What else would i think about at 3:40am

If I were tasked with designing a digital experience for a place like the museum of natural history:

My first thought: dinosaur bones. That’s what I remember most about my experience there as a youngster. I’m sure a lot has changed, but I wonder what others impressions are. What does it mean to different folks? What would my takeaway be if I visited today? Does it matter that I am an old guy and not a little kid having the experience?

Examine the current state like a forensics expert. Every existing experience can reveal cues about the current culture, the current perception from within. What is emphasized? What is buried? A glaring omission may represent a lack of ability or focus or worse, a political battle that has been raging beneath. The current state can reveal so much about the battles and challenges that may lie In the road to a new experience.

This is a physical location that relies on a physical experience. Any digital experience needs to consider the experience one can only truly have in person. As I mentioned before, I wonder what my takeaway would be today. I would first have the entire team go to the museum with their friends, family, or alone. Not experiencing it as a team with a job to do seems important. Then I’d gather the team to talk about our experiences. What pictures did we take? What brochure did we grab? What water fountain did we stop at (or any other seemingly innocuous event that may inspire later). Trying not to emphasize observations about other visitors seems key. I want to compile a picture of _our_ experiences.

Next – I would focus on the actual visitors with another trip. This one more about the task at hand. With camera and video camera in tow, I would send two different teams to compile their perspective on how random visitors are experiencing the museum. Having two perspectives may help to see some Interesting patterns in what elements were chosen to cover.

Then I would do all the regular agency forensics to establish the rails upon which the conversations ahead will ride. A great idea may fall through the cracks if we did not do our homework enough to understand how to couch the description and presentation. The reason that virtual tour does not exist (or whatever) may be an indication that someone tried and failed, something that was found to be a bad experience, something someone high-up does not feel is right, or something that was never even explored. Knowing something like that would go a long way in crafting the presentation for any big ideas that emerge.

Oh yeah – with all of the above information in hand – or while is is getting Into hand – I would sketch. By sketch I don’t mean make wireframes or prototypes. I mean I would burp out ideas for any aspect of the experience and find a common place to capture then and let them incubate. An observation like “we had the best hot dog at the cart outside.” could lead Inspire someone on the team down the road. We just never know. That’s the beauty of it.

All the above activities may help the team focus on _inspiration_ above innovation. Too often innovation is thought of as the focus for a creative endeavor. The reality I’ve found is that innovation is the wrong place to start. A team needs a bevy of inspiration in order to truly create amazing experiences.

So… What?… This has made me look forward to hearing about my nephew’s first trip to the museum this weekend. I wonder if he will remember the dinosaurs.

The Bronx Zoo assumes I can map with my mind

The first thing I noticed when we visited the Bronx Zoo website was the lack of a map. I would be curious to know whether they have ever had a map feature and why they chose not to include one in their most recent site.

As a more visual learner I prefer to explore the exhibits in a way that allows me to walk the park in my mind. The relationship between the exhibits in space is a huge factor in what I would plan on seeing and in what order. But, alas, there was no map to be found (except for the one I found in a google search).

After trying to find anything to give me a sense of the lay of the land there at the zoo, I found this visual that could help me determine whether some attractions would be too far or difficult to access for my pregnant wife:

I am a user trying to get information, as opposed to a designer trying to convey it. I enjoy being in this situation because I get to question the design choices of others within the context of my real-life task – a practice that drives my wife bonkers sometimes.

1. There are icons with labels. I enjoy that fact. Icons are their own can make for crappy icons.
2. Upon further usage I realized the icons provide little value as they are presented. When I scan across a row for an exhibit I am shown dots within each column. Now that the icons have been set up with nice labels they have been abandoned within the table itself. I found myself having to look up and down to make sense of the dots within each row.

The choice to only use the icons as headers actually added noise to the table.

I would:

1. Repeat the icons within the rows instead of introducing the dots. It might clutter up the table, but my gut says that would allow me to focus on each exhibit and understand the various attributes.
2. Provide some more context about what the columns actually mean. The phrase “Rough Terrain” confused me a bit. What was rough about it? I am assuming it means it would be tough to push a stroller around?

Screen clipping taken: 5/31/2009, 1:14 PM

Nifty Spin on a Portal Display at MSNBC.com

This launched over a year ago, but like a re-run that you’ve never seen “it’s new to me”. I first have to say that i am now a fan of the MSNBC home page and I respect the work that went into it. I visited it for the first time after following an RSS link and these are my impressions of a particular feature:

What caught my eye?

Big letters. I enjoy using typography that draws my eye to headers and key bits of info. When used to their potential (e.g., the big words and numbers actually mean something, and aren’t a giant marketing term) they can offer a better visual anchor than an image. The headline here caught my eye as I scrolled down the page and anchored the portlet very effectively. I enjoy the control I appear to have with the options at the top (how many stories, placement/priority of the portlet). Those simple controls were enough to make me futz with the portlet and already begin to engage with the page in a personalized way.

What I like:

1. The grid is askew. The fact that each section is given its own space within a a more complex grid (more than 4 equal columns) allows the sections to appear in a readable way suitable for the content.
2. The fonts are readable and the typography assists in the design. The large font anchors the section, the font for each story is well spaced for reading, the blue is clearly clickable and the grey gets out of the way.
3. The story of this section is laid out for me. I can get a pretty good sense of what I am going to find within the “Business” section of the site. This is especially helped by the “Topics” area of the portlet (you’re not a true media site if you don’t have a “topics” section yet).
4. There is a good futz-factor. The links are clear and the display is simple enough that I feel like I know what will happen when I click them (i.e., enough to not be afraid to futz with the “Move Box”).

What seems to be missing:

1. Disappointment when clicking a story link. The stories themselves don’t seem to have caught up with the industry standard in terms of cross linking, summary info and integration of multimedia integration. CNN’s mosaic style is the best take on that so far.
2. # of stories control on top is a bit confusing. The definition of ’stories’ is a bit random. I imagined it was referring to the list of stories on the left, but it appears to also refer to the “Multimedia & Features” section as well. This sort of blurs the meaning of the ‘featured’ story on the left with the other ‘featured’ stories on the right. Also – what is a portlet with “0″ stories? An interesting choice for basically closing the portlet.
3. The left is more effective than the right. The ill-defined usage of the feature area is bothersome. I have created and struggled with such sections myself. It looks great on the PSD file (the image balancing out the text and such…) and I so want to find a use for it. It works when it is featured videos and such but after a year or so, i imagine it is hard to enforce such a rule.

New to me… nice job.

Big numbers are nice

My UX rule of thumb #285: When your site has lots of numbers, make some of them really big (as in the font size)… And if it only has a few, also make them big.

The thought behind this is simple. Chances are if you’ve got a page that needs to display a bunch of digits, some are going to be more important than others. Tell users an immediate story with the big numbers to ease them into the overall tale on the screen.

Sporting events are great for generating lots of numbers. Unless you’re bill James, there are probably a few stats that are top of mind. That’s why I enjoy the fact that espn.com displays player stats and game scores with emphasis on the most salient bits.

Too many data driven sites display all of the numbers on the screen in the same font size. But simply poofing (yes poofing) up some key digits lend a focus to the display and allow users to get an immediate insight.

(typed on the iPhone version of wordpress. Hence no links.)

Video as an afterthought – why bother?

Screen clipping taken: 11/20/2008, 11:59 AM

Trolling through the internets (actually found a promising pizza recipe on delish.com) and came across an MSN affiliate that integrates some of MSN’s video content. Video has a place on the internet. The only trouble I see here is that the ‘place’ is a sidebar half-way down the page. It just doesn’t feel right. Video takes a while (this one is 5 minutes apparently). But my surfing behavior is very jumpy.

Where I am going with this:
Video and the internet go together. But, video either needs to be the hero and the focus (like hulu.com or as part of a story mosaic like cnn.com) or it needs to allow me to multi-task and tune-in and out as my attention span allows (like Yahoo!s TechTicker – Scroll the page and it ’sticks’. You can comment on a post or read other stuff while the video rolls and stays with you. The page refresh is troublesome, but the idea is right.)

Video is becoming too ubiquitous to be plunked into sites like a banner ad. It’s compelling, but the anticipated behavior is in contrast with other web behavior. The standalone player is a popular solution (like Brightcove’s Player), but the working assumption seems to be that people are going to consume video in a focused manner (even if they switch from video to video). That, or stick it in the background or on another monitor. But my hunch is that video will be better served as part of a multi-tasking, in-browser experience (with the option to pop-out).

My Follow-up
Going to search for some data around usage and see if there are any studies about the matter. If both of my readers have heard of any, let me know.

Unintended consequence: humans love to ‘fix’ things

Big fish need little fish, which need plants.

In order to create usable experience you can’t try to make order out of chaos, you’ve got to find the order within it. That’s my elevator speech for what i do. Otherwise the act of ‘helping’ or ‘fixing’ will undoubtedly result in unintended consequence. I am reminded of this when folks call for a redesign of amazon.com to make it more usable. The site that has survived the first crash and is holding up under the weight of the second one. Let’s fix it. (it could use a few tweaks here and there, but bottom line is it is doing what better designed sites try and fail to do – make money)

I post this because several articles/posts have emerged in my rss feeds that mention this phenomenon:

“from the funny-how-that-works dept

Overhyped Fear Of Child Predators Leading To Real Concerns About Child Privacy“

“from the unintended-consequences dept

Blu-ray Working Great, For Pirates“

We need to understand the forces at work when we make changes and accept that there will be unintended consequence to our actions. We can never just fix one experience or one site. We are always altering a broader ecosystem of stuff and things. The only way to ‘control’ fate – accept this law, be aware of the consequences and continuously adapt.

(over)Exploring a metaphor to test its meddle…

I’m exploring (hey, that’s a metaphor too) an exercise where I (over?)extend a root metaphor to see just how well it could help me tell a particular story. The story is about a client engagement from a User Experience perspective. I’m trying to thread together a discussion. here goes:

Cruise ship as project…

• Goal: Get from point A to Point (n)
• Change of direction is hard and slow going (obvious one)
• Launch is always a party
• The navigation system is key to maintain the course
• We get onboard with the client
  • Sometimes we board while at sea
  • Sometimes we have to finish the ship before we can launch
• Hope to not sink
• Hope to not hit something really big
• Get involved with the activities on board
  • A shuffleboard game could build a key relationship
• Our challenge is to plan the course, usually while we are already cruising
• You can only take so many shots to the hull before it bursts
• Sometimes pirates take over the ship
• Something about there being no one at the helm
• Something about Isaac from Love Boat
• Some journeys run out of gas and are left adrift
• Some sink
  • Even the wreckage can tell a story

Other general nautical metaphors:

found on Wiki-pedia. Thought starters to extend further –

“Thanks to the historical importance of seafaring in British culture, the English language is rich in related metaphors from the age of sail. Some examples are:

• Taken aback
• Batten down the hatches
• Clear the decks
• Loaded to the gunwales
• Back and fill
• On one’s beam ends
• Awash
• Nail one’s colours to the mast
• Flying the flag
• Plain sailing
• With flying colours
• In the doldrums
• All hands to the pumps
• Take soundings
• Weathering a storm
• Swinging the lead
• All set
• Left high and dry
• May the wind always be at your back and may you have following seas”

Other finds:

• A Schedule Is A Moving Object
• Book: Metaphorically Selling (Paperback)
• Book: I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like: A Comprehensive Compilation of History’s Greatest Analogies, Metaphors, and Similes

Has legs, but i don’t know yet if i’ll run with it. only sea legs (rim shot).

Share everything… Unless youre presenting

By now I assume we must be wired to share and broadcast. Facebook is a revolution based on the extreme adoption from all walks of life. Despite the risks and the big brother talk, we share on to the world.

Strangely this trend has not really carried over to a lot of the presentations I’ve seen lately. Very rarely are the presented from a personal point of view. They frequently generalizations and stats and such. The best presenters I’ve seen are fabulous story tellers. They frequently open with an engaging story that encapsulated the vision of the talk. Jared spool is a great example of a great story teller.

The point:
I saw a presentation the other day that was a very personal retrospective about the journey toward becoming a tech geek like myself. The entire presentation was an introspective account of the presenters life. It was the kind of tale that make one realize just how similar we are. It was full of great inspirations and influences that shed a very clear light on why we seem wired to dive into the world of the web.

By looking back it is clear that human nature does not change, but the medium of expression evolves.

In short, it was refreshing to attend a presentation so full of ‘me too’ moments and ‘that’s what we’ve been trying say’ revelations.

I hope she posts a version for me to link to, but better if you get a chance to see it live.

Yankee stadium memories

1. My first game. Pop pop and uncle took a 9 year old me. Can’t remember the game, but remember throwing a fit that I could not get a tiny inflatable baseball guy doll. Pop denied me for the first time ever. Like to think that was him teaching me a lesson before he went.

2.uncle frank gives my dad and I tickets. Box seats behind the dugout. I had a view of ron guidry firing fastballs to the plate. I was in awe of the speed.

3. Random memory: rickey Henderson homers and I think it goes out of stadium. Silly youngster. That never happened.

4. Many games with bill saccardi. Taking the d train. Buying pictures for autographs. Sitting in section 31 and bugging dave winfield — my hero. I mimicked his lumbering gait each little league at bat. Who knew I would cap out at 5 7 and not be a 6 5 baseball star. Still slip into my dw walk when I need to be reeaally cool.

5. My last game at the stadium. Slipped out of work early to walk through memorial park. Saw mariano walking into bullpen. Thought he was rather small. Walked as close to field as I could. Entertained thoughts of hopping onto it. Resisted. Yanks won.

Bit memories: the organ, bob shephards voice, fred the pan banger and his obnoxious ‘cling cling’, writing the final score on my pennants, dw waving just to shut me up, the story of my dad catching a foul ball when he was a kid – then me losing it… Woops.

Sad I won’t be able to take dolly there. I guess it had to go to prompt thinking of what it’s been like to have it.

Things ive learned

Stuff ive learned in my life by experience that may come in handy for someone who has not heard it or who is new to life.

Rip tides: roll with it and swim parrallel to the shore line. Don’t panic.

Kiwi: I am allergic… Not widely applicable as far as lessons go.

Lobster: scary looking but delicious with butter and worth the work.

Gas: you’ve got a few miles after the light goes off, just don’t forget the next morning to fill up.

Mountain Bikes: putting them outside your garage while you clean it could get them taken.

No order or prominence. Some bigger lessons have been learned but iPhone tap tap means I need to keep it short.

The google of this flurry

Eventually, through the muck and more of the first Internet bubble a successful company emerged. Google had the magic combo of coolness, eyeballs, style and most importantly a licrative biz model. Not too many sites besides amazon, google, etc have really made it out of the flurry of immense creativity and speedy ideas of the early two thousands.

Here we are today faced with another rush of brilliant and useful tools, apps, sites, etc. Unfortunately they can’t all make it without pulling in some dough. Which site will emerge as the next great idea that actually turns a great profit? Will ads, subscription or something else be the cornerstone of those profits?

Who is the next google? VCs around the world are placing their bets. I am going to think on it before I fathom a guess.