An augmented reality-check
Classic lack of end user understanding here from Weet Bix. A marketing campaign using augmented reality aimed at early teenagers fell at the first hurdle owing to the myopic vision of those who designed the campaign. Young All Black fans were supposed to hold a card from their cereal packet up to their webcam to [...]
Back in Black
Since being back in New Zealand I’ve heard people reckoning we are a few years behind Europe and the States in terms of the acceptance of UX. I’m back in London for a few weeks, consulting for Flow Interactive, … so if it’s true we kiwis are behind, I’m in an industry crystal ball here. [...]
The oldest trick in the customer experience book
Every Tuesday NZ business strategist Lance Wiggs issues ‘Three ways to improve your business’, Last week at number two is ‘Meet your customers’. This simple advice represents the grass roots of a customer-centric approach to building a great experience for your customers, and competitive advantage for your business. So, if this approach is simple yet [...]
UX Research participants. Harder to pick than a broken nose?
Recruiting the right participants is a numbers game, so I was unsure sure what to expect returning to New Zealand from London. All the insights, opportunities and reality-check moments which emerge from customer research or usability studies can be thrown down the pan if you’re not talking to the right people. If your target sample [...]
Code Blacks’ winning website built on empathy
Yes, the New Zealand ‘Code Blacks’ team has retained the trophy. Full Code Press is a competition big on challenges: Build a charity website from scratch in a mere 24 hours with a team you’ve barely met in a tiny room in the middle of a seething exhibition hall for a mystery client, with reporters [...]
Full Code Press. 24 hrs to build a great web experience
Next week I’ll be part of an NZ team competing in Sydney against the Aussies to build a website for a charity at CeBIT’09 We’ll have just 24 hours from initial briefing to completion so we’ll cover the full journey from paper through to pixels, against the clock. My role as User Experience guy is [...]
Kiwi teacher’s User Centered Design approach wins over students (and Microsoft)
A geography teacher from an Auckland school is hailed as the ‘most innovative teacher in the world’. Delivering lessons via students mobile phones. Nathan’s approach: Understanding his audience Observing their behavior Building empathy with their needs Harnessing their input …and ultimately innovating learner experiences in an education system stymied by tradition. Here are some cues [...]
Customer experience pilgrims: Experience economy brings a new kind of tourist to NZ
Some Kiwi brands are attracting their global customers back to the source of their product, creating new customer experience touch-points as well as fuelling tourism. Companies exporting products ‘made from NZ’ are seeing their customers make pilgrimages to experience NZ brands at the source, connecting with the origins of the product. Tourists have journeyed to [...]
Those who adapt, survive.
When it comes to adapting, we Kiwis are experts. Our ‘Number 8 wire’ attitude sees us modify, improve and invent products out of necessity, or just to ‘make do’. This Wellington cyclist shows Kiwis are not afraid of some prototyping to find a solution, and stay safe on the road. Businesses wanting to survive in [...]
Is User Experience ‘The New Black’ in NZ ?
I’m visiting the main cities in NZ to find out ‘who’s doing what?’ in the area of User Experience and User Centred Design …I’ve met couple of dozen people so far… So, what lies below the surface of the words User Experience? And is it more than just a buzzword? Agencies practising User Centred Design [...]