UX Week 2008 Rocked!
a sticky note love seat featured at UX Week 2008
Last week I spent some time at the Adaptive Path
UX Week Conference in San Francisco. I learned SO much while I was there and met a lot of great Experience Design folks. Some of the highlights:
- Don Norman who kicked off the week and talked about UX in general.
The Neo-futurists from Chicago.
TCHO - a new chocolate company in San Francisco who let us beta test their chocolate.
This was the second Adaptive Path conference I've attended. I must say, these people know how to put on a conference. They really understand that we're attending a user experience conference so they pay attention to details.
Location: UX Week 2008 was at the Palace Hotel. A beautiful spot. A wonderful user experience. Beautiful surroundings. Good food. Wonderful service. Attention to detail.
Events/Program: Not your usual conference stuff. UX Week offered several great hands-on workshops as well as some fun and pertinent entertainment (a performance by the Neo-futurists). One of the workshops I attended was called "How to Be A Sticky Note Ninja". (More on that in another blog post).
Adaptive Path employees. Approachable (they don't walk around like arrogant designers with a capital "D" on their chests). Friendly. Helpful. Interesting.
My rating of the conference: Thumbs up!
Labels: adaptive path, experience, user experience, ux
feeling prolific
wow! i haven't updated this blog in awhile. i've been working so hard i haven't had time to think about writing about design. just to be clear, i've been thinking about design -- just haven't been writing about it.
i've been thinking and acting quickly. it's actually been kind of fun. no time to second-guess my design decisions. design and move on to the next feature or project.
maybe it's a good thing -- to not
over-think the user experience... but then again, i don't want to overlook something important. so before i actually move a design forward i take a second look (after i've walked away from the design for a bit). fresh eyes and all that.
anyway, this design pace has been good. it's working for me. what works for you?
Labels: design, process, user experience
what is this thing?
have you noticed that some websites are using this little do-hickey thing in form fields now? i first noticed it on Blogger (see below). at this point i'm voting against them. the do-hickeys are so tiny you can barely see them. and when you do notice them, they kinda look like dust specs on your laptop screen. isn't a cursor enough?
examples of the do-hickey on Blogger
how about a nice cup of coffee...
and a poke in the nose!!!I love my Starbucks travel cup because it's shiny and orange and looks really cool.
I hate my Starbucks travel cup because it pokes me in the nose when I drink from it.
Did anyone test this thing before manufacturing it? How about some user experience studies Starbucks? I'm paying $3.25 for a cappuccino... surely you can afford to do product testing.
The next time I buy a travel mug I'm going to test drive it first.
Ouch!
Labels: product design, starbucks
swatch packaging design is fun!
My partner was given a new Swatch watch for her birthday this year. She got a limited edition 2008 Year of the Rat Swatch. This was a very appropriate gift because she happened to be born during a Rat Year. The
unboxing experience was wonderful -- nice job Swatch!
the swatch watch box -- you can't tell that there's a watch in here
the open box: a watch and a chinese purse
year of the rat watch by swatch
Labels: package design, swatch, unboxing experience
how to be creative
I'm always interested in reading people's lists about "how to be creative". Some of the lists I've run across are complete b------t or let's just say that I disagree with much of the content. Others are worth checking out. Here's a link to a list that I like
The How to Be Creative List. An explanation of the listed items are below the list.
Disclaimer some explanations contain explicit material so be forewarned -- now I know that you'll read them :)
My personal favorites are:
Number 5 -
You are responsible for your own experience.Number 10 - The more talented somebody is the less they need the props.
Number 27 - The best way to get approval is not to need it.
Labels: creativity
Get it?
Nikon calls me a User not an Owner. I like that!
I'm always amused when I find myself behaving like a
regular user rather than a designer... Case in point, I just bought a new Nikon digital SLR camera (thanks for the 2007 bonus Yahoo! Inc.). I eagerly opened the box, pulled out the camera, looked at it and thought "Hmm. I better read the owner's manual first. This thing looks pretty complicated." Then, I grabbed the owner's manual; the big several hundred page owner's manual. Ouch! I really wanted to use this thing sometime in the next hour. If I go through the manual it will be days before I can get started.
Thankfully, Nikon gets it! They know that I want to play with my new camera now. So they've provided me with a lovely Quick Start Guide. Wow! Everything I need to know just to get started is in this guide. Looks like I can take some photos within the next hour after all. Thanks Nikon. Thanks for paying attention to User Needs and User Behaviors. Thanks for getting it!
Labels: experience, out of the box, user behavior, user needs
