October 2011
1 post
Dropbox and iCloud
News came out that Dropbox passed on an Apple acquisition, and naturally discussions came up on the web about iCloud versus Dropbox. These two products do similar things, sure, but from where I sit Dropbox needs to do some serious reinvention.
Consider this. Assuming one has a computer capable of working with both iCloud (or another, yet-to-be-created invisible cloud storage thing) and Dropbox...
September 2011
4 posts
My Oven Gets Me Every Time
The oven in our house was terrible. Awful. So we bought a new one - a Kenmore Dual-Fuel. We love it.
But there’s one thing that still trips me up about the control panel to this very day, 3 years later: setting the timer.
This is the panel just to the right of the LCD. In order to set the timer, here’s what I usually do.
Press SET in the Timer area.
Enter a time using the...
A Couple of Thoughts on UX + UI Stories in Agile
My opinion is that UI and UX stories are the wrong vehicles for conveying the activities of user experience folks. Here’s why.
My interpretation of stories is that they should demonstrate value to end users or, as I like to call them, people. They might get divided into segments and different customers but, whatever. UX and UI stories I’ve encountered look something like this:
...
It's 2011, and I will judge your business by your...
If your website has “default footer text” in the footer, that says to me that you don’t take everything seriously.
If your website has your hours and directions in Flash, that says to me that you aren’t interested in ensuring your information is visible to all devices.
If your website is sloppy or unorganized, that says to me that your site is a secondary or tertiary...
Windows 8: Inconsistency is a Feature
You have probably seen this floating about the web.
That’s been featured in a lovely piece from Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky, writing about some major design decisions around the new Explorer in Windows 8. It’s the new ribbon in Explorer’s default window view.
There’s a lot of good stuff in Sinofsky’s article. I truly appreciate and geek out a bit over the...
August 2011
4 posts
Good design: Lands' End, OS X unmasked passwords
Something Jakob Nielsen suggested two years ago is starting to roll out: password masking is slowly starting to go away. Lands’ End, which gave their checkout process a stunning overhaul, is one example.
This has been a feature in OS X for a while; the wi-fi login prompt has a show/hide checkbox:
Until more people are comfortable with unmasked passwords, this is a nice way to handle...
Good design: method's Laundry Detergent Bottle
method has already been lauded for their innovative laundry detergent bottle design. It uses a pump, unique to this market, which dramatically cuts down on the mess.
I was nearing the end of a bottle a week or so ago as I noticed the pump wasn’t doing much anymore. I had another bottle on hand but held the bottle upside-down to see that there was a fair amount of detergent left....
One Use Case for a Home Screen Gesture on iOS
My son loves the iPad. He’s able to work just fine with kids’ apps and books, and it’s really amazing for me to think that my 18-month-old is using way more advanced technology than I did even 2 years ago.
That said, the kid is into buttons right now. He could press a button all day. And the iPad has one button on its front, of course. And of course, Jackson will press this...
July 2011
5 posts
UX is exploding. Here's why, and how you can join...
It’s safe to say that user experience, as a practice, is currently exploding. I’ve been amazed at the demand and it’s been absolutely encouraging for my colleagues who are looking to do great work. Here are a few notes on why I suspect this is happening now, and a bit about a big skill UXers will need to help.
Why now? Was there any one thing that clicked and pointed the way...
The UX of Creating UX
A short while back on Twitter, I stated my desire to see a wireframing tool from Panic. You know Panic, the people up in Portland who write amazing Mac software, right? Coda, arguably the best HTML editor on the Mac?
I thought I’d explain my tweet a bit. Here’s the deal. I use OmniGraffle nearly exclusively, and think Keynote is a reasonable alternative. Axure is a nice tool, but the...
June 2011
3 posts
Minor Thing: Outlook's Message Dragging Icon
When dragging multiple messages, Outlook for Mac shows 3 little envelopes even if you have just 2 items selected. 3 is not 2. (Note that the line here is not a part of the dragging icon.)
Update: In fairness, Mail.app does this too - but it’s less conspicuous. The fact that the background 2 envelopes are faded indicates that this could be a really big stack, or a really small one....
iPad Website Anti-Patterns
The iPad’s been in that unique “not quite a laptop, not a phone” zone since day 1. While we collectively have decided that it’s a tablet and it’s something new, lots of website detection scripts haven’t gotten the memo.
In using the iPad I’ve come across a number of bothersome anti-patterns when simply browsing the web. These aren’t ranked in any...
The iWork Document Manager
The latest version of the iWork suite for iOS includes a document manager. This serves as the springboard for file management within each app. It’s an enormous step up from the prior carousel of documents, but continues to underscore the sore spot that is organization of files in a hierarchy-free environment. There are a few nitpicks I have with the manager but first, a look back.
The...
May 2011
5 posts
Do Enough and No More
One of the things I believe in when it comes to experience design deliverables is the practice of doing enough and no more.
Lately I’ve found the best way for me to get an idea across isn’t to create multi-page clickable prototypes; rather, I draw the interaction on paper using Sharpies and/or my favorite Muji pen, take a photo of that, and then send it off to people for discussion....
Groupon Now! is bigger than you think.
Maybe even bigger than I thought.
In case you aren’t familiar with Now!, check the great video created by Adam Lisagor.
Until this, Groupon hadn’t been doing anything terribly new from a conceptual level: it’s all moderately-targeted deals with a time-sensitive component. Open this checking account now and get a free toaster. Do this now and get a bonus. Stuff like that. This...
LinkedIn's new Search Updates interaction
I have never searched my network’s updates on LinkedIn, but they’ve gone ahead and changed the way the widget and interaction work. This is now the default state:
“Search Updates” is a link. Clicking that link…
Boom! Now you’ve got a search box. All right. That’s a little odd, I’ll admit, and I’m not sure (yet) why they didn’t go...
April 2011
5 posts
Jackson Script is now available
The first iteration of Jackson Script, a spiffy new font, is now available. Go get it!
I Beg You Hold-Outs To Join Me In Watching 'Doctor... →
me3dia:
Choire Sicha makes a great case — and I fully endorse it.
I moved over to the Doctor Who camp last year, and can’t get enough of it now.
Nice UI: Lands' End Order History Page
I know it rolled out sometime earlier this year or late last, but Lands’ End now has a really lovely order history page. All of my orders for the past three years are in one place with full pricing and tracking information. I think I prefer this even to Amazon’s treatment of order history. Well done.
Car Interiors, My Secret Geekiness For
An area of design which I’m really fascinated by is car interior design, particularly the dashboard. There’s an incredible amount of… stuff… which must be accounted for, and yet if the whole thing looks or functions poorly, it could be critical.
Thinking about aesthetics, I mostly dislike my current car’s interior:
It’s mostly a boxy, angled mess. The knobs...
iTunes, Remote, iPod Confusion
It seems to me that Apple should consider merging the iPod and Remote applications on iOS.
A few days ago I wanted to listen to some music on my iPad from my Mac’s library. So I hopped over to Remote and… uh… hm. I got lost pretty quickly looking for buttons I thought should be there. They just weren’t! The problem was that this functionality was within the iPod app, and...
March 2011
3 posts
No One Cares About Their Clock Radio's CPU
Back in the PowerPC era of the Mac, it was really difficult for Apple to compete with Intel’s chips on pure numbers. This led to the promotion of the megahertz myth, videos mentioning gigaflops (particularly the G4 Cube intro video - god, I miss that machine,) and lots of talk about the user experience and the operating system. When OS X was where Apple was headed, they needed to focus on...
Enter your username. Again! Again!
Last week I traded up from my Android phone to an iPhone. One of the joys of iTunes integration with these devices is that all of the apps I already purchased for my iPad transferred without fuss over to the iPhone, assuming the apps were meant for both platforms.
The first app I set up was Instapaper. I had to log in. Not a big deal. Then I set up the iTunes Store. Had to log in. Facebook. Log...
Rabbit Hole: Arguing over Analogies
Collectively, we use analogies to simplify concepts and, potentially, make them more relatable. But if you’re discussing an analogy and find yourself nitpicking over the smallest details… stop.
Instead, back up and consider if the analogy is valid or even necessary. Don’t underestimate your audience’s level of understanding.
February 2011
5 posts
Neven Mrgan's tumbl: 30% →
mrgan:
This is about the 30% issue - kind of. You know how Apple is slowly moving toward requiring a 30% cut of pretty much anything that touches iOS? I don’t really know if this is fair, or smart, or a good policy. It doesn’t affect me personally or professionally, so all I can share is a tiny and…
Again, Neven hits the nail on the head. To bring my own hammer (and draw out the...
The Android Difference
Based solely on what I’ve seen and read (note!) about Android’s upcoming tablet-centric Honeycomb release, and my experience with Android on my smartphone, I think the difference between Android and iOS is quite clear.
Android is looking to bring desktop computing to smaller, newer form factors. iOS is looking to redefine computing for smaller, newer form factors.
I don’t see...
January 2011
9 posts
Catalogs Still Work, Sometimes
I received a Lands’ End catalog yesterday. I normally take these catalogs from the mailbox and deposit them directly into the recycling bin, but this time I took a few minutes to look through it while cooking dinner.
And, you know, it worked on me. As I leafed through the selection of men’s clothes my mind drifted to buying more things from them; by today I was thinking that it might...
One Month with Android
I was planning to write a detailed review of my Android experience, but in lieu of that I’ll summarize: too many compromises, not enough satisfaction.
Pinching on Reeder for iPad
One thing I see both as a blessing and a curse with the iPad is that affordances are mostly gone in the interface. Sometimes I just try stuff to see what happens, and sometimes the results are good.
I use Reeder for RSS (so should you) and discovered a very handy feature: pinching and expanding works in a few ways.
In an article, expanding will get the full article via Readability, even if the...
Moving Pages Documents from Mac to iPad: A Comedy...
I use Pages on my Mac (though I’m going to give Ommwriter a shot) and, for instances when print presentation matters, Pages on my iPad. A few nights ago I was writing stuff on Mac Pages and thought I’d keep all my bases covered by moving or copying them to my iPad, where I could open them with Pages.
This was surprisingly awkward. Here are the steps I took.
First, note that iTunes...
The Daily Ping is 11! →
I’m very proud to announce that The Daily Ping turns 11 years old today! My good friend Ryan MacMichael and I have written 4,016 Pings in that time period - and, awesomely, this is only the fourth aesthetic design for the site.
We upgraded to WordPress, too, so when it’s all-new, we mean it! Except for the content. That’s pretty old.
It’s been an honor working with Ryan...
Neven Mrgan's tumbl: Redundant data in the Weather... →
mrgan:
If you’re a serious weather junkie, you might use a special weather app to get your daily klimate kick. And if you’re Edward Tufte, you might think the iPhone weather app is “a bit thin”. Me, I don’t mind it - it’s a nice, big dashboard view of the weather features I care most about.
But here’s…
Neven brings up a good point: having information on yesterday’s weather is a...
A Few Form Conventions That Must Die in 2011
If your site has them, forms make or break your experience. One lousy validator or error message can disturb the entire process. There are a few standards I, like you, have dealt with long enough. It’s 2011; let’s make these right.
- Requiring slashes on dates (1/2/11).
- Requiring leading zeroes ever on anything (01/02/11).
- Requiring dashes and/or parentheses in US phone number...
First Thoughts on Android
Last week I took possession of a Samsung Intercept. It is not the fastest, most glamorous Android phone on the market but it has one clear advantage: it’s available on Virgin Mobile’s prepaid service, and the monthly cost with unlimited data is $25. Prepaid has been my mobile phone service of choice for a few years now; an iPhone is likely in the future, but not for a couple of...
December 2010
5 posts
Saving Grace
I gave Google a gentle jab recently over its use of a floppy disk to denote saving a file in Google Docs. I do realize that the floppy, while no longer in use, still denotes the act of saving files for a lot of users. I began considering what the alternatives could be and it is certainly not an easy communication problem to solve.
Before we tackle that concept, though, we should first ask if...
The Curse of the Login Form
Logins act as a rigid barrier, preventing users from doing what they want or need to do. It’s high time we seriously reconsider the entire act of logging in to the point of eradicating login forms.
Login forms tend to answer one question: “Who are you?” We may not be interested in what a user wants or needs to do; we just want to be sure that we have the right person on the...
My Twitter feed is pretty enjoyable, too. →
A friendly reminder that I also post comments, links, and interesting self-promotions to my Twitter feed.
Hitwise: Groupon Is Getting 79% Of U.S.... →
A stunning gulf between the market leader and the second-place team.
November 2010
10 posts
