Tool tips – When should design explain itself?
Should a hacksaw or staple gun need a manual? Mine have permanently moulded instructions to help get the most out of using them. This sort of thing has become commonplace in the digital world too. Hover your cursor over any button or tool and you’ll see prompts, tips, guidance, explanation etc. as you explore and [...]
Motivations. Delivered fresh to your door
I’m in London this month and just received a boxful of fresh produce from Abel&Cole. Two things become very clear upon opening the veggie box; They know who their customers are, …and that each customer has a different set of motivations to use the service. A great example of this is in the friendly Spring [...]
User Experience takes hold in NZ
These two snippets make me wonder if a customer focused approach to business and design has truly taken hold here. One’s about Banks, the other Camper-vans. Banks were some of the first companies in NZ to make a significant investment in usability and customer research, with leading banks improving their online and offline products and [...]
Explaining UX research to my mum just got easier
When I designed and made things for a living it was easy to explain what I did. People formed a mental model of what I did and pigeon-holed me instantly. … but when my design career was t-boned by research I became a hybrid. Finding the words to articulate my work became much more difficult. [...]
Swipe this way
You know you’ve overlooked basic design research when your customer can improve your product in a few seconds using a pen and some tape. This is the case with these three payment terminals. The design usually includes a discreet symbol to indicate which way the card should go through the slot, an interaction that occurs [...]
Apology, or invitation. What’s your message?
If this were a checkout operator speaking to you, which would you think was most friendly and helpful? Two signs; Same context, audience and purpose. More design effort has gone into one, but it is the choice of words here which has the most impact on the message they convey. So when it comes to [...]
The tip of the User Experience iceberg
Some websites provide more of an experience than others, but the number of web agencies and even individuals who offer User Experience in their list of ‘services’ indicates there’s a chunk of lip-service being paid to what has become an almost industry-specific buzzword. Although many techniques and approaches to UX have been honed and made [...]
When less is less and more is too much.
This Honda trunk-lid has been simplified and streamlined so much that the owner has crudely screwed on a ‘hardware store’ handle to make it easier to use. This Mazda door entry has gone the other way by adding complexity; a key-code entry, which looked to me like it had never been touched, whereas the standard [...]
Running. A user centred business.
Where can I go for a run around here? Concierge at my hotel in Singapore only needed to be asked this a few times before they found themselves offering directions. …But all too often they’d spot their guests returning by taxi after getting lost in the suburbs. This jogger’s map started out when a staff [...]
Equal opportunities in User Centred Design?
IDEO, The worlds greatest proponent of User Centered Design have released a ‘toolkit’ to promote a human centred approach to social development projects. It’s full of top tips… one of which seems worryingly chauvinistic… If you can’t read the image, it kindly reminds us; “To ensure there is a balanced gender perspective involve female staff [...]