I’ve been using the iPad for a little while now, trying to push myself in terms of using apps with multi-touch interfaces. Craig Villamor, Luke Wroblewski, Dan Willis and Jennifer Rhim have done an excellent job of documenting the gestures a user can perform. I’ve also been playing with the new Sencha Touch, which is…
I played Softball last night for the first time in quite a while. There is a specific feeling that I get when I hit a ball well. It’s the same feeling I get when I hit a good shot in golf or shoot a difficult shot in pool or hit a winner in tennis. It’s…
<rant> How many engineers does it take to edit CSS? It’s a trick question, engineers hate CSS. They say it’s “non-deterministic”. So who is left to mess around with the 3rd party app to skin it and make it look right? I “volunteered”. So the first thing to do is to look at the generated…
I don’t use Facebook all that much. I know it’s super popular, and I maintain it at the bare minimum level, but I can’t really get into it. Recently I watched an online presentation from a UX guy at Google about Social Networking. One major point really resonated with me: The complete lack of segmentation…
My first experience with an ongoing game was Dungeons and Dragons in the early 1980’s. There was no ending. You just played whenever you could get the right people together. You gained in levels and collected new weapons and powers. It was an addictive game. The next stage occurred with the introduction of a Tamgotchi…
Question: What is the difference between the approach UX takes and the one Support takes? Each group is dedicated to making the customer happy. Of course, UX is often involved in the creation process of the product/service and support is not, but there are many times when UX is brought in specifically to help an…
Rule #15: Consistency is good. But how do you make decisions when it’s complicated? Let’s compare some of the situations. A vs. B: No-brainer. Of course, go for something better for the situation assuming all choices are inconsistent. A vs C: Again, no-brainer. Of two equal solutions, choose the one that is more consistent with…
Have you ever convinced yourself of a decision based on an initial reaction? Of course you have, everyone has. The more important question is: Have you ever reversed one of these decisions later when reality turned out different than you initially experienced? This is crucial to having good judgment. Sometimes the initial WOW or YUCK…
Imagine a chair. You have it in your mind. Now try and write (or speak) a short description of what makes a chair a chair. online dictionary definition: A piece of furniture consisting of a seat, legs, back, and often arms, designed to accommodate one person. It’s trivial to imagine a chair that doesn’t qualify…
For anyone who is starting off as a brand new UX Designer: Always be observing and analyzing. Look around you. What do you see? Who made those things? Why did they make them that way? Why is the ceiling that tall? Who decided on the spacing of the boards in the floor? Why is the…
I had a form in front of me for business cards. I put Senior Director, User Experience. I didn’t want to. I wanted to put down, Mayor, Awesome Town. Why did I chicken out? Why did I go normal? Ugh, I am looking at my card now and deeply feel the regret. What title do…
One week in and I have some more experience with the iPad. There have been some ups and downs. Here is my (as of now) reactions: Email Connection: I finally got it working. I didn’t do it, my IT guy at work did. I watched the details and it was way more complicated than I…
I spent two years (1992-1994) in Buffalo, NY. My first conversation with a native Buffalonian went like this: Me: Hi, I’m Glen. Buffalo: Hi Glen, where are you from? Me: Just outside NYC. Buffalo: Hmmm. The wings suck there. Pizza too. Plus did you know the Buffalo Bills are the only NY football team. The…
I recently had a chance to work with an iPad. The different kinds of UI is exploding as Mobile devices, e-readers, netbooks and other devices gain in popularity. No longer can I design for 1024×768 or better on a modern browser. Now, I have to think about gestures on mobile devices too. The iPad is…