12 Oct, 2010 When is the last time you took a moment to ask, “Why?” It’s one word—a seemingly simple question—but the power of analyzing motives can be life-altering.
The world is moving faster than ever. Most of us—mobile phone in one hand, large coffee in the other—are challenged to keep up with an unyielding fire hose of information while we travel almost obliviously from point A to point B. Our lives are saturated with routines that we repeat day in and day out without considering the rationale behind our choices; many of our lives have become so routine that we cease to make decisions at all, i.e. life on autopilot.
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20 Sep, 2010 Well, they finally did it. Apple jumped into the online community game. Unfortunately, they haven’t landed very smoothly. In fact, I’m not certain that they even made it into the pool.
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1 Dec, 2009 It’s been exactly two months since I received my Google Wave preview invitation, and began playing with the application. Here’s my take on using Wave to date – the good, the bad and yes, I have invitations for those of you who still feel like they can’t live without it.
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24 Dec, 2008 In late 2007 I wrote my first blog post about what I called the user experience economy. That post described the necessity of providing exceptional customer service and noted the growth of the UX Fund which, over one year’s time, saw an increase of 39.37%—outperforming all of the major stock indexes.
In 2009, businesses will live and die by the level of customer service—designing memorable and positive user experiences—that they are able to provide. The competition for customers’ attention and loyalty will be fierce, and simply cutting prices and expenses is not going to be enough to thrive or even survive during a global economic crisis.
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12 Dec, 2008 I recently participated in a team building exercise where teams were responsible for designing and building sculptures out of canned goods. After the structures are built and judged, the canned goods are donated to shelters and food banks to feed the hungry.
During the brainstorming process when our team was determining what to build, several ideas were presented—including mosaics, user interfaces, corporate logos, sculptures of food and immersive physical environments. The ambiguity and complexity of each idea varied, but I noticed an interesting trend: many of the less abstract ideas were dismissed by members of the group as “too easy.” This got me thinking, what’s wrong with easy?
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27 Aug, 2008 We human beings choose to decorate ourselves in a variety of manners—fashion, cosmetics, tattoos, piercings, surgery, etc.—to express ourselves and communicate unspoken signals to each other. Non-verbal cues are sent via our interface choices to everyone that we encounter on a daily basis. What messages are you trying to send through your own personal user interface?
Here are some examples of human UI patterns that we encounter, and the subtext that they silently communicate.
The Business Man
The conservative haircut, the dull necktie and his subtle frown clearly communicate that he’s all business. He’s not very approachable, but most likely fairly dependable. Intrepid reader, he is the human incarnation of the spread sheet.
The Entertainer
An acquired taste—he’s clearly trying extremely hard to amuse and entertain. He spent a fortune attending clown school and yearns to be the center of attention (a life caster perhaps?). Simultaneously friendly and annoying, the clown UI is not something most people can spend much time with.
It’s Complicated
This interface is enigmatic, complicated and intriguing. There is an intimidation factor, yet an underlying and attractive charm; a frustrating puzzle that keeps people returning in hopes of discovering a solution. If a person is open to it, an experiential interface that encourages discovery and requires time to figure out can be fun.
The Soldier
There is nothing ambiguous about this interface. It’s clear and completely direct; nothing is implicit. Depending on a person’s perspective, this interface can communicate security or menace. The soldier combines precision and discipline with the ability to understand and complete his directives. He is the embodiment of the command line.
The Best Software is Anthropomorphic
Just like people, software user interfaces can and should personify human attributes (no, I’m not talking about Clippy!). The best systems communicate to users via text, interaction and imagery to express the personality of the application. These are the applications that people become emotionally attached to because they remind us of what it means to be human.