Design Critique

Tim and Tom are joined by guest Chris Farnum for a wordcast episode about Information Architecture. What is it, where did it come from, and how does IA contribute to a great customer experience?
While presenting at Michigan's World Usability Day event, Tim and Tom met Dennis and Ross from the podcast WebAxe, which deals with web accessibility. Take a listen by going to
www.webaxe.blogspot.com.

Lastly, house band Peter Grey sings Sweet Unknown. And in addition to Edward Tufte's books, here are the books and authors mentioned in this episode:

* Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld

*Usability for the Web: Designing Web Sites that Work by Tom Brinck, Darren Gergle, and Scott D. Wood

*How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built by Stewart Brand

* The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander

Tim and Tom interview Carissa and Carol from Menlo Innovations. Menlo recently completed a user interface design project for the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department in Michigan, and observing users in the context of their work environnment was crucial to the design process.
Tim reminds listeners about World Usability Day coming up on Tuesday, November 14th, and Peter Grey sings Frozen Girl.

Menlo's website is at http://www.menloinnovations.com/

World Usability Day news is at www.worldusabilityday.org

Guest Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus joins Tim to promote World Usability Day 2006 while Tom takes care of business in an undisclosed location. Just like MacArthur, Tom shall return.
Dave describes what Michigan did on the first World Usability Day in 2005, then tells us what's coming up on November 14th, 2006. Tim and Dave encourage listeners to check out the World Usability Day website at

www.worldusabilityday.org

to learn which WUD events will occur in their areas all around the world. For those of you who may not live near an event, webcasts will be available from many of them.

Finally, house band Peter Grey performs Lagrimas--it's dark, brooding, and hauntingly appropriate for the Halloween season.

P.S. Check out Gerry's UXpod episode about World Usability Day at www.uxpod.com.

Tim and Tom are joined by guest Larry for a critique of alarm clock designs. As always, how a product meets each user's habits, needs, and wants determines whether a design is successful. Tim, Tom, and Larry haven't had much luck with bedside alarm clocks, including models from Panasonic, GE, and Sony that they have owned for years and years. But they do have some fun discussions on what makes a good alarm clock design.

CONGRATULATIONS to Larry and his bride, Marci, who were married a month after this episode was recorded. Tim and Tom wish them many healthy years of marital bliss surrounded by well-designed wedding gifts.

NOTE: The GE model is the subject of this episode's artwork. Also, Tim accidentally threw out the articles discussed in this episode during a frenzy of autumn cleaning and thus cannot provide article links in these show notes.

Tim and Tom discuss the origin, design, and use of wristwatches. Due to their function as fashion accessories as well as timepieces, wristwatch designs are extraordinarily diverse. The guys discuss very different examples from their personal collections, and Tim fondly reminisces about the most usable feature he ever had in a watch: tritium backlighting, which required no power and no button-pressing to use.
NEWS FLASH: apparently tritium watches are still made, although Tim still wonders why they aren't common. See Fred's excellent Luminox review at GeekHideout --he's a tritium fan as passionate as Tim, which we didn't think possible.

Citizen's website explains Eco-Drive (if you can get their site to work).

And here's a tangentially related article about the percentage of left-handed people in various cultures. Interesting how it varies so widely...email us if you have a theory or a comment on designing for this segment of a population.

Finally, house band Peter Grey sings Fade.

Whitney Quesenbery of Whitney Interactive Design joins Tim and Tom for a wordcast episode on the plain language movement. Language is a crucial part of most user interface designs, from hardware, to software, to websites, to that oldest of interfaces, the printed page. What is plain language and how can it help us design more usable communication for products and services? Professions, companies, and governments should embrace plain language to communicate effectively with their customers, employees, and citizens. Websites we mention include:
www.www.plainlanguage.gov
www.centerforplainlanguage.org
www.usability.gov

After our half-hour discussion, Tim promotes Gerry Gaffney's excellent User Experience Podcast. Congratulations, Gerry! Everyone go listen!
Next, Tim reads listener feedback from John at the Smorgasbord Design blog regarding Sennheiser's admirable commitment to superior customer experience. Sennheiser, Design Critique salutes you!
Last but never least, house band Peter Grey sings Without My Girl.

Join us for a solo perspective on Tom's new MacBook, a.k.a. "Bigfoot"! Losing tiny rubber feet at the bottom corners may be a thing of the past, thanks to wider, flush-mounted feet. But wait, there's more...
We don't talk about the MacBook's new Intel processor, perceived speed, or included software in this episode--just its industrial design, which is so impressive that it deserves its own episode. Lest you think we're Apple apologists, let it be known this episode was delayed several weeks due to the MacBook's hard drive failing two days after Tom received it, and a very sluggish repair period on Apple's part.
FYI, solo perspective episodes occur when one of us cannot lend a product to the other for "mission critical" reasons. This is Tom's new primary computer, and he reflects on the continuous improvement of Apple's laptop designs. (Tim still prefers his 12" PowerBook G4 for portability.)
Finally, Peter Grey, our house band, sings Sweet Unknown.

Design Critique celebrates its first anniversary! Yep, pretty much. Last summer we were recording the first episodes of the show, talking about user-centered design and relating it to our critiques of product designs. In this episode, Tim and Tom provide a retrospective on the show's first year, and present updates on several of the first 18 episodes. You were wondering how those products we critiqued have been serving us many months later, right? We put the "long" in longitudinal reviews! Thanks to all of you for listening and sending us feedback. And, for your musical edification, house band Peter Grey sings "Watercolors".

Fresh from the terrific 2006 UPA conference, Tim shares two interviews we know you'll enjoy. First, Tim talks with Giles Colborne, President of the UK UPA chapter. What does the UK UPA chapter do and how does it operate?
Next, Tim engages Daniel Szuc from Apogee Usability Asia Ltd. in a freewheeling discussion about usability and Hong Kong.
Between interviews, Tim and Tom solicit invitations to the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, all the while wondering about lines of longitude and the International Date Line. Finally, house band Peter Grey sings Bright Black (Whiskey Song) for us.
To find a Usability Professionals Association chapter near you, head on over to www.upassoc.org/chapters/.

Tim, Tom, and guest Jack complete their critique of iTunes 6.0.4. In part 2, Jack shares more  great insights, Tim damns iTunes with faint praise, and Tom shares his iTunes fantasies--almost had us concerned there for a moment, but not to worry. After the chatter, house band Peter Grey sings the mesmerizing My Strange Friend.

Tim and Tom are joined by guest colleague Jack for a critique of iTunes 6, the current version of Apple's popular music jukebox software. What does iTunes do well and how could it be improved in its next version? Jack provides a refreshing Windows perspective on music software apps that aren't available for OSX, listener Jennifer recommends book recommender system Library Thing at www.librarything.com, Tom tells all about the recent ACM SIGCHI conference, and an impressively loud helicopter has the nerve to interrupt Tim's promotion of the upcoming UPA conference (makes Design Critique sound like a Pink Floyd album for a minute).
All this plus a break for our regular house band so that the guys from www.OK-Cancel.com can sing their HCI rap song We Got It. Check out their website, too!

Tim and Tom interview Stephanie Rosenbaum, founder and president of Tec-Ed, Inc., in her Michigan office. Since the late 1960s, Stephanie and her company have helped clients make products easier for customers to use.
The interview topic is categories of return on investment for user-centered design. Be sure to read the full chapter on it that Stephanie co-wrote with Chauncey Wilson in the second edition of Cost-Justifying Usability, ISBN 0-12-095811-2.
Also, the international conference for the Usability Professionals Association is coming up in June. You can learn more about it at www.upassoc.org.
Finally, our house band, Peter Grey, sings To Edgar.

Tim and Tom, along with guest colleague Dan, continue their critique of recommender systems that began in Design Critique episode 13. Tom starts things rolling by asking Tim why he prefers not to use recommender systems, then Dan and Tom discuss their use of Last.FM and its recommender system. A summary of our customer experience with recommender systems ties things off, mockery of Lionel Richie music ensues, and house band Peter Grey sings PsychoActive.

Tim and Tom are joined by guest colleague Dan for a critique of recommender systems on Amazon.com, Netflix, and Last.FM. How well do these "if you like x, you'll also like Y" systems work after short and long-term usage? How can they be improved?
Plus, Tom talks about attending the upcoming ACM SIGCHI conference and house band Peter Grey sings Frozen Girl.

Tim and Tom are joined by guest colleague Serena for a wordcast episode on User-Centered Design (UCD). What is UCD, where did it originate, and how can it help you improve customer experience with a product? We discuss some theory, numerous UCD methods, Robert Johnson's book User-Centered Technology, and Wired magazine's recent story on participatory design at Lego. House band Peter Grey sings Girl From Outer Space.

Tim & Tom respond to the first batch of listener feedback. How much technical detail do listeners want in addition to the user experience and general product design principle discussed? House band Peter Grey sings Santa Fe.

Live from Internet User Experience 2006, Tim & Tom interview friend and fellow usability professional Keith Instone about his work with User Experience Network . What is UXnet, and what do they want from us? How about this: "UXnet was formed to help make connections between the people and organizations that represent User Experience disciplines, and to encourage interchange and cooperation." Sounds good to us. In a field so widely interdisciplinary, we could use a big tent like UXnet to convene under. Attend the tale of UXnet! Plus, house band Peter Grey sings Perfect Match.

Sometimes even a company known for innovative products and good designs runs into trouble. After the guys reflect on their respective photography experiences (Tim likes SLRs, Tom's a point & shoot man), Tom facilitates Tim's grieving process over the closing of Minolta's camera division. In the midst of the death of a beloved brand, at least we can celebrate what Minolta did right. The John Dvorak column about Minolta that Tim mentions is at www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2C1895%2C1914810%2C00.asp

It's fun critiquing good product designs--and this one tastes good, too. Tim & Tom are impressed with the design of the Breadman TR555LC bread machine, but that doesn't stop them from encouraging innovation in the bread machine market space. Tim's sister lends a 3rd perspective on bread machines (she prefers baking bread by hand), Tom gives recipes away, Tim promotes Internet User Experience 2006 coming this February to the great American midwest, and house band Peter Grey sings "Color You".

Join Tim and Tom for a discussion on progressive disclosure, an interface design technique seen in hardware, software, and web pages. What is it, how is it best used, and how should it NOT be used? Plus: Tom says Queen Elizabeth II has never used a computer...Tim wants his own situation room...and closing song "Face In The Mirror" by Peter Grey.

Special holiday episode! Good online shopping requires a usable website and prompt customer service. Tim and Tom discuss their experiences with CCMusic.com, website for legendary merchant Collector's Choice Music. A terrific print catalog does not automatically translate into a terrific website--what do they do well and what needs help? PLUS the show's email address is revealed, an interview with a special guest from the North Pole gets out of hand, and house band Peter Grey sings of peace and love. Season's greetings and lots of luck to you and yours in the new year.

Time to respond to feedback from our audience. What the--?! There isn't any! Feedback, that is. There still isn't an email address for the podcast. We promise there will be soon. Hey, it's a work in progress.