2009年9月14日星期一

UCD or not, that's a problem

Truth is constant and can be described, with the description changes over time; it can be expressed, with the expression changes over time.
UCD or not becomes hot and discussed, named and re-named these days. Some claim that UCD means user's direct involve (as traditional definition means and practices), some claim it could only be the design focus. As time goes, we could say they are not very different from designer mind-set view. Like for a search product designer, he may analyze the log, take some data metrics, but there's user behind the data and he tries to understand user's behavior, mind-set and mental model. It centers on the user ( neither data nor tech, data/tech driven are very problematic method, if it's really practiced, instead it should be driven by user studies/researches).

For IxD or UCD, we could make the questions simpler
  1. do it need users' direct involve or not?
  2. do the design focus on user or not? if not, is there design focus or not? and if yes, what's the center or focuses ?
  3. could we give some cases for clarification ( like, iPod, PageRank, etc )
By arranging some a list of questions, we could march to the "truth" while putting the name aside for a while.

2009年9月13日星期日

Everyday Life Search

As part of LwO, it intends to examine how search interact with our everyday life, change our behavior of learning & living.

2009年9月5日星期六

If i'm writtng a book on search user interface design

i'll start with user stories, e.g., a guy who want to study a topic, a guy seeking for a path from zurich to bern, and a guy who want to figure out interesting places around chengdu, as well as a guy who want to plan a interesting weekend with his family, etc.
And continue with the problem behind the scenarios, and current solutions to the problems, and deep into the core of the problems, etc.
Then, i'll figure out the application and research advances in this domain,together with background theory and so on.
And I'll back with previous scenarios by envisioning a better life for the future with the possible advances in near or far future.

Yes, i'm reading the search user interface , it's good but could be great.

2009年1月2日星期五

Life with my mobile phone, #1

I have use nokia phones, and se phone, i have palm, ppc, and Nokia tablet, iPod, kindle .
I should admit i'm some kind of electronic gadgets addicts, from 3 months ago, I'm looking for a phone to replace my current SE 810, and as a mac user, the natural target is iphone, which the newest model is iphone 3g, I'm checking what i can do with it, ipod + phone + ?, like jobs said, a very cool choice for me, cause i have a ipod for years, like it very much.
This expectation last for months, until i have a chance for hands on while one day, i saw a new iphone lay on my boss's table, and i asked eagerly, could i have a try, the answer is yes, you can use it as long as you're tied of it. yes, I'll use it, but of cuz, should not tired of it, i thought.
Firstly, i want to plug in my own sim card, the card slot should be open by some needle, fine, the designer don't want the big slot make it looks ugly, and it takes me sometime to find a needle to open the slot after i searching on the web on how to open it.
i check the contact list, the sim card contact information is not there, or maybe i can import it or else.

I gave up the idea to get a iphone, and my wife suggests me to buy a new phone after i hands on it instead of read reviews blah-blah-blah. ah, yes this is the good normal idea, which always be ignored.

To tell if a object fit or not to your using expectation, you should use it for some time. It be called aesthetic of interaction. and there;s more interesting thing on it
#1, A good design is the design that fit the using expectation, or blend into user's life. (Naoto)
#2, To tell if a design is good or not, the final test is real life using user's activity.

it's a good lesson to me.

2009年1月1日星期四

new year design/tech talking: thinking through interface

Yesterday, hold the discussion, through the interface. Discussing interface with both tech team and design team in the same talk is very interesting. And this is the good time to appreciate Herbert Simon's great book, The Sciences of the Artificial.
Some guy ask for success discussing on this topic. It may come, if there's enough new inspiring, why not, :) ?