User Experience Design Blog

Aug 4, 2009 - I flew on Lufthansa during a recent trip to Europe. Not only was it one of the nicest flying experiences that I have ever had, but it also turned out to be an opportunity to experience a very well-done interactive experience. Despite some shortcomings, Lufthansa’s touch screen entertainment application was a prime case study in [...]

Jul 14, 2009 - Netflix has been a trend-setter since it first entered the DVD rental scene with its big red envelopes in 1999. Since then, it has continued to push the envelope of what rentals should be: Engaging and easy to use web service which is continually being improved (and mimicked)

Jul 9, 2009 - This year’s batch of nominees for the Oops Award for Bad Product Design are truly exemplary. I highly encourage the reader to feast your eyes on some of the world’s biggest product design disasters. While most of the nominees have earned their spot in these echelons for aesthetic reasons, there are also some that are [...]

Jul 7, 2009 - The Web is abuzz with news that Google finally took its office suite, including Gmail, out of beta. Initially launched on April 1, 2004 as an invitation-only release, over five years have passed before Gmail finally graduated to a fully mature product. I would love to know the reasoning behind such an uncommonly long beta [...]

Jul 7, 2009 - LG ARENA won the IF Communication Design Award for the 3D S-Class User Interface featured on its latest handset, LG ARENA, which was awarded Gold in the Product Interfaces category. The interface, which won over all graphic user interfaces in several product categories, is used on LG’s other high-end phones, namely: Viewty Smart (LG-GC900), [...]

Jul 1, 2009 - On a recent trip, I was reminded of the illogical separation of the international and domestic terminals in airports. I, like many, have been confused as to where to go when flying overseas; if you have a stop-over in your origin country, do you go to the domestic terminal or to the international one? Why [...]

Jun 10, 2009 - Here are a few quotes that should provide some mid-week inspiration. Some are fairly familiar and other are new gems: “It’s the total experience that matters. And that starts from when you first hear about a product… experience is more based upon memory than reality. If your memory of the product is wonderful, you will excuse [...]

Jun 8, 2009 - Colleen Jones at UX Magazine published a poignant article today entitled, Using Content to Grow Customer Relationships. She speaks about the value of enhancing communication, sometimes in lieu of features, to nuture customer relationships. In so doing, companies can create richer experiences by improving the business-human connection. She advocates for focusing on messaging not only [...]

May 28, 2009 - Extending the conversation around its “blood, sweat and tears” process, Nokia’s design team tells the story of the making of its upcoming N97 homescreen. Discovering at the outset that, “of the total time you spend using your mobile phone, on average 85 per cent of that time is spent on your homescreen,” the team went [...]

May 9, 2009 - Touch continues to be a big topic in user experience and product development. I recently came across two articles that add great points to the continuing dialog: Design Considerations for Touch UI This article enumerates five major pointers for designing effective touch interfaces, namely: Design for immediate access Keep gestures smart and simple Leverage clear mental models Design for real hand [...]