Spanish language - and 'útil' means 'useful' in Spanish. As far as the “ware” part of the name, this site started off as a place for people to find and download some Palm software that I had written, like my Palm Mirror.

A note on site hosting
I'm using Tumblr, a great web-based service for quickly and easily blogging information you find on the web - which can also be used for your own content. Within Tumblr, I created my own custom template, very loosely based on one by Andrew West (theandrewwest.com - whose site is unfortunately no longer active).