Twitter poster mashup

Nice concept ! The new Twitter poster from Spanish company Come n Click Networks provides a mashup of Twitter users sized relatively to the influence of each Twitter user, based on the number of followers and the number of Tweets the populars make.

These posters are now available for the United States, Japan, Brazil, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Australia, Italy, Mexico, Canada, France and Taiwan, in addition to a global poster on the front page. Now this is a nice concept and goes to show how mashups can surface up a lot of important information.

However I wonder what would be the real usefulness of something like. It's eye candy! yes, no doubt about that, but could this lead to a digg style user rating mechanism in Twitter ?

How do you think this can be leveraged and can you build a business idea through this mashup ?

Signup and don't feel a thing

For those who may not know, IndiBlogger is a network of bloggers of Indian origin. Bloggers can list their blogs, share, favorite and discover new blogs. I recently listed the UXUnleashed blog on the site and found one of the most delightful sign-up forms I've seen.

1. The form to sign up for an account and enlist your blog is the same. And it isn't called "Sign up to IndiBlogger now!". It is a form for the user to actually do something useful on the site.
2. The form elements echo the core idea of having the seamless user experience. You provide the site details first - the username is just your email and password come in later. And all you need to sign up is an email and password.

Some suggestions I have for the creators of the form

1. Include a captcha, just to prevent spam. A free platform to promote a website is a juicy target.
2. Integrate with OpenID, so that users who have an OpenID can use it. That's a one field form. Wordpress and Blogger support OpenID sign-in and commenting so it is likely that a large number of users (will or) have an OpenID. [I don't want to go off topic here. Please leave me a comment if you have further questions.]
3. Autocomplete on the Tags field to encourage people to re-use tags.
   

There's also no way to confirm whether the user is really in or from India, but that's okay. We Indians are trusting. :)

Have you found an interesting sign-up procedure on the web? Let us know about it, and do mention what struck you as interesting in that form.

The problem of Destroying the Web 2.0 look

I stumbled upon this piece of writting from Elliot Jay Stocks, a reputed designer and a popular speaker here. It's a good take on approaching differentiation through design and he outlines the reasons we go wrong when designing the Web 2.0 look. It's a good read and I would encourage you to look at it.

His basic analysis is that
1. The design elements are getting repetative leading to a cliched look
2. Web 2.0 may seem like an aesthetic relook at UX but in reality , it is far beyond just design.

Therefore, we need to approach design differently and match elements to context. Ergo, destroy the Web 2.0 look and go for designs that stand out.

I have a couple of problem accepting this analysis.

But before that, let me outline why I think it would have resonated immediately with lot of readers, including me.
1. It is easy to sympathize with a non conformist POV because it plays into the my need for a new perspective, little spice, more variety, leftist titillations etc.
2. It is easy to poke a hole or two , easier than engineering a whole new look at any rate. Hell, even Shilpa Shetty and Microsoft are objects of hatred in some communities !

Having said that, this is my take on the analysis.

1. It comes across as more of a bored yawn than an invigorating contra point. What he is doing is pointing out standard design tenets and expecting the audience to realize their folly. Imagine if I wrote a similar presentation saying all wheels are round and hence conclude that GM ought to think out of the box henceforth. Point is these design concepts work and users love it. I will keep my friendly bevel, seductive shadow and pleasing pastels over DOS teletype and Roadrash colors. Thanks for the progress.
2. His counter example about ‘big name designers’ are outright shallow. A > they are not big name web apps company; B > the UX examples propped up are cluttered , punkish, dirty, hurried and unfriendly, to say the least.
3. His suggestion that over usage makes the look clichéd begs the wheel example once more. If something works, I would rather use it than be left looking like Australopithecus. That’s the reason to use it and that’s the technique to ape as well. Big designers can have their field day trying out cutting edge revolutionary concept but if their evening wear, plastic bridal wear and horrendous page layouts are anything to go by, thank you once again.
4. His conceptual defense is valid and so are his conclusions. Some do think that it’s all about the look and there is some need for education. But that is a minority segment. For the rest Web 2.0 means more about community than anything else. And as long as we design for that , all other goals are secondary.

He makes the point about understanding what concepts work in which context. Well, the very design concepts he picks on works brilliantly in Web 2.0 context (if user adaptation numbers and usage frequency are anything to go by). It’s more worthwhile to try being original/creative in solving the business problem you had set out to design a solution for than spending your money on big name designers to create a Jackson Pollock. Spare the poor users and spare my bevel edged pastel shaded shadows.

Life is good. I see a subtle outer glow.

Mix ups

Continuing on from my previous post about the non apparent UX improvements in Vista...

 

Noticed a little hyperlink called Mixer at the bottom of the volume control (..access it with a single click on the volume icon in systray)

Gives you access to this fabulous dialog box.

It shows you all open applications that are capable of making a sound. It allows you to use the left most control (Speaker/head) phone to decide the over all volume. And then allows you to control the relative volume of the rest of the applications)

Watching a cricket match on an illegal site :) without commentary yet want to hear a speaker on live meeting without the new mail to ring a bell while allowing MSN messenger to ping you?

Beautifully done...

 

BTW. Post number 100. Many many thanks to everyone who has participated with bricks and bouquets, blogs and comments.

Thanks

Hilarious Windows (Vista) Error

via Gizmodo



So let me lay it out for you: Windows Problem Reporting has encountered a problem. Because of this problem, Windows needs to shutdown the service. Ok so far.

But it will also notify you if a solution is available. How can you do that when you are shutting down your notification service?

Reminds me of those movies where a dying man reveals only half the secret he's being killed for.

Yahoo's new WPF messenger for Vista

Yahoo released their new version of the popular Y! messenger with an exclusive version built for Vista on WPF. This is currently only for preview. The UX is brilliant, and this app brings more of a human touch to conversations with smooth transitions and the likes.

The app however does not run on XP even if you have .NET 3.0 and the other jazz. But this looks and feels so much like a native Vista app, including the richness and the transparencies. This new version also provides a good deal of customization, with the usual laundry list of features. I found these two features to be extremely useful

• The Vista gadget which comes along with this IM is very useful and enables you to drag and drop your favorite contacts on to your sidebar so that you can ping them from there itself.



• Being able to switch between different people that I'm chatting with in a single window.

If you thought that IM was just about sending and recieving messages, then this app is surely set to change that impression. But the bigger question is, 'What do you think provides more value' - a quick and dirty IM chat client like Gtalk (also built into your gmail) or an app like this which provides a great UX. What do you think ?

Give before you demand...

In my search for a good video editing software (any recommendations?), landed up on the Pinnacle Studio web page and was trying to find the nearest brick and mortar to buy the software.

This is what I got.

Not only can I not expand a zip-code based search without a radius parameter, would  it not have been F-DAU had they just showed the nearest dealer based on what ever information they had? Wasn't this a fabulous opportunity for continuity of experience by suggesting other ways to buy? etc?

Physics with some crayon

Isn't this game incredibly cool, check the video below. Looks like you really need to know your physics well to play this one :) This one is from Kloonigames and runs on the tablet PC. A PC version of crayon physics is coming soon.



The user experience on this is incredible, watch how the game reacts as the user draws different figures and tries to achieve their objective. With the Wii and PS3 giving PC games a run for their money, I think innovative concepts like this one are a really good answer.

User Experience on a Corporate Website

Corporate websites can be the most non-interactive places on the internet. They consist of mostly static pages, and the way designers make them interesting for readers is by considering the choice of colors, layout (how much text where), graphics, Flash and the like.

Now, take a look at this, taken from a corporate website.



Each page (other than the home page), has this little form (6 fields, 3 mandatory) tucked away on the right. So imagine users browsing the site and reading about the company - the minute they see something interesting, they can request to be contacted right away.

Without navigating away.
Without losing context.
Without having to search for a "Contact Us" page.
Without it being in your face.

Eliminating these hassles would also result in more people actually filling up the form. Which means more leads. More sales. More revenue.

When was the last time you looked at your corporate website to provide a better User Experience? Mea Culpa. Off I go now.

Left is not right, back is not wrong

Continuing on from my previous post about the non apparent UX improvements in Vista, here is one simple, curious little left pointing arrow...



All those years ago, a few days before I was to leave for US, I was teaching my mom how to send emails. I sat many a hour being as patient as she has been with me through all my idiosyncrasies. What I remember the most is her being a deer-in-headlight every time she came to a new screen. She was so afraid to do anything lest it disappeared and she did not know how to bring it back again.

Now it comes together to me.

Discovering is not enough without knowing predictably how to get there again. ("Your highness," said Vasco Da Gama, " Went to India I did, though I know not how to again").

This insanely simple button on the dialog box is a revolution. It sews together the structure of a wizard with the well understood browser back button allowing you the permutation-ally logical option to go one screen back without breaking the workflow!

Wow.

I for detail...

Beating down Microsoft products is fashionable. And products like Waste-ah makes it so much more simpler (and justifiable) to do so.

In the next few week, I am going to blog about usability improvements in Vista. While the overall operating system still has a lot of work on the implementation, I think the product and program managers have done a stellar job.

For example: Do you remember this age old dialog box?

You could hit F2 in the file explorer to in place edit the name of a file. The entire filename along with its file extension would be highlighted, and when you started typing, the file extension, more often than not, was lost. That was not the only problem though. If you selected No in the dialog box, file explorer would revert back to the old filename instead of allowing you to start where you left and rectify.

Very nicely taken care of in Vista. Hitting F2 automatically highlights only the name of the file, preventing an inadvertent change of extension.

User Generated Bubble

This video's been doing the rounds recently. Based on Billy Joel's classic "We didn't start the fire", this takes off on the current Web 2.0 trends. Whether or not you agree there is a bubble waiting to burst, this video is fun to watch. I just hope Matt (the creator of the video) doesn't get into legal problems for IPR violation. Enjoy while its still available.




Update: This video has been removed. According to YouTube, "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by a third party." Told you so ;)

[Toolkit] Looking for a pretty picture?

We're always on the lookout for a good picture - whether it is for website, header image or presentation. Here's a list of where to look for images and icons.

Free Images. (move over, Mr. Getty)

My first search is on Flickr's CC pool. And usually the last, because I find what I need here. Change the sort order (recent, interesting) for completely different results. Use it as you like as long as you give credit.

Image After has a fairly large collection of photos and texture, which is free for personal or commercial use.

everystockphoto has a service that looks across sites for CC photographs. It has indexed over a million pictures so far. A good place to start searching for pictures. An account here can also give you bookmarking capabilities.

The photoshop tutorial blog has a list of free photo sites too.

Icons

Iconfinder.net has been around for years now, and I use this to look for icons. I only wish they would have some common groups or a "related icons" feature to make it easier for a user to find other icons with a similar look and feel. E.g., if I need icons for a website and I search for "home" it should somehow show me related icons (typically home, about, products, services, contact, careers, sitemap are on a website) with the same look and feel so I can pick those up immediately without having to eyeball through other search results.

Got this in a mail from Upma (that really triggered this post). A set of resources of icons. A lot are Mac-inspired/Mac-intended, but there are good web and Windows ones as well. I like the rss icon set in this one.


Please post a comment with your opinion on these or any other you may have used. I'll add to this list as we find more resources too.

Web check -it...

Adding to my list of traveler's travails...

Delta airlines. Web check-in screen.

There are three ways to identify your itinerary : frequent flier, confirmation and e-Ticket number.

And I am asked to identify the identifier through the radio button. Unnecessarily. Each type has a unique pattern. In this example, the eTicket number always starts with 006, in other cases, say Alaska, confirmation number is 6 digit alphanumeric, eTicket number is 13 digit numeric. Etc.

Cummon, don't make me work. Make those programmers work :)

BTW, at an uber-level, web check in as a feature itself is great usability for the airline "users".

Photo Printing Wizard

I wanted to take a printout of one picture from a folder containing six pictures. So I right clicked on a picture, selected print from the menu and photo printing wizard launched. All the pictures of the folder were shown and that particular picture was checked as selected (as shown in the figure). It’s a good idea to show all the pictures of the folder in the photo printing wizard as a user has the option from the wizard to print other pictures of the folder. But I think the only thing missing was the filename below the thumbnail view of each picture. This would be great help so that a user could easily locate the exact file.The next time I tried to print multiple pictures; I saw the print wizard window with the selected pictures rather than all the pictures of that folder.
Hmmm…now that’s what I call “Inconsistency”!!

Google-y??

At least once a day or in two days, we all pay our ritualistic visit to Orkut, only because Facebook has taken over that frenzy. Well, I recently paid one such visit, and wanted to message a friend of mine. However, to my great surprise, I could not find a ‘Search’ button on the page!

The only option is to hit ‘Return’ to get to the search results!

Even though I understand that when Google started off, they did put a tool-tip saying ‘You can hit Return instead of clicking the Search button to get the results faster’, did they just assume we all learned?

Assumed intelligent behavior?

A tip in time ...

In my eternal quest for fixing photos damaged by the inability of the iris to close the pupil faster than the flash can discharge its capacitor (commonly known as red -eye effect), I found this neat little feature in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0.

The tool-tip had a hyperlink to a help topic. The ability to anticipate a users need goes a long way in usability.

Bravo, developer, product manager, program manager whoever you are, where ever you are.