So often we assume that the problems we are solving for are “pure”, even if they are somewhat complex. The images we see in advertisements help this base assumption survive, and so we don’t think to go a little deeper in our analysis of a problem before we jump right in to offering a solution.

The things we see in an Ikea showroom assume “pure” use patterns

But problems in the real world are almost always more complex than we can initially imagine. Deep down, we all know this. Our actions and activities are filled with complexities that we rarely think about. Real patterns of use are never represented the same way as they are on the Ikea showroom floor. We all accidentally leave books on the table…to the disappointment of those we live with. Sometimes it helps to look at an extreme case. Check out Possessed, a video about people who suffer from Hoarding:

POSSESSED from Martin Hampton on Vimeo.

Sure, these people are an extreme case, and as such they make up a case that is rarely ever considered by Ikea. Still, I’d imagine that there is a little Hoarder in all of us. This is why I recommend that my clients do user research before we begin designing solutions. I want to see the imperfections that exist out there…all the little “tricks of the trade” that people use to get things done. Yup, the real world is messy, but by getting out there and seeing some of the mess, we can design solutions to better support our users.

One of my little delights in life comes when I see a website or tool that I use has been refreshed. This morning, I was surprised to notice that LinkedIn has a new look. Check it out:

There’s a nice entry up on the LinkedIn Blog that talks about the three major changes:

1. System Navigation
2. Profile Snapshot
3. Customizable Widgets Panel

Of course, I don’t think the redesign can really be summarized by these 3 independent features. The fact is that the site has a completely new feel, and I doubt if you asked an everyday user what changed since yesterday they certainly would not list those three items. Instead, they would likely remark about the sweeping changes overall…then they would perhaps notice the feature changes.

Fighting the Backlash

Redesigns like this can be extremely challenging to implement for a company like LinkedIn. Not so much in the sense that they’re difficult to build technically, but for the backlash that is sure to follow. Already one user has commented on the blog asking for the ability to access the old version:

I was shocked by the new interface cause I was addicted to former layout for 4 years as I was shocked by the new layout of Office 2007 … I’m still using Word 2003.

So … Is it possible to have for some time to come (3 or 4 months) the choice to switch on and off the new interface.”

Carmelo Cutuli
Technomanager
www.cutuli.it

I never really understood the mentality that one would want to switch back and forth between old and new versions of a tool in order to learn the new one. So often in the physical world we leave our old junk behind, like when we trade in an old car for the updated model. But I guess that’s the difference between physical and digital: if you really wanted the old version back you’d be able to get it. Alternatively, there’s no way to get the old version of LinkedIn back. It’s completely gone (until LinkedIn decides to give access to it).

I’ve often thought about whether it would be possible to truly incrementally release design changes like the ones LinkedIn did. If they released small changes each week, would it have the same desired effect? I doubt it. Sometimes you just need to release a new design upon the world…it is jarring to some, but others will be impressed.

Count me in among the impressed. Well done, LinkedIn.

View Josh’s LinkedIn Profile

Every other weekend or so I take a trip to my local Target store to stock up on necessities. Let me start by saying this: I love Target. For the most part I have a wonderful experience there…well, except for one section: the toiletries area. For some reason, I can never find the things I’m looking for in this section. Yesterday it was shampoo. I looked for minutes and could not locate my Pert Plus. The visit before it was my face wash. And before that it was the soap that I like.

My question is, does anyone else have this problem in this area of Target? Or is it just me? If it’s not just me, then perhaps Target is ready for a little reorganization.

Assuming it is a problem others have as well, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to reorganize this section of the store based on the needs of shoppers. First, I would want to do some user research, likely by bringing people into the store and asking them to find the things that they would normally buy. This would yield a few different results:

1. We would confirm whether others can find the products they’re looking for, and assuming it is still an issue
2. This would shed light on navigation patterns through the aisles
3. So that we could restructure the contents of the aisles

In effect, this is a little like what I do every day. Of course, I’m sure the people at Target work hard to make sure items are as easy to find as possible. I just wonder if they’re doing any contextual research to find solutions. It’s important to see people in the act of finding items…be they real items, or links on a webpage. Otherwise the solutions are based simply on theory. And when I’m desperately trying to find my Pert Plus, that’s not good enough.

It is truly one of my favorite design “tools:” A good notebook. Personally, I like the full size Moleskine models, but whatever you can manage to carry around will work best. I carry mine everywhere with me, always with a pencil attached.

Check out these notes, if you dare, which preceded my recent talk with Jeff Patton at Interaction08.

Here’s a first page of general notes about what could happen during the talk.

The crux of my thoughts here is that many Designers, Interaction Designers included, don’t really tend to think about software development methodologies in their day-to-day life. Thus, they may need a little brush-up on what a development methodology is, with some examples.

Still, it’s important for IxDers to understand why software is developed the way it is in their organization, and to be a stakeholder in this process.

The prevalent development methodology in use today is waterfall. It should probably look familiar to most designers & developers.

With Agile Methodologies, we have the opportunity to get our software working, and out in the real world quickly. This allows our concepts to see the light of day, so that they can be improved upon. Of course, these methods do have their drawbacks…

Some snapshots of what agile methods look like.

So, the big question is whether Interaction Design methods can fit within the Agile Context, or vice versa. The answer to this is complex, but I think the talk covered the topic well.

Back to the point — Sketching really helped me sort out these topics in my head. Sure, it took longer than just bullet-pointing out a PowerPoint…but I was able to visualize my thoughts, and look at them later with clarity, and pass them on to others to digest. Visualizing my thoughts really helps my process, and maybe it’ll help yours too.

How do you visualize your thoughts?

The greatest lesson I learned at Interaction08 last weekend was from Bill Buxton, during his keynote talk. Here’s his list of things that, as a designer, you must know:

1. What makes you distinct.
2. Your value lies in your distinctiveness.
3. That makes you a minority.
4. There will be pressure to conform.
5. Your value is lost in assimilation.

Also, he made sure to counter Don Norman’s feeling by saying emphatically, Everybody is not a designer.

Great stuff. Can’t agree more.

As I’ve mentioned before, election night is one of my favorite nights of the year. All the big media outlets pull out their infographic design “big guns.”

One of my favorites for the Super Tuesday 2008 Primary results is at the New York Times:

It simply describes the current situation in the largest states that vote on Super Tuesday. I can quickly tell what percent of precincts are reporting, and know instantly which results should remain stable. One thing that I find a bit strange about this graphic, however, is the fact that the states are laid out in alphabetical order, rather than a more informative order. My preferred order would probably be a descending order starting with the state with the most delegates. The alphabetical order has led me to ask myself the question, “Why didn’t Obama focus more on the states following ‘I’ in the alphabet? And likewise, how come Hillary focused on ‘M’ through ‘Z’?” Strange coincidence.

Now, for a little compare and contrast, check out the live results from CNN.com’s homepage:

This graphic just seems to be lacking a whole lot of substance. Unlike the NYTimes graphic, it’s hard to abstract the big picture. We don’t know as much without looking a little deeper at the numbers. They even went out of their way to include a legend in the bottom right, as if we didn’t know what the check stands for. There is also very little contrast between the state abbreviations and candidate names. The state abbreviation is only one pixel larger than the candidate name, certainly not enough to denote a difference in meaning (most people won’t notice they are different sizes at all).

Finally, just for good measure, let’s have a look at NPR.org’s entry:

The information that NPR adds here is the closing time for the polls in each state. I don’t know if this is really all that important. Really, what most people want from a graphic like this is to find out who is winning in each state. A nice addition is the number of delegates committed from each state. I would have liked to see these numbers tallied up at the bottom, because that’s what this race is really all about. Also, this graphic makes it somewhat difficult to tell if there is a clear winner on either side. For all I know, McCain and Huckabee might be neck-and-neck (which they’re not). Overall, not bad.

My personal fav is the NYTimes graphic, but judge for yourself. I’d love to hear (and see) your favorite Super Tuesday infographics. Send me a link in the comments.

It’s a really nice bathroom sign. It really is. But seriously, can we do something about the air dryers in this country?

I appreciate the fact paper towels are a complete and total waste of resources, but the hand dryer situation is…well…out of hand. If those things could blow just 2 or 3 times harder, then they might actually work as intended.

My point is simply that signs on walls are all well and good, but its the design of the experience that determines success of a campaign. A huge proportion of people would indeed use air dryers, if they just did their job as expected.

Who’s with me? And who’s ready to build a new air dryer?

Apparently, my battery is dying. As you can see in the photo, my computer is proudly displaying the fact that my battery is “reaching the end of its usable life.” I’m not sure what that means, but boy would I like to know more.

Unfortunately, when I click on that little weird box that does not look like any other information dialog on my computer, it simply disappears. Is this Dell warning me that something really bad is about to happen to my battery, or are they just giving a simple nudge that maybe the support team at work should ship me a new one, on the double? Alternatively, is this a sign of malicious activity on my machine?

Well I just don’t know. Weird little non-modal appear-at-random-times popup friend, who are you? And what do you really mean to tell me?

You know how it feels when a song just sort of hits you? You’ve liked the band for a while, listen to their music frequently, but then all of a sudden you’re completely struck by a particular song? That happened to me tonight.

Perhaps I’m just tired from the holidays, work, and life, but I don’t think that’s it. The song I’m speaking of is Civil Twilight by The Weakerthans, my Canadian band of the moment.

What I love about the song is the story it tells. As I listen, I suddenly picture myself in the shoes of this every day bus driver. Just a regular Joe…who notices every day, normal things. Of course, he’s also dealing with a breakup throughout the song. The parts I really appreciate are when he remarks about his experiences on the bus, like how the song starts:

My confusion corner commuters are cursing the cold away
As December tries to dissemble the length of their working day
And they bite their mitts off to show me transfers, deposit change

I love the description. I can really see the people biting their mitts off. I do that. Check out this part where they describe the driver’s ordinary thoughts:

For the most part I think about golfing and constantly calculate
all the seconds left in the minutes, and so on, etcetera
Or recite the names of provinces and Hollywood actors;
Oh, Ontario! Oh, Jennifer Jason Leigh!
This part of the day bewilders me

I wonder if I could write a song like this. Part of my job is to observe ordinary people doing ordinary things, and then design for the problems & inefficiencies I see. I’m sure it wouldn’t be as poetic, but maybe one day I’ll write a song about a guy named Rob and his experiences and problems as an Insurance Underwriter. Or a gal named Lisa and her rituals as a Hotel Manager.

Could be a fun way to document my findings, no? One day…

Check out Civil Twilight, by the Weakerthans.

I’m giving Hulu a shot. So far it’s pretty sweet. Don’t be mistaken, the success of a service like Hulu is greatly dependent on one thing: the programming. And I don’t mean software programming. It’s all about the shows, baby.

When it comes to programming, Hulu’s got a great start. There’s a bunch of shows on there that I like a lot, and a few I’ve been wanting to try out. They even have a few movies.

The interface is pretty seamless as well. I was pleasantly surprised when one episode of The Office ended, the next one started up automatically. Now, you might think this isn’t a big deal, but really it is when I’m sitting on my keyster and the computer is plugged into the TV all the way on the other side of the room.

The one thing that they haven’t figured out is the advertising. Perhaps I’m not hip to the ad game, but I’d say playing the same ad over and over every 10 minutes is bad form. In fact, if I see that Cisco ad one more time I think I’ll scream.

They allow you to create custom clips to share with others, a pretty cool idea. So if you want to send that 2 minute segment of an hour-long show, it’s no problem…just create a custom clip.

Frankly, I think Hulu should be just about there in terms of features. If you want to give it a try, go get yourself an invite, on the main page.

Update: Hmm…just noticed they do a bit of censoring…at least for the movies. Strange.