David Armano created an interesting visual representation of the circle of technology and the people who use it. Early in the day, he posted a draft of the idea, explaining that the cloud represents the space encompassing things like Google Docs, Flickr, etc.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
UI13 Learnings: Part 2
I’ve written up the last of my UI13 schpiel for your reading pleasure. Here are the remaining hot topics I plan to implement in my work:
1. Five Second Page Test
Particularly when I get wireframes or mockups from a designer, I vow to use the Five Second Page Test to evaluate how well users understand the purpose of my company’s websites. Usability testing and field studies will show how people perceive each site on a less timed scale, but the five second method is a great way to see if people can get your purpose quickly.
2. Emphasize Logical Order
I deal with grouping and list ordering quite a bit. When I point out user frustration in how we’ve ordering information, the feedback I frequently hear is that we can’t change things because that’s how the backend works. I will push back on this feedback until change happens. If the backend needs the data to be alphabetical – fine. Create a presentation layer so the user can have it in a logical order. In most cases, alphabetical order is just like random order. Think about it.
3. Learn more? No thanks.
Until last week, I hadn’t really thought about the lack of value in “Learn More” links. When you actually stop to think about it, though, it’s rather obvious. Of course I’ll learn more, whether it’s information about a product, the website, or learning that I clicked a link that didn’t give me what I wanted. I am going to look at new ways of guiding users to another page with better action words, or fewer action words. This may take some time, but I’ll find a nice, nifty solution and get rid of learning more.
4. Information Density
Something surprising caught my attention at Jared Spool’s UI13 talk. He said that density is related the user’s mission. Relevance of the material affects the user’s perception of clutter. As a former UI designer, I have instincts that trigger a red flag when I see a website or GUI that appears cluttered. From what Jared explained, in some cases what may seem cluttered to me still works for the user. Only the user can demonstrate what works so the best thing to do is test your site or application. Never assume.
5. Pretty Doesn’t Equal Better
I don’t think I have this problem but I know it runs rampant in other business groups. “Show me pretty and I’ll assume it works for our customers.” I can’t stand that attitude and usually push really hard to force the business team to look beyond the colors and font treatment. Whenever possible, I request wireframes from the designer to for initial usability testing and to present to stakeholders. This lets the interaction shine through, not the pretty picture. Sometimes with tight deadlines, those pretty pictures come first. I never know if there are no wireframes on the other end, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. If I want wireframes, I will be sure to get wireframes. End of story.
Related posts:
UI13 Learnings: Part 1
UI13: Days 1 & 2
UI13
1. Five Second Page Test
Particularly when I get wireframes or mockups from a designer, I vow to use the Five Second Page Test to evaluate how well users understand the purpose of my company’s websites. Usability testing and field studies will show how people perceive each site on a less timed scale, but the five second method is a great way to see if people can get your purpose quickly.
2. Emphasize Logical Order
I deal with grouping and list ordering quite a bit. When I point out user frustration in how we’ve ordering information, the feedback I frequently hear is that we can’t change things because that’s how the backend works. I will push back on this feedback until change happens. If the backend needs the data to be alphabetical – fine. Create a presentation layer so the user can have it in a logical order. In most cases, alphabetical order is just like random order. Think about it.
3. Learn more? No thanks.
Until last week, I hadn’t really thought about the lack of value in “Learn More” links. When you actually stop to think about it, though, it’s rather obvious. Of course I’ll learn more, whether it’s information about a product, the website, or learning that I clicked a link that didn’t give me what I wanted. I am going to look at new ways of guiding users to another page with better action words, or fewer action words. This may take some time, but I’ll find a nice, nifty solution and get rid of learning more.
4. Information Density
Something surprising caught my attention at Jared Spool’s UI13 talk. He said that density is related the user’s mission. Relevance of the material affects the user’s perception of clutter. As a former UI designer, I have instincts that trigger a red flag when I see a website or GUI that appears cluttered. From what Jared explained, in some cases what may seem cluttered to me still works for the user. Only the user can demonstrate what works so the best thing to do is test your site or application. Never assume.
5. Pretty Doesn’t Equal Better
I don’t think I have this problem but I know it runs rampant in other business groups. “Show me pretty and I’ll assume it works for our customers.” I can’t stand that attitude and usually push really hard to force the business team to look beyond the colors and font treatment. Whenever possible, I request wireframes from the designer to for initial usability testing and to present to stakeholders. This lets the interaction shine through, not the pretty picture. Sometimes with tight deadlines, those pretty pictures come first. I never know if there are no wireframes on the other end, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. If I want wireframes, I will be sure to get wireframes. End of story.
Related posts:
UI13 Learnings: Part 1
UI13: Days 1 & 2
UI13
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
UI13 Learnings: Part 1
There is no way to communicate all that I’ve learned at UI13. From web and software design to usability and communication techniques, I’m overwhelmed with knowledge that I didn’t have two weeks ago. Whether practical or not, here’s what I plan to implement at work:
1. Train Observers
This is one area I often skimp on. In the interest of time, with deadlines looming, costs being cut, and pressure from project managers, observers are often instructed to “observe”. Well, that’s not appropriate. To be fair, observers do receive a nice, succinct document that provides a little background on observing a study, but I will no longer expect observers to read the document. I will teach them the difference between observation, design ideas, and inferences.
2. Use Persona Cards
Personas don’t go very far where I work. They exist but they tend to remain among those who’ve created them. I love the idea of creating laminated cards for each conference room. It would be far too costly to give them out to every employee, but anyone who designs, creates, develops, programs, markets, or provides funding for our customer-facing projects should know the personas well and keep them on their desks.
3. Emphasize User Delight
At UI13, Jared Spool pointed out that he didn’t have to offer power strips in the conference rooms, but the fact that he did created delight among the tweeters and note-takers with laptops. No worrying about running out of battery because you can simply plug in. This little, low-cost effort left attendees far more content than if there had been no power. They weren’t expecting it so they’re more pleased. I want to implement more delight in my projects at work. Our customers are expecting X. Let’s give them X and a little Y to make them extra happy.
On that note, Jared says, “don’t just resolve frustrations - create delight.”
4. Compare Loyal vs Novice Use
This is an area I usually look at. Comparing how loyal users feel about your site or application to how new users feel about it can show you some very poignant differences. Most e-commerce sites want to both retain current customers, as well as draw in new ones, so it is critical to consider both user groups in field studies and usability testing. While I try to do this with most studies, I will emphasize this point more heavily when working with a client.
5. Must… Do… Research
No matter what, user research must be a priority. It doesn’t matter if we saved a lot of time getting the product live quickly if we need to spend a lot of time and money fixing it for months after release. Think of the users we alienate as we tweak this and that trying to resolve what probably needs to be completely overhauled. Jared says, “If you don't do research, you're screwed.” I concur.
Related posts:
UI13: Days 1 & 2
UI13
1. Train Observers
This is one area I often skimp on. In the interest of time, with deadlines looming, costs being cut, and pressure from project managers, observers are often instructed to “observe”. Well, that’s not appropriate. To be fair, observers do receive a nice, succinct document that provides a little background on observing a study, but I will no longer expect observers to read the document. I will teach them the difference between observation, design ideas, and inferences.
2. Use Persona Cards
Personas don’t go very far where I work. They exist but they tend to remain among those who’ve created them. I love the idea of creating laminated cards for each conference room. It would be far too costly to give them out to every employee, but anyone who designs, creates, develops, programs, markets, or provides funding for our customer-facing projects should know the personas well and keep them on their desks.
3. Emphasize User Delight
At UI13, Jared Spool pointed out that he didn’t have to offer power strips in the conference rooms, but the fact that he did created delight among the tweeters and note-takers with laptops. No worrying about running out of battery because you can simply plug in. This little, low-cost effort left attendees far more content than if there had been no power. They weren’t expecting it so they’re more pleased. I want to implement more delight in my projects at work. Our customers are expecting X. Let’s give them X and a little Y to make them extra happy.
On that note, Jared says, “don’t just resolve frustrations - create delight.”
4. Compare Loyal vs Novice Use
This is an area I usually look at. Comparing how loyal users feel about your site or application to how new users feel about it can show you some very poignant differences. Most e-commerce sites want to both retain current customers, as well as draw in new ones, so it is critical to consider both user groups in field studies and usability testing. While I try to do this with most studies, I will emphasize this point more heavily when working with a client.
5. Must… Do… Research
No matter what, user research must be a priority. It doesn’t matter if we saved a lot of time getting the product live quickly if we need to spend a lot of time and money fixing it for months after release. Think of the users we alienate as we tweak this and that trying to resolve what probably needs to be completely overhauled. Jared says, “If you don't do research, you're screwed.” I concur.
Related posts:
UI13: Days 1 & 2
UI13
Saturday, October 18, 2008
A Toaster Should Never Be Hard to Use
The hotel I stayed at this week set a toaster out so visitors could have hot, toasty bread products. Bagels were popular with guests so I spent some time observing the bagel toasting process.
For many people, first time use was tricky. While the design appears simple and easy to use, the order of operations is unintuitive and some procedures not apparent.
I observed toaster users place their bagel pieces in the toaster with success - so a point goes to Krups for using a traditional, well-established method for dropping bread items into a slot. Setting the toast level was easy, though I have not determined if that dial affects bagels or just bread.
The next set of steps were the main problem points. Users commonly would adjust the larger knob slightly to the right and step back to wait for their bagel to toast. The first time I noticed this was when I also wanted to toast a bagel. After observing someone walk through these steps, I imitated the process and waited. After a couple of minutes, I peered in the toaster and realized it wasn't hot.
I then noticed the bagel button (unlit), pressed it and wondered if the toaster was now on. The person I had followed realized the large lever needed to be all the way to the right (or perhaps just surmised this as, coincidentally, the toaster warmed up).
Then there was a wait. This toaster takes a long time to heat bagels.
I observed that with this task, other users are a lot like me. They are impatient and want to remove the bagel before it has finished toasting. This could be the human quality of curiosity - is my bagel done, is it toasted enough, is it burning? But it could also be that breakfast is often a fast-paced, grab-and-go meal. Time's wasting as the bagel keeps toasting. Slightly warm is good enough.
Invariably, with the users I watched, the large knob was the attention-grabber. However, moving the knob to the left didn't seem to actually stop the toaster or fully eject the bagel.
It took a couple of tries and a lot of staring. The blue STOP button doesn't actually fit the user's perception of the task.
So what's going on here?
I have several hypotheses:
My redesign idea is to remove the buttons, use a more traditional bread depressing lever, and to ideally prevent the user from having no toasting results once the lever is depressed.
Some sort of widget, as of yet undetermined, would allow the user to flip between bread and bagel. There would be no "off" for either of these. One or the other, but definitely not nothing. For people who commonly toast bagels, they can just leave it flipped to that side and never have to press a bagel button.
Below the bagel toggle would be a light/dark widget. The one on the Krups toaster worked fine, but I would still want to experiment with other options to see which is easiest for a variety of users.
The "my bagel is inserted" lever (I have no idea what this is called) is vertical, matching what happens to the item you have inserted - it goes down.
Toasters should be easy and simple to accommodate the short amount of time a user should spend with it. It should blend with daily life, not stand out, or require instructions to use them.
Related posts:
The Experience of Product Packaging
Making Exercise a Good Experience
Dining With Dignity
For many people, first time use was tricky. While the design appears simple and easy to use, the order of operations is unintuitive and some procedures not apparent.
I observed toaster users place their bagel pieces in the toaster with success - so a point goes to Krups for using a traditional, well-established method for dropping bread items into a slot. Setting the toast level was easy, though I have not determined if that dial affects bagels or just bread.
The next set of steps were the main problem points. Users commonly would adjust the larger knob slightly to the right and step back to wait for their bagel to toast. The first time I noticed this was when I also wanted to toast a bagel. After observing someone walk through these steps, I imitated the process and waited. After a couple of minutes, I peered in the toaster and realized it wasn't hot.
I then noticed the bagel button (unlit), pressed it and wondered if the toaster was now on. The person I had followed realized the large lever needed to be all the way to the right (or perhaps just surmised this as, coincidentally, the toaster warmed up).
Then there was a wait. This toaster takes a long time to heat bagels.
I observed that with this task, other users are a lot like me. They are impatient and want to remove the bagel before it has finished toasting. This could be the human quality of curiosity - is my bagel done, is it toasted enough, is it burning? But it could also be that breakfast is often a fast-paced, grab-and-go meal. Time's wasting as the bagel keeps toasting. Slightly warm is good enough.
Invariably, with the users I watched, the large knob was the attention-grabber. However, moving the knob to the left didn't seem to actually stop the toaster or fully eject the bagel.
It took a couple of tries and a lot of staring. The blue STOP button doesn't actually fit the user's perception of the task.
So what's going on here?
I have several hypotheses:
- There is no clear order to the knobs and buttons
- The bagel button doesn't catch the user's attention
- In relation to #2, the user must press a button to start the toaster
- The user must press a button to stop the toaster
- If the user must press stop, there should be a start
- Even with the icons for the large knob, it is unclear how to use it
- Buttons don't belong on a toaster
My redesign idea is to remove the buttons, use a more traditional bread depressing lever, and to ideally prevent the user from having no toasting results once the lever is depressed.
Some sort of widget, as of yet undetermined, would allow the user to flip between bread and bagel. There would be no "off" for either of these. One or the other, but definitely not nothing. For people who commonly toast bagels, they can just leave it flipped to that side and never have to press a bagel button.
Below the bagel toggle would be a light/dark widget. The one on the Krups toaster worked fine, but I would still want to experiment with other options to see which is easiest for a variety of users.
The "my bagel is inserted" lever (I have no idea what this is called) is vertical, matching what happens to the item you have inserted - it goes down.
Toasters should be easy and simple to accommodate the short amount of time a user should spend with it. It should blend with daily life, not stand out, or require instructions to use them.
Related posts:
The Experience of Product Packaging
Making Exercise a Good Experience
Dining With Dignity
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Brainstorming or Sleeping: DND Card Design
I've been staying at a beautiful Marriott this week with a gorgeous view of Boston, comfortable beds, and a big flat screen TV. The bath products are nice, the staff are friendly, and I'm having a blast. What's interesting is how I've noticed a few hotel objects that are overdesigned. Tonight, I'll talk about the Do Not Disturb sign.
Normally when I visit a hotel, there's a little hanging card that says, "Do Not Disturb" or "Privacy". Sometimes one side says "Clean My Room", but regardless, it's pretty clear what the purpose of the sign is. The hanging card in my room was a little different:
Brain Storm? What is that supposed to mean? The smaller text below Brain Storm reads, "It's really coming down in here. Better wait 'til it clears up."
I see multiple issues here. The first being that while there is a small phrase "privacy please" at the bottom, it's not obvious and in relation to the message, could have different meanings. My first translation was that this would be in the door when the housekeepers were working on the room, not a tag I use when I want privacy.
Second issue - travelers who are not native English speakers. This type of phrasing may not translate well into other languages, especially with the use of "'til" instead of "until".
Last issue - what does "Brain Storm" mean? I have no idea. Chances are I'm sleeping in late, not brainstorming a new product idea.
My recommendation:
It's not pretty. It's not perfect. However, it's far better than the Brain Storm card. It clearly states the point - Do Not Disturb. I moved the door hang hole to the side to accommodate a larger phrase. That means the tag will not hang well from the doorknob and is a known design flaw. For me, design is about iteration and validation. This is an attempt at getting to a better design, a more usable design, and perhaps a design that actually fits the user's mental model of the task.
I may keep working on this one as I want all Marriott customers to be able to have some privacy when they are not brainstorming.
Related posts:
Making Exercise a Good Experience
Out of Gas with a 1/2 Acre Remaining
Normally when I visit a hotel, there's a little hanging card that says, "Do Not Disturb" or "Privacy". Sometimes one side says "Clean My Room", but regardless, it's pretty clear what the purpose of the sign is. The hanging card in my room was a little different:
Brain Storm? What is that supposed to mean? The smaller text below Brain Storm reads, "It's really coming down in here. Better wait 'til it clears up."
I see multiple issues here. The first being that while there is a small phrase "privacy please" at the bottom, it's not obvious and in relation to the message, could have different meanings. My first translation was that this would be in the door when the housekeepers were working on the room, not a tag I use when I want privacy.
Second issue - travelers who are not native English speakers. This type of phrasing may not translate well into other languages, especially with the use of "'til" instead of "until".
Last issue - what does "Brain Storm" mean? I have no idea. Chances are I'm sleeping in late, not brainstorming a new product idea.
My recommendation:
It's not pretty. It's not perfect. However, it's far better than the Brain Storm card. It clearly states the point - Do Not Disturb. I moved the door hang hole to the side to accommodate a larger phrase. That means the tag will not hang well from the doorknob and is a known design flaw. For me, design is about iteration and validation. This is an attempt at getting to a better design, a more usable design, and perhaps a design that actually fits the user's mental model of the task.
I may keep working on this one as I want all Marriott customers to be able to have some privacy when they are not brainstorming.
Related posts:
Making Exercise a Good Experience
Out of Gas with a 1/2 Acre Remaining
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
UI13: Days 1 & 2
It's late on the second night of the UI13 conference in Cambridge, Mass. Unlike other training and conferences I've been to, this experience has been nuts – in a good way. I've met fantastic people who have similar interests and work in the practical application of usability and design and learned from some of the best in the field.
On Monday, I spent the day at Luke Wroblewski's session, Visual Design for the Web: Communicating with Customers. Luke did a great job giving an overview of visual communication and organization principles. While some of this reminded me of being at SCAD, it was a re-learning I needed, a sort of reminder to remember the basics as I'm working on a design project.
Something never explicitly explained to me before was the idea that a website has a personality that communicates with customers. Near the end of the day, each table completed an exercise in developing a visual personality for a website. We flipped though magazines pulling out textures, colors, fonts, and imagery that communicated the feel and intent we wanted to portray. Our team tacked pictures with a fantasy rugby website theme on a big sheet of paper and ended up with a sporty, slightly aggressive concept with a focus on fantasy sports stats tracking. This was a fun exercise that inspires me to find a way to help my company's business team better communicate with visual examples of their ideas.
Tuesday was packed with seminars. My early morning session was Dana Chisnell's The Quick, the Cheap, and the Insightful: Conducting Usability Tests in the Wild. Dana presented on her experience with a California ballot project where she had no access to what she would test until test day. She also was dealing with a random group of participants and no one to assist her with facilitation. What's fantastic is that she made this work. Most sessions I do are quick and dirty. I may have a test plan and a lightly created script, but usually my planning, facilitating, analyzing, and reporting happens within a week or two. Not much time, so perfection is not the key – qualitative information is what's important. Hearing Dana explain her quick and dirty method left me confident in my own methods.
At Jared Spool's keynote session, what really stood out to me was the human graph we created. Forty audience members were pre-selected to answer a few questions to rate their opinion of four major brands. Based on those ratings, people stood at certain points along the wall and with that, became a living graph. Starbucks surprised me with a bell curve shape, and given this is a design conference, Apple was, of course, highly rated overall while Microsoft did not.
At Kim Goodwin's talk, Where Usability Meets Desirability: Visual Design with Personas and Goals, one of the biggest things I want to go back to communicate with marketing is that focus group preferences don't indicate buying behavior.
Scott Berkun did a fabulous job of explaining how failures are learning experiences. Someone or something will benefit from just about any failure. My favorite example from his talk was the Apple Newton. Apple failed miserably but Palm learned from this failure and became dominant in the market with their own product, which focused on a different technology.
There is a whole lot to say but I don't want to write 2000 words tonight. I'd rather hear from the readers. What were the key points you've taken away from the first two days of UI13? What was your favorite session?
Did you enjoy the ice cream? :)
Related posts:
UI13
On Monday, I spent the day at Luke Wroblewski's session, Visual Design for the Web: Communicating with Customers. Luke did a great job giving an overview of visual communication and organization principles. While some of this reminded me of being at SCAD, it was a re-learning I needed, a sort of reminder to remember the basics as I'm working on a design project.
Something never explicitly explained to me before was the idea that a website has a personality that communicates with customers. Near the end of the day, each table completed an exercise in developing a visual personality for a website. We flipped though magazines pulling out textures, colors, fonts, and imagery that communicated the feel and intent we wanted to portray. Our team tacked pictures with a fantasy rugby website theme on a big sheet of paper and ended up with a sporty, slightly aggressive concept with a focus on fantasy sports stats tracking. This was a fun exercise that inspires me to find a way to help my company's business team better communicate with visual examples of their ideas.
Tuesday was packed with seminars. My early morning session was Dana Chisnell's The Quick, the Cheap, and the Insightful: Conducting Usability Tests in the Wild. Dana presented on her experience with a California ballot project where she had no access to what she would test until test day. She also was dealing with a random group of participants and no one to assist her with facilitation. What's fantastic is that she made this work. Most sessions I do are quick and dirty. I may have a test plan and a lightly created script, but usually my planning, facilitating, analyzing, and reporting happens within a week or two. Not much time, so perfection is not the key – qualitative information is what's important. Hearing Dana explain her quick and dirty method left me confident in my own methods.
At Jared Spool's keynote session, what really stood out to me was the human graph we created. Forty audience members were pre-selected to answer a few questions to rate their opinion of four major brands. Based on those ratings, people stood at certain points along the wall and with that, became a living graph. Starbucks surprised me with a bell curve shape, and given this is a design conference, Apple was, of course, highly rated overall while Microsoft did not.
At Kim Goodwin's talk, Where Usability Meets Desirability: Visual Design with Personas and Goals, one of the biggest things I want to go back to communicate with marketing is that focus group preferences don't indicate buying behavior.
Scott Berkun did a fabulous job of explaining how failures are learning experiences. Someone or something will benefit from just about any failure. My favorite example from his talk was the Apple Newton. Apple failed miserably but Palm learned from this failure and became dominant in the market with their own product, which focused on a different technology.
There is a whole lot to say but I don't want to write 2000 words tonight. I'd rather hear from the readers. What were the key points you've taken away from the first two days of UI13? What was your favorite session?
Did you enjoy the ice cream? :)
Related posts:
UI13
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Experience of Product Packaging
Sometimes it's obvious when a company hasn't invested the time and resources to validate a package design with its potential users. I spent some time at my sister's house looking through her bathroom cabinets and much like a beauty supply shop, there were all different products for hair and skin, each contained in a unique bottle or can. Looking at most of them was a positive experience. What I can confirm is that companies appear to spend a lot of time designing visually appealing packaging. At no time did I think, "this is particularly ugly". However, in practical application, some designs failed while others succeeded. I attribute practical home testing to this difference, but I can't say for sure. I've never worked for any of these companies.
I've decided to present three examples of packaging that fails and two examples of designs that succeed. In all of these cases, I tried the products *before* realizing I wanted to analyze the design. My opinion was fairly unbiased as well as I had never seen or used these products before.
Biore Face Cleanser - FAIL
The Biore Face Cleanser looks like most any face cleanser that comes in a pump. It's an oval shaped bottle that fits nicely in the hand. At first, this would seem like a good design. Visually, it represents the Biore brand and while the white text is hard to read from a distance, up close, it was actually just fine. What fails is the extra-lage pump top. Pressing that pump dispenses about 2 to 3 times the necessary amount of product to wash a face. I could have washed several faces. Perhaps Biore was thinking this would work as a body wash, but I'm not fond of pump products in a shower. The other thought I had was that they've slyly decided to force customers to use more product so they will have to replace it more often. What this did for me is wonder if I can just replace the pump with a generic from the store, or perhaps use a different product alltogether. It took far too long to rinse my face after all that soap.
Biore Face Wash
Artec Kiwi Shine Serum - FAIL
This bottle of shine serum only fails after you've applied the product. The top twists open with ease. The problem is that shine serum is like oil. Once on your fingers, it takes some effort to get it off. That makes it very difficult to close the bottle until your hands are all clean. That said, perhaps it's the product that fails. If you've ever used a hair serum, you know it often takes more than one washing to get it off your hands.
Artec Kiwi Shine Serum
Herbal Essences Shampoo - PASS
Two things work with this shampoo bottle. First, it's clear, so you always know how much product remains and you can have an idea of how much time is left before you need a new bottle. Second, the top closes flat. This means that as the product gets low, you can store it upside down and it won't tip over. I love this.
Herbal Essences Shampoo
Barbasol Shave Cream
I've decided to present three examples of packaging that fails and two examples of designs that succeed. In all of these cases, I tried the products *before* realizing I wanted to analyze the design. My opinion was fairly unbiased as well as I had never seen or used these products before.
Biore Face Cleanser - FAIL
The Biore Face Cleanser looks like most any face cleanser that comes in a pump. It's an oval shaped bottle that fits nicely in the hand. At first, this would seem like a good design. Visually, it represents the Biore brand and while the white text is hard to read from a distance, up close, it was actually just fine. What fails is the extra-lage pump top. Pressing that pump dispenses about 2 to 3 times the necessary amount of product to wash a face. I could have washed several faces. Perhaps Biore was thinking this would work as a body wash, but I'm not fond of pump products in a shower. The other thought I had was that they've slyly decided to force customers to use more product so they will have to replace it more often. What this did for me is wonder if I can just replace the pump with a generic from the store, or perhaps use a different product alltogether. It took far too long to rinse my face after all that soap.
Biore Face WashArtec Kiwi Shine Serum - FAIL
This bottle of shine serum only fails after you've applied the product. The top twists open with ease. The problem is that shine serum is like oil. Once on your fingers, it takes some effort to get it off. That makes it very difficult to close the bottle until your hands are all clean. That said, perhaps it's the product that fails. If you've ever used a hair serum, you know it often takes more than one washing to get it off your hands.
Artec Kiwi Shine SerumHerbal Essences Shampoo - PASS
Two things work with this shampoo bottle. First, it's clear, so you always know how much product remains and you can have an idea of how much time is left before you need a new bottle. Second, the top closes flat. This means that as the product gets low, you can store it upside down and it won't tip over. I love this.
Herbal Essences ShampooBarbasol Pure Silk Shave Cream - PASS
The can is pretty typical for women's shaving cream, but what makes the Barbasol can work better than others is that it doesn't rust if you leave it in the shower. What's even better is that the company thought to mention this pretty boldly on the back (not shown). I have always hated that I never remember to take the shaving cream out of the shower and find rust circles everywhere. Those circles are difficult to remove so I would definitely choose a product that didn't rust over one that did, even if it cost more.
The can is pretty typical for women's shaving cream, but what makes the Barbasol can work better than others is that it doesn't rust if you leave it in the shower. What's even better is that the company thought to mention this pretty boldly on the back (not shown). I have always hated that I never remember to take the shaving cream out of the shower and find rust circles everywhere. Those circles are difficult to remove so I would definitely choose a product that didn't rust over one that did, even if it cost more.
Barbasol Shave CreamTuesday, October 7, 2008
UI13
I’m getting excited for UI13 next week! Jared Spool’s reminder email this week prepped me with a nice timeline of events that are now nicely displayed on my trusty (at times) calendar. The seminars I selected for Monday and Wednesday are:
Visual Design for the Web: Communicating with Customers presented by Luke Wroblewski
and
Bringing User-Centered Design Practices Into Agile Development Projects presented by Jeff Patton
Jeff’s seminar is of particular interest to me in that at work, I’m seeing more and more how an agile development process would suit many projects I work on. In addition to pushing how usability services could fit into the project lifecycle, I’d like to push for a new way of thinking and a new way of creating a software product. No matter how many companies are progressive with their programming techniques and iterative cycles, there are at least twice as many still stuck with the waterfall method. Easy to plan, perhaps. Easy on the users, probably not.
After a bit of an embarrassing moment being what I’d like to believe is a typical user of an election ballot, I realized how much passion I have for government design. With a little education from Dana Chisnell, I am getting up to speed on some UPA research and what influences the design of a ballot form. Hurray for laws dictating instructions. That’s a joke. Laugh. So next week I am hoping to get a chance to meet others with this interest and have a conversation with Dana to see how I can become more involved with the ballot usability project.
So next week, I hope to see you at UI13 in Cambridge, Mass. I arrive Saturday to hang out with my family for the weekend, but I’ll be in the city Sunday night, anxious to learn, learn, and learn some more.
Follow me on Twitter. Perhaps I’ll have a contest with Ms. Hess on who can conference tweet the most.
Visual Design for the Web: Communicating with Customers presented by Luke Wroblewski
and
Bringing User-Centered Design Practices Into Agile Development Projects presented by Jeff Patton
Jeff’s seminar is of particular interest to me in that at work, I’m seeing more and more how an agile development process would suit many projects I work on. In addition to pushing how usability services could fit into the project lifecycle, I’d like to push for a new way of thinking and a new way of creating a software product. No matter how many companies are progressive with their programming techniques and iterative cycles, there are at least twice as many still stuck with the waterfall method. Easy to plan, perhaps. Easy on the users, probably not.
After a bit of an embarrassing moment being what I’d like to believe is a typical user of an election ballot, I realized how much passion I have for government design. With a little education from Dana Chisnell, I am getting up to speed on some UPA research and what influences the design of a ballot form. Hurray for laws dictating instructions. That’s a joke. Laugh. So next week I am hoping to get a chance to meet others with this interest and have a conversation with Dana to see how I can become more involved with the ballot usability project.
So next week, I hope to see you at UI13 in Cambridge, Mass. I arrive Saturday to hang out with my family for the weekend, but I’ll be in the city Sunday night, anxious to learn, learn, and learn some more.
Follow me on Twitter. Perhaps I’ll have a contest with Ms. Hess on who can conference tweet the most.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Making Exercise a Good Experience
I love my community gym. Various large corporations in the area sponsored sections of the space. For example, we have the Emerson Process Management fitness area and the SUPERVALU ice rinks. Because of this, the city of Eden Prairie went all out getting the best, modern, state-of-the-art equipment. It just looks pretty and enticing. When I toured the place, I said, "I want to sign up now!"
However, there was a moment of nervousness. My past experience with fitness equipment was limited to 5 pound hand weights I would use during yoga. These giant pieces of machinery were very intimidating. My first day at the gym, I creeped up to a machine, not wanting anyone to notice how novice I am to this thing called exercise. I wasn't ready to talk to a trainer. I wanted to introduce myself to the equipment before making it very clear I know nothing about working out.
An amazing thing happened that first day. I found that most of the equipment was amazingly easy to use. I could spot from a distance which machine worked which muscles thanks to some clear imagery and the instructions were simple and listed as steps. Step 1, step 2, step 3... just how I think.
However, there was a moment of nervousness. My past experience with fitness equipment was limited to 5 pound hand weights I would use during yoga. These giant pieces of machinery were very intimidating. My first day at the gym, I creeped up to a machine, not wanting anyone to notice how novice I am to this thing called exercise. I wasn't ready to talk to a trainer. I wanted to introduce myself to the equipment before making it very clear I know nothing about working out.
An amazing thing happened that first day. I found that most of the equipment was amazingly easy to use. I could spot from a distance which machine worked which muscles thanks to some clear imagery and the instructions were simple and listed as steps. Step 1, step 2, step 3... just how I think.
Even if I skipped the written instructions, the large images of the man using the machine were pretty clear. Sit, grab handles, pull forward. Easy. Well, at least easy to understand. Perhaps the one failure here is the lack of a reminder to check the amount of weight. The person before me was doing 120lb ab work. I sat. I grabbed the handles. I pulled and I went nowhere. However, that's an easy fix. Easy to figure out, "whoops, I forgot to check the weight" and go back into the exercise.
My favorite instruction is for the triceps pushdown. They skip the instructional text and show the three most important points: which muscles are going to hurt tomorrow, what's the start position, and what's the goal. There's little question what to do here.
Not all fitness equipment includes such clear instruction. There are several machines at the gym that I needed an instructor to explain, but I was incredibly pleased that I could become oriented with the machines before asking for help, while I was still getting used to the idea of working out in front of strangers.
For more information on this well-instructed equipment, check out the Life Fitness website.
Related posts:
Out of Gas with a 1/2 Acre Remaining
My favorite instruction is for the triceps pushdown. They skip the instructional text and show the three most important points: which muscles are going to hurt tomorrow, what's the start position, and what's the goal. There's little question what to do here.
Not all fitness equipment includes such clear instruction. There are several machines at the gym that I needed an instructor to explain, but I was incredibly pleased that I could become oriented with the machines before asking for help, while I was still getting used to the idea of working out in front of strangers.For more information on this well-instructed equipment, check out the Life Fitness website.
Related posts:
Out of Gas with a 1/2 Acre Remaining
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