Tags to Richness

The chart above shows the operating systems my customers used in 2010 to date.  As an Interaction Designer it’s my job to get inside the heads of my customers as much as possible.  One way I get inside their heads is by forcing myself to use the same operating system as they do.  I believe it gives me some additional insight into my users when I too have to deal with that annoying UAC crap in Windows (for example).

Granted I will let myself upgrade to the latest version of Windows, I’m not that hardcore to still use XP, but when XP was the latest version of Windows I used it for years.  Even though Macs are far superior (I’m definitely not a Windows fan-boy), I believe it helps me become a better Interaction Designer by doing everything I can to understand and empathize with my customer’s needs and issues.

This week I read through the insightful John Sculley interview about Steve Jobs.  I found the article very simple and yet very rich.  Here are three things relating to designing products that I found most interesting.

1. Difference between Microsoft products and Apple products

Bill [Gates] was brillant too - but Bill was never interested in great taste.  He was always interested in being able to dominate a market.  he would put whatever he had out there to own that space.  Steve [Jobs] would never do that.

2. Customer experience

He always looked at things from the perspective of what was the user’s experience going to be? … Apple wasn’t just about computers.  It was about designing products and designing marketing and it was about positioning.

3. No focus groups

Steve said: ‘How can I possibly ask somebody what a graphics-based computer ought to be when they have no idea what a graphic based computer is?  No one has ever seen one before.’

I don’t agree about no focus groups, though I do agree that focus groups aren’t for coming up with things that don’t exist.  Focus groups are for generating mental maps that are helpful as you design.

Read the full article here

If you didn’t have a chance to see Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference, specifically the demos of Kinect, you owe it to yourself to watch it right now.  The various Kinect demos start about 40 minutes in.  I took away 3 main points from the demo.

1. Kinect is a milestone in UI design.  Microsoft finally nailed the body as controller concept and now there will be a mad rush as standards are explored and established in this arena.

2. Efficiency of motion is going to be an issue and I don’t see body gestural interfaces having anything more then niche or simple applications.  Tony Walt wrote a great article about this on UX Magazine

3. Kinectimals is an amazing game and a sets the bar for pet games extremely high.  I have four little girls who I’ve watched use Nintendogs, Tamagotchi and Pokemon.  And watching that little girl play with that tiger in the Microsoft press conference was breath taking.  They absolutely nailed that genre of game.