December 16
Annual NYC UX Community Holiday Party
It's time once again to join with your peers and meet new friends at the Annual NYC UX Community Holiday Party. This is a combined effort of the local User Experience community: the IA Institute, IA Meetup, IxDA, NYCCHI, STC and UPA.
December 17
New Hampshire UPA Holiday Party
This will be a great opportunity to combine celebrating the holiday season with getting to know your fellow NH UPA members better. Party takes place in Plymouth, NH.
January 14
Mobile User Experience: What Web Designers Need to Know
Led by Adaptive Path's mobile design strategist, Rachel Hinman, this 75-minute virtual seminar will give insight into how user experience professionals can engage with the exciting and rapidly evolving mobile landscape.
January 12-14
Rebooting Computing: The Magic and Beauty of Computer Science
We are organizing an invitational summit of 200 visionary leaders from all sectors touched by computing, including science, engineering, industry, business, education, journalism, policymaking, and government. Event will take place in Mountain View, CA.
February 5-8
Interaction|09 - Vancouver, BC
Mark your calendars now for what promises to be another exciting and informative conference centered around the design of interactive systems of all types, from web and desktop applications, to mobile devices, consumer electronics, digitally-enhanced environments, and more.
February 8-11
IUI '09: 13th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces
IUI 2009 (Sanibel Island, FL) is the annual meeting of the intelligent interfaces community and serves as the principal international forum for reporting outstanding research and development on intelligent user interfaces.
Related posts:
WUD Event: Usability of Social Networking
World Usability Day 2008
User Experience Events in November 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
A Coupon for Free Children
Thinking of going to see the sharks at the Mall of America? Now you get a free child with a fantastic coupon from Underwater Adventures. The second one appears to be 50% off.
I assume the designers were limited by the tiny flyer and decided "Free Child Admission" or "Free Admission" would be too long. Shrink the headline and it won't stand out on the paper. I also assume there were no resources to test this with an unbiased audience. It is just a coupon, not a brand new product or million dollar ad.
However, FREE would be just as attention-getting. People are attracted to the word FREE. They like free things. A free child, however, is just creepy, especially given the adjoining image of a mother and child. Mom doesn't look too happy.
I assume the designers were limited by the tiny flyer and decided "Free Child Admission" or "Free Admission" would be too long. Shrink the headline and it won't stand out on the paper. I also assume there were no resources to test this with an unbiased audience. It is just a coupon, not a brand new product or million dollar ad.However, FREE would be just as attention-getting. People are attracted to the word FREE. They like free things. A free child, however, is just creepy, especially given the adjoining image of a mother and child. Mom doesn't look too happy.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Today's Topic: Pillow Labels
I am going to keep today's anti-writer's block post succinct. At a hotel, I found my pillow cases labeled "firm" and "soft". It's just a little thing, but I felt confident that the soft pillow would suit my needs without needing to try the hard pillow. The labels made it easy for me to make a sleep decision when I most need it - when tired and cranky from traveling. It's this little extra effort that speaks to the care for a great user experience.
Related posts:
Related posts:
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Today's Topic: Hotel Bath Products
Today's anti-writer's block topic is the labeling of a hotel's bath products. In most hotels, both upscale and ecomony, I've seen an effort to provide more "spa-like" products to lure customers to hotel chain. Some partner with known companies while others have selected unique bottle shapes, elegant font treatment, and perfumed lotions to create the sense of high class for bathers.
In a hotel chain I won't mention here, I came across the above pictured products in the bathroom. I get my choice of:
In a hotel chain I won't mention here, I came across the above pictured products in the bathroom. I get my choice of:- Soften
- Freshen
- Tame
- Wash
Now I, after traveling all day, exhausted and ready to wash up, have to decipher which product does what. Also admittedly sick with a cold, I had to open Freshen to determine if it was shower gel. Good thing I checked. Freshen is mouthwash. Tame, on its own is fairly self-explanatory - hair conditioner. I had a brief moment of question after seeing Soften (lotion).
Then there's Wash. That would be shampoo.
I found the soap a few minutes later, clearly marked "Cleanse".
The next day, I found on the back of each bottle, the actual product type marked in fine print.
Related posts:
Beating Writer's Block
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Beating Writer's Block
I have to admit I've had writer's block for about three weeks. Normally I am inspired to post by everyday life - something interesting happens, a new product comes out, or I have a "bad user experience". Lately, I know these have been going on but I just haven't felt like writing. In an effort to rectify this problem, I am going to pick one product or service experience to write a short bit about each day for a week, hoping that will get me out of this rut and back into being able to write normal posts twice a week.
Today's topic: candy packaging
I'm a sucker for movie theater candy, buying unhealthy portions of chocolate, nuts, caramel, peanut butter, and sugar. I love trying new products, being completely willing to go for unexpected flavors and textures. No matter the unusual quality of the candy itself, the packaging is generally straightforward. Large, thin box filled with a plastic bag of little candy pieces. Once you get through the initial crackling of box and wrapper opening, the distruption is fairly minimal and you can easily grab candy to pop in your mouth.
I tried a mint chocolate chip candy this afternoon and while absolutely pleased with the taste (particularly that while pleasant, it doesn't cause gluttonous ravaging of the entire box in one sitting), the packaging has me confused. I admit this was not purchased at a theater but I consider the box theater sized and would have been prepared to smuggle this in to a good movie. I received a bit of a surprise while driving around trying to work with the box. Each little piece is individually wrapped in foil. I had to find a place to stop the car to use two hands to open one little candy. This means that the effort I place in eating the candy has to be worth the effort of unwrapping, and unfortunately I don't believe there are many candies that great. I think this candy has a risk of melting and that is why it is wrapped as such, however, this makes it a horrible choice for the movies and a crappy choice for a car trip snack.
Today's topic: candy packaging
I'm a sucker for movie theater candy, buying unhealthy portions of chocolate, nuts, caramel, peanut butter, and sugar. I love trying new products, being completely willing to go for unexpected flavors and textures. No matter the unusual quality of the candy itself, the packaging is generally straightforward. Large, thin box filled with a plastic bag of little candy pieces. Once you get through the initial crackling of box and wrapper opening, the distruption is fairly minimal and you can easily grab candy to pop in your mouth.
I tried a mint chocolate chip candy this afternoon and while absolutely pleased with the taste (particularly that while pleasant, it doesn't cause gluttonous ravaging of the entire box in one sitting), the packaging has me confused. I admit this was not purchased at a theater but I consider the box theater sized and would have been prepared to smuggle this in to a good movie. I received a bit of a surprise while driving around trying to work with the box. Each little piece is individually wrapped in foil. I had to find a place to stop the car to use two hands to open one little candy. This means that the effort I place in eating the candy has to be worth the effort of unwrapping, and unfortunately I don't believe there are many candies that great. I think this candy has a risk of melting and that is why it is wrapped as such, however, this makes it a horrible choice for the movies and a crappy choice for a car trip snack.
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