Environmental (porno) Graphics
June 16, 2008 at 11:54 pm | In Brand, Design, Environment, Strategy | 1 CommentTags: Brand, Design, Environments, Strategy
Today, smack-dab in the middle of downtown San Francisco’s Union Square, we came across a gigantic, multi-story advertisement featuring David Beckham in his skivvies. OK, so the guy is ripped…but do I need 5 stories of this shit rammed into my brain? Not subtle at all. The ironic thing was that I didn’t process or remember what was being advertised (Emporio Armani). After we left the square, I kept thinking it must have been CK (Calvin Klein) since it featured someone in underwear. I had to look at the photos again to be sure. Beck over-dominates Union Square + the brand. While it’s good branding for him, I’m not so sure about EA. Maybe he paid them? Perhaps it’s co-branding?
At any rate, contrast the above to an Apple billboard atop a building at a right angle to Macys. Continue reading Environmental (porno) Graphics…
Onshore | Offshore: Don’t Break The Product
June 14, 2008 at 4:42 pm | In Process, Product development, Project management, Risk management, Usability | Leave a CommentTags: Process, Product development, Project management, Risk management, Usability
This article was originally published in Interactions magazine Nov + Dec 2007
Introduction
Offshore outsourcing (offshoring) for software development is a trend that is on the rise. The primary drivers of this trend are mostly economic. When the tech bubble burst in 2001, software companies saw their revenues drop while having to compete aggressively to win new business. In this economic climate, companies sought ways to cut costs while still delivering high quality products.
The technical workforce represents a significant portion of the operating expenses for a software company. On average, the fully loaded costs for a software engineer in Asia or Eastern Europe range between 30 – 50% less than their U.S. or European counterparts. And it’s not simply a matter of expenses. Engineers in these lower costs regions have proven their technical capabilities on numerous projects.
Continue reading Onshore | Offshore: Don’t Break The Product…
User Experience & Risk Management
June 14, 2008 at 4:13 pm | In Business, Product development, Project management, Risk management | 2 CommentsTags: Business, Product development, Project management, Risk management
Risk mitigation is one of the many benefits that a well run User Experience practice brings to technology development companies. There are several dimensions to be considered:
Effectiveness: Understand Users
Does your company talk with and observe the end users of your products as part of its design research program? If not, it could be introducing serious risk into the business. Neglecting end users in design introduces a number of potential problems:
Does Technology Make us Stupid?
June 14, 2008 at 4:05 pm | In Design, Information, Technology | Leave a CommentTags: Design, Information, Technology
CNW Group features data from a recent survey of teenage mobile phone users in Canada. The report coins the term “3rd Screen” where:
Television = 1st Screen
Computer = 2nd Screen
Mobile Phone = 3rd Screen
Within this demographic, time spent watching TV is in noticeable decline, while time spent interacting with a mobile device is rising proportionately. The 3rd screen maps well to the teenage lifestyle, i.e., highly mobile and social. Most of us California kids spent significant time gabbing on the phone with friends in our younger years. We’d have gabbed a lot more if we could have taken our phones with us.
They Say that Tech is Hard to Use
June 14, 2008 at 3:57 pm | In Complexity, Design, Strategy, Technology, Usability | Leave a CommentTags: Design, Legacy, Process, Technology
The Economist has an excellent series of articles on how difficult technology is to use. The topics covered include: complexity, ubiquitous computing, simplicity, enterprise data integration, outsourcing, web services, featuritis, anthropological research as the basis for product design, and a whole lot more.
I say, that it’s relatively easy to design a small-scale system like the iPod/iTunes when you can start with a clean slate, and your executive management understands the value of a simple and elegant design language and–more importantly–demands it.
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