Beesknees UX

NUtrecht [NUCultuur]

acvessen — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 23:26:47 +0000

2010 • Freelance
The objective of the NUtrecht project is to create a stimulating environment for young creatives who want to start their own business.
My job was to design and develop a web site that would interest the targeted group of Millennials and sponsors for the project. This was achieved by featuring photographs, video’s and tweets from young creatives already participating in the project.

Responsibilities: coordination, formulation of goals & functional requirements, design (CSS, illustrations, photo’s) & implementation.

We experience with our brains

admin — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 23:29:03 +0000

In her book “Neuro Web Design: What makes them click?” Susan M. Weinschenk applies discoveries from brain science to our behavior on the Internet. And although it is focused on websites I would say a lot of it applies to the applications we use on our computers or phones as well. The book helped me to understand WHY many of the things I may have already read or observed about user experience were so. And I’m someone that always wants to know “why” (which drove my parents nuts).

Susan explains that we have evolved to have 3 brains: an “old” brain; which is concerned with our survival and takes care of things automatically, a mid brain where the emotions are processed which causes us to feel things and a new brain that handles things like speech, reading, thinking and planning.

The trick is that a lot of the processing of the old and mid brain occurs outside of our conscious awareness.

“… it means we think we make decisions about how to act and what to do consciously, but actually most of our decision making and behavior is governed by unconscious processing. We can’t really separate what we do consciously from the unconscious aspects.”

Our unconscious is some ways even smarter than our conscious mind and we learn patterns or rules without consciously knowing about them. This would explain the importance of consistency in the layout and navigation of user interfaces and the frustration / disorientation that follows when the rules are changed or are inconsistent.

In one of the chapters she explains how feeling indebted works and how to build reciprocity and concession with, for example, giving things away at a web site. I bet anticipating the users needs while he or she is using an application is like giving them a no strings attached present too, and that triggers reciprocity as well (in the form of adoption).

She also explains why I will have to do something about my own blog. Not enough pictures.

A new book of hers is about to be published. “100 things you should know about people”. The first 20 can be downloaded from her blog “What Makes Them Click: Applying Psychology to Understand How People Think, Work, and Relate

Does it matter what the iPad is for?

admin — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:29:27 +0000

After we had all seen Jobs preach the gospel of the iPad and some of us had had the privilege of holding one, a lot of attention seemed to be directed to what it actually was (it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a super iPod!) and more importantly what it was for.
What struck me was that while the experts were trying to figure these things out iPads were selling like hot cakes. The people buying them did not seem to care what they were for or maybe they already knew what they were going to do with one. But for some reason they were willing to fork out lots of money to own one / find out what they could do with it.

“User experience” in its broadest sense is a force to be reckoned with. In the iPad’s case it was first even only the promise of a good user experience (because what was it / what was it for?). And Apple delivered; people who have been using an iPad for a while now are not disappointed and can tell you what they like using it for.

It’s not that the IPad “is like” or can replace some specific other thing like a smart phone or a notebook (computer) but contexts of use the iPad is more suited for than these other things are being discovered all the time and iPad apps are being developed for these new uses. I think it is very exiting. Just like people didn’t know how to use plastic to it’s full potential at first and used it to copy other materials. And of course the iPad does not have it’s definite form. The competition is on its heels and the iPad will be refined as we learn “what it’s for”.
Next time: examples of what the iPad seems to be good for.

The Volkskrant’s customer service

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:08:31 +0000

If there is one thing that will put me in a bad mood it is when the newspaper hasn’t been delivered on Saturday (of which this blog rant is the proof). Recently the process of getting in touch with the paper and getting one delivered to me has only made things worse. The Volkskrant now uses “speech recognition” and website login for complaints about delivery.

Speech recognition technology could be a fast and (for the user) effortless way of communicating in certain situations if or when it works properly. But, as I just experienced, it is infuriating when it isn’t. You’re tricked into thinking you’re being understood but later it is revealed that the computer cannot deal with the complexities of human life.

In this case the paper’s computer system cannot even deal with addresses with additions to the house number. In the Netherlands this must exclude half of the households from being able to use this communication channel. The Volkskrant answering service asks first for your postal code (and repeats it), then for the street number without the addition (and repeats the number). So you expect it to ask for the addition next (and repeat it). Wrong. The voice tells you they have no subscriber at an address with that number. (If they had, this person would have gotten an extra paper.)

Now I have to start up my computer to report the missing paper on their web site. After finding the right page I have to log in. In my case this means creating a user account for which I will have to look up my subscription number first. I am asked to login so that the paper can provide ME, the subscriber, with “maximum service” it says but it feels like the other way around. I won’t get a paper today so I give up and go eat breakfast.

My point being: the Volkskrant probably means well but if they can’t spring for a call center employee on Saturdays let an answering machine tell me so and don’t waste my time.

Information architecture [OV&W]

admin — Sat, 15 May 2010 17:26:59 +0000

2010 • Logica

This project involved the development of a CRM application and a website for the Department of Traffic and Water affairs. An important objective of the web site was to consult and inform representatives of civil society about relevant government policy issues.

categorization of dossiers

Representatives were to be linked to relevant categories of “Dossiers” and / or “Programs” in a CRM application to determine which information they would be presented on the web site. This would determine which topics they would be consulted on and to which meetings they would be invited. Because these categories were ambiguous and most likely not clear-cut enough to the representatives whom had to pick from them, I developed a new way of categorizing them that also would allow for the inclusion of new programs and dossiers in the future.
Ultimately there were 10 factors that were key in determining useful categories:

Traffic or Safety/Environment (2)
Land, Air or Water (internal waters or sea) (4)
Persons or Goods (2)
Domestic or International (2)

Responsibilities:

Development of the “user stories” together with the product owner (=client) in “scrum team” for the representatives web site.
Preparation of workshop with product owner and end users of the web site to test user stories and categories.