December 2014
The art of ignoring annual predictions
Tis the season for annual predictions in the technology industry. I choose to ignore them, and you should too.
The 2015 roadmap for the kind of technologies such articles cover – smartphones and software and gadgets – was already defined 6 to 1…
Connecting via an A4 printed page of explanation
How does one arrive at a situation where connecting to Wifi requires an A4 page of explanation, printed on dead trees?
No matter how well meaning an organisation, it is dangerously easy to fall into a trap of addressing symptoms rather than roo…
The experience, the whole experience & nothing but the experience
I was walking through my village the other day and spotted this sign taped to the inside of a neighbour’s front door. It read: ‘Parcel courier – please ring bell and wait (elderly lady – bit slow)’.
Think about that. Think about the whole chai…
Moto 360 impressions & thoughts on smartwatches’ poor retail experience
The Moto 360 feels disappointing. The screen is more pixelated than I expected and the materials lack the weight and solidity to suggest quality. It’s not bad, and it’s probably the best feeling smartwatch on the market today, but that’s more a re…
User story: typing tablets & coffee house friends
Her computer, a Microsoft Surface, was the least colourful thing about her. She wore blue jeans, a bright turquoise sweater, luminous pink plastic wrist band and a deep purple neck warmer. I’d say she was 24 years old.
Sitting at the narrow wo…
Robots & digital actors as the new frontier for experience design
Is a new category of digital products emerging, defined by their ability to create physical change in the world, as opposed to the purely virtual outcomes we currently associate with digital experiences?
There are many products which fit this d…
Experiences should be self-evident in their natural environment
Busy commuter stations are hardly conducive to good experiences, but standing at London’s Kings Cross yesterday, I was particularly struck by this example of how design can go awry. There are some lessons for digital industry here.
In the midd…
User story: the airport & the lipstick charger
It was a white Samsung Galaxy S4 and she held it in both hands, typing with her thumbs. Her friend, sitting across the lunch table, talked non-stop, but nothing caused the Galaxy user to raise her eyes from the glowing rectangular touchscreen.
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