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The world revolves around the user.

August 22

Sweating the Small Stuff

“The details are not the details. They make the design.”
- Charles Eames

There was something about the tail light of the Mini Cooper S in front of me that caught my eye. It took a moment, but as soon as the driver tapped the brakes again I saw it: the illuminated brake light did not fit inside its housing. I thought: that must be intentional. There is no obvious reason why the ring of of the light could not be made smaller or of a different shape, so why design the rear light in this way? I glanced around the rest of the car looking for clues (while paying close attention to the road, um, for the most part).

As I’d suspected, the evidence was there. Scanning the exterior details, particularly the curves of the side panels and the subtle tuck of various seams, it all made sense. The entire skin of the Mini appeared ready to burst from within, as if the envelope of the car were being distorted by the power of the machine underneath. That impression was being reinforced by the design gesture of the tail light: the housing appears to be too small to enclose the lamp.

None of these interpretations is true: the housing could be designed to contain the brake light easily and the panels are shaped on the assembly line, not by some barely contained force of the underlying machine. These construction details are designed to create the illusion that the Mini is brawnier than its size would imply. Whether the performance of the car lives up to the aesthetic is not relevant, I’ve already made this association. (more…)

posted to: Creative, Experience Design | No Comments »

August 21

Improving the Experience of Getting From Point A to Point B

by Debbie Goldstein

Being a frequent patron of San Francisco’s MUNI system, I depend on system updates and maps to help me estimate my commute time. At each of the underground stations there is a flat panel display depicting a real-time image of the trains and their paths.

Current Muni Display

I’ve thought about ways to improve the design and created the following (click on the thumbnail for the full image):

The design not only indicates the sequence of trains, but also indicates the time it will take for trains to arrive (MUNI currently displays arrival times for individual trains at nextmuni.com). As a seasoned rider, I care more about the time it takes for my train to arrive than I do about the sequence of the trains. Since what is displayed is the section of the trains’ shared paths downtown, I would also be interested in seeing the estimated time it would take to get to stops past downtown, especially if I am a tourist (see note #5).

My recommendations as called out in the design are to:

1) Indicate the station both by adding a title and by highlighting the station within the train path

2) Display the station full name for people not familiar with the abbreviations

3) Indicate the directions of the train (inbound and outbound) through labels and arrows. In addition, only show trains about to arrive at that station. Passengers aren’t interested in seeing trains getting to stations that are past their station. Increase contrast by muting the actual path background and highlighting train shapes with color.

4) Make it easy for people to discern trains by increasing font size as well as adding shapes and color.

5) How many times have I been approached by an out-of-towner wondering if the N-Judah train will go to Ocean Beach and how long will it take? I have sometimes wondered the same question myself. What would be a great nice-to-have (even if it could not be real-time) would be a scrolling display that indicated how long it would take to get from the current station to other outbound (and inbound) stops.

6) Of course, place a legend that indicates symbols and colors in a prominent place so that passengers can interpret the design.

Now if only I can figure out a way to make my commute shorter….

posted to: Experience Design | 2 Comments »

August 20

Simplexity

by Drake Pusey

A recent article in Time Magazine by Jeffrey Kluger entitled “The Art of Simplexity” got me thinking about the human inability to distinguish between things that are simple and things that are complex. (For instance, a nuclear power plant may actually be less complex than a “simple” leaf.) This cognitive “weakness” is both the key opportunity and a primary hazard for those of us in the Experience Design field.

For user experience professionals, the goal is usually to make something complex seem simple. (Apple has a reputation for doing this well.) We “exploit” human perception for the user’s own good. For example, we mask the colossal databases and technical integration points that make a convenient communications tool with a predictive interface possible.

The potential problem is when our own familiarity with an interface we have designed prevents us from recognizing the complexity first-time users would see in it. Constant exposure to the design clouds our own judgement, so it looks simple to us. This is why usability testing is crucial, and why some of the features usability participants stumble on seem easy to us.

I now make an extra effort to judge critically the degree of complexity/simplicity in the objects and interfaces I encounter on a daily basis. It’s not easy!

posted to: Experience Design | 2 Comments »

July 31

The Quarterly Earnings Call is Passé

by Eric Karofsky

Much has been discussed about the availability of new socially oriented financial products for the retail audience, however even the very traditional institutional audience is beginning to tread into the area.

The retail world offers many examples of best practices. From great sites such as Mint.com, which can organize an individual’s financial accounts, to crowd-sourced investment ideas at the Motley Fool, there are a host of opportunities to gain from the wisdom of the crowd. Recently, Jeremiah Owyang from Forrester listed many retail examples.

Now the institutional side, more traditional and conservative, is beginning to adopt social media practices. No, I don’t expect Facebook and Myspace to have a many buy-side friend groups, however there is a deep interest in more meaningful interactions between investment managers and their institutional clientele.

Advisors and investors are looking for more contact with portfolio managers and members of the investment team. For example, the typical earnings call offers minimal capabilities beyond listening and getting in queue to ask a a question. Feedback is that they are typically too structured, too scripted, and question and answer sessions require too much time, or are of little value.

Research has shown us that analysts and decision makers want to interact beyond phone calls. They want to ask tough questions and physically see how the manager reacts. They want to be able to view it on their own time, and their own devices. They want to understand and learn from other people’s questions. They want to rank questions to make the most of their valuable time. They want to search for specific comments. Some want to offer feedback on the answers and others want to create an evolving dialogue.

In order to be successful, web-based interactions need to delicately balance corporate and legal compliance concerns with the vast opportunities that technology affords. Investment managers that don’t evolve their interactions risk perceptions of transparency and risk providing the conviction that investors need to recommend or purchase a product.

posted to: Digital Strategy, Experience Design, Industry Trends, Web 2.0 & Social Media | No Comments »

July 25

Usability testing software on mac

by Edward McKeown

New usability software on mac called Silverback. It allows you to capture user computer movement and capture participant reactions using the mac’s built-in camera. Then it creates a Quicktime composite of both for easy analysis.

Watch the demo video:

Silverback screencast from Jeremy Keith on Vimeo.

posted to: Experience Design | No Comments »