Fellow Melbournite Julian Thompson shares a case study for my previous employer, HP, and really do like the 2011 example in it's simplicity, but 2021? Just me that see's this as 'Slash'? : )
Stephen Ross Scott.com™
Untangling the Interweb...
Web Geek™, Senior Manager, Digital @RMIT, a social media maven, Google-aholic, simplicity, UX and customer experience advocate, and a bit of a Star Wars nut. Hit my Google + profile below for more info. Kthnxbai! 
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Simple and Usable UX, and why you should ignore your expert customers...
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via uxmag.com
Most of those involved in the customer experience of their web site or product will understand this stuff as basics, but rarely has this been presented so well, and articulated so clearly.
Giles Colborne explains his views on three types of users; Experts, Willing Adopters, and 'mainstreamers', and why you should ignore your expert customers for the most part.
I loved the way this is presented and spelled out in such an accessible way for all, and this just found it's way straight in to my amazon.com basket 8D
Buy 'Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design (Voices That Matter)' now.
RiderLog. A very simple, yet smart iPhone app.
via bv.com.au
A brilliant, and beautifully simple idea.
The RiderLog app records basic details of your trips and anonymously uploads them to the Bicycle Network. (An initiative by the Victorian Government) All the travel logs are then aggregated to show when, where and why we are all riding. Allowing more informed choices for road planing and providing better facilities for bike owners.
Sadly iPhone only so far, but still a great idea.
Get the App: http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/riderlog/id370727480?mt=8
The Spectrum of User Experience.
via flickr.com
One for fellow web design/UX/Simplicity nerds. Beautiful, simple, and colourful! I may drool over this on paper so had better buy a laminated version...
Acquired via 'shares too much good stuff that keeps me far too distracted' http://twitter.com/Mr0wka18
Squeezing, tilting, pinching and flicking...aka developing an app for the iPhone/iPad/iPod touch.
I've always enjoyed designing mobile web sites. They're relatively easy to build given their need for simplicity, clarity, and the ability you get to truly focus hard on the customers experience of using it. If you think about it, nowadays your customers can not only watch and listen, but squeeze, tilt, pinch, and flick your site or application.
That's pretty interactive, and recently I had the pleasure of doing all these things for a site, in working with two incredibly talented guys; Christopher Cheong & Vincent Truong when we pulled together a marketing app for the iPhone. Credit where due, Christopher and Vincent did all the really hard work, I just got to design, and get to tweak and play with all their excellent code : )
Built for RMIT University's Open Day, this relatively one day use app was RMIT's first, and I'm eternally grateful for those two for helping us get this live, and all that I learned from them. Not only great developers but multi skilled, (Chris also lectures in several subjects at RMIT) and damn nice guys to boot. They put up with me and did so with a smile, despite my endless requests, so I'm looking forward to doing more with them in the near future.
If your not coming to our Open Day it's a little hard to appreciate what this will do on the day, but I'd love to hear any comments, good or bad so we can learn for future apps.
(And yes Android lovers like me, you are not forgotten, and I have already heard you on our RMIT social networks, but we need more Android developers out there! In the meantime, most functions on the app will also be available across the www.rmit.edu.au/mobile web site on Open Day.)
'People often want innovation, but also proof that it works'...
via 5by5.tv
A great quote above from web veteran Jeffery Zeldman, who along with Whitney Hess, discuss (amongst others things) user experience & web design. The quote is so typical of the challenges we face online in meeting often unreachable goals...
This really is an excellently articulated video which covers issues I face every day, so to me this is just gold! The statement from Whitney that:
"The (web) sites that win awards are the ones that are used the least".
So, so true, and as these two web heads discuss, it's all about the user. (Duh!) However, often we nursemaid and become a psychologist in your role these days on web sites with clients and employers as you deal with all these variety of issues, trying to improve the users experience but can easily get stuck trying to please everyone.
The earlier part of the video focuses on a little heavy twitter lust for my liking (enough already!) but overall a highly recommended listen from great speakers. Click through to the site to download the video or mp3.
If you were not convinced mobile was the way forward...read on.
A brilliant article that truly spells it out clearly and simply...once again it's all about mobile devices, or smart phones to be correct. Click the image above or the link below for a fab read about Apple, HP, Palm, smart phones and money.
http://www.mondaynote.com/2010/05/02/very-personal-computing/
'Stop the Puffery' or How not to 'puff up' your twitter background.
via mattobee.com
Nice post about the totally not accessible, and quite annoying habit to many of filing up every inch of the screen on twitter backgrounds with inaccessible links! All the examples here could really do with simplifying the message and cutting the crap out, or to steal Domino's marketing tagline; 'Stop The Puffery'.
Site speed reflects how quickly a website ranks...
As mentioned from Google the other day, they finally officially stated what we many knew for years... all that crap your boss and that other department keep wanting to plaster all over your site? Yep, get rid of it, think like it's a mobile site, and keep it clean, made for the customer, and as I always say...simple.
Why You Can’t Work at Work...
via bigthink.com and shared via OG
So sadly, very true. We need to get back to working and not interruptions.
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