They say that every journey begins with the first step and rare things reflect the journey metaphor better as writing your first book. Now, taking a look back I'm happy and proud to see this journey has brought this book in front of you.
However, and we all know how cliché it sounds, this book would not be possible without help from many people involved in it.
I wish to thank, for their extreme patience, encouragement, and ability to tolerate my busy schedule, my publisher Packt Publishing and many fine people there: Ashwin, Douglas, Namita, Pallavi, and Tarun thank you so much for everything, you guys are terrific.
I've started thinking about this book while I was working at Microsoft in Denmark. I've spent many hours talking and discussing different ideas with my colleagues from the UX team there. Many of them were my source of inspiration and encouragement, and they didn't even know that. Some of them are still in Copenhagen or Redmond, some are working somewhere else but thank you all for your ideas, suggestions, and tremendous opportunity to learn and grow: Anne, Ashu, David, Erlingur, Eva, Hans, Ingrid, JJ, Kim, Morten. Special thanks are in order for my manager who was a mentor, tutor, and a guide during my time in Denmark Hans Roed Mark and to Jakob Nielsen our UX Director at Microsoft. They both have asked for more and more every time helping me grow my skills. Mange tak!
Vjekoslav Babić deserves my appreciation as well. He was the one who introduced me to Packt and suggested that writing a book might be a great idea and a worthwhile project. Vjeko, hvala ti!
After Microsoft, my new journey has started, one with the FatDUX. I was happy to get the ability to live my dream job and build my dream team. But now, FatDUX is so much more to me than just an employer. After all, the content for this book was written while I was working at FatDUX. Therefore, my friends and colleagues have supported me in so many different ways that I can't even remember all of them. Eric Reiss, Søren Muus, Jeff Parks, Linda Packer... I'm so proud to be the part of the FatDUX family. Looking forward to many, many great quacks with you!
However, my closest friend, Darko Čengija and my "number one" at FatDUX Zagreb, Antun Debak have been the greatest support one man can ever ask for. They have helped me manage my time, talked to customers, shared their experiences, and been there every time I needed them. Thank you both for being such great friends, colleagues, and professionals. Hvala vam od srca!
Huge thanks goes to Katarina Itrić. We all need someone in our life that we can rely on, share our stories with, have long night walks and sometimes just sit together and enjoy life, just like that. Hvala ti za to!
And to my family… you were here at any moment, providing me with moral support. But two members of my family deserve it most. My mother, Hedviga Koči for her continuous mantra: "Do whatever you want in your life, but do it best you can. Put yourself in that is the only way to go." And to my grandfather, who was one of the last true gentlemen around, Pavle Poly Cipan, who passed away several weeks before I had finalized the book. Unfortunately, he was not here to see this book and hold it in his hands, but his wisdom, kindness are something that has enabled me to go even further and live my dreams. Though my Hungarian is not best he deserves one warm and heart full Köszönöm szépen, nagypapi!.
Winners never quit. Quitters never win. (Napoleon Hill)