27
Apr 10
Outlook fails in a variety of ways. But today it was just too good.
When outlook encountered an error, it gave me this message:
When it asked was this helpful, I clicked the link.
I hit no, the error message ‘operation failed’ was not helpful. How could I possibly fix the problem if the system only told me it had failed, and not how to fix it or what might be causing the error? After I clicked no, this came up:
It failed to record how it had failed. That’s pretty much the epitome of worthlessness.
22
Mar 10
The minds behind the Venture Bros., a cartoon that airs on Adult Swim, put an amazing level of thought and detail into their DVD design. My favorite is the homage to Atari video games.
05
Jun 09
Last Saturday I attended the first ever Big (D)esign ’09 in Dallas. I was impressed with the caliber and content of the speakers . I’d rather not do one of those quick summaries where I regurgitate the highlights because I feel that the ideas I was exposed to deserve a little more illumination than that- so I’ll try to do a few more posts on the presentations that fascinated me the most.
One of the ideas I enjoyed was presented by Stephen P. Anderson in a lecture entitled “The Art and Science of Seductive Interactions.” I went in thinking he’d just present some basic interaction patterns. Instead, he stayed true to his title and discussed how you can consistently produce interactions that ‘seduce’ your audience through study and ingenuity.
Creating a popular, viral product or application isn’t a lucky accident (well, at least in most cases). It’s an engineered and carefully planned experience. You can have a well designed, very usable product but people may not be sticking around long on your site or your competition is overtaking you. Why is that? It’s because you haven’t tapped into what surprises, delights, and holds people’s attention by understanding how humans work.
Anderson proposed that if you understand your audience and what makes them tick by studying psychology, social sciences, and interactions that you find intriguing you can produce consistent, strong results. In order to take a product from good to great, you must know what interactions are intriguing to your users and why.
Never forget that you are a user yourself. Do you ever experience something that delights you and makes you want to explore the site or application more? Then ask yourself why. Is it because your friends use it? It’s mentally stimulating? Is it because they incorporated a fun game? The majority of us are on the internet quite often so there’s no reason not to make an effort to study what works for us, what does not, and why. By making this effort, your ability to design fantastic products will grow by leaps and bounds.
If you’re interested in learning more about the happenings at Big (D)esign, check out the twitter feed from that day- there are also some links to recap posts .
20
May 09
I was reading this article by Rachel Hinman of Adaptive Path and was intrigued by their efforts to make a mobile device that would do well in less tech savvy markets such as rural India. Hinman noted that the sleek, streamlined design of devices such as the iPhone deter exploration and tangible interaction. She goes on to say that her design team turned to the style of Steampunk. “It’s an aesthetic that invites the touch of the human hand and it encourages engagement and fosters curiosity and play.”
I love the aesthetic of steampunk for it’s whimsy and nostalgia, but I realized that there’s another reason. It’s exactly as Hinman describes- it makes me want to explore and tinker with the item. It’s a very visceral aesthetic, which we lack in the digital age. More and more there’s what I would call the Apple Aesthetic, which is one button- if you’re lucky. You have to rely on the gizmo’s internal screen to lead you around by the nose- you can’t just hit a button and have it do what you want (I should note here that I am, at heart, a curmudgeon).
To me it feels flimsy and almost unreal. And if the devices internal computer seizes up, you’re out of luck. With that in mind, Adaptive Path’s idea of adding tangible interactions would, to some degree, be welcome in tech-savvy markets. While the typical American wouldn’t want all the buttons and gauges they’ve included, I would think something with a bit of “real” interaction would be welcome. Though we all oohed and aahed when the iPhone first came out, I mourn the loss of a few buttons to mash when I need something quick. Not to mention the tactile benefit of feeling buttons when you’re trying to call someone and drive at the same time…
My grumbles might fall on deaf ears as I’m taken into the sleek and shiny future, but I don’t think I’m alone in saying I would like the best of both worlds. If technology is capable of anything, then it can certainly give me a few buttons.
04
Mar 09
It seems so obvious now that it’s laughable, but until I started working in such a large company, I had never realized how key communication and collaboration were in the development process. It was a naïve notion, but I pictured designers mocking up the UI, ‘throwing it over the fence’ (or in this case, the cubicle wall) and having the developers go at it. In my mind, that’s how the process went. Of course, now I realize that it’s about constant communication and the discussion of ideas so that everyone has a personal investment in the product.
In a perfect world, the designer and the developer would work in harmony, traipsing through fields of wireframes and code with utmost respect for each other and open minds eager for revisions. We have good intentions, but that’s rarely how it goes. So when I came across two great articles that detailed the at times tense dynamic, I couldn’t help but send it out to my department.
“These are amusing to read, but basically can be summed up in a few words: collaboration is key to success. Sometimes developers and designers clash over aspects of the development process when instead they should be discussing and brainstorming. These articles detail how these conflicts arise.
One discusses how designers can become ‘the negative blocker guy’.
Another details how programmers can become fickle gods of their code universe.
The articles are part of a series entitled ‘Things I learned the hard way.’ Let’s not learn it the hard way and instead keep these ideas in mind while developing together.
As it says in this article referencing this series, ‘It’s about approaching developers as co-conspirators in producing great work: designers know what needs to happen and developers know how it can.’”
Both have great skills to bring to the table, so let’s become tiny, positive gods of the domain together.
18
Sep 08
While on an only semi-hokey ghost tour of Old Town, Virginia, the tour guide mentioned a ’spite house’ nearby. Being a Texan and unfamiliar with the term, I elegantly removed the stalk of wheat from my mouth and asked the question, “What’s that?”
A spite house, it seems, is a design solution to an interesting conflict.
Problem: Dubious persons and sailors on shore leave would conduct business with other shady types as well as ladies of the night in the alleys between houses.
Solution: Fill the alley with a house.
Pictured is the spite house, which is roughly eight feet wide and two stories tall (it’s only as wide as the blue brick). And with D.C.’s amusing real estate, it’s worth nearly half a million dollars. A little piece of history, all to yourself.
17
Sep 08
It’s funny how in science fiction everything is so advanced, but looks incredibly complicated. Prime example: the infamous Millenium Falcon, which is noted for making the “Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.” Despite it’s speed and agility, the dashboard of the space craft looked horrendously muddled. Was it because the ship was simply “the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy”, or that sci-fi props are rarely built with an eye to UI?
Granted, the creators of sci-fi are obviously trying to impress us with all the flashing lights and beeping sounds, but are they not thinking of the UI utopia of the future? That things will get easier and will more often than not follow the psychology and goals of the user? One would hope that with a simple push of a button, Han Solo and Chewbacca could be jumping into hyperdrive. Instead it’s a process that seems to take awhile and cause them quite a bit of stress- especially when they’re being chased by a Star Destroyer.
Alright, so I am kind of cheating. The Star Wars saga actually takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but everything else just looks so futuristic I just figured they had a user interface designer or two lying around in that vast galaxy. Surely a Jedi would excel at the profession.
And with that I will make a note of hitting my Star Wars pun quota for 2008.
09
Mar 08
Do you ever wander what happened to geocities? It’s still there…just waiting for you to come back.
I can’t think of any circumstance in which blink tags should be used.
