FreeAssociation

1. Utility: Does the user perceive the functions in the system as useful and fit for the purpose?
2. Usability: Does the user feel that it is easy and efficient to get things done with the system?
3. Aesthetics: Does the user see the system as visually attractive? Does it feel pleasurable in hand?
4. Identification: Can I identify myself with the product? Do I look good when using it?
5. Stimulation: Does the system give me inspiration? Or wow experiences?
6. Value: Is the system important to me? What is its value for me?

All of us use the internet on a daily basis, if not hours a day. Here are a couple things that will make probably your internet life easier to use:

ClickToFlash (plugin for Safari). Replaces all Flash movies on a page each with a simple box labeled Flash. Simply click it to activate that Flash movie. You may be surprised how great this is for one simple reason: no more Flash ads! (Don’t worry, you can whitelist your favorite Flash sites.)

QuietTube: Takes any YouTube video and places it inside a nice black page. Nice and simple.

Readability: This is my favorite out of the list. It’s a simple Javascript bookmarklet that will take any article on a page, and re-display it in a much easier to read format with just the article’s content and nothing else. If you read articles as much as we do, you’ll love this thing.

We’re big fans of Tim Brown (IDEO). In his 2009 TED talk, he encourages designers to think big and to transition from design to design thinking.  One of the core ingredients of design thinking is the enabling of participation by end users. Not just in feedback but in the entire innovation arc. This is, of course, is the inversion of more common approaches to design, especially in digital brand communications.

Luckily, (all the rage these days) social media (feedback, voting, crowd sourcing) is challenging that approach, as more and more brands and agencies are learning to open up process to the end users. Further adoption and transition is required; more human-centeric products & services will be the result.

Why not add a feedback tab to more things than just a site beta? A project brief, your management style, your brand’s raison d’être?

There has been a lot of debate recently on the issue of the state of Flash partly, if not mostly, because Apple’s stance on not supporting Flash on the iPad (like its cousin the iPhone). One of the biggest issues discussed is video via Flash versus the upcoming HTML5 spec. We can debate all day about that, but I wanted to just bring another example of what standard web technologies can provide that many thought we only capable in Flash.

A great example is SketchPad. Not only does this web app demonstrate that there are alternatives to Flash but also alternatives to desktop apps themselves. SketchPad could easily fill the gap for a light-weight drawing tool instead of feature-bloated Photoshop for novice users. Something the iPad seems to be catered towards. I’m curious how this could also translate interface wise on the iPad. Interesting to say the least and this is only the beginning…

“In many ways, this defines our vision, our sense of what’s next.”

– Jonathan Ive

So with every new year, people tend to plan out some changes. The team have been discussing a bunch of things and one thing we would to go develop further is our knowledge in “user experience” or “ux” for short. As many of you in the design industry, it’s becoming more and more prominent.

In addition to ux, the visualizing of data is becoming quite the topic of conversation lately. People like Feltron who are visualizing their own individual metrics from coffee intake to iTunes songs played to miles flown.

So, to bring this back to full circle, health is always something that everyone tends to re-evaluate each new year. And what better way to combine health+ux+visual data together than with biometrics.

I’m personally very excited about this and see to how this takes off.

Oh, btw, Happy Twenty Ten!