User Experience Experience

Cute cute cute

2011-10-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

Food delivery doesn't need any help being more delightful but Grub Hub is wonderful extension of the already wonderful experience of having yummy food delivered to your door. Here's their coupon for using their mobile app.

Light Reading. Terms agreement: page 1 of 56

2011-10-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just love some light reading

QR codes in a vacation town

2011-10-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

I recently was surprised to see tons of QR codes in a small Wisconsin vacation town.

Are we doing this now? Seriously?

Ron Conway Awesome.

2011-10-17T15:50:00.001-07:00

Computer History Museum Pictures!

2011-10-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

Sketching is sexy.

2011-09-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

Interaction design sketching in a droid ad! Note the moleskin, naturally.

Make a break

2011-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

A "how to" from the New Yorker Business cartoons.

I saw this in a book called "New Yorker Business Cartoons" cannot for the life of me read the signature nor match the style to any of the New Yorker cartoonists listed here so if you know, please tell me so I can source this!

What you pick when "User Experience" is not a category

2011-09-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

Infinite Kitty Theorem

2011-08-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

At times my cat enjoys the Mac UI. Here she is using the Dashboard App (probably just for the weather. But if you imagine many Kitties and many Macs and all the time in the world, they certainly would have crafted designs like: Google, Twitter, and Facebook.

What you see on the left is a cat-crafted email.

She tabs through the fields. Imagine if she really focused on the user experience.

Laptops are warm and cats can click.

PS: The infinite Kitty Theorem is a reference to this

What's the most lame product you've ever seen?

2011-08-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Wha?

How on earth do products like this make it out the door? When you think about how many stages there are in a product life cycle, market research, sketching, prototyping, manufacturing it boggles my mind how this one got past the first stage. Here are just some of the things that make me want to find the person responsible for this and shake him/her:

The over $4 price point. The banana packaging makes me think kids might find this desirable, but this is way too expensive to delight a sane parent.
This isn't bubble bath--it's hair product. So this is in the same category as CREW, Bed Head, Dove, and other brands that scream "you respect yourself and we respect you. Let's make you look good." This brand screams "We are very silly and gross! Massage this on your hair."
I'm all for Zagging when others Zig however, it needs to be done with your market in mind. Who on earth is this for? Is it human?
The monkey theme is cute but monkey brains aren't cute.

What's the most lame product you've ever seen?

Nike+: Too bad it doesn't work or tell me how to fix it

2011-08-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

This "searching" image below could have been so boring! But no, Nike wouldn't have it that way. Instead we see a pulsing Nike+ searching for the real Nike+ unit on my shoe.

I walked in small circles watching this image for ten minutes before I gave up and put my iPhone and armband in the car. I did my run and bought a $10 digital watch at Target. No functional Nike+ for me. Le Sigh.

A quick look at the nike store site and you'll see they keep things slick. Well if you're going to fail...at least be cute about it? No! Tell me what could be wrong! Am I low on batteries? Does my shoe cover up the RFID? Or simply, how do I get my money back? Please tell me something within my power so that I can use or quit your product.

Hip Happenings

2011-08-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

I adore architecture and sculpture. Somehow, I generally don't love it when cities try to sell their neighborhoods with poorly-designed sinage or art. Below find an apt description of the Temescal district: Cool shops, Global Eats, and Hip Happenings. Yes, all of this is true, but somehow saying it . . . like this . . . I guess what I'd rather see is a font & design that works to capture the image of a world-class neighborhood.

Berkeley shines a spotlight on the border it shares with Oakland. This split "Here" on the Berkeley side and "There" on the Oakland side is called playful by some, irksome by others. I do like the font and sheer size of the sculpture. Can't say I like the message, though.

Laurel's archways in Oakland are loud and proud. Providing two archways at the start and end of the Laurel's main street, this is expressive, easy to read, easy on the eyes, and seems to be happy to see you.

Extra Packaging

2011-08-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

While at Target (maybe my favorite store) I was checking out the kettle bells when I passed these weights. Weights are designed to be held. Yet here are some 3 pound weights with a strap. Hm.

Our site launched!

2011-08-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

Last year, after over a decade as a full-time interaction designer, I started working as a contractor. Along the way I started collaborating with a former Mills College classmate, Raye Oldes. We worked well together and we decided we were no longer contractors, we were acting and working more like a small company. Our clients thought it was a good idea too! Neat, huh?

It's with great pleasure that I introduce TUX Studio. What's TUX mean? It stands for our obsession: The User eXperience. As we wireframe, storyboard, usability test our hearts out, we never forget why we're here: To provide users an excellent experience while making our clients feel pretty awesome too.

End on a good note!

2011-07-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Regarded as one of the most influential living psychologists, Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in behavioral economics. His lecture "The riddle of experience vs. memory", teaches us two important lessons:

Our perceptions . . .well, don't trust them all the time.
The final parts of an experience are disproportionately heavily weighted in our minds. They leave a more lasting influence. So if you are crafting an experience, end on a strong note.

The best talk (for me) at Managing User Experience MX 2010

2011-07-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

MX 2011 | Kaaren Hanson | Intuit’s Reinvention from the Inside from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

Do you sketchboard?

2011-07-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

One of the more fun activities in user experience design is working with a group to sketch and plan. Nothing is more enjoyable than watching a group construct an early draft of a customer experience on paper, thinking through the process and coming up with something that can be put into a more formal document.

Here's Adaptive Path's How to video on creating sketchboards:

A scene from the office

2011-07-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here are my favorite markers ever. Sharpies. The color variety and as they say in the beauty world "payoff" is awesome.

Here are the markers in action. I created these using the pages of a book.

The story of two logos: Fliptop vs Versartis

2011-07-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

Here are two logos I found while researching companies on the ever useful CrunchBase:

When I see a logo like FlipTop I think:

If this is how much time and effort they put into their brand, I bet they are awesome at what they do too.
They are modern, fun and competent.
I'd be excited to meet someone from this company, not to mention work with them. They get it.

When I see a logo like Versartis I think:

This is most definitely a B2B company that is comfortable with minimal branding effort since their products do the heavy lifting.
Design is not a priority here.
If I work with them, it runs the risk of rolling a boulder uphill. As a UX designer I could have an impact if the product or the platform is new. I'd need to investigate how the team works so I can tell what kind of change the company is and is not open to. This will drastically effect the success of the project. Excellent UX designers want the customer/user to rule. This is much more difficult when the legacy dictates.
STILL, their products must be demo'ed, trialed, or sold. A better user experience is something that will help deepen customer trust.

Control+P+Print!

2011-07-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine introduced me to Eddie Izzard and if you've never heard of him I'm excited for you to watch this video. Rather than operate from a script (he credits his dyslexia as the reason scripts don't work for him), he free associates comedy.

This clip was part of an encore in which Eddie Izzard describes his love hate relationship with computers:

Oh and if you wonder about his adorable cross-dressing, watch this:

Four months of inboxZero...

2011-04-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

...and all I have to say is I love an empty inbox. Like my regular paper mail, it's either empty or filled with a manageable handful. After working this way for several months, I'm happy to report that this is a pleasant way to live.

A vintage style of spam (edit)

2011-04-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

Post Script: Reader Zzamboni points out the "I love you" worm from 2000 which I completely forgot about. Does anyone remember those out of the blue emails flooding your inbox? Luckily I did not click in 2000. The 2011 version was just a harmless attachment free scramble of nonsense. I think it was about debt consolidation.

I've edited this post title from A new style of spam to A vintage style of spam. By the way Zzamboni has a cool site too.

What I want to do vs What I do

2011-03-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Today woke up very early, went out to buy cat food, and found I had an extra an hour before a meeting. I consciously thought to myself this: I have an extra hour. What should I do? I'd love to relax in some way. Hmmm...

Here are some ideas I came up with:

Meditate
Stretch out
Sit outside and look at the birds

Here is what I did do:

Look at Reddit

Real conversation, the touchpoint to end all touchpoints.

2011-03-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

Do you ever talk to someone and immediately feel inspired to check out the books or web pages they championed? More than once, I've written said websites into my journal only later to think "what the hell is this?" If I do visit the site, my context is often completely gone and it doesn't resonate.

I don't have time to check out every single book, web page, or idea people suggest. I would if I could. I love reading. When you're laser focused, it's not productive to add to your already tall stack of things to read unless you feel it's awesome.

A friend told a group of us about InboxZero. In less than five minutes, she described the method of reducing email stimuli and it's value. Simply having a conversation was enough for me to modify my behavior and experience the value of less information clutter.

I have not really checked out the web site, I probably won't buy the upcoming book, and I won't even hit "like" on InboxZero's facebook page, if there is one. Though my feelings won't be expressed through a purchase or digital interaction crafted by the author, Merlin Mann, I'm an ambient fan because of my friend's willingness to share the idea rather than circumvent the story by pointing me to the book.

Next time you find yourself rattling off site after site, book after book, consider simply sharing the high-level takeaway of one.

You'll dig not being distracted : ) Oh, and "Inbox Zero guy" is also "43 Folders guy"

My goal

2011-03-21T23:23:00.000-07:00

My goal is to design my life and work rather than just take what's given to me.

My goal is to get S&*% done that matters to me.

JobShift

2011-03-18T20:58:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I hadn't heard of JobShift by William Bridges before I'd read it. It changed my view--not of organizations but of how employees, and contractors should think of themselves. What follows are the core messages from JobShift as well my own opinions sprinkled in which align with Bridges' findings:

We're all temporary. In the past, layoffs were considered an extreme, painstaking measure done out of necessity and with the intent to rehire once things got back on track. Now they're how a company trims expenses and veils talent churn.

High-level positions aren't going to come free If you've ticked the right boxes and are now a VP or director, good for you. Hopefully you didn't trade this career achievement for spiritual growth, introspection, or time with your family. For most of us, this will not happen unless you work at a small startup where everyone is a VP.

Organizations are looking out for themselves--You should too As a job or gig seeker, or employee learn how to discuss your economic value. Companies don't always care how many awesome documents you can write. They want to know why you will earn for them. If the job market is decent, it is your job to set boundaries. If you don't want to work 80-hour weeks, don't. Get in the habit of taking care of your needs.

Progressive's adorable mobile site

2011-03-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Look at this darling little website made for a mobile device. Useful, well-branded, and easy. Way to go, Progressive! Thanks for thinking of your customers and your would-be customers!

Error prevention

2011-03-10T10:37:00.000-08:00

How many very embarrassing situations has this design saved you from?

Advice to women, girls, and people around the world

2011-03-09T13:24:00.000-08:00

Don't take any guff from these fucking swine

- Hunter S. Thompson via Raoul Duke Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I can't believe I'm quoting this movie. The point I'm hoping to make is important. Never let anyone tell you:

Who you are
That you cannot do something, that you are bad at something, that you should instead, do what they think you should do

Some people are mean. Sometimes, you might even believe them. This is bad. Don't.

I was wrong**

2011-03-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

A while back I posted about how I am drawn to easy. Later I then discussed how this Droid Commercial as a representation of us humans being more machine like was so undesirable. My Droid post was totally dead wrong.

I gave a talk at Mills College and asked students "which seems like better life?" showing them the slide below. I colored the question with some further discription: Would you rather have things taken care of for you at the press of a button or would you rather have some droid like features of your own?

I have no idea if the students learned anything from this slide, but I can say with certainty this was a humbling reminder that I am not everyone, I am not the users, and rudimentary research done early and often keeps me in check.

** During my presentation I did not admit to my off-base assumption. I just said "hm" and moved on to the next slide.

Keep your fonts safe from the web

2011-03-03T23:24:00.000-08:00

I feel like sharing two practical links for those of you hemming and hawing about what fonts to use on the web. If you're like me you hate making these choices. If you're really like me and you go unchecked, you'd use every font you possibly could on the same web page. Here are two sites to keep you in check:

Kathy Marks's summary is great

I also like this MIT students summary and it's great to see the font examples. This is by Jacob Morzinski.

I wish all fonts will be safe for this dangerous web. I may have to start blogging in wingdigs. Or maybe just about them.

No Joke: A soda ui

2011-02-14T10:06:00.000-08:00

I got a slice and soda near Stanford's campus last week and saw this. This soda machine has two interactions:

Select a drink using the touchscreen.
Push the button labeled "PUSH"

As you can see below, there are actually five variants to the original choice of a Sprite. To go back, there's a little left arrow button.

Nerd love: Science and Tech Valentines

2011-02-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

Leave it to Etsy to provide a venue for an artist to something this awesome: Science Valentines.

"Tired of handing out valentines with commercial characters printed on flimsy cardboard? Want some classy, nerdy valentines to give to your friends (and sweethearts) that aren't just for kids?" - Stephoodle

Cabin Fever: A study of US Airways user interface

2011-02-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

International flights don't excite me. Oftentimes, I do not sleep, so to make the time pass I watch movie after movie, arriving at my destination bleary-eyed and full of anticipation that upon seeing my red suitcase on the baggage claim will result in a dramatic swelling of music.

What delights me about these flights, though, is checking out their user interface. It's a chance to study how an airline does a multimedia player.

The home screen

The Category page for TV

After you choose a category you can play or view a preview

Checkers love this page, since it has estimated time of arrival! They offer another page (which somehow I didn't capture) with a map with your departure and arrival countries and a large plane graphic in the current position.

Overall, could the User experience be better? Oh, yes, but it's pretty darned good.

Reverse wireframe any website: wirify

2011-01-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

If you've ever wanted to see a website in it's raw wireframe form, the folks at Volkside have created a tool that does just that!

Here's a Slate Article page and the Wirify version:

What's extra cool is you can simply add the bookmarklet to your bookmarks to do this instantly.

The downsides are few:

It would be nice to have the option to see Greeked or even the original copy.
Since some sites are huge on graphics, some of the translation gets a bit lost.

Overall great job, Volkside. Wish I thought of, designed, and implemented it, myself!

Google, I really love your ... style

2011-01-26T09:23:00.000-08:00

Check out the PS on this adsense letter.

This has got to be one of the coolest PS's ever (found on Reddit).

Women leading

2011-01-20T16:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't yet seen a TED lecture this relevant or important.

A very librel definition of "unsubscribe"

2011-01-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

Things Real People Don't Say about Advertising

2011-01-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a funny post from Things Real People Don't Say about Advertising. It's actually not nearly the most funny example of the hilarious language web folks use.

End-User!

2011-01-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

It's really rare for me to hear the term "end-user" anymore.

But when I do I giggle.

It sounds like a call to arms, and I can picture angry folks getting together to put an end to this user experience. If you can't picture this, I've provided the image to the left to help.

User Testing

2011-01-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

Anyone who's done user testing knows this feeling all too well. I usually try to focus on the upper left corner of the screen when it gets really bad.

In case you thought I was totally heartless, read my post on empathy too. :)

Drawing! Lynda Barry!

2011-01-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

Lynda Barry creates worlds in her comic books and is certainly on my shortlist of heros. She's hilarious, a little crazy, and her comics are honestly touching. Here's her encouraging you to draw today!

Get more Lynda Here and scroll to the bottom to see her most awesome book!

Lynda Barry's most recent book is all about you drawing!

Cute

2011-01-02T03:55:00.001-08:00

The Mesh & Linchpin

2011-01-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

Collaborating is taking on new meanings as we get cozy with the digital age and The Mesh by Lisa Gansky is particularly relevant given the democratization of content distribution.

The Gregory Brothers come to mind, best known for lifting clips of the news (usually political), auto-tuning them until they acquire the perfect nice hook, add instrumentation, and their own vocals. They achieved fame on YouTube and now their stardom is undeniable underscored by their recent collaboration with Weezer. Lisa Gansky's observations are truly provocative as "The Mesh" seems only to be on the brink.

Linchpin is particularly relevant given the huge growth of freelancers. According to this article one third of US workers are contractors. It's an interesting question: "Are you the critical person?" either that someone needs to hire or within the context you're living in? More philosophy, maybe even self-help for some, this certainly reminds me of many situations in which I've been the linchpin or the third wheel.

Repper pro, my new addiction

2010-12-30T00:41:00.000-08:00

Check out two adorable patterns I made using Repper Pro:

The above pattern is constructed from a photo of a building and blue sky in Chicago. Sadly I don't know this gorgeous building's name. Below, find the original photo:

This cute-as-a-button quilt-like pattern is also from a photo. Can you guess the material you see?

Using Repper Pro is a way to pay tribute to patterns. In fact the folder in which I put all my Repper Pro cuteness is called "Pattern Love". Go to their site to play with their free online version now.

Pay with at tweet!

2010-12-16T07:43:00.000-08:00

I ran across this adorable idea by Innovative Thunder aimed at bloggers or content creators. If you'd like to offer readers/visitors a free download, do so in exchange for a tweet!

The idea is simple--rather than including the file as a plain Jane link, your reader will hit this button:
and they'll be able to download your ebook/newsletter/template file in exchange for tweeting about your free download. Once you select "Pay with a Tweet" you'll get a window that pre-formats a tweet (something like downloaded xyz from link) then you can "Post Tweet and Download Now". What an innovative marketing mix!

Social media in print!

2010-12-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

No joke this is Biore's pint ad!

Wow.

They basically replicated the facebook layout. I have to say, social media is now officially everywhere.

Helping you empathize: Types of listening

2010-12-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

UX requires empathy with the user. You need to be able to feel the users delight and disappointment as if it were your own. There are many modes of listening and I found this random but awesome article breaking down the types of Listening:

passive/not listening - noise in background - ignoring
pretend listening - also called 'responsive listening' - using stock nods and smiles and uhum, yes, of course, etc.
biased/projective listening - 'selective listening' and intentionally disregarding/dismissing the other person's views
misunderstood listening - unconsciously overlaying your own interpretations and making things fit when they don't
attentive listening - personally-driven fact gathering and analysis often with manipulation of the other person
active listening - understanding feelings and gathering facts for largely selfish purposes
empathic listening - understanding and checking facts and feelings, usually to listener's personal agenda
facilitative listening - listening, understanding fully, and helping, with the other person's needs uppermost

User testing and user interviews often fall somewhere between 6 and 7. An ideal customer service experience with IT should be 8.

For the love of Juno, remember my click!

2010-12-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

I've been listening to Andy Rooney on 60 minutes and I admire that man. He's been in journalism so long that he's got the kind of perspective one has to respect. So it's with my hat off that I imitate his inflection in this post:

Why is it every I go to a website I have to pick "show 200 per page" or "Show all"?

It seems like even if I've been to that site 1,000 times I have to do that click 1,000 times.

I have what's called DSL in fact, my husband and I have been discussing going the next step up and getting cable so that we can both watch videos at the same time without intolerable lagging. Even with our midgrade DSL, these list pages, with all of their photos and information load fast. But that doesn't matter since I still have to click the option to see more per page. Then I have to scroll past he ones I've already seen the fist time.

Why don't these sites remember that my computer connection can handle more than 25 rows? Why do they make me click every single time I visit their site?

I guess I'm at the mercy of these sites. I'm not going to stop visiting them because of this annoyance. But I just hope just one site changes their ways to save me a click. I'd appreciate it.

Update: Ha! I'm not alone...in 2007 someone wrote a similar rant about paginated articles & even referenced Andy Rooney.

Pretty

2010-12-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

Posts you will like...

2010-11-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

This blog is finally old enough to merit a highlighting of some of the better posts. Moving right along...

If you're on the outside looking in, you'll want to read Getting a Tech Job. It's an epic post, to be sure, but I promise, worth the read.
For those in the UX industry, here's the one UX person you should follow on twitter
If you didn't get a chance to go to any fancy-schmancy conferences this year, read UX Week 2009 in a Nutshell
In October of 2009 I asked What companies have a VP of UX? I was surprised. Since then there's been a lot of moving and shaking in the UX world and a lot more VPs and Directors. I'll be revisiting this topic soon.

NYC is all over UX

2010-11-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

I've been following this trend on Indeed.com, a job search aggregation site -- First I search "user experience design" and look at where the positions are (this is a mix of consulting/full time and part time). For a while now, there have been tons of openings NYC! As you can see from the screenshot above, NYC has more than double the UX openings. San Francisco's number is on par with Chicago, DC, and yes, Atlanta, Georgia.

For a while now I've been noticing tons of UX's form NYC & they have a slick style! NYC seems more Hulu while Silicon Valley is more Youtube. Check out Squarespace and compare it to Weebly.

Simple? Intutive? Microsoft!?

2010-11-18T12:11:00.000-08:00

Could the people responsible for this so something totally awesome?

I've been fascinated by Microsoft's new game console, Kinect and apparently it's awesome to use! Fine don't believe me. Watch the video below to se revolutionary applications of a hardware-less interface.

Droid: Be one or own one?

2010-11-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

To be loved currently, but in the future, to simply survive, technology must be nice, cool, useful, and work perfectly with us humans, weird, sloppy, moody, confused as we are. Technology is here for us and should adapt to us. Technology should meet our needs.

So I'm floored to see ad campaigns like this Droid Phone commercial, which propose the opposite: that humans are the ones who need to adapt to technology by being more like it. I thought the phone was supposed to be the droid, not the customer.

Do you dream of being like a computer? Do you want to type so fast it makes you look like you're a robot? Tired of those clumsy flesh hands & arms? Buy a Droid, free your inner typist!

Infographics are totally hot right now

2010-11-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

Click on the image below for the whole shebang.

By GTMetrics...now get back to work!

Checkout: Sephoras shipping method selector

2010-11-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

UPS ground is default though takes twice as long for us on the West Coast, USPS priority is Faster than Fast! am I missing anything? Does this confuse you too?

Does McDonalds take the infographic too far or just right?

2010-11-09T23:53:00.000-08:00

You tell me.

Notice the chicken? From another country, but where?

Thermostat: Industrial interface design example

2010-11-07T10:42:00.001-08:00

I find industrial interface design captivating because they work with so many constraints. Look at what this designer was faced with when applying labels to this thermostat: four teeny-tiny buttons.

I admire how the designer used icons and created boxes around the small buttons. The icons reinforce the meaning and the boxes increase the perceived size of each button. Well done, SensorStat! An excellent example of working within physical limits.

WTF? My investment account is asking me about my favorite dessert

2010-10-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

I cannot remember what I may have typed several months ago. I may have been in an ice cream phase back then but no, that doesn't work either. Blueberry pie has always had a special place in my heart. As well as caramel corn. But none of that helps me now.

I get it. Banks want to seem secure. Please though, ask questions who's answers do not change. Election cycles effect my favorite president. My mood effects what food I like.

I'm not going to tell this to the person on the other line of their 1800 number of course. This feedback doesn't belong anywhere but on a UX blog.

David McCandles information visualization

2010-10-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

I heard David McCandles do a lecture at on the internet. This is one of his most intriguing graphics:

My new favorite vlogger: Mary Kate

2010-10-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Ryan Singer of 37 Signals Interview

2010-10-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

Cute

2010-08-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ou est la Elevator pitch?

2010-08-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

Or in Spanish: Donde estas la Elevator Pitch?

Why doesn't every company have an elevator pitch? Probably because not every company has a business plan, real market, or strategy. Sad, but true.

An elevator pitch should be done or at least drafted in the ideation phase for startups. It's ok to fumble at it but once you are selling (to VCs, to customers ect) you have to have this down.

In other words, have an answer to questions like:

What is what you do useful?
Why are you better?
Why should I care?

Learn more about how you can not sound like an idiot as you try to say why you're so great by listening to the CreativeXpert podcast Interview with Henning Fischer - Mission Statements and Objectives
Find more at the CreativeXpert show archives or just subscribe on iTunes.

Flickr kills Stock photography

2010-07-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

To begin building my brand I wondered: how could I get a high resolution quality photo of some random item.

First I googled and sifted through the mostly OK images. The earth-shattering, beautiful options were all stock photos. ranging in price from $100-$1,000.

Ew.

Then I turned to Stock Photography's night mare: Flikr. Aside from way more choices and better pictures, the people who took them are NICE and all too happy to let you use their photo in your website (I've asked ~~twice~~ three times now....not a large sample size but I don't care!)

Case in point: Jodi_tripp's awesome "I love Flickr" shot used with permission

Rutgers Data Viz class materials

2010-07-23T20:28:00.001-07:00

If you've always wanted to know how Rutgers does data visualization, there's finally a place to look. Back in the 90's some instructors had handouts which were essentially course notes. Nowadays, some kind professors are going the extra mile, giving kids audio & video. Instructor Anselm Spoerri, you are awesome.

3 of my favorite videos from UX Week 2010

2010-07-23T20:11:00.001-07:00

UX Week 2009 | Matt Webb | Adaptive Path from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

UX Week 2009 | Jeffrey Veen | Adaptive Path from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

UX Week 2009 | Jesse James Garrett | Adaptive Path from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

Ad error

2010-07-20T10:55:00.001-07:00

I wonder how many people write into Hulu demanding their ads work right.

Being friendly to users is a full-time job

2010-07-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

I did something then something happened

2010-07-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

This is a confirmation message in Call of Duty interface on Xbox:

It reads:

Notice
Your sign in status has changed returning to the main menu
Exit

Totally awesome

2010-07-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

Selling out Wayne's World style

2010-05-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

Wane's World did one of the best parodies of something happening all of the time on reality TV: cross-marketing.

Some of my favorite shows involve segments where they pitch products with this same deadpan approach and minus the humor. But I have to think the TV contestants are subconsciously remembering this scene to justify hocking wares they don't even like.

Benjamin: Wayne! Listen, we need to have a talk about Vanderhoff. The fact is he's the sponsor and you signed a contract guaranteeing him certain concessions, one of them being a spot on the show.
Wayne Campbell: [holding a Pizza Hut box] Well that's where I see things just a little differently. Contract or no, I will not bow to any sponsor.
Benjamin: I'm sorry you feel that way, but basically it's the nature of the beast.
Wayne Campbell: [holding a bag of Doritos] Maybe I'm wrong on this one, but for me, the beast doesn't include selling out. Garth, you know what I'm talking about, right?
Garth Algar: [wearing Reebok wardrobe] It's like people only do these things because they can get paid. And that's just really sad.
Wayne Campbell: I can't talk about it anymore; it's giving me a headache.
Garth Algar: Here, take two of these!
[Dumps two Nuprin pills into Wayne's hand]
Wayne Campbell: Ah, Nuprin. Little. Yellow. Different.
Benjamin: Look, you can stay here in the big leagues and play by the rules, or you can go back to the farm club in Aurora. It's your choice.
Wayne Campbell: [holding a can of Pepsi] Yes, and it's the choice of a new generation.

Facts on display: Vimeo's nice little table

2010-05-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

On my desktop is a word document called sites I like. When I see a particularly attractive handling of information, I take a screenshot & slap it into this document.

This little bit of information visualization on Vimeo is the type of thing I snatched up right away. Let me tell you why I love it:

the data is bolded
the data text & background appear in easy-to-read high contrast, the supporting materials (the facets) appear in lower contrasting colors
the table provides a means to see this same information in a chart but defaults to the less apt for misinterpretation data
totals of the data augment what can be seen at first blush
efficient displays of data (1.9M is easier to read & mentally download than 1,900,000)

The pattern here is that the visual focus is on the metrics, the facts, the data only.

Selling Newspapers

2010-05-06T12:22:00.001-07:00

I find this in-your-face design trend terrible: below the ads are actually getting in the way of selling newspapers. Oftentimes people are captivated by the front page story. The design below says "Amazingly Low Prices" is the front page story, then something about financial giants, er something.

House ad that manages not to cause snoring

2010-05-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

While filling up I've seen icky, icky things. But this ad was refreshing, light, and most importantly, not annoying.

Don't know much about Marketing

2010-04-28T01:04:00.000-07:00

I hadn't heard about google trends until stumbling on this video.

Jeff Bezos

2010-04-02T12:21:00.001-07:00

Jeff talks about the regret he would have had if he had not moved forward on his idea for Amazon.com.

Psychology is what makes us not computers

2010-03-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

With all of the biases that effect decision making it's amazing we get anything done.

Barnes & Noble: nailing the upsell

2010-03-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

I'm a proud tightwad, so when someone gets 30 cents out of me, it's a life event.

The other day I was at Barnes & Noble in Dublin and after I ordered my small coffee (so cheap!) the barista did something a bit unexpected. She held up small and medium cups next to each other and said this:

"Do you want the medium? It's only 30 cents more."

Guess what I did? I got it.

If you multiply this simple customer interaction (transaction) for that location then consider the thousands of stores, you're suddenly talking about millions more per year in coffee sales. Wow.

Why are we stuck in the 90's?

2010-03-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

I often wonder: if hard space is more or less unlimited, why are we not constantly snapping photos, video, and recording audio? For example, why don't we:

email our parents who live far away with video of what our garden looks like?
send our friend a picture of an outfit from the dressing room when we need that extra nudge to buy something cute?
use video conferencing rather than calling?
record a song we like so we can look up the lyrics later or ask our music genius friend'what is that crazy instrument?'

In my estimation, there are a few reasons:

We are still stuck in a mindset that space is limited. In other words, you don't "waste" video on something that won't be treasured for years to come.
We balk at filling up terabyte drives with our own drivel because we are already using facebook for that very purpose.
It's hard enough organizing real family photos into albums why create even more content that we'll then have to organize, maintain or otherwise manage?
We haven't yet absorbed the fact that our phones are really powerful computers. We can not yet fully take advantage of what our phones can do for us.
We don't want to seem weird. I mean, everyones already on their phone all the time and sometimes when you take a picture in a store (like me in See's Candy yesterday) you don't want to feel awkward after you are told that photos aren't allowed.
Privacy. We don't want our embarrassing outfit that really wasn't flattering showing up on fail.com.

Think & discuss. If you have any other additions to these "why don't we" examples please comment!

How UX is like Acne cream

2010-02-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

I recently interviewed at a SaaS company only to realize how I need to better organize my work to tell a story of progress.

Many of my examples failed because in most cases, I had the "after" or the "during" images. I was then in a position of talking through the "before" which of course is not as good as simply showing it. It struck me how uncompelling it was to show these things without any context & that's my lesson for the day.

UX, like acne products, is about a highly visible before & after.

LukeW's Before & After shots of a conversion test. The one on the right converts 25%-40% better. Thanks to Mark for the MadLibs blog entry which inspired this post.

Learn by example: The design of iwillteachyoutoberich.com

2010-02-23T22:42:00.000-08:00

It's better to create short dense posts than lengthy infrequent posts.

One of the major culprits of creating great lo-fi information packed posts is a San Francisco entrepreneur Ramit Sethi, author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich. Here's his designer Ben Bleikamp explaining his rationale in approching Ramit's blog.

Note how Ben talks about:

Trust through "social proof"
How the purchase calls to action complete the "user loop" and how comments don't
Analytics and live site A/B testing

The Easy Button

2010-02-05T14:57:00.000-08:00

I saw this "Easy" button on a camcorder in Best Buy (left) & LOVE it. I have no idea what it does, but don't you just want to press it and see?

One of the smartest technology ad campaigns I've seen isn't even for a purely technical product. I immediately connected with Staple's Easy Button campaign since it got at the heart of what we all want: simplicity. In a world that's become overwrought with distractions & where technology is riddled with meaningless features that do nothing more than cause confusion, it's no wonder this ad caught on. The campaign got nice mainstream media coverage and sold easy buttons for charity. I was lucky enough to press one myself. It was fun.

Vector art

2009-11-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

Adorable free vector art on Vecteezy is downloadable, re-sizable, and just plain awesome.

This invention is long overdue

2009-11-23T14:13:00.001-08:00

Check out how artist Bruno Taylor modified several bus stops in London. I love this idea :)

Design Heuristics by Wicken, Gordon, & Liu

2009-11-20T08:38:00.000-08:00

Thanks to one of my classmates at the University of Illinois, Michael Berner, I still have & use the "13 Principles of Display Design" the seminal textbook An Introduction to Human Factors Engineering from a class of the same name we took together in 1997. The author, also our instructor, Christopher Wickens is an academic visionary in the field of Human Factors. After U of I, Christopher Wickens joined the University of Colorado before joining Alion Micro Analysis & Design, a consulting services and software products company. Please find the book citation at the bottom of this entry. OK, on to the heuristics. My personal favorites are #3, #9, and #10.

Perceptual Principles

1) avoid absolute judgment limits: do not require the operator to judge the level of a represented variable on the basis of a single sensory variable (e.g., color, size, loudness) which contains more than five to seven possible levels (for some dimensions an even smaller number of levels is preferable; e.g., saturation)

2) take into account top-down processing: if a signal is presented that is contrary to expectations, more physical evidence of that signal must be presented to guarantee that it will be processed

3) make use of redundancy gain: same message in alternative physical forms (not simply repetition; e.g., traffic lights: position and hue are redundant); the factors that might degrade one form (e.g., noise degrading auditory message), will not degrade the other (e.g., printed text)

4) ensure discrimination (similarity causes confusion): delete unnecessary similar features and highlight dissimilar ones in order to create distinctiveness (what causes two signals to be similar is the ratio of similar features to dissimilar ones)

Mental Model Principles

5) principle of pictorial realism: a display should look like (i.e., be a picture of) the variable that it represents (e.g., temperature can be high or low, therefore a temperature display should be oriented vertically); if a display contains multiple elements, these can be configured in a manner that looks like how they are configured in the environment that is represented (or the operator's conceptualization of that environment) [principle of configural displays]

6) principle of the moving part: the moving element(s) of any display of dynamic info should move in a spatial pattern and direction that is compatible with the user's mental model of how the represented element moves (e.g., increasing altitude, upwards movements of the moving element on an altimeter; BUT: limited display space in the cockpit)
sometimes these principles are conflicting: for example, display of an aircraft's banking position relative to the horizon; from the pilot's perspective, the horizon is moving; from a pictorial realism perspective, the airplane is moving; SOLUTION: so-called frequency-separated displays, combine aspects of a fixed-pointer moving-scale display and a fixed-scale moving-pointer display)

7) ecological interface design: adherence to the ecology of the displayed world (see above); map of system, allow access at/to different levels of abstraction; support skill-, rule-, and knowledge-based behavior; semantic mapping & direct manipulation

Principles Based on Attention

8) minimizing information access cost: minimize cost in time/effort of "moving" selective attention from one display location to another by keeping frequently accessed information sources close together so that the cost of "traveling" between them is small

9) proximity compatibility principle: when two or more sources of info are related to the same task and must be mentally integrated to complete the task (i.e., they have close "mental proximity") provide them with close "display proximity" by displaying them close together so that their information access costs will be low (in extreme: integrated displays; maybe also: emergent features). However, too much close display proximity is not always good, particularly if one of the elements must be the subject of focused attention

10) principle of multiple resources: sometimes, processing a lot of info can be facilitated by dividing that info across resources (presenting visual and auditory info concurrently, rather than presenting all info in visual format or all information in auditory format) -- important: input modes, response devices, and tasks should be combined such that they are as dissimilar in terms of processing stages, input modalities, and processing codes (e.g., voice dialing [verbal/vocal code/output] a phone number while driving [visual/manual input/code/output] is easier than entering the phone number by key presses)

Memory Principles (consider short-term memory as well as long-term memory limitations)

11) principle of predictive aiding: prediction is a difficult cognitive task (high load on STM) humans are not particularly good at, esp. when our mental resources are consumed with other tasks; proactive behavior is usually more effective than reactive behavior; displays that can explicitly predict what will (or is likely to) happen will generally be quite effective in human performance

12) principle of knowledge in the world (versus knowledge in the head; Don Norman's distinction): placing explicit visible reminders or statements of what is to be done (or how to do something or what something is) at the time and place that will trigger the appropriate action (e.g., pilot's checklist; computer menu listing all available commands); BUT: can lead to clutter; good design must find balance

13) principle of consistency: will lead to positive transfer between different displays (support processing of new displays); e.g., red always means the same thing, consistent organization of display panels.

"An introduction to human factors engineering" by Wickens, C. D., Gordon, S. E., & Liu, Y. (1998). New York, NY: Longman Amazon.com's product page

Eat your keyboard

2009-11-19T09:51:00.001-08:00

I saw this on a site called Geekologie and have to say: it's adorable

In Praise of Humility - quotes from Joshua Blankenship's blog

2009-11-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

Unsolicited designs, if they’re going to be done at all, should be communicated with class, humility, & a ton of research.

The web will still be full of arrogant, uninformed, polarizing, self-promoting, controversy-creating content that has ramifications no one wants to own up to...still be lacking in common courtesy, humility, and the admittance that most of us don’t know best

Joshua Blankenship in his blog So Serious in an entry titled Creating Controversy for its own Sake (and How Humility is a Rare Bird Indeed on the Web These Days)

Summaries, executive & not

2009-11-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

Summaries are critical to anchoring a reader down when they are faced with complex, detailed, and large volumes of writing. I believe if you call it an Executive Summary you won't just save the reader time, you'll make the audience feel important. Just make sure your summary lives up to it's name.

Quick Thought: What's in a name? Centuries of comprehension

2009-11-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

Writing good site/application copy isn't easy. Naming features and companies is even harder.

A rose will still smell like a rose if it is called a rose but if today if we renamed roses to something like, say, snaggles, it would be very, very strange.

Shakespeare assumed we were starting from scratch--we are not. Language has been around too long to be forgettable. Language carries with it centuries of baggage. Opting for clarity above fun, catchy, colorful, or alternative language might seem boring, but muddling a message is rarely good . Since this is UX though, there are always exceptions. Like this Bouys & Gulls bathroom sinage. So cute!

The one UX person you should follow on twitter

2009-11-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

Jane Pyle - UX designer at Genentech. iPhone app design.Branding.Emotional design.Usability

I read a lot of UX blogs & tweets (just save a #ux search if you need some mojo, links, or articles) and Jane consistently delivers the coolest UX tweets. They're fresh, entertaining, & thought-provoking.

Recent Tweet Recap from Jane Pyle

Movie information visualizations
A hilarious Electronic System for Travel Authorization form at IQBlog Oh, if only catching criminals were so easy.
LinkedIn is in the midst of a Redesign!

Cutting non-data out of a map, literally
Long overdue: wireframe magnets

An ode to ET

2009-11-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

Tufte shares Orwell's impatience with doublethink and humbuggery, his insight that bad thinking and bad expression travel in a pair, and . . . that they are usually deployed in the service of some brand of propaganda.

SCOTT ROSENBERG "The Data Artist" on Salon.com

Lies the parking meter told me

2009-11-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

OK, I get it. I can park here for only 30 minutes. Good to know...

You're telling me it costs $2 an hour. Ummm.

Don't you mean $1 for 30 minutes since that's the cap? Yeah, you probably do.

Axure for Mac on it's way!

2009-11-07T23:54:00.000-08:00

Yay! Bonus for using twitter for customer service.

Dear AT&T: you're creeping me out

2009-11-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

When I get a text after 10pm on a Monday it better be someone I love very much. My eyebrows furrowed as I received this a month into my service.

>:P

Dazzeling gallery

2009-10-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

I Stumbled Upon this page recently & loved how sytes.org executed this photo gallery:

Companies with a VP of UX

2009-10-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

One of Donald Norman's most interesting commands in his interview with Peter Merholz, of Adaptive path, is this: "Start being Vice Presidents".

I chuckled since it's not as if collectively all UX designers are thumbing our noses at the idea.

"Yeah I got another VP job offer. It's so annoying."
"Tell me about it. This executive recruiter followed me to lunch yesterday & paid for it while trying to sell me on his small, highly profitable start-up"
"Crazy"
"Yeah"

Then it struck me: who has a VP UX today?

Google, duh.

I wasn't so sure about Apple. It's harder to tell. Ex-Apple executive, Don Lindsay was tapped for a VP UX position at Research in Motion. In any case, Apple has a laser beam focus on UX through their design process, it certainly sounds like UX is ingrained in the culture. In any case, they both encourage creativity, UX design, testing, and metrics.

So what companies put UX on the same platform as Engineering, Human Resources, Finance, etc?

Vice presidents in User Experience
I tracked down over 500 VP UX's using linkedIn search but the following handful seemed the most significant as many of these companies are thought leaders & highly profitable businesses.

Wells Fargo

Sarah Bellrichard Vice President, User Experience Research & Design at [LinkedIn]

Google
Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products & User Experience [Google's bio | LinkedIn ]

TiVo
Margaret Schmidt, Vice President of User Experience Design and Research [ Harvard Business Publishing article]

Palm
Matias Duarte Vice President of Human Interface and User Experience [UX Week 2009 interview | LinkedIn]

short term and long term

2009-10-18T02:40:00.001-07:00

full day of email
Originally uploaded by daveterry

Isn't this great?

UX disaster

2009-10-18T02:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's a fake. But a tragic example of UX gone wrong. ;*)

Thanks to Lee for the laugh

If 40 hours a week isn't enough...

2009-10-09T17:58:00.001-07:00

In case you long for the love you get from your taskbar when your away from the machine, MySuiteStuff provides a constant reminder about what you do for a living with these Adobe pillows. It's a great way to announce "Here's what I do for work" to tech savvy visitors. For those less up on the tools of the designer trade, maybe they'll think think of elements on the periodic table in a foreign language.

Seems a more modern interpretation of occupational figurine. Makes a great gift because it won't be in your house. :P