There was an interesting online tussle recently between 37 Signals, creators of online collaboration applications, and Donald Norman, revered usability expert. Is designing products to suit yourself a good idea or not? In a recent Wired article, David Heinemeier Hansson of 37 Signals said, I’m not designing software for other people, I’m designing it for …
Author archives: Phil
Haptic interaction: feel the buzz
When using a mobile phone, we take for granted the fact that we can feel the shape of the keypad. It lets (some of) us touch-type, or select certain applications without looking. Touch feedback, like the click of a key, also backs up the visual cues we get from the display and makes the phone …
DIS 2008 day 3: A new frontier for interaction
The pieces came together today at the DIS 2008 conference – or at least closer together. So far, human-computer interaction has focussed on things like cognition, efficiency and matching existing work practice. But maybe we’ve got that pretty much that stuff sorted out – at least from a researcher’s point of view. Our curiosity is …
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DIS 2008 day 2: Sensecam triggers emotions
Some great presentations at DIS 2008 carried on the themes of social and emotional interaction. Maria HÃ¥kansson and Lalya Gaye from the Viktoria Institute in Goteborg, Sweden talked about their “context camera.” It’s a digital stills camera that applies effects to the pictures based on sound and motion that occured as the photo was taken. …
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DIS 2008 day 1: experiments with better interaction
“There are certain deficiencies of computers right now,” said one of the speakers at the DIS 2008 conference today. And this first day of conference highlighted what researchers are doing to address those deficiencies. Some solutions are more production-ready than others. I expected DIS 2008 to be “out there” and it is. Deficiency 1: Interacting …
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Paying attention to your attention
An article on the BBC website recently gave readers a chance to comment on why they didn’t have a mobile phone (about 14% of British people don’t have them). Some of the mobile “refuseniks” highlight a well-known issue: attention and multitasking… “Mobiles are like needy children, always wanting attention. I wanted to cut out the …
1 anti-strategy for prospering in a downturn
Thanks, Debre, for pointing out the strategy that Starbucks have been following: cutting costs and downgrading service in a bid to stave off competition from MacDonalds. From the Guardian… The troubled coffee chain Starbucks, renowned for its elaborate frappuccinos and mochas, is going back to basics by testing a cut-price brew costing only $1 (51p). …
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3 design-based strategies for beating an economic downturn (Part 3)
The strategies, as mentioned in the previous post: Innovate your way out Optimise, to squeeze more from what you have Cut costs by improving the customer experience Let’s take a look at strategy 3. Cut costs by improving the customer experience Customer experience got a mention in the previous post. It’s the idea that every …
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Idiots who don’t know which buttons to press
Charlie Brooker in The Guardian… “I love a complicated TV remote. They should have more stuff on them: dials and joysticks and flashing lights. I dream of a remote with its own mouse.” Charlie Brooker’s rants in the guardian are usually entertaining, and I’m always delighted when they touch on user experience. This one is …
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3 design-based strategies for beating an economic downturn (Part 2)
The strategies, as mentioned in the previous post: Innovate your way out Optimise, to squeeze more from what you have Cut costs by improving the customer experience Let’s take a look at strategy 2. Strategy 2: Optimise to squeeze more from what you have This is primarily a marketing strategy. The idea: find out why …
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