‘Design’ Blog Entries
In the early days it was email and today it’s the online profile. It seems these days that if you don’t have a profile on a social network you don’t really exist, at least in regards to the Internet–even my dad has one. I’ve had profiles on too many sites to remember, many of which were before the days when we called them social networks.
“You Looked Hotter On MySpace”
I was a hold out on MySpace–due to its utterly poor design. As someone in the field of user experience I felt disgusted in myself for not only finally signing up to use it, but to also promote it. Don Norman had stated in his classic book, The Design of Everyday Things that we are to send a message to companies who make unusable products by boycotting them. I knew very well I was breaking this rule when I signed up. But much like the early days of email, when people would ask “What’s your email address?”, everyone started asking “Where’s your MySpace profile?”.
Salvaging What I Could
I did everything I could to make my profile clean, trim, and easy to use. But still, I could not bare to sit through some of the most obvious user experience design problems (e.g., clicking a link to a page that requires you to login, after login should send you to the requested page!). To compound such problems, the use of third party design layouts made profiles almost outright unreadable. Autoplaying profile songs, slideshows, autoplaying movies, animated backgrounds, and countless full resolution photos; it’s like a 13 year old girl’s scrapbook but fully animated with accompanying audio. I soon identified which friends’ profiles I would never visit again. Sadly, even my own sister was on that list.
The issue with MySpace though is that they truly see no reason to solve any of these problems. They are not in the business of providing any kind of enjoyable user experience or new innovative features. Just by looking at the constant marketing AD takeovers of the site you will understand MySpace’s true goals–a marketing mouthpiece. It is not a place for friends but a place for advertising executives.
Good Bye
I may no longer be up on what new movies Twentieth Century Fox is releasing or what new beverage I should be drinking, at least I will have ended that momentary lapse in judgment.
08.29.07 — Design, User Experience
I’m a photography hobbyist, always have a camera in my bag. I’ve got lenses that range from 18mm to 135mm in zoom length and they all suit me pretty well–still on the look out for an ultra wide but that’s besides the point. Every now and then I find myself coming back to my 50mm prime lens (no variable zoom, it is what it is). I can only explain this due to that there is something about working within a specific set of constraints which inspires me. With no ability to stand in place and twist a zoom ring to adjust the frame of my photo, I’m on my feet a lot more getting closer to objects, standing on whatever is accessible. To put it plainly, I feel that I’m more creative with my shooting–less susceptible to that dilemma of greatness in choice. I have to work with what I’m given.
Similarly, I find that when designing a user experience, having constraints evokes a more stimulating thought process as you try to maneuver within what is possible. Can it be frustrating, yes, but that frustration is the basis of what spurs ideation. When it comes time to design, I’d rather have the 50mm at hand.
08.16.07 — Design
Instructions on how to operate a mouse are fairly rare these days. But there was a time when the mouse was a new method of interaction and we had to inform people on the mechanics of its operation. In a 1984 Apple brochure for the Macintosh they outlined how to use a mouse and what it could be used for. Reading it today, it sounds like a set of directions for something as pedestrian as a door handle.
08.06.07 — Design, User Experience
You almost can’t buy a TV today that isn’t a widescreen, yet the majority of our TV programming is still broadcasted in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio (square shape) format. But you’ve got that nice widescreen tv so you got to use that all too common stretch feature, which more often than not produces a poor image and is not at all flattering for our favorite celebrities.
What was originally designed to be a feature to handle legacy content is unnecessarily making its way to the web. CNN, who broadcasts in 4:3, has just recently updated their web site and has implemented a new video player. Oddly, they have opted to replicate this stretching effect on their web site.
Maybe their assumption is that people are used to seeing CNN stretched or they are trying to give the impression that they shoot in widescreen. This is nothing new to CNN as Chris Fahey points out, they also stretch the video on the TVs in their studios.
07.29.07 — Design, Media
Prompting users about whether they would like to receive a receipt upon completing an ATM transaction is a long common practice. As is the practice of after printing one, immediately throwing it away. How are users interacting with these receipts and what can be done to reduce the waste as well as provide an easier and more secure experience?
Through examining ATM environments and the methods in which users interact with ATMs we can gain insightful details, especially around how receipts are used. To begin though, we must look at what types of information are provided on an ATM receipt; usually bank name, time, location, withdrawal/deposit amount, and account balance. These receipts often don’t travel very far from their birthplace–usually right into a trash can, which has been neatly placed at the foot of the ATM. Also in an odd bit of anthropological examination it is interesting to see how users dispose of their receipts; sometimes they are simply placed in the trash can, other times they’re crumpled up or even torn up into bits. The later methods appear to be some form of rudimentary security implementation (I must confess that out of habit I too tear my receipts up).
But so why is that we opt to print a receipt, create waste, only to view its contents for a few mere seconds? Banks have even gone ahead and accommodated this practice of printing and throwing away by placing trash cans directly next to ATMs–effectively solving the surface problem of ATMs being littered with receipts. Yet the greater problem at hand still remains.
It seems that often times users ask for a receipt simply to view their account balance. Upon completing an ATM transaction typically the only option offered is whether or not to print a receipt, when an ideal additional option would be to view the account balance.
01.06.07 — Design
I was recently thinking about how to exercise my mind to force myself out of the daily routine and came up with a challenge. Redesign any commonly used object.
This isn’t a ground breaking concept, but I think it’s an interesting method to keep yourself thinking and looking at how you interact with objects in your environment.
The redesign is to be quick and dirty, rough sketches, nothing too elaborate–focusing more on the idea than the delivery. There is no guideline as to what the redesign is to acheive, it may be increased usability, it may just be to look prettier.
04.06.06 — Design
Recently I was asked to speak at the Mobile Monday series in New York on the research I had worked on around text entry methods. It’s nice to see events such as these popping up, as it seems this field is under-represented by the professional design and usability organizations (upa, chi, ixda, etc).
The topic for the Mobile Monday event I spoke at was all about design and usability of mobile devices. Coming from a more research background it was interesting to see the other presenters talking about work which they have done that has actually made it into products.
In addition to the presentations, we participated in a panel discussion talking about our work and more importantly where the mobile field is going. My take is more wireless integration with other devices (watches–they’re coming back, kiosks, purchasing systems, etc).
03.31.06 — Design
It is almost a rarity to see a person with a walker which does not have the signature tennis balls on the back legs. The users of these walkers have filled a gap in the design to make the walker better fit their needs. But the real question is, why haven’t the designers of the walker taken notice of this very prominent “user hack”.
As a designer it is always fascinating to see how the users actually interacts with your design. This also poses as a means of feedback and a way to learn more about how users push the design. Typically the activity of listening to users’ feedback and observing their interactions is reincorporated back into the design process.
When people began to place split tennis balls on the back legs of walkers this should have been a clear indication to the designers that they missed something in their usability testing. But what is worse is that this process has continued for many years without any redesign of the walker.
Granted, new walkers such as those with hand brakes do exist to answer the shortcomings of the traditional walker. But, the tennis ball solution is a simple one, one which I feel could be easily reincorporated into the traditional walker. These people are just looking for a little bit of traction and the ability to easily slide their walkers. Not to mention the difficulty in slicing a hole in a tennis ball. Do medical supplies stores sell tennis balls to go along with the purchase of a walker?
This design shortcoming has even been taken advantage of as a business oppurtunity, the Walkerballs.
09.23.05 — Design
A major part of design for any medium is clearly understanding its audience. Gap clothing understands this and is tailoring their stores to better fit with what their customers expect to get out of a shopping experience.
In the clothing industry knowing what the customers like and what their methods for shopping are is critical for profitability. In terms of shopping methods, the major unisex stores such as Gap, H&M, and Urban Outfitters pretty much use a one size fits all model for merchandise placement–one which predominantly falls in line with how women shop.
From my own experience, for the most part I hate shopping for clothes. Typically I know what I want and hope that I can get in and get out as quickly as possible. My recent trip to California made it blatantly clear that women, namely my girlfriend, enjoy browsing while shopping for clothes.
Business 2.0 recently reported on how the Gap clothing company has redesigned some of their stores to better fit how their customers shop for clothing. Most importantly, they are responding to the differences in how men and women shop. According to Gap’s research, women prefer an exploratory shopping experience with a boutique feel–one in which merchandise is separated into small “rooms” and accessories are placed throughout the store. While men desire a more straight forward shopping experience in which merchandise is broken down into the essentials to create outfits and neatly organized for quick access to sizes and colors. Even going as far as providing separate entrances and different décor.
The research has paid off–customers are buying more and staying longer at the newly renovated stores.
While I’m mostly talking about bricks and mortar business, the methods which Gap employed are extremely relevant to designing for the Web. The simple concept is that conducting an analysis of your audience can make the design process less about guess work and more about providing a user experience your users will appreciate. And there will be positive results (assuming you’ve done your homework well). Are we going to provide separate links for men and women–probably not, but with the knowledge about our users we can better serve them.
06.21.05 — Design
Over the past 10 years I have made my mark on the Web in some fashion. Whether it was my PC bashing Mac centric homepage of the mid-90s, the rave fueled Haggs 2.0, or the currently professionally focused Losing Context, I have a history on the Web. With the remodeling of Losing Context I decided to provide a little insight into the past of my time on the Web.
1995
My first foray into the Web should be prefaced with a piece I wrote back in ‘96 about learning HTML and my proficiency in making web pages:
I’m a MacUser and well I get the magazine MacUser (now MacWorld). So about one year ago MacUser had a little feature on some simple html tags to start creating web pages. I started getting into trying out some of these codes which I had no idea what they meant. Get this I wasn’t even on the Net yet. I was using AOL’s crappy web browser at the time. Once I made it on to the net with my own account I started looking into html again because I thought maybe I should make a page for myself. So I took a stab at making my own homepage. Although it wasn’t the best page I now had a name for myself on the net. Anyway to make a long story short I have been doing webpage creation for about a year and just now do I really consider myself pretty good at creating web pages. The reason is because I am now working on a commercial site and I am really working to make things better.
It is interesting to see how naive and albeit somewhat arrogant I was about my skills. What makes my comments back in ‘96 so funny today is when viewed in the context of what my web pages actually looked liked. Figure 1 provides a glimpse of my presence on the Web in ‘95. Keep in mind that at the time sites like Yahoo looked like this.
Figure 1. My Personal Web Page in 1995.
1996
By 1996 I was flying high. Some of my web sites were even winning awards such as Mac Addict Boosters Club’s Site of the Week and Mac Game Gate’s Site of the Month. Granted at the time almost every web site out there was giving away awards just to get you to put their badge on your site. Figure 2 shows a view of the award winning goodness.
Figure 2. My Personal Web Page in 1996.
1997
My interest in web development began to waver by ‘97, as can be seen in this dark rendition of my web page featured in Figure 3. Working on sites for other businesses provided little time for me to focus on my personal sites.
Figure 3. My Personal Web Page in 1997.
2000
After a long hiatus, 2000 brought a much fresher look to the personal web page. To ring in this total revamp, the page was adorned with the title Haggs 2.0.
Figure 4. Haggs 2.0 in 2000
2004
Context is lost. Many have asked what is meant by the title of Losing Context. My intentions for the site were to discuss a variety of topics which in many ways were out of context in relation to each other. The site’s features ranged from my ramblings about usability and music to that of the presentation of my portfolio and photos.
Up until Losing Context the pages and sites I made for myself and work were based around the design model most famously depicted in Siegel’s Creating Killer Web Sites–using tables and single pixel gifs for layout. The design of Losing Context, as seen in Figure 5, brought about my first full implementation of web standards and CSS.
Figure 5. Losing Context in 2004
While it is interesting and more likely funny to see my past 10 years on the Web, it shows how there is no perfect design. We design to answer a problem or just to provide a change of scenery. Over the past 10 years my needs for my web site have changed. Today I share digital photos, something fairly uncommon in ‘95, and my web site needs to provide that feature. I’ll soon tire of the design I have now, much like how we get bored seeing the same color walls. Eventually new technology and the tiring of a color scheme will employ me to redesign once again. But it’s not all for not, this is an iterative design process. Over the years my site has become more aesthetically pleasing, richer in features, and more importantly, easier to use.
02.26.05 — Design