Archive for May 2008

I always keep my eyes open for interesting designs or interactions, but I find the subtle touches to be the most interesting, even if they are the hardest to spot, or the least appreciated.

Take how Safari handles tabbing. As part of an early draft of my portfolio redesign, I was considering including a brief blurb from my latest blog entry, so I was researching how to make an RSS feed reader in PHP. I referenced a 2-part article from Scratch Projects (Part 1, Part 2).

If you check each of the articles, you’ll notice that their titles are largely the same; only the part number distinguishes them. In fact, they’re both open right now in Firefox, and I can’t tell the tabs apart.

Someone working on Safari must have considered this case. With only one article open, it looks like you would expect:

But with both articles open, it cuts out the redundant information, only showing what you need to tell them apart:

Very nice…

It’s an exciting week for me. I’m starting the new job tomorrow, and I’m taking off on Friday for a joint Mother’s Day & Father’s Day gift: Driving with my parents to Kansas City to see Eddie Izzard live.

If you know me, you know that I’m an Eddie Izzard fanatic. If you think you are too, then run through the abbreviated checklist below, and see if you’re ready to see him live. Read more…

As I prepare to leave Boston, I find myself reflecting on where I’ve lived, and the differences between the various cities.

Omaha is often thought of as part of “flyover” country – a different world within the United States. When I was in high school, a girl who transferred in from the coast was afraid she’d be riding horses to school.

Well, that’s one rumor I want to put to rest today. People in Omaha (and the rest of Nebraska) have cars, just like everyone else. What’s more, unlike Boston, we don’t feel the need to explicitly prohibit horses on the freeway – it’s generally understood that they aren’t allowed.

That’s a real sign on the on-ramp to I-95 / Rte 128 in Newton, MA, just outside of Boston. I would think the horse indication wouldn’t be necessary, but what do I know. I guess the culture in Omaha is just too modern for me to understand Boston’s ways.

If you watch TV at all, you’ve likely seen a few (hundred) ads for this Digital TV Transition that’s taking place next February. It’s part of $200 million ad campaign to make consumers aware of the switch.

These ads tell you a few things. First, there’s a change happening in February 2009. Second, if you use an antenna, you need to get a converter box. Third, there’s a government coupon program to help you buy a converter box. But it stops there, encouraging consumers to find out the rest of the information on their own; particularly about the price.

Read more…

When Listerine began marketing their pocket breath sprays, I was really taken by the shape of the product.

The rounded edges combined with the hole at the top made it look and feel completely different to anything else that I keep in my pockets or desk drawers. To this day, I can grab my Listerine out of the center console of my car in short order without looking – the form is that unique. I imagine the same is true for purses (ladies?).

That’s why I was so mortified when I saw another, very different product cash in on that same form factor…

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Last night, while I was watching Countdown, I saw a brief ad for some new web content on the MSNBC website. It flashed by so quickly that all I caught were the colors. But after doing a bit of digging, I found what they were pushing.

A couple of things caught my eye. First are the Snood and Breakout games that they’ve included. Nothing new, until you see the news headlines flash across the screen. It’s an interesting way to pass the time without wasting it – at least you’re keeping up with the latest headlines.

More interesting is their new Spectra Visual Newsreader, covered yesterday at UX Magazine. Essentially, you pick your favorite news stories and they swirl about you, waiting for you to flick through them.

My only complaint is that, despite the fluid collection of news stories, you’re forced to flip through them one at a time, in order. I kept clicking on random stories trying to grab something different out of the cloud.

But really, I think MSNBC should work on fully immersive environments. How cool would it be to have news stories swarming around you!

My recent free time has found me cleaning, organizing, and tackling projects that have been on the back burner for far too long. Top on that last list: Cataloging and posting my pictures from my trip to Spain with Shipra last September.

Even though it’s old news by now, some of the pictures are pretty cool. Even if you saw them on my iPod, I’ve added commentary and interesting facts, so you should take another look. You can browse my entire Flickr stream if you want; after the jump, I go through some of the highlights.

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It’s been a while since my last update, but some pretty substantial stuff has been going on in the interim. First and foremost, I’m changing things up professionally (again): Starting the day after Memorial Day, I’ll be returning to Microsoft’s Developer Division to continue my usability research work.

It was a tough, but exciting, decision to make. Following along with this year’s MIX Conference clinched it for me; I realized how much fun DevDiv was having without me! Plus, you really can’t beat Ux team at DevDiv, and while being the lone soldier had a lot of benefits, it will be nice to be back with that team, doing what I love to do.

Read more…