User Generated Design

Getting into my car this morning with a 3 hour drive across the country ahead of me, I had a rare and slightly unnerving panic. Not knowing how to get to my destination, I fell back on my one true saviour: Android navigation to find the way; a tactic that has paid off more times than I can count. Only this time there was a problem. The last update to Maps has brought with it a stripped down flat UI to the front end of navigation. This is all good, apart from almost all of the functionality we were used to is gone! In desperation, I opened up PLAY and grabbed my second choice for finding my way around: Waze Now, before I go further, I know that Google didn't kill navigation. It is still there and it still works, but what they have done is shifted the functionality and focus. When Android was first launched , it occupied a very different world. Smartphones were just starting to take root and tablets were just a vision within Steve Job's eye (or clunky pieces of trash made b

Windows 8 is a subject that is never far from my mind when doing any blog post, so today it was pretty nice to see the first look of Windows 8.1 drop. Microsoft has always been the but of bad Usability jokes, and my biggest complaint was that Windows 8 felt like a really great idea, gone half way there. I shouldn't have been surprised as that is classic Microsoft. That is, put something out, get user feedback and then in the next release fix it. 95 = ok 98 = great ME = DISASTER XP = God's gift to the PC Vista = DISASTER 7 = Great 8 = Disaster 8.1 = Great? I digress. This post really isn't a run through of all the latest features and my thoughts on them, partly because of time limitations, and partly because all first look videos are little more than marketing spin, so the reality will drop later when hands on tests start. But what is apparent is that Microsoft seems to have got maybe 80% of the way towards the vision that was Windows 8. Sure, a lot of thes

Taking a break from serious HCI blogging, sometimes you come across something that is just too good to let slide by. If you are reading this blog, then you will love this! From: MastersInIt.org

Take a look at this:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22315685 It is marketed at a new sensory experience for the home, a 180° television. Does it create an IMAX experience for the home and is it genius? Maybe. Is it better and tested than normal TV? Yes. How do we know? Because this is not new, just an application of established information visualisation from over a decade ago . Will it take off? Probably not. The film industry is so setup with the single way of filming that it would require a monumental shift in technique of filming, and a massive increase in cost. Think, the industry is currently finding it hard enough to film in HD and 3D, let alone this kind of strange new experience. However, it should not be discounted. An artist or an experience designer should always have a wide variety of tools at his disposal, so it may not become the default, but I hope to see it now and then.

Check out this new design idea: Shower To-Go http://www.yankodesign.com/2013/04/19/shower-to-go/ Basically it's a hand held 'electric shower' and could do to washing what the electric razor does for shaving. The name electric shower is something I just came up with, but terror and feelings of panic aside, it captures the point. The inner product designer in me wants to love this rather sexy and sports image driven device, clearly aimed at a male buyer (do women have problems washing? Would they use that thing on their hair) but I feel it becomes more art than function. Why? Because it's one step too far for mankind. So let's assume it works great and I can look and smell great with this device, the action of rubbing a vibrating(?) stick over your body like a portable steam cleaner is so divorced from the action of bathing or showering that it's not going to be an activity that is obvious or natural to any person. The though of 'really?' and 'wh

Remember when windows 8 came out? We were filled with videos, images and adverts focusing squarely on the Modern UI of windows 8. Well, now it turns out Microsoft has stopped focusing on Modern UI to sell is new Os, and started saying "hey, remember how much you love the desktop, we still have it!" In Depth: Microsoft: emphasis on Start Screen shackled Windows 8 http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/microsoft-we-shouldn-t-have-lost-touch-with-desktop-for-windows-8-1144623?attr=all&src=rss It's something I have been musing for some time. I installed Windows 8 the week or was released and so far haven't been able to quite get my head round it. Not that it's hard to use (although it does have some quirks) but just what is it? When I'm in desktop mode, it's the old windows experience more or less. Jumping into Modern UI, it's a whole new experience, which to be honest I really like. Internet Explorer 10 in this mode really is something special, wit

Unisex Toilet Symbol? Sometimes information needs to be communicated at the most vital moments of high stress and need. Traditionally , this has focused on semi-important areas such as missile defence systems, pretty useful when North Korea starts threatening world stability . But there are other situations which may be more important, and one we all face every day without realising it; knowing which door to go through when we need the toilet! The picture on the left was taken at an art gallery I was visiting on Friday, which when I encountered threw me. Thoughts passed through my mind "is this right?" Looking at it I didn't quite know what to make of it, so started looking around, all the doors were like this. After a few seconds of desperation I thought I would chance it and went through, although all the time there was that worry in the back of my mind. Why was this? Looking at the symbol, it isn't hard to work out that it could be anything else but a unise

Is it ethical for Google to promote the book that drove the Holocaust under their "read through books they banned"  promotion? https ://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=TXcwKYcMFyoC On the one hand, it is a very important book in world history, but while henry millers The Tropic of Capricorn is sexually explicit, or is after all entertainment after our basic needs. How would this go down in waterstones if the same selection of banned books were brought together? Does the online shop make us feel more at ease and less easily offended? So many questions, so little time to blog. Update coming soon.

Can Light - SARAH PEASE DESIGN : 'via Blog this' I really want to like these, I really do. There is a feeling of vintage style that screams to be embraced by fashion stores like Levi and AllSaints, but in my eye it fails. They are not modified enough to produce a cool different between the old functional item and the (desired) enchanting style. But the greatest failing here is that damn hook at the back. Maybe fitting a bracket to the back of the lamp would create more of an illusion, a floating object on the wall. Close, but no magic,.

'Disruptive' Ouya console launches http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21954641 Is this the future of gaming and entertainment? Unlikely. Why? As it stands it is too simplistic. But what is interesting is the idea of gaming being outside of an activity tethered to a single box in one room, and instead something accessible from a plethora of devices, one of which is the TV. So far, this is a pipe dream, but just think how exciting gaming could be when it starts fully taking advantage of this new ecosystem. What about a zombie survival game requiring your pc to search for secret medical files, your tablet to keep track of progress and make things happen, augmented reality glasses to show the hoards in the real world, tracking your running, evading, moving between bases to access geolocated information. The game is no longer in the console, but the console is allowing access to one part of the game you are living in real time and space.

A few thousand blog posts exist critiquing the MS Surface (and Windows 8) so this blog isn't an earth shattering event in the world, yet a few thoughts crept into my mind yesterday while hands on with a Surface yesterday which I really want to share. Mainly because I haven't come across these thoughts before while reading up Windows 8, so here it goes. Before we start, this is now a Windows 8 attack as such. Right now I am at my desk writing this on a Windows 8 PC, and even using IE 10! I am also listening to the 'new' Jimi Hendrix album, but those are both points for another day, but in short I quite like W8, even though my 24" monitor is not touch enabled, it is still an (almost) enjoyable experience. More another time. So onto Surface. As a piece of hardware, I love it. Sure, the flip keyboard could be better, mainly by making it 'snap' shut, and it could be lighter, but ignoring those it really is a thing of beauty. I am impressed by the speed of

To say the fashion industry is cut-throat and out for the cash in our wallets could possibly be one of the biggest understatements of all time, but the UK fashion brand  AllSaints has done something which is particularly interesting.  Think back to the last time you went shopping online. You might have looked around the site, added a few things to the basket, looked at the price and thought again. That's it right? Not any more. On the  AllSaints website, once you fill your basket a timer starts. If you don't make a purchase in the next hour, an emails arrives in your inbox gently reminding you that not only is you basket saved, but it is there waiting for you to complete it. This is a very simple prompt, but potentially powerful. Remember of course, we live in an age where email is not a service in your office, but a ping in your pocket  courtesying  of your friendly smartphone. Why is this important? In his model of behaviour motivation, B J J Fogg describes three aspe

Take a look at "Nike+ Running" So the other day the Nike+ app finally dropped for the masses of Android users out there (ignoring those lucky guys on O2 who got it last year) and the excitement is paramount. Track your own run, share it with friends, get a detailed breakdown of the exercise and receive encouragement from friends whilst running. But there is one little hurdle that I find difficult to sing the praises of; the first time experience. The key elements of Innovation Diffusion (how well ideas spread through society) are: Relative Advantage Compatibility Complexity Trialability Observability Now, the one point I am having a slight gripe on is trialability. When you open the app for the first time, it asks you to sign in. This is a hurdle to get over, a barrier to snooping around the app that when you think about it, doesn't need to be there. Sure, the advantages to having every single action undertaken within the app should be obvious to anyone

The Smart Car Is Needed!   There is this one thing that has been on my mind for some time now, but I have always assumed that it was coming, maybe at the next apple Keynote or Google IO... But as the last few years have rolled over no word has come. So I have to ask myself, where is the smart car? Yes, smart car stereos do exist, kind of.. One example from a quick Google search is the Kenwood  DNN990HD , which while does bring some interesting features over and above the traditional DAB/ FM/ CD/ tape deck (yes, there are still some out there), does not exactly bowl us over. But more to the point, should we really be labelling things as smart? What would a smart car be like? Before we go any further, lets just think about what happens in the car? As the driver you are doing that manual thing with pedals, a steering wheel and a gear stick, but all kinds of information are coming at you as well! What is your speed, revs, acceleration and braking? All of these impact upon fuel econ

A few weeks ago I took part in running the Loughborough branch of the Global Service Jam. It was a truly fantastic weekend for everyone involved, and luckily for us, it was professionally shot by the great Andre Brito! So to get a brief insight into some of the Service Design work I am involved with alongside my research (especially 1:49), check out the video below:

Ok, the core issues of usability are functionality, efficiency and satisfaction, bare that in mind. For the last few weeks I have been thinking of getting a tablet, but I keep asking myself why? My smartphone already does everything I need on the move, and when it doesn't I have my laptop for office work. So why? Thinking further, there is only one killer reason I can think of; magazines. Try reading any magazine on a smartphone, even the rather large galaxy S3 and your experience is defiantly not efficient or satisfying. So I made my mind up, a tablet it is! But then I thought, hang on, there is a newsagents fought around the corner, and while my interests may not be as mainstream add most, I'm pretty sure they stock everything I would actually read. So why shell out hundreds of pounds for that little piece of led enhanced plastic? Maybe it's the 'I want' factor, but I feel there is more to it, marketing. So as we face a future where smart technologies pervade

Ok, so according to a new report published by the European Commission Joint Research Committee, music piracy and illegal downloads don't harm the music industry, and in some ways give it a boost http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21856720. Should this be surprising? I don't know. Coming clean (to a degree) there have been countless times when I have been given USB sticks loaded with music in the past, and what has happened. Most of the bands on there are ones I would never listen to, and some remain unlistened to even now years down the line. This is mainly due to small things like their name or CD art looking unappealing to me, something that doesn't slot in line with my tastes. In short, stuff I wouldn't buy normally. But occasionally, there are a few gem discoveries. Without my friends at uni there is no way I would have given The Birthday Massacre another thought, yet I did and now I am a fan! So sure, there might be a couple of albums I have which I shouldn&