This started out as a simple comment on this post by Gizmodo. After a few paragraphs I decided I should just blog it:
I drive a 1964 Buick Skylark. No power windows or doors, no gps, no fuel injection or electronic ignition or air bags. Even the one luxury it does have, power steering, is not like the speed sensitive stuff you have on modern cars. It will kill you if you aren't careful.
It's a joy to drive. The sound, smell, and feel of it are like no other. I feel at home in it. It will handle well, if you know how to drive it.
Don't get me wrong, I love gadgets. And in reality, I DO drive with one. My iPhone plays the role of stereo, gps, etc. But when gadgets become the thing that defines the experience of driving, they ruin it. You're no longer designing a car for driving. You're designing it as a thing to increase productivity or listen to music in. And that is where things go wrong.
The gadgets aren't limited to the interior either. All the suspension and driveline gadgets like traction control take away from the feel of the car. They allow people to just hoon a car around a turn without care for safety of efficiency. I'll beat you in that car. I'll beat you because I don't depend on a computer to correct my turns.
I also believe people drive more unsafely in cars because of gadgets. Not because of "driving qwerty" or because their trying to do an excel spreadsheet while doing 80. No, it's because of all the safety gadgets in cars.
When I look down at my steering wheel, hard edges gleaming with chrome, I know it's gonna hurt if I get in an accident. There is no air bag. Hell, I don't even have shoulder belts. My face is gonna eat that steering wheel. But I think that makes me a safer driver.
People are driving around in super-insulated, air bag cocoons that create an illusion of safety. People take more risks, less care with the way they drive their cars. And this makes the road more dangerous for everyone else.
Jun 13, 2011
Analytics 10: Design Process
With the release of Analytics 10, the culmination of over a year's worth of work, I blogged about our design process.
Analytics 10 Part 2: The Design Process
Mar 30, 2011
The Best Screenshots of 2010
I was cleaning out my screenshots folder (read: procrastinating) the other day and it turned out to be a fun little ride down memory lane. I don't remember why I took some of them but a few of them made me laugh. Some of them are things I found funny, others are bugs I found, and some are just random. Check them out:
Mar 9, 2011
When Technology Fails, People Die... or just get really, really angry.
Updated: We're back together. I just couldn't stay away. I tried a few runs with the Adidas MiCoach, but in the end I came back to the loving embrace of Nike+ (with Runkeeper as well).
MiCoach is very cool. Although the site is in flash, it has some very robust coaching features. Very flexible and easy to set up. However, the in-run display and app experience were lacking.
The in-run display is the focus for me. I want it to be easy to read and display the information that is most important to me. MiCoach had promise with it's minimalist style, but the contrast was just to hard to read without looking directly at the display. The "Zones" are a great idea but just too hard to target with GPS signal fluctuation and difficult to read at a glance. I have an idea for how to make it more usable but I am saving that for my own app.
The second thing about MiCoach, and something Nike+ suffers from as well, is the number of steps to simply set up a run. Runkeeper excels at this. Open the app and push the green button. That's it. Both MiCoach and Nike+ have multiple step set up procedures that are great if you are doing a certain kind of workout but suck at just quickly getting going.
I learned a lot about what I want from a running app. What I want is a clear, dead simple, in-run display and an app that knows what my goals are and makes it easy to stay on track. None of the apps out there really to those things well and most have some big issues that stand in the way.
I HATE Nike+ for iPhone.
I have logged over 620 miles in to the Nike+ web site. I have become a die hard Nike+ user. I have evangelized it to friends. I have blogged about it.
And most of all, I have looked past it's flaws to see it's beauty. It's true love. The web site is slow, flash-based, and a hodge-podge of un-focused features. But it does something for me. It motivates me. The silly little goals, trophies, and challenges keep me going. Data alone has changed me from a casual runner to a die-hard runner with marathon aspirations. Running with data is a powerful thing.
Even Tracy Morgan's exuberant voice has inspired me. But more and more, the motivational elements have gotten old. Tracy congratulates me for things that don't matter, or are just wrong:
Tracy says, "You just ran more this week than you did last, dawg!"
"Uh, Tracy... it's Monday."
Or, "You know what? You're changing. You're changing."
"Um, thanks Tracy, but you said that to me 6 months ago and it meant a lot. After 5 times I am beginning to think you don't really mean it."
It's really sad when software is stupid. We can do better.
Now, here is the worst. I am a Green Level runner on Nike+. It's a silly distinction but it has proven to be a great motivator. Especially, as I got closer and closer to the goal of being a blue level runner. A months ago I noticed I only had 70 miles. Hmm, close. I can knock that out easily, I told myself. Last week, I only had 10 miles.
Tuesday morning, I bounced out of bed for an early morning run after a late night (in bed at 1AM). I only had 4 miles to go and I was level Blue. I could see in my head the interface turning blue, fireworks and confetti, maybe Lance Armstrong would send me a special video message.
I kicked out my run, probably a bit faster just because of the excitement, and waited for my run to sync. But something went wrong. The run didn't sync. I tried again, still no joy. I tried again and again and again. I gave the button a little more firm of a touch, maybe I just wasn't pressing the pixels hard enough. But nothing.
I searched the forums and found people who had the same issue. I talked to a friend who said that once the run didn't sync, it never would. I was broken hearted. All that anticipation and nothing. And because of a failure to sync a run? The most basic functionality of the app? I mean, this thing goes to SPACE and tracks where I am down to meters and it can't do this?
After some angry words I got past it. I would just run again. I was going to anyway. The next afternoon I headed out again and busted out another 4.3 miles. I anxiously waited for the run to sync. Syncing, syncing, syncing... fail.
MiCoach is very cool. Although the site is in flash, it has some very robust coaching features. Very flexible and easy to set up. However, the in-run display and app experience were lacking.
The in-run display is the focus for me. I want it to be easy to read and display the information that is most important to me. MiCoach had promise with it's minimalist style, but the contrast was just to hard to read without looking directly at the display. The "Zones" are a great idea but just too hard to target with GPS signal fluctuation and difficult to read at a glance. I have an idea for how to make it more usable but I am saving that for my own app.
The second thing about MiCoach, and something Nike+ suffers from as well, is the number of steps to simply set up a run. Runkeeper excels at this. Open the app and push the green button. That's it. Both MiCoach and Nike+ have multiple step set up procedures that are great if you are doing a certain kind of workout but suck at just quickly getting going.
I learned a lot about what I want from a running app. What I want is a clear, dead simple, in-run display and an app that knows what my goals are and makes it easy to stay on track. None of the apps out there really to those things well and most have some big issues that stand in the way.
I have logged over 620 miles in to the Nike+ web site. I have become a die hard Nike+ user. I have evangelized it to friends. I have blogged about it.
And most of all, I have looked past it's flaws to see it's beauty. It's true love. The web site is slow, flash-based, and a hodge-podge of un-focused features. But it does something for me. It motivates me. The silly little goals, trophies, and challenges keep me going. Data alone has changed me from a casual runner to a die-hard runner with marathon aspirations. Running with data is a powerful thing.
Even Tracy Morgan's exuberant voice has inspired me. But more and more, the motivational elements have gotten old. Tracy congratulates me for things that don't matter, or are just wrong:
Tracy says, "You just ran more this week than you did last, dawg!"
"Uh, Tracy... it's Monday."
Or, "You know what? You're changing. You're changing."
"Um, thanks Tracy, but you said that to me 6 months ago and it meant a lot. After 5 times I am beginning to think you don't really mean it."
It's really sad when software is stupid. We can do better.
Now, here is the worst. I am a Green Level runner on Nike+. It's a silly distinction but it has proven to be a great motivator. Especially, as I got closer and closer to the goal of being a blue level runner. A months ago I noticed I only had 70 miles. Hmm, close. I can knock that out easily, I told myself. Last week, I only had 10 miles.
 |
| Green UI, Green Runner, only 4 miles to go! |
Tuesday morning, I bounced out of bed for an early morning run after a late night (in bed at 1AM). I only had 4 miles to go and I was level Blue. I could see in my head the interface turning blue, fireworks and confetti, maybe Lance Armstrong would send me a special video message.
I kicked out my run, probably a bit faster just because of the excitement, and waited for my run to sync. But something went wrong. The run didn't sync. I tried again, still no joy. I tried again and again and again. I gave the button a little more firm of a touch, maybe I just wasn't pressing the pixels hard enough. But nothing.
I searched the forums and found people who had the same issue. I talked to a friend who said that once the run didn't sync, it never would. I was broken hearted. All that anticipation and nothing. And because of a failure to sync a run? The most basic functionality of the app? I mean, this thing goes to SPACE and tracks where I am down to meters and it can't do this?
After some angry words I got past it. I would just run again. I was going to anyway. The next afternoon I headed out again and busted out another 4.3 miles. I anxiously waited for the run to sync. Syncing, syncing, syncing... fail.
Now I had two runs not synced and still had a Green Level on Nikeplus.com. Of all the times to fail. After 84 hours, 616 miles, 75, 251 calories, and 136 runs, right before a HUGE personal milestone, now Nike+ fails.
So, I'm done. I'm not using Nike+ again. I love it's motivation (when it's not stupid) and it's in run display but I need consistency and dependability. Along with all the other failures, like not being able to view it on my iPhone or iPad, it just isn't worth my time.
Of course, I am sure I will have issues with other apps. Luckily for me, I am a User Experience Designer and I build apps. Along with a couple of friends I am currently making a pushup app called Pushups Xtreme. It's focused on motivation and simple user experience. With those same principles, and based on the success of our first app, our next project will be a running app.
Goodbye Nike+. And stay tuned.
Feb 11, 2011
Why I don't care that Adam Scott is not on the cover over EW with the rest of the cast of Parks & Rec
Nobody reads Entertainment Weekly. Sorry, that was mean. I'm sure people do. But most people just look at the cover while waiting in line at the grocery store. And really only when Megan Fox is on the cover who, by the way, is filming a new rom-com with Adam Scott and some other dude (worked in a plug, your welcome).
For comic reference: https://twitter.com/#!/elizabethbanks/status/36174442510036992
For comic reference: https://twitter.com/#!/elizabethbanks/status/36174442510036992
Dec 2, 2010
Notes for My Son
A short but growing list of things every Dad should share with his son:
On hands in pockets:
Thumbs out, cool.
Thumbs in, itching your balls.
On bathroom exits:
Thumbs in pockets, spread. Feel loose? Your fly is down.
On talking while you pee:
Grunts are fine. Talk with friends. Never respond to, "hey, look at this." Ever.
Make your own HR bubble. Never trust anyone else's.
Never say "I love you" for the first time via text. Twitter is fine.
The only thing you should pay for with scrounged up pennies is beer.
All cars stop pretty much the same in snow and ice. Even cars with four wheel drive.
Strap it up before you slap it up.
Eat anything once. Unless it can finger paint.
Large quantities of many different beers are cool. Large quantities of one beer isn't.
Lube liberally.
Whether you know it or you don't: Google it.
Question authority but generally just ignore it.
A one stall women's bathroom = unisex.
Unisex clothing is not something you should wear.
Sweatpants are not clothes we wear in public. Or private.
Gay or straight, don't put your junk in anything you don't know.
Don't fight strangers. They could be psychotic. Fight your friends.
Never sucker punch anyone. Have the courtesy to tell them your going to hit them beforehand.
No handshakes over 3 steps. A knuckle bump, finger shake, fist pound is fine. That plus 3 more moves means you stayed up all night braiding each others hair, talking about boys and figuring thy handshake out. A simple firm handshake is more cool anyway.
On The Three Second rule:
If you see it fall on the ground and never lose eye contact with it, it could be the 5 minute rule. Eye contact is the key.
On roadside talent:
Be careful. What looks interesting from behind could be a toothless crack whore from the front. Or a dude.
On the courtesy flush:
Taking a 45 minute iPhone app powered dump? Do yourself and your fellow bathroom users a favor and flush that stink down. It's called a courtesy flush. Do it.
On hands in pockets:
Thumbs out, cool.
Thumbs in, itching your balls.
On bathroom exits:
Thumbs in pockets, spread. Feel loose? Your fly is down.
On talking while you pee:
Grunts are fine. Talk with friends. Never respond to, "hey, look at this." Ever.
Make your own HR bubble. Never trust anyone else's.
Never say "I love you" for the first time via text. Twitter is fine.
The only thing you should pay for with scrounged up pennies is beer.
All cars stop pretty much the same in snow and ice. Even cars with four wheel drive.
Strap it up before you slap it up.
Eat anything once. Unless it can finger paint.
Large quantities of many different beers are cool. Large quantities of one beer isn't.
Lube liberally.
Whether you know it or you don't: Google it.
Question authority but generally just ignore it.
A one stall women's bathroom = unisex.
Unisex clothing is not something you should wear.
Sweatpants are not clothes we wear in public. Or private.
Gay or straight, don't put your junk in anything you don't know.
Don't fight strangers. They could be psychotic. Fight your friends.
Never sucker punch anyone. Have the courtesy to tell them your going to hit them beforehand.
No handshakes over 3 steps. A knuckle bump, finger shake, fist pound is fine. That plus 3 more moves means you stayed up all night braiding each others hair, talking about boys and figuring thy handshake out. A simple firm handshake is more cool anyway.
On The Three Second rule:
If you see it fall on the ground and never lose eye contact with it, it could be the 5 minute rule. Eye contact is the key.
On roadside talent:
Be careful. What looks interesting from behind could be a toothless crack whore from the front. Or a dude.
On the courtesy flush:
Taking a 45 minute iPhone app powered dump? Do yourself and your fellow bathroom users a favor and flush that stink down. It's called a courtesy flush. Do it.
Nov 19, 2010
How many clicks?
In the UX world we often get hung up on how many clicks it takes someone to do something. A product's usability can be effectively measured by how many clicks it takes to do a task. If you reduce a task's clicks from 20 to 10, give yourself a pat on the back.
However, I think we're missing an important step. The mouse move.
We all know about the deadly triangle of interaction where a user finds themselves traversing acres of pixels to click this button, then inputting some text and then navigating to another button somewhere else on the screen. But even if you put those buttons close together, it's still probably not close enough.
This Facebook workflow for deleting a group member (see my rant on that here) underscores this thought:
This simple 2-click operation is made just a little bit harder by a slight shift of the button requiring a mouse move. It is made extremely painful when removing many (say 55) group members. No option to bulk delete is provided so you find yourself clicking, moving the mouse, then clicking again to confirm. Ugh.
So hey, now you know. Keep those clicks close. Even the simplest tasks can be made harder by small inconveniences. The only real way to prevent this kind of thing from surfacing is to REALLY use your product. I mean, really use it.
Don't just click around. Don't just run a test. Try to accomplish the task you're asking your users to do. Try to do it in 5 minutes. And don't just count clicks, count every gesture as well.
However, I think we're missing an important step. The mouse move.
We all know about the deadly triangle of interaction where a user finds themselves traversing acres of pixels to click this button, then inputting some text and then navigating to another button somewhere else on the screen. But even if you put those buttons close together, it's still probably not close enough.
This Facebook workflow for deleting a group member (see my rant on that here) underscores this thought:
This simple 2-click operation is made just a little bit harder by a slight shift of the button requiring a mouse move. It is made extremely painful when removing many (say 55) group members. No option to bulk delete is provided so you find yourself clicking, moving the mouse, then clicking again to confirm. Ugh.
So hey, now you know. Keep those clicks close. Even the simplest tasks can be made harder by small inconveniences. The only real way to prevent this kind of thing from surfacing is to REALLY use your product. I mean, really use it.
Don't just click around. Don't just run a test. Try to accomplish the task you're asking your users to do. Try to do it in 5 minutes. And don't just count clicks, count every gesture as well.
Dear Facebook,
Groups suck.
They really do. A friend of mine remarked how he liked the fact that his Facebook chat window was grouped in some manner. I thought I might like this idea too. I found the first thing in the Facebook UI and excitedly clicked it. I gleefully added 55 friends to this group. Some of these people are closer personal friends, some are just acquaintances. The common thread was that I met them at work or that they work in the same industry and the goal was that I could separate the random design stuff I find interesting from the family moments and personal stuff out. Not that they couldn't mix, but I wanted to be able to be more targeted about who I was talking to.
My group, Werk Friends, with it's comically misspelled "work" was going to simply allow me to send messages and posts to certain people. I didn't.
After setting up the group I was excited to see someone post to the group. I was a little surprised to get an email about it but I shrugged it off. I was then surprised to see a random friend comment on the post. I was also surprised, and this time a little annoyed, to get an email about the comment.
Upon receiving the third email, this time from a friend in SF who was confused and asking if the original post was something in SF, I was done.
Upon learning that every time ANYONE posted something to the group EVERYONE got an email, I was LIVID. WTF?
This isn't how groups work, Facebook. If I add something to a group, it is for my own organizational purposes. If YOU join a group, it is because you want to be in it and participate in it. Automatically sending someone an email about group posts just because someone else added them to the group is dumb.
Instead of just getting emails about posts, my friends should have gotten an email saying, "hey, do you want to be a part of Dave's group? Oh, and do you want to get an email about every frickin' post?"
This seems like a small thing, and in the end it really isn't the end of the world. But, as someone who cares about what I say to people and more importantly doesn't want to waste anyone's time, this is a major blunder.
To add insult to injury, when I went to delete the group I found out there was no "one-click" way to do it. After wandering around the UI trying to find a "delete group" button I finally visited the Facebook Help Center. I guess groups are automatically deleted if they have no members. All you have to do is delete all the members and the admin. ONE AT A TIME. So, 55 member deletes later (each requiring 2 clicks with a move of the mouse in between), my group is still there. I guess it will be deleted automatically... later?
And hopefully my friends didn't get a message saying they were deleted. Wait. They probably did, didn't they.
Faceboooook!!!!!!!!
They really do. A friend of mine remarked how he liked the fact that his Facebook chat window was grouped in some manner. I thought I might like this idea too. I found the first thing in the Facebook UI and excitedly clicked it. I gleefully added 55 friends to this group. Some of these people are closer personal friends, some are just acquaintances. The common thread was that I met them at work or that they work in the same industry and the goal was that I could separate the random design stuff I find interesting from the family moments and personal stuff out. Not that they couldn't mix, but I wanted to be able to be more targeted about who I was talking to.
My group, Werk Friends, with it's comically misspelled "work" was going to simply allow me to send messages and posts to certain people. I didn't.
After setting up the group I was excited to see someone post to the group. I was a little surprised to get an email about it but I shrugged it off. I was then surprised to see a random friend comment on the post. I was also surprised, and this time a little annoyed, to get an email about the comment.
Upon receiving the third email, this time from a friend in SF who was confused and asking if the original post was something in SF, I was done.
Upon learning that every time ANYONE posted something to the group EVERYONE got an email, I was LIVID. WTF?
This isn't how groups work, Facebook. If I add something to a group, it is for my own organizational purposes. If YOU join a group, it is because you want to be in it and participate in it. Automatically sending someone an email about group posts just because someone else added them to the group is dumb.
Instead of just getting emails about posts, my friends should have gotten an email saying, "hey, do you want to be a part of Dave's group? Oh, and do you want to get an email about every frickin' post?"
This seems like a small thing, and in the end it really isn't the end of the world. But, as someone who cares about what I say to people and more importantly doesn't want to waste anyone's time, this is a major blunder.
To add insult to injury, when I went to delete the group I found out there was no "one-click" way to do it. After wandering around the UI trying to find a "delete group" button I finally visited the Facebook Help Center. I guess groups are automatically deleted if they have no members. All you have to do is delete all the members and the admin. ONE AT A TIME. So, 55 member deletes later (each requiring 2 clicks with a move of the mouse in between), my group is still there. I guess it will be deleted automatically... later?
And hopefully my friends didn't get a message saying they were deleted. Wait. They probably did, didn't they.
Faceboooook!!!!!!!!
Nov 15, 2010
Love. Run. Repeat.
This is my mantra. My motto. It came to me on my run this afternoon. A run I needed. I ran, I prayed, I got an answer.
Love. Run. Repeat.
I don't care if you believe in God. These are words to live by. They aren't a guarantee, they aren't new, easy, or a cure-all. They are the words I say to myself with each foot fall. Love. Run. Love. Run. Love...
One of the most important things as a runner is to never stop. Once you stop it is SO hard to get going again. In the short term and the long. If you're on mile 0 and you decide to take a week off or you're on mile 12 of a halfie it doesn't matter. Stopping will kill you. Keep going. Jog. 12:00 minutes a mile is better than nothing.
Same with love.
Never stop. Go all in. Stopping will kill your relationships. Even in the face of huge obstacles. What if a runner stopped every time they faced a hill? Think about how far you have come, where you want to be, the journey, and how good gliding down that hill is going to feel. The most important thing is to put one foot in front of the other and get back home.
Get back home. Never stop running. Never stop loving.
Love. Run. Repeat.
I don't care if you believe in God. These are words to live by. They aren't a guarantee, they aren't new, easy, or a cure-all. They are the words I say to myself with each foot fall. Love. Run. Love. Run. Love...
One of the most important things as a runner is to never stop. Once you stop it is SO hard to get going again. In the short term and the long. If you're on mile 0 and you decide to take a week off or you're on mile 12 of a halfie it doesn't matter. Stopping will kill you. Keep going. Jog. 12:00 minutes a mile is better than nothing.
Same with love.
Never stop. Go all in. Stopping will kill your relationships. Even in the face of huge obstacles. What if a runner stopped every time they faced a hill? Think about how far you have come, where you want to be, the journey, and how good gliding down that hill is going to feel. The most important thing is to put one foot in front of the other and get back home.
Get back home. Never stop running. Never stop loving.
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