8 Dec, 2011
I wasn’t the only one who knew that I had to get my hands on the Wacom Inkling after seeing this well produced product demo video:
Fortunately for me, after a longer wait than expected (the Inkling was originally going to be released in mid-October; it arrived the first week of December) I got my hands on the new gadget. Here are my very preliminary thoughts after using it for less than 24 hours: Continue Reading
3 Nov, 2011
It’s Friday night. You’re starving and eager to try that new bistro your friends are raving about. When you walk in, it’s crowded. You’re thinking:
You’re willing to wait—even though you’re hungry—because the restaurant has received positive buzz from people you trust. You approach the hostess stand and are informed that there will be a 15-20 minute wait. Not bad. You decide to stay and wait for a table.
After 15 minutes have passed, the hostess informs you that will probably be another 5-10 minutes. Still in the ballpark of the initial estimate, and you appreciate that she took the time to keep you apprised of the situation. Finally, after twenty-two minutes, you’re guided to your table…
Let’s examine the expectation setting (explicit & implicit) that took place in the scenario described above:
As humans, we make several subconscious judgements and decisions every second. Expectation setting helps to focus and guide our subconscious decision-making engine. It’s critical that we apply this practice to user-centered design.
1 Oct, 2011
Remember the Stephen King novel and film, Pet Cemetery? Basically there’s this mysterious pet cemetery way out in the woods–I think it’s an ancient indian burial ground or some shit. Basically, if you bury the dead in the pet cemetery it will come back to life, crawl out of the ground, and return home. Unfortunately, as you would expect, after the thing you buried is resurrected, it returns as a lesser (usually evil) form of itself. And the longer you wait to bury the corpse in the pet cemetery, the more demented it becomes.
