My studio

I like to talk endlessly about anything related to the design and development of websites and mobile apps, technology, and the creative industry, which may tickle your fancy.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

My Recent Experience Booking Travel

Recently I booked a trip to Reno where I will be manning a booth at Bowl Expo for my company LeagueFriend. My real-life journey began with an online journey which presented me with an array of interactive experiences. Some sites nailed it while others really need some love. I decided to utilize this experience to assess and document the state of online trip booking on some commonly-used websites.

Silver Legacy

The Bowl Expo conference is hosted at a convention center binding three Reno casinos. We’ll be staying at the Silver Legacy, so my hotel booking began there.

Upon submitting a form with my personal information I was presented with probably the least helpful error message I’ve ever seen online. An unsightly overlay window informed me that “only English characters and numbers can be entered on this web page”:

Screen shot of web-form error message

No reference (visual or otherwise) as to where the offending characters resided. No icons, no colored labels…nothing. I had to guess and re-submit the form three times before I found the culprit: an apostrophe in my special request. Go figure.

Having finally reached the finish line with a booked room I was presented with a success message that mirrored the error message (complete with warning icon) which fooled me into thinking something had gone wrong, when in fact everything was fine:

Screen shot of web-form success message styled the same way

Kayak

Kayak offers visitors a beautiful experience. They have crafted their experience design on even a granular level, considering every action visitors may take and helping shepherd them with appropriate triggers and prompts (much like how Omnigroup designs their software).

An example of this is the experience of selecting departure and return dates. After selecting a departure date on their easy-to-read pop-up calendar the return input is given focus. This eliminates the need to tab/click into that field, which is obviously the next element a visitor would interact with. Simple and brilliant.

Screen shot of easy date selection on Kayak

Orbitz

Casual communication is nice, but not at the expense of clarity. Orbitz uses the word “leave” to represent “departure” which can make the following return-flight departure time read as “return between 10am–2pm.” Does the return flight depart or arrive between 10am–2pm?

Screen shot of web form for flight departure times

American Airlines

I can’t think of any reason I would want to start over on a long flight-search form. Even if there was a reason, the button should be smaller and not directly preceding the actual submit button. And coloring the “go” button red doesn’t help. In fact, the red can be interpreted as an error or delete function which actually may exacerbate the issue.

Screen shot of web-form buttons for clearing and submitting

Delta Airlines

After choosing a flight with Delta I was presented with an order summary which denoted how much I had been charged. Only at this point I had not yet provided payment information. Something like “total you will be charged” would be infinitely clearer.

Screen shot of ecommerce form showing total charged

Delta Airlines

Upon submitting my flight reservation I was thrown back to the top of the (long) page where a very inconspicuous error message informed me that I must decide if I want trip protection. On a page as busy as this the error’s design should be prominent. Also, how about pre-selecting “no” so I’m not forced to choose. Trip protection isn’t vital to my experience; it’s a sales add-on.

Screen shot of error message

Delta/Nature Conservancy

Now here’s something I can get behind. My flight-booking confirmation page presented me with an option to offset the carbon footprint of my trip with a donation to the Nature Conservancy. It’s the absolute perfect time to approach an environmentally-conscious customer about something like this.

Screen shot of carbon offset chart

I recognize that it’s challenging to build fluid experiences around complex web forms. This is a challenge I face every day. But I believe we can do better. We can even spark $300 million in revenue by changing a button.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Ninja Blocks: Environment-Aware Computers

While I’m not completely following the pitch, I do understand the concept. Ninja Blocks are mini computers with sensors which make them environment aware. They sense light, motion, and temperature. And they can be programmed so that upon sensing something they take action.

They can perform familiar tasks such as turning on lights and more advanced tasks such as emailing you when a package arrives at your door or posting tweets on your behalf via pre-defined triggers.

There are two things I love about Ninja Blocks that differentiate them from other comparable products:

  1. Its basic tasks are plug-and-play for the layperson.
  2. Its hardware is open source, enabling the adventurous to build custom sensors and internal components.

The proprietors began their journey on Kickstarter like a lot of startups these days. And they received $103,000 while asking for $24,000. The public is certainly ready for these little ninjas. Congratulations, Maddy, Marcus, and Mark!

Ninja Blocks

Thursday, May 10, 2012

False Kiva Astrophotograph by Wally Pacholka

Every day as part of a series called “Discover the Cosmos,” NASA publishes an astronomy-related photograph complete with a description written by a professional astronomer. I look forward to each photograph with great anticipation.

Back in 2008 they published a photo by Wally Pacholka of Utah’s mysterious False Kiva stone circle with the Milky Way in the background. The photo is a work of art:

False Kiva astronomy photo by Wally Pacholka

What’s more, capturing the photograph proved to be quite the event. Wallly reported that:

…getting to the cave was no easy trek. Also, mountain lions were a concern while waiting alone in the dark to record the mosaic.

Lucky for us he braved the Utah desert and its mountain lions because this photograph is marvelous.

Celebrating Dieter Rams’ 80th Birthday with Full Release of Design by Vitsœ Speech

Dieter Rams and his 606 Universal Shelving System

On May 20th Dieter Rams will celebrate his 80th birthday. What a long time to not only enjoy great design but to influence it as well.

For this special occasion Dieter invited Vitsœ to release a full version of the speech, Design by Vitsœ, he gave to an audience in Jack Lenor Larsen’s showroom in New York City in 1976. Vitsœ declares that “it provides an insight into a design ethos that was remarkably ahead of its time.”

What makes Dieter Rams special is his dedication to responsible design. Not only from an environmental perspective but in aesthetic as well. In Design by Vitsœ he notes:

To use design to impress, to polish things up, to make them chic, is no design at all. This is packaging. When we concentrate on the essential elements in design, when we omit all superfluous elements, we find forms become: quiet, comfortable, understandable and, most importantly, long lasting.

I had no awareness of this speech and read it for the first time today. It’s remarkable how “ahead of its time” it really was.

Note: this is my 1000th Tumblr post. While this may only be exciting to me I wanted to choose the right post to mark the occasion. And who better to celebrate with than Dieter Rams?

Monday, May 7, 2012

Sex sells, and Star Wars sells…so, you know…a sexy Jedi body wash called Saber should sell great. Except the product isn’t real so Seth Green isn’t selling anything. He’s simply entertaining at Chewbacca’s expense.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

USA Soccer Kits

A couple weeks back Nike unveiled new soccer home kits for the USA men’s and women’s national teams:

USA soccer home kits, Alex Morgan and Clint Dempsey

I’m not generally fond of them, but I do like how they utilize familiar soccer stripes to represent the American flag. They were well thought out for sure. And they are reminiscent of English Premier League kits. In fact, they’re very comparable to the Stoke City home kits. The keeper kits, however, are stunning, as seen on Hope Solo:

USA soccer home kit for keepers with Hope Solo

The black and gray circular pattern is brilliant and gorgeous. A gradient alone represents sophistication but possibly evokes a sense of softness. So hard-edged transitions are employed to round it off with a level of toughness. And it creates a sonar effect with the USA logo at ground zero.

Compared with the USA soccer away kits Nike introduced back in February, I’d have to say I like the away kits better. I believe they’re more sleek and powerful:

USA soccer away kit, with Clint Dempsey

The solid, dark blue and the thick black stripe are super tough. Visually it demands respect. But it also comprises a hidden respect for the 1950s soccer kit that the USA men’s team wore when conquering England in a 1950 World Cup group match.

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