Last night, I was lucky enough to see Jared Spool give his interactive presentation, “Anatomy of a Design Decision,” which reminded me a bit of Dale Earnhardt in his prime.

Last week in The Washington Post, Liz Clarke described Earnhardt’s racing genius as being able to “see the air.” He knew how to draft other drivers and see paths others could not. Like other usability consultants, Spool makes his living showing the rest of us the “obvious” paths, providing the rest of us the a-ha moments.

Last night, Spool helped us see the kind of designers we are (no, really) and what we should aspire to be.

– Tom Sakell