Design Critique: Products For People

In this first audio editorial episode, Tim relates how he rediscovered the advantages  of small electronics devices over their larger-screened brothers. Thanks to Dad for inspiring this one.Besides mobile phones, cars are another example of a product range that used to punish customers who wanted a small size by not allowing superior materials or features in them. Thankfully for small car fans, it's getting better.Smart companies recognize that small size product buyers actually have two categories: those who can only afford the smaller size with no extras, and those who want a premium customer experience and will gladly pay for the extras if made available in a smaller form factor. Small doesn't have to mean cheap!Nice article on small but premium Android phones:http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/April2014/best-compact-smartphones-available.htmlI forgot to say that as amazingly good as the Lumia 820 is, its camera is not why. This article details current Windows phones and sadly, their trend of providing terrific premiu

Hi everyone, this is a reminder that Internet User Experience is coming back to Ann Arbor, Michigan this June. Also, we have email falling out of the previous episode about the Beluga Razor design. Visit the IUE2015 website at http://www.iueconference.com/

Zac Wertz, inventor of the Beluga Razor, joins Tim Keirnan for an interview about the design of both the Beluga Razor prototype and the BelugaShave.com website. Across 80 minutes of uninterrupted, commercial-free conversation, Zac and Tim discuss hardware and digital designs, including* Their mutual dissatisfaction with modern cartridge razor shave quality, its high cost, and environmental problems* Their appreciation for traditional safety razor shaving* Zac's origin story for inventing the Beluga razor* How Zac designs mechanical prototypes* The design of the BelugaShave.com website to reinforce the Beluga brand* Tim's experience shaving with the prototypeThe Beluga razor combines the advantage of the modern cartridge razor--a pivoting head--with the advantage of the traditional safety razor--its single, double-edged razor blade. Users thus have the low cost, superior effectiveness, and environmental advantages of traditional safety razor shaves without having to learn the fine motor skills needed for using

Jonathan Tilley, voiceover professional, joins Tim Keirnan for a discussion on how user experience professionals can find freelancing opportunities, either full or part time. This episode is about designing one's career instead of designing a digital or hardware experience, and closes with a discussion of how college students could use list building to find an internship or first job.Jonathan's websites are:www.leagueoflistbuilders.comandwww.jonathantilley.comAudiophiles take note: As a professional voiceover artist, Jonathan already sounds good. His choice of the Neumann TLM 103 microphone is why his good voice sounds so amazing in this Skype recording with Tim. There is no additional processing on Jonathan's voice. What you hear is his voice through the proximity effect of a magnificent and expensive-but-worth-it cardiod mic.https://www.neumann.com/?lang=en&id=current_microphones&cid=tlm103_description

Melissa Smith returns for a special Human Factors News Desk episode that reports on the HFES 2014 annual meeting. If you missed the conference, or if you want to hear about sessions other than the ones you attended and the overal trends and themes she noticed, listen to this half hour with Melissa!Link to HFES2014 twitter hashtag:https://twitter.com/hashtag/HFES2014We also read email from listeners Costan (about GPS unit designs) and Reed (about interactive voice response systems).

Brad Jensen returns to help Tim critique the Magellan RoadMate 2230T-LM portable GPS. This completes our series on portable GPS for the car and provides a fascinating look at how three manufacturers have designed similar solutions. The strenghts of the Magellan include* Text entry is spoken by the unit to confirm input* Dynamic rerouting around traffic problems works well* Effective use of corners for touch points* 4.3 inch size is not ungainly as the 5 inch Garmin wasUsability problems with the RoadMate could be summed up as bad color choices in the UI. The garish display and the difficult to read road names, plus general clutter that is unnecessary to help the user, are unfortunate negatives.The update software is also poorly designed and confusing to use.Melissa Smith joins us for another Human Factors News Desk segment. Citations to follow as soon as I find them...

Mike Velasco returns to discuss the Windows Phone 8 duo from Nokia, the Lumia 520 and 521. These smart phones may be the best value in a phone ever sold to this point. The guys explain why the design, including the price point, is so attractive.Paul Thurott inspired this episode with his article here:http://winsupersite.com/windows-phone/nokia-lumia-520-best-tech-deal-2013 Melissa Smith returns with the Human Factors News Desk to discuss the following: Gaspar, J. G., Neider, M. B., Crowell, J. A., Lutz, A., Kaczmarski, H., & Kramer, A. F. (2013). Are Gamers Better Crossers An Examination of Action Video Game Experience and Dual Task Effects in a Simulated Street Crossing Task. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.Yanko, M. R., & Spalek, T. M. (2013). Driving With the Wandering Mind The Effect That Mind-Wandering Has on Driving Performance. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 0018720813495280. Finally, contributor Costan Boiangiu tol

Human Factors PhD student Melissa Smith joins Tim for an experiment in bringing human factors-related research to you in three short summaries. Melissa is at George Mason University and donated her time to discuss recent human factors research with Tim.Learn more about Melissa on her website athttp://mabsmith.comThe articles Melissa discusses are:--Beller, J., Heesen, M., & Vollrath, M. (2013). Improving the Driver–Automation Interaction An Approach Using Automation Uncertainty. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. doi: 10.1177/0018720813482327. [http://hfs.sagepub.com/content/55/6/1130.full]-- Finomore, V. S., Shaw, T. H., Warm, J. S., Matthews, G., & Boles, D. B. (2013). Viewing the Workload of Vigilance Through the Lenses of the NASA-TLX and the MRQ. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. doi: 10.1177/0018720813484498. [http://hfs.sagepub.com/content/55/6/1044.full]--Goldsmith, K., & Dhar, R. (2013). Negativity bias and task mo

Dr. Robert Youmans from George Mason University joins Tim Keirnan for a wordcast episode on verbal protocols. Why and how do we ask usability research participants to think aloud about their task performance, and what does using this method do to our data? Dr. Youmans covers four different methods of thinking aloud:1. Concurrent Verbal Protocol2. Retrospective Verbal Protocol3. Interruptive Verbal Protocol4. Prospective Verbal ProtocolThe remainder of the episode covers research on how using concurrent verbal protocol can affect your data. People do not normally think aloud while doing tasks with products, and having them vocalize during user research can change their behavior, but the degree of change may not be a problem for the goals of our studies. Sometimes thinking aloud can improve their performance--which also affects your data. The result is not obvious and the literature is conflicted.

Mike Velasco joins Tim Keirnan for an episode to discuss the customer experience of two Android smart phones: the LG Motion and the Google Nexus 4 (also manufactured by LG). These two very different Android phones each have their own advantages, as do the carriers Tim used them on (MetroPCS and Solavei, respectively).LG Motion:* Small size easy to hold and put in pocket* Fast data speeds* Replaceable battery* Custom Android user interface by LG that isn't bad* Outright purchase from MetroPCS on a monthly, non-contract planNexus 4:* Large screen easy to read for older eyes and for gamers* Pentaband GSM radio frequencies ensures it works anywhere in the world* Pure Android operating system with the UX that Google intended, gets updates instantly from Google as they appear* Outright purchase from Google at very fair price, can be used on any GSM carrier including monthly, non-contract plansListen to the episode for other facets of the customer experience of owning these phones.

Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus returns for a wordcast episode on the user experience profession that probes the origins of our field. Where did it come from, and how did we come to have jobs in it? And is "customer experience" a better phrase for what we do?For us, UX is about managing risk on projects by doing our trio of research, design, and testing to ensure products and services will meet business goals. And it's about taking pride in one's craft.Learn more about a foundational book on our user experience research/design/testing careers, Set Phasers on Stun, athttp://www.aegeanpublishing.com/phaser1.html You can learn about ISO standards for usabilty at the wonderful Usability.Net:http://www.usabilitynet.org/tools/r_international.htm

On the 8th anniversary and 100th episode of Design Critique, Timothy Keirnan is joined by a celebratory guest who is no stranger to long-time listeners of the show. Our topic is the design of an everyday object that helps everyone reach a little higher in life: the step stool. We like how such a simple object has so many facets, features, and personas for design consideration.We'd like to thank everyone for listening the past eight years and helping us reach the milestone of episode 100. If you appreciate Design Critique, please write a review of the show on the iTunes music store. We need more reviews and it only takes a couple minutes.The first step stool we discuss is designed towards children and a product description is athttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FIE6SO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1The second step stool we discuss is suitable for adults who need one that folds up when not in use and can be seen athttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SAC3/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&

In an audio editorial, Tim asks if the supposed death of bricks 'n mortar stores at the hands of online sales is greatly exaggerated. What do you think?The article mentioned in this episode can be read in full athttp://blog.intuit.com/trends/browsing-fees-a-new-retail-strategy-or-the-end-of-bricks-and-mortar/Design Critique does not accept advertising, but the following merchants deserve honorable mention due to their bricks and mortar customer service:Averill Racing Stuff, Inc. (customer education & advice)Best Buy (in-store warranty service on Logitech & Phillips products)Staples (website easily & accurately displays product stock at particular locations)

Brad Jensen and Tim Keirnan present a longitudinal review of the Garmin Nuvi 50 portable GPS. What does it do well, and how could its interaction design and interface design be improved?An earlier episode of Design Critique reviewed a TomTom portable GPS and you might want to go back and hear that along with this episode.http://designcritique.net/dc86-longitudinal-review-tom-tom-xl335tm-portable-gpsBoth TomTom and Garmin solve the navigation problem for their customers in ways that are both familiar and different. Neither unit provides a perfect solution, but it's fun to talk about.

The first in a series of Bad Button Labels We Have Known. Brad Jensen joins Tim Keirnan to discuss the Chaos button on his father's new microwave oven. Why do companies allow such dreadful UI labels? Mr. Jensen's microwave is the first of many terrible examples we plan to cover on occasion in future episodes.Desiree Scales has a website called Online Website Degree where students, teachers, and potential returning students can learn about the interrelated fields of web design. Lots of free information here:http://www.onlinewebdesigndegree.comPlus email from Ben in an episode that had to be trimmed because there was just too much good stuff going on.

Caitlin Potts discusses using using site maps as website design tools. You can have her Omnigraffle template for free at the following link:http://michichi.org/helping-sitemaps-get-their-groove-back/Note: Caitlin based this episode off a presentation she gave the Michigan chapter of ACM-SIGCHI in December 2012, called "Helping Site Maps Get Their Groove Back". Thanks to MichiCHI for a great holiday event and speaker. You can find Michigan Chi at www.michichi.org. Caitlin Potts is a User Experience Practitioner (Designer + Researcher) at Covenant Eyes, Inc. in Owosso, MI. Working as part of an Agile team, she spends her time collaborating with the Developers to design web, mobile, and client application interfaces. She is also leading the development of a brand standards guide for Covenant Eyes.

A heartwarming holiday tale of good customer service after the sale. Nokia politely and efficiently repaired Tim's Lumia 710 Windows Phone, using a combination of good website design, excellent customer service desk people, and a "do it right the first time" service department.Companies that care about their customers will save the brand's relationship with the customer when something goes awry. In particular, Nokia did three things to keep Tim's loyalty to the brand when disaster struck:1. Effective and consistent communication, both on their website and in person via telephone.2. Action that matches words with deeds. No hypocrisy or lies.3. High speed of resolving the problem--efficient solutions done right the first time.Thanks to their professional handling of the problem, Nokia has not lost a customer. Obviously this is something that T-Mobile doesn't care about, as evidenced by our previous episode, but to Nokia's credit they "get it".

Even when the initial user experience of a product is good, the total customer experience suffers when a company ignores service after the sale. We at Design Critique argue that service after the sale IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF A PRODUCT'S DESIGN because it directly affects the customer experience. Only bad companies isolate product design from customer service design. In Tim's case, T-Mobile destroyed a loyal, 8-year customer relationship for its monthly prepaid service by* Refusing to help replace a smart phone under warranty when it broke, in any kind of  realistic time frame,* Refusing to unlock the phone after selling it on the condition it would be unlocked after 90 days, and* Implying its monthly prepaid customers are not worth helping because only long term contract customers deserve good customer service.It's a comedy of errors unless you're the one who wasted hundreds of dollars and hours of time dealing with T-Mobile's agressively anti-customer practices. What lessons can we draw from T-Mobile's mistak

Tobby Smith returns to help Tim provide a longitudinal review of Nokia's Lumia 710 Windows phone. After over eight months of use, the Lumia 710 proved itself a terrific value in smart phone quality, including* Convenient, portable size with grippy back cover that can be switched with other colors to personalize the phone* Hardware buttons for the three standard Windows Phone buttons, instead of the soft buttons so often found on other models. We find dedicated hardware buttons much more usable.* Clear and bright screen with high contrast.* Good video recording.* Superior applications specific to Nokia phones, such as Nokia Drive.Problems included* Tim's phone broke after only five months without any abuse or dropping.* Still camera images are average at best.* Volume of speaker is not loud enough to hear nav instructions above road noise or  stereo playing.Despite the dislikes, the Lumia 710 is a great value-priced smart phone. As Windows 8 phones roll out, it may become even cheaper to buy and thus an even b

Listener Costan Boiangiu rejoins the show for a wordcast on haptic feedback in product design. What is it, how is it used currently in product designs, and how could it be used? We discuss designs that have haptic feedback innately as well as designs where the haptics have been added. Thanks for Tim's coworker, Gary, for suggesting this topic for the show.Check out Costan's automotive design blog athttp://www.drivingroom.comAnd remember to visit Haptics-e: The Electronic Journal of Haptics Researchfor the latest in scholarly research athttp://www.haptics-e.org/