Concluding the NM4210 experience

From the 4 pleasures analysis, to Norman’s emotional framework, to the numerous testing (heuristic, usability, user) among many others, the best part of the module is that you take away all of them through the hands-on application. I think that’s really fantastic and it made me hold slight regrets that I didn’t take on more design modules the past semesters.

With the submission of this final blog entry, my NUS life has reached the end of the road as well. This module has been humbling to a certain extent. I love designing and this module has opened me up to a new arena, one that is slightly commercial but densely focused on the concept of designing.

If you ask me what is design, prior the start of this semester, I’ll probably tell you, design is something that makes you feel good, it’s intangible, hence unspeakable. On retrospection, that’s probably art I was talking about. But art was design and design was art to me. And rarely do you question the work of an artist.

Then NM4210 came and made me realise that design, a close relative of art but absolutely distinct, is the work of many people behind it – the idea conceptualisation team, the design team, the users, the clients and not forgetting, the numerous interactions between the parties to bring about the “perfect” design so as to say.

Dynamism. Interactivity. Synergy. Experience.

These are the terms that kept surfacing through the semester. Is the website dynamic? Is it interactive enough? Is there synergy? How do we bring about an experience? How can we better assure the user? All very desirable but reaching them is one tedious journey that you must be ready to go through. ‘Cause indeed, the end is sweet, the journey on retrospection is even sweeter.

Park.A.Lot™ which we have spent half the semester working on is the evidence of our very “sweet” journey.

Please Park A Lot! : )

If you call the earlier LT experience assignment a nightmare assignment, this must be the mother of all nightmares – one that you never seem to wake up from. I mean, it’s a lot of work. Testing after testing after testing, and more testing. But on hindsight, it’s through the hands on application of all things taught in class that you really learn more and absorb far beyond the typical theoretical sit-down-and-listen classes.

Fortunately, I had a team of 2 really tech savvy guys – Chee Boon and Alvin – and they really made things easier. For those who gasp, it’s them who created the flash animations. What I could only do was to come up with the graphics and prior to that, I never really expect that the graphics that I’ve done could exude that kind of feeling. They surely did take my breath away as much as they did to yours. If anything, that must be the experience factor that we have been talking about through the course.

We didn’t start easy of course. Many of our ideas were trashed right from the start of our first statement. I guess Mr Reddy had seen so much over the years, he seems to know what’s up our minds and many of our ideas were thrown out of the windows in a jiffy. Like Chee Boon’s female urinal idea, or my 2-in-1 toothbrush and toothpaste idea. I am sure till date, we both secretly still think our idea will work. But in Reddy’s words,

Think of the idea/concept, not the product.
And so we did and finally zeroed in on Park.A.Lot™ and after moulding it into shape the last few weeks, our random pebble has turned a gem in my opinion.

Throughout the module, one design dilemma that I acquired from my other design class (NM5206), albeit the theoretical one, kept surfacing. Do you design by committee, or design by individual (one with foresight to lead the team)?

For design of this project, it is probably more of the latter. I could remember struggling with the graphics ‘cause the black background and graphical images conceptualised by Boon just isn’t my “style”. And it got difficult at some juncture that you simply couldn’t capture the “feel” despite working on the same page repeatedly. I believe in “flow”, my term for implying that once you’ve capture the feel of the overall design, the rest of the inspirations just come at the snap of the fingers (Voila!).

But we pushed on with the theme, with belief in his artistic impression. Refining big time along the away and I’ve to say it really turned out to be pretty impressive, and suitable for a high tech product like ours.

I could really see it executable, and in terms of the experience aspects, it seems we covered most grounds (not all ’cause there’s always room for improvement yea). Perhaps we could really bring it into execution one of these days. If you see the Book.A.Lot™ service up one day, don’t doubt, it’s probably one of us behind it. And please do not hesitate trying out the service, we’ll be sure to bring you the experience factor. : )

As a finale, revisiting one of the slides in our very first presentation:

My take on user research smoke and mirror

In My Humble Opinion, the ridicules of how some researchers and clients choose to deceive/convince themselves by massaging subjectivity into objectivity in order to support an opinionated cause is not a surprise. The industry of web-design is simply too complex and hard to grasp given its nature; human’s interaction with technology, that “scientific” research can’t be carried out without disputes and billion-dollar investments can’t be merely based upon conjectures of so called experts.

These elements essentially gave rise to all these debates and arguments. I personally have no issue be it ethical or methodologically about the conjuring of seemingly ill constructed research and its translation into the twisted truth that may seal web redesign deals. What should be of concern is the realism researchers construct the “scientific” approach and interpret their findings to be. Researchers should be given the authority and discretion to fully utilize their judgment based on years of experience, and not feel inferior in using such ways to frame their user research. However, great care must be taken in achieving representative samples and identifying key issues to be addressed, as wrong identification of problem is synonymous to ineffective solutions that waste company’s money. Though realism should be emphasized, but the attempt to build user personas to the extent of simulation of everyday lives of target consumers is interestingly unjustifiable in any economic sense. It’s as much a marketing research gimmick as it is unrepresentative, negating all principles of marketing research.

Another aspect that is harder to control but should be given equal weightage of attention is the interpretation process of key findings and statistical data. This can be said to be just as deterministic as the problem identification process in making the research a success. Eye-tracking and many other research tools that aid web-design may prove to be very useful in generating insights, but without in depth and experienced-based knowledge in the relevant field of research, it will be like letting a greenhorn driver maneuver a BMW, preventing the achievement of full potential.

Its use as a political tool in the corporate world hasn’t been a real shocker too. It’s intuitive that CEOs and senior management can never be comfortable with speculative recommendations founded upon qualitative findings. It may be a waste of money for redundant research to be carried in such purpose but think of the potential losses that may occur if redesigns are not passed on due to “uncomfortable” stakeholders.

The article has in its best effort tried to plea for greater acceptance of qualitative and “less-than-scientific” method in this field of web-design centered upon the end-user. Risks and sure-win recommendations simply does not co-exist in this arena.

Lastly, IMHO, the smoke (in title) should be referring to the illusionary and vague existence of solutions based upon scientific and quantitative data, while mirror (in title) tells us how self-reflective some problems in this field is, that more often than not, research is redundant and unnecessary in devising solutions.

Design Probe of NUS Lecture Theatres

This week, we embarked on our first group assignment - the design probe for NUS lectures theatres.

If you asked me, I think we should have more seminar classes – one of the reasons why I enjoy modules like NM4210 and all my other business modules a lot. The class is much smaller, and somehow, people are much friendlier. Sure, lecture theatres are efficient in teaching large numbers of students within the same period of time, but teaching and the consequent learning are two different ball games. I find myself learning much more in seminar classes. The atmosphere is much more stimulating and interactive but of course, all the above have to be nicely wrapped up with a great lecturer that teaches, not preaches (which is often the case for lecture theatres).

Ok, enough of ranting. I’ve brought out several factors in creating a positive learning environment:
- Place
- Students
- Lecturer
- Content

And there are two more noteworthy points that we uncovered in the design probe process:
- Time
- Technology

I shan’t bore you with the details. In fact, what you should really do is to go download the .mov file that we uploaded. I promise you, it will be like a zillion times more interesting than textual ’cause we shifted from the norm by presenting our research results in the form of a radio talk show (affectionately named Get Red-dy).

It was hard work – nightmare is an understatement – especially for Alvin who had to piece up the audio recording and the powerpoint slides together. But Alvin, Boon and I for sure had a hilarious time doing recording. A pity we couldn’t insert the NGs into the submitted file ’cause the file size was like 34mb already.

This is what we proposed eventually – a 3 degrees cyclic model, which underlines lecturer’s initiative, student’s empowerment and technology.

 

We started with the design probe of the lecture theatres but realised in the end, quite honestly, the physical environment only serves as an enhancement/bonus in creating an ultimate learning experience. Rather, there should be on-going involvement of lecturer-student Interaction by introducing appropriate contents (activities) to build interest; the level of interactivity (low/medium/high) should be adapted to match the content.

 

One more thing I take away, I certainly do NOT have the flair of radio DJ.

Four Pleasure Analysis of Tristan

Tristan is a 33 years old pilot working in a local airline company. He has been a first officer for 6 years before he is promoted to captain 1 year ago.

Tristan comes from a single parent family. He stays with his mother, whom he is very close and protective of. His father left for another woman when he was 12 year old. As such, Tristan does not believe in marriage and has no intention to look for one despite the constant nagging from his mother.

Tristan has always been active in sports. Through his high school and college years, he has been the captain of the basketball team, and a member of the dragon boat team. While his busy flight schedule does not permit him to commit to external sports group now, he remains active and enjoys a good gym work out whenever he can.

Tristan believes in the good things in life.

Tristan’s fashion mantra is always dressed up. He equates brand to quality and relish the fact that people around him regard as being metrosexual (and one of good fashion sense). His big salary means that he has no qualms about spending $300 for a pair of cuff links as long as it is a brand and design he likes.

It is also his routine to pamper himself with massages, especially after a long flight. This relaxes both his mind and body after being cramped up in his pilot seat for sometimes more than 24 hours. The plus point of being a pilot is that he gets a taste of massages from all around the world. If you asked, he would tell you that Thailand is where you get the best massages.

The nature of Tristan’s job involves an abundance of socialising opportunities. Rather than disregarding them, Tristan takes pleasure in chilling out with his teammates whenever he is out station.

Tristan also has a close group of pals whom he knew back in high school. They remain close even though everyone has different work and family commitments. They meet up on every last Friday night of the month, a night they call Super Friday.

When he is not out, Tristan spends his “me time” by engaging in computer games, which feed his competitive self. Tristan thrives on stimulation and the sense of achievement. He is also picking up electric guitar and feels a great sense of achievement whenever he beautifully finishes a piece of music score.

FOUR PLEASURE ANALYSIS OF TRISTAN

PHYSIO-PLEASURE
Being a pilot can be strenuous both physically and mentally. Tristan needs to maintain his balance to ensure he is clear headed each time he is on the pilot seat.

Need pleasure: Physical work out to keep him fit and in shape

Appreciate pleasure: Massages to relax his body, probably accompanied with soothing music and some aromatherapy

———

SOCIO-PLEASURE
Tristan is a sociable fellow by nature. He balances his work and family/friends time, whereby the latter is especially important to keep him sane.

Need pleasure: Tristan treasures the relationship with his mother very much and spends time with her as far as he can.

Need pleasure: Super Friday with his favourite pals to just hang out and update each other about their lives

Appreciate pleasure: Chills out with teammates when out station

———

PSYCHO-PLEASURE
Tristan thrives on stimulation and the sense of achievement. He views the former as a must; and the latter as something he strives to continuously inject into his life.

Need pleasure: Being stimulated is important to Tristan. When he is not out flying the plane, computer games is his alternative for the sense of competitiveness.

Appreciate pleasure: Picking up an instrument, the electric guitar, is something Tristan is not familiar with and this gives him an immense sense of achievement.

———

IDEO-PLEASURE
Tristan works towards being an all rounder, look-wise and career-wise.

Need pleasure: Being metrosexual is part of Tristan’s identity, one that he deliberately maintains.

Appreciate pleasure: Tristan is recently promotion to captain and is looking forward to developing his career further as the opportunity arises.

PRODUCT BENEFIT SPECIFICATIONS

From the above, we can conclude that Tristan does not rely on his phone a lot. He needs a lifestyle phone, rather than one that is highly functional.

Tristan’s phone will have the features as follow:

- Echoes his metrosexual identity
- Fits his dressy image
- Exclusive and unique
- Branded since he equates brand to quality

- Quadband and WCDMA enabled to allow use all over the world
- Currency converter
- Weather forecast function
- Scheduler to arrange his appointments with family and friends and also to track his flights

I will recommend: Vertu Ascent Ti

Vertu’s tagline says: “Vertu, exclusively crafted handsets for individuals who only accept the best”. That explains Tristan very well and contains all the above functions necessary for his daily routine.

Addedum: The racetrack details on the Vertu Ascent Ti remind me of airplane wheels and analogise the fast speed of the airplanes. Somewhat very apt!

The 3 Levels of Design in Flip-flops

So we learnt, human responses to the things around them are complex and determined by a wide variety of reasons. It could arise from our preconceptions, our experiences, or what the designers and advertisers tell us.

Norman highlighted the three levels of design – visceral, behavioral and reflective – in his book Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things. I particularly like this statement he made, “If it is this expensive, it must be special”. Ridiculous as it may sound, all of us must be guilty of this at some juncture of our shopping experience. That is the reflective side of the mind talking to us.

For example, how is this Juicy Salif by Philippe Starck in any way effective and/or efficient to be a citrus squeezer?

According to (beloved) Wikipedia, Starck is rumored to have said, “My juicer is not meant to squeeze lemons; it is meant to start conversations”. Hmm. They even came up with gold plated version to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Juicy Salif launch (where only 10,000 were produced and individually numbered).

Very pretty (or visceral), yes.
Very glamourous (or reflective), extremely.
Usability (or behavioural), almost zero.

But will you buy it if you’ve got the spare cash?
I’ll say why not.

Let’s now talk about flip-flops. I am almost a 24/7 flip-flops person. Thank goodness flip-flops are more timeless than say, bell-bottoms are. (If you managed to escape the ‘90s without a pair of bell-botts, kudos to you!)

VISCERAL FLIP-FLOPS
How something looks like

The visceral level is biological and refers to your wired in preferences. For flip-flops, it could be the colours, the varied prints, the material used or the overall shape of the flip-flops that influence your perception.

The conception of visceral perception is simple – it is all about your reflexive response to aesthetics, and hence, varies among individuals.

BEHAVIOURAL FLIP-FLOPS
How something works

The behavioural level is all things practical: the function, the usability, the understandability and the physical feel of the object.

When it comes to behavioural flip-flops, it has to be Crocs. I’ve never personally tried one but according to Crocs, the philosophy behind this (gentle) giant is “a lightweight, comfortable, slip-resistant, fashionable and functional shoe, which can be produced quickly and at an affordable price to our customers”.

Personal note: Erm. I don’t know so much about the “fashionable” part, but according to friends who own Crocs, it is as it promised, “lightweight, comfortable, slip-resistant and functional”. Crocs haters who are Facebook users, click here and here and here.

REFLECTIVE
What something means to you

Norman says, “Our house is littered with things that don’t work too well but I wanted them anyway.” Sounds familiar?

The focus is not whether the object works well or not, but the message brought along by the possessing and associating with the object. Reflective design can be the personal remembrance something evokes, but is more frequently the shared meaning of a product in a culture.

Reflective design is very much culture specific. Havaianas is a fine example of how flip-flops can be moulded into a fashion statement.

Who would have thought of putting Swarovski crystal on otherwise cheap rubber flip-flops?

Reflective design is in essence deliberate and intentional. It is nothing practical (behavoural) and nothing biological (visceral). The visceral level is designed to fulfill people’s emotional needs and allows the establishment of one’s self image and status in the world.

AFTER THOUGHTS
Design is hardly neutral and we can say, it is manipulative. As user experience designers, we got to wise up and be aware of the power of the design. The irony is that doesn’t seem to stop me from buying my staple havaianas.

Oh wells, I am a willing victim of the power of (good) design AND excellent branding.

Bad Design: Apple’s Macbook?

You know, the first thing that crossed my mind each time someone says “bad design” is the door handles along the AS1 and AS6 walkway. Goodness! With no offence to the decision maker who decided to plant that thing on every classroom door, why defy the universal mechanism of pushing down to unlock the door (and risk rendering unsuspecting users helpless and looking rather pathetic)?

The bad design I am sharing today is not the door handle though. We all had our fair share of its total lack of usability, and there is no point harping on something with such notorious reputation already. (You can read more on an ex-classmate’s blog if you are interested.)

The bad design I am sharing comes from this:

No kidding. Let me explain now that you have gotten over your momentary period of shock.

I know Apple epitomises great designs and I mean really GREAT designs (think: iPods, iPhones and the latest MacBook Air). I have recently switched over to Mac after being a Windows user for the longest time. Trust me, it is not just pretty outer shell, the interface scores way better in terms of usability it makes me wonder what took me so long to switch over.

I am a happy Mac user in all aspects but one – the battery mechanism. Here is how the back of MacBook looks like:

I was warned prior my switch that the battery might serve a little inconvenience and true enough, this random round metal disc has become a permanent appendage to my MacBook.

Why you may ask?

To maximise the life of the battery, I make it a point to remove the battery when the laptop is attached to the power supply. This is what you do to remove the battery from the MacBook:

1. Using the bronze disc, turn the button to the unlock position.

2. The battery will pop up upon reaching the unlock position.

3. To which, you can lift it up and hence, removing the battery successfully.

It didn’t help that I switched over from a Fujistu, whose latch/unlatch mechanism is so idiot-proof I never ever gave it a thought the whole three years when I was using it.

Given Apple’s brillant design team, it just did not make sense that they could not work on it further and make the battery mechanism as great as the rest of the MacBook.

I conducted a simple usability test with my mother and my brother. One who is weak with technology and handicapped when it comes to computers; and the latter has a fair share of technology and owns two laptops himself.

The test is simple. Without providing them with anything else other than the laptop, remove the battery from the slot.

1. My mother tried a push and turn approach, which failed for obvious reasons.

2. My brother who has been observing my mother all these while, took out a coin and remove the battery as he should.

Both of them felt that it is troublesome to have to remove the battery this way, especially when it is something that has to be taken in and out regularly. However, my brother added that it is not such a bad flaw given that a coin is something relatively easy to find, though the design should not be made as such in the first place.

The brand impression remains at status quo as they commented that “it is all part of the design and the whole Macbook looks really good”. It is apparent from their response that good visceral appearance can compensate minor design flaws.

Perhaps what Norman says is true; “none of this “tools adapt to the people” nonsense – people adapt to the tools”. For me, I have adapted well by attaching the round bronze disc to my laptop bag (just like how I have adapted to Mac OS X in mere weeks and became crippled and slow navigating around the once familiar Windows).

If you ask me, it is a bad design but I am ready to overlook it because there are so many more reasons why the Macbook is good design.

*Donald A. Norman in Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful

Hello world!

A cliché opening to a new beginning!

It is irony to have to blog for school when my personal blog is closed to abandonment, but this is definitely exhilarating! I am sincerely looking forward to move along this module!

I account this to be the strange thing that happens when you realised it is the FINAL semester of your university life; to which suddenly, everything becomes extremely invigorating and interesting. Pfft.

On my mission to make my final semester a rocking good one, I abandoned my fellow honours mates to take this module alone. Design has always been something close to my heart though I may not be the best at it. NM4210 makes perfect sense.

Then, blessed I am to have very nice classmates offering to have me in their group. Thank youuuu! :)

So yep, nothing technical on the first entry. Just a gist of who I am and what I am like, and because I agree with Norman’s “attractive things work better” philosophy, please bear with the bareness while I find time to work on the blog layout.

Ending it off with a quote I find meaningful when we talk about design,

The hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire.
- anonymous

Love,
Min