1. Finally got to take some shots of this book. Congrats, again, to Suzanne Ginsburg on the release of: Designing the iPhone Experience Pick it up here on Amazon.com

    Finally got to take some shots of this book.

    Congrats, again, to Suzanne Ginsburg on the release of: Designing the iPhone Experience

    Pick it up here on Amazon.com

  2. Great post on the OSX moving “Traffic Lights” and minimizing cognitive load In a system where e.g. a window close button has a fixed position in a window (area) your brain is very good at translating your spatial memory of where that close button is from a sort of “relative” memory into absolute coordinates on the screen. Our brains are very good at these kinds of things, so they are a versatile tool in the field of interaction design. So by moving around the “traffic lights” you force the user to employ visual aid when about to use the “traffic lights”, which in turn drastically increases cognitive load.

    Great post on the OSX moving “Traffic Lights” and minimizing cognitive load

    In a system where e.g. a window close button has a fixed position in a window (area) your brain is very good at translating your spatial memory of where that close button is from a sort of “relative” memory into absolute coordinates on the screen. Our brains are very good at these kinds of things, so they are a versatile tool in the field of interaction design. So by moving around the “traffic lights” you force the user to employ visual aid when about to use the “traffic lights”, which in turn drastically increases cognitive load.

    (Source: mmassie)

  3.  Check-ins: Beyond the Discount or My thoughts on why the Gift Card market is prime for a major disrupt (torn on which was the better title) I had shared my thoughts in the past about gift cards and received a fairly discerning response on twitter about why the plastic card market is here to stay - 80% of all gift cards go unclaimed. Meaning it is essentially free money for the vendor, so why would the vendor want to change it. Now the government has stepped in recently to stop dishonest practices like expiry dates… surely the money used to purchase the cards didn’t expire, so why should the card? After a couple of conversations with some guys at GroupCard, I found more and more ways this old concept could be flipped on its head. Here are some of the high level problems/solutions that I was able to see: 1) I am a minimalist and refuse to carry anything more than the essentials: There is no need to carry around a $25 credit card for a restaurant everywhere I go, but you know the moment I take it out of my wallet, I will end up there without it. 2)  What is left on the card should never be a mystery:By either app basing the gift card, or even email - handling the card in electronic format can provide the ability to let you know how much is remaining: One option is that if an app barcode for Barnes & Nobles gets scanned for a purchase, the dollar amount next to the barcode changes to represent the remaining value. Email could also be sent to the users account for security and budget tracking as well. a la Square style.   3) Even if I have a card for a place, I may forget: When I check-in, allow the ability to notify the user that they have an outstanding balance on a gift card at that location. Linking this service to APIs offered by Facebook (Places),foursquare, SCVNGR, Gowalla, & Google Places would allow the service to jump in to allow the user to take advantage of their gift. UPDATE: or, if tabbing/swiping with Square would already register the Gift Card as an option for payment.Additionally, when I started to look at the use cases of the Gift Card, many similarities in the solution could be leveraged for coupons and much anything else, as well - The basic key: let me know when I can use these (Gift Cards/ Coupons/etc), where I can use them. This topic has been filling up page after page of my moleskin on all the potential beyond the deals… what else do we want to know about a place upon entering? is my flight on time? what ski lifts are open? etc… API’s can offer where I walked in, what about all the other angles that are out there rather than just relying on what relationships the specific check-in app has created. Groupon has a 30% off coupon here, foursquare offers 10% on checkin, etc. 4) Gift cards without borders:If a parent wants to give their child a gift card for a grocery store while they are away at college (to ensure the money doesn’t end up on a bar tab) they should be allowed to not be limited by stores that are in both the parent and the childs region. There are no Safeway or Publix in Milwaukee, but the child may have only them as options. This is a stone age hurdle, and we can fix this. 5) Land fills and the costs of a tangible card (press, delivers, ink, etc)= all unnecessary waste. Lets disrupt pixels instead of our carbon footprint.

     Check-ins: Beyond the Discount or My thoughts on why the Gift Card market is prime for a major disrupt (torn on which was the better title)

    I had shared my thoughts in the past about gift cards and received a fairly discerning response on twitter about why the plastic card market is here to stay - 80% of all gift cards go unclaimed. Meaning it is essentially free money for the vendor, so why would the vendor want to change it. Now the government has stepped in recently to stop dishonest practices like expiry dates… surely the money used to purchase the cards didn’t expire, so why should the card? After a couple of conversations with some guys at GroupCard, I found more and more ways this old concept could be flipped on its head. Here are some of the high level problems/solutions that I was able to see:


    1) I am a minimalist and refuse to carry anything more than the essentials: There is no need to carry around a $25 credit card for a restaurant everywhere I go, but you know the moment I take it out of my wallet, I will end up there without it.


    2)  What is left on the card should never be a mystery:By either app basing the gift card, or even email - handling the card in electronic format can provide the ability to let you know how much is remaining: One option is that if an app barcode for Barnes & Nobles gets scanned for a purchase, the dollar amount next to the barcode changes to represent the remaining value. Email could also be sent to the users account for security and budget tracking as well. a la Square style.

     
    3) Even if I have a card for a place, I may forget: When I check-in, allow the ability to notify the user that they have an outstanding balance on a gift card at that location. Linking this service to APIs offered by Facebook (Places),foursquare, SCVNGR, Gowalla, & Google Places would allow the service to jump in to allow the user to take advantage of their gift.

    UPDATE: or, if tabbing/swiping with Square would already register the Gift Card as an option for payment.

    Additionally, when I started to look at the use cases of the Gift Card, many similarities in the solution could be leveraged for coupons and much anything else, as well - The basic key: let me know when I can use these (Gift Cards/ Coupons/etc), where I can use them. This topic has been filling up page after page of my moleskin on all the potential beyond the deals… what else do we want to know about a place upon entering? is my flight on time? what ski lifts are open? etc… API’s can offer where I walked in, what about all the other angles that are out there rather than just relying on what relationships the specific check-in app has created. Groupon has a 30% off coupon here, foursquare offers 10% on checkin, etc.


    4) Gift cards without borders:If a parent wants to give their child a gift card for a grocery store while they are away at college (to ensure the money doesn’t end up on a bar tab) they should be allowed to not be limited by stores that are in both the parent and the childs region. There are no Safeway or Publix in Milwaukee, but the child may have only them as options. This is a stone age hurdle, and we can fix this.

    5) Land fills and the costs of a tangible card (press, delivers, ink, etc)= all unnecessary waste. Lets disrupt pixels instead of our carbon footprint.

  4. Square Groups - An idea about how this could be done: In my last post, I talked about an opportunity for Square to expand their current offering allowing us to switch our profiles and take money for charity, a high school fundraiser, etc. Above is only an option (mock-up above) on how I think they could do it: It would be an option under “Accounts” that allows you to add a group/charity to take payments on behalf of. This would be by an “Add a Group” field which would prompt you to either search for a group, or to type in a a group/charity’s PIN ID. Type in the PIN and this would pair the device the that particular account/org. Once the pairing is complete you have the option to switch between profiles to allow you to be able to switch over to your Group/Charity account to start taking donations at a Meetup, or anywhere.

    Square Groups - An idea about how this could be done:

    In my last post, I talked about an opportunity for Square to expand their current offering allowing us to switch our profiles and take money for charity, a high school fundraiser, etc. Above is only an option (mock-up above) on how I think they could do it:

    It would be an option under “Accounts” that allows you to add a group/charity to take payments on behalf of. This would be by an “Add a Group” field which would prompt you to either search for a group, or to type in a a group/charity’s PIN ID. Type in the PIN and this would pair the device the that particular account/org.


    Once the pairing is complete you have the option to switch between profiles to allow you to be able to switch over to your Group/Charity account to start taking donations at a Meetup, or anywhere.

  5. After 7 months of hard work on creating the new UI, the new version of ÜberTwitter is available now is Beta 8 for BlackBerry devices. You can download it now from: Here Enjoy!

    After 7 months of hard work on creating the new UI, the new version of ÜberTwitter is available now is Beta 8 for BlackBerry devices. You can download it now from: Here

    Enjoy!

  6. Why securing at the app layer is the future of enterprise data on a mobile device

    I think it is prevalent enough at this point to say that “Consumerization” will be here for some time, and how the Enterprise can adapt is a constantly raised topic. One thing that I do see as moving to the front of this race, is the sandbox approach as stated previously on this site. But what I didn’t raise was how that was handled to not interfere with the user. Security is at the utmost of many larger corporations and their content must be protected - 2 quick ways about this is to secure the whole device, or secure the corporate data itself:
     In the first model, companies like BlackBerry offer end to end encryption with a password upon the opening of the device, to do most anything except make and take a call. In the secondary model, the Enterprise does not impose it’s security policies until the user requires access to company information. To quickly SMS, take a picture, tweet, etc, the company is not in the way of that from happening. 

    Granted, it is easy to say for a company that will be offering Corporate Liable devices, that BlackBerry is a natural solution. But when a company looks to expand into the devices that their employees are already carrying, to reduce costs of not only the carrier monthlies, but device purchase and billing/contract management, it becomes imperative that the security policies do not impact the end users experience - it is after all, their device and money that you’re messing with. For this reason, companies like BlackBerry and Microsoft really need a wake up call if they think at their current, lock on opening model will be successful in the next BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) shift.

  7. Photo by Michael Siedel (via Flickr) Thanks all for coming out to listen to me speak about User Experience Design on the Mobile Platform, and contributing, at the MKE UX event on Wednesday! UPDATE - The meeting recap have now also been posted here.

    Photo by Michael Siedel (via Flickr)

    Thanks all for coming out to listen to me speak about User Experience Design on the Mobile Platform, and contributing, at the MKE UX event on Wednesday!

    UPDATE - The meeting recap have now also been posted here.

  8. Apple needs to bring the “Today Screen” to the iOS - Here’s How: The one place that I think that Palm OS (The Original version) had hit the nail on the head was the Today screen. It was designed to be a quick glance notifier to pertinent information, like the time, to-do items, and upcoming calendar events all on the main screen. Windows Mobile added this functionality and HTC later took it even further adding more relevant information, like weather. Because of the undeniable usefulness I propose that the next iOS version bring that functionality to the iPhone.One place Apple could add this screen is the Search Screen (swipe right): The Search Screen is easy, cause the page is relatively empty with a search field on top and keyboard on the bottom. Sliding the keyboard up from the bottom of the screen when tapping in the search window opens up 85% of the rest of the screen for data like the items listed above. Another option is the Lock Screen, quickly allowing the user to tap the physical button and glancing at the data without going into the phone. One additional alternative would be to dedicate the home screen to this, forcing the user to swipe left for search (or include it on the top of this page), but then swiping right to get to apps.I like the idea of it being in the Lock Screen (shown above) because I feel that I would reference it like I do to check the time - Click the button glance and back into the pocket.

    Apple needs to bring the “Today Screen” to the iOS - Here’s How:

    The one place that I think that Palm OS (The Original version) had hit the nail on the head was the Today screen. It was designed to be a quick glance notifier to pertinent information, like the time, to-do items, and upcoming calendar events all on the main screen. Windows Mobile added this functionality and HTC later took it even further adding more relevant information, like weather. Because of the undeniable usefulness I propose that the next iOS version bring that functionality to the iPhone.

    One place Apple could add this screen is the Search Screen (swipe right): The Search Screen is easy, cause the page is relatively empty with a search field on top and keyboard on the bottom. Sliding the keyboard up from the bottom of the screen when tapping in the search window opens up 85% of the rest of the screen for data like the items listed above. Another option is the Lock Screen, quickly allowing the user to tap the physical button and glancing at the data without going into the phone. One additional alternative would be to dedicate the home screen to this, forcing the user to swipe left for search (or include it on the top of this page), but then swiping right to get to apps.

    I like the idea of it being in the Lock Screen (shown above) because I feel that I would reference it like I do to check the time - Click the button glance and back into the pocket.

  9. 52 Weeks of UX: Honest Interfaces →

    “To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful.”—Edward R. Murrow

    Users approach most products with an expectation of honesty. Things should do what they say, behave in an expected manner and reinforce their decision to use…

  10. Transparent Productivity As we move forward with technology, I expect that the next primary way to access your enterprise data will be thru an icon - It will be with you, will all your other things just in different capacities. On your iPhone, on your iPad, and an icon on your laptop. While you’re out doing the things you need to do, you can access work on the devices that are already with you. There are two factors at work here - When you want to work, and with what type interface. As carpenters have a tool box of appropriate tools, you’ll leverage the most desirable input methods when looking to work. You may only reference data on your smart phone, but then go back to your desktop to leverage peripherals, heavy data input, larger screen size, etc. Smart phones, tablets, laptops, desktops - these are vessels to the content, not the content themselves. In discussions I have had with Good Mobile Messaging in 2007, I expressed that I wanted a Mac version of their app - A sandboxed application that accessed my work email, calendar and contacts. - Perfect! As I traveled, I wanted the ability to just take my personal laptop to do the things that I want and need personally, but also to access my work too. Its not an option knowing that I would never want to allow the company that I work for, to come in and install anti-virus, firewalls, endpoint protection, VPN software, let alone all the office tools just to get email while I am away. But if you took that and shrunk it into a little app that sat on my desktop alongside my personal productivity tools, that only got in front of me when I wanted to get into the enterprise - that is a more desirable model. Just like it does in a sandbox on my mobile device. I don’t want Grandma’s birthday or my friend from High Schools bachelor party, stored on some Exchange server, backed up indefinitely in the vaults of the company that employs me, nor do they want NDA’d conversations about strategy on my MobileMe calendar. So maybe we have come far enough where desktop virtualization will allow us a different looking icon to link us into the office when we ready to get some work done, offering us our suite of productivity tools and access to all the files and applications necessary to do our job thru a pane of glass. I got that app, but it is in the form of a virtual session, thus allowing me full access to all my companies facilities on my personal platform BlackBerry and ActiveSync, for example, want to control the device, not just the data - which makes a lot of sense… to security people - but doesn’t make sense when an enterprise wants to cut back costs. So instead of competing for space in the employees pocket, or purse, why not go with what they have already. More people are carrying smart phones, as is, and are more likely to access work if it’s convenient. You don’t want to add a phone, voice and data plan for a device that will sit in the briefcase at home, while your resource is out and about. Just leverage the tools that they already have with them. Facts have proven that employees that have access to outside resources (pay bills online, check personal email, etc) are more prone to stay in the office and continue to get work done. So what is to say this wouldn’t be true when flipped the other way, if the company was always with you while you were running around, at the cafe, etc, what’s to say you wouldn’t be more prone to open the app and knock out a few emails as the ideas arrive, instead of waiting till Monday morning and face possibly losing that momentum. I look forward to the opportunity that I can pop in an out of the office electronically with my closest device to capture a brain dump while stuck in the laundromat and then back out to catch some YouTube clips.

    Transparent Productivity

    As we move forward with technology, I expect that the next primary way to access your enterprise data will be thru an icon - It will be with you, will all your other things just in different capacities. On your iPhone, on your iPad, and an icon on your laptop. While you’re out doing the things you need to do, you can access work on the devices that are already with you. There are two factors at work here - When you want to work, and with what type interface. As carpenters have a tool box of appropriate tools, you’ll leverage the most desirable input methods when looking to work. You may only reference data on your smart phone, but then go back to your desktop to leverage peripherals, heavy data input, larger screen size, etc.

    Smart phones, tablets, laptops, desktops - these are vessels to the content, not the content themselves.

    In discussions I have had with Good Mobile Messaging in 2007, I expressed that I wanted a Mac version of their app - A sandboxed application that accessed my work email, calendar and contacts. - Perfect! As I traveled, I wanted the ability to just take my personal laptop to do the things that I want and need personally, but also to access my work too. Its not an option knowing that I would never want to allow the company that I work for, to come in and install anti-virus, firewalls, endpoint protection, VPN software, let alone all the office tools just to get email while I am away. But if you took that and shrunk it into a little app that sat on my desktop alongside my personal productivity tools, that only got in front of me when I wanted to get into the enterprise - that is a more desirable model. Just like it does in a sandbox on my mobile device. I don’t want Grandma’s birthday or my friend from High Schools bachelor party, stored on some Exchange server, backed up indefinitely in the vaults of the company that employs me, nor do they want NDA’d conversations about strategy on my MobileMe calendar. So maybe we have come far enough where desktop virtualization will allow us a different looking icon to link us into the office when we ready to get some work done, offering us our suite of productivity tools and access to all the files and applications necessary to do our job thru a pane of glass. I got that app, but it is in the form of a virtual session, thus allowing me full access to all my companies facilities on my personal platform

    BlackBerry and ActiveSync, for example, want to control the device, not just the data - which makes a lot of sense… to security people - but doesn’t make sense when an enterprise wants to cut back costs. So instead of competing for space in the employees pocket, or purse, why not go with what they have already. More people are carrying smart phones, as is, and are more likely to access work if it’s convenient. You don’t want to add a phone, voice and data plan for a device that will sit in the briefcase at home, while your resource is out and about. Just leverage the tools that they already have with them.

    Facts have proven that employees that have access to outside resources (pay bills online, check personal email, etc) are more prone to stay in the office and continue to get work done. So what is to say this wouldn’t be true when flipped the other way, if the company was always with you while you were running around, at the cafe, etc, what’s to say you wouldn’t be more prone to open the app and knock out a few emails as the ideas arrive, instead of waiting till Monday morning and face possibly losing that momentum.

    I look forward to the opportunity that I can pop in an out of the office electronically with my closest device to capture a brain dump while stuck in the laundromat and then back out to catch some YouTube clips.

  11. Why don’t we have mobile eGift cards yet? I would be far more likely to use a gift card if it was always on me.  I don’t think that I am the only one, so where are they? A scannable barcode could be easily updated to reflect what is left on the card as well as a managed email update to the issuer. A great example, is:     When parents have kids that are away at college - it is a great way to send money that you know will go towards what’s important (e.g. food). Heck, for transparency, it could send the gift giver an itemized list of what the card was used for (e.g. making sure the college food money isn’t going to kegs). Another perk to a mobile solution is that it doesn’t require the purchaser to go into the store, which becomes convenient if that store is not local to the place of where the purchaser lives, but is to the recipient. There is also the green aspect of these disposable credit cards… you’re effectively reducing the waste of plastic in our landfills as well as shipping, packaging and the distribution carbon footprint. Included in the green options, comes the cost benefit of having no tangible product to make, store and ship. I see a big opportunity for a company like Yowza to offer mobile gift cards, but am quite surprised that this hasn’t come to market yet? What gives?

    Why don’t we have mobile eGift cards yet?

    I would be far more likely to use a gift card if it was always on me.  I don’t think that I am the only one, so where are they?

    A scannable barcode could be easily updated to reflect what is left on the card as well as a managed email update to the issuer. A great example, is:

        When parents have kids that are away at college - it is a great way to send money that you know will go towards what’s important (e.g. food). Heck, for transparency, it could send the gift giver an itemized list of what the card was used for (e.g. making sure the college food money isn’t going to kegs).

    Another perk to a mobile solution is that it doesn’t require the purchaser to go into the store, which becomes convenient if that store is not local to the place of where the purchaser lives, but is to the recipient.

    There is also the green aspect of these disposable credit cards… you’re effectively reducing the waste of plastic in our landfills as well as shipping, packaging and the distribution carbon footprint. Included in the green options, comes the cost benefit of having no tangible product to make, store and ship.

    I see a big opportunity for a company like Yowza to offer mobile gift cards, but am quite surprised that this hasn’t come to market yet? What gives?

  12. Pleased to announce - ÜberTwitter I am pleased to announce that after a week of talks, Übertwitter and I have aligned to have me design their next UI. About a week of working with them,  me sending over a couple of new wireframes, and there you have it; My work will be the next face of arguably the most popular and successful Twitter app for the Blackberry platform.   Thanks Über and it will be a great pleasure to work with you.

    Pleased to announce - ÜberTwitter

    I am pleased to announce that after a week of talks, Übertwitter and I have aligned to have me design their next UI. About a week of working with them,  me sending over a couple of new wireframes, and there you have it; My work will be the next face of arguably the most popular and successful Twitter app for the Blackberry platform.

     

    Thanks Über and it will be a great pleasure to work with you.