Josh Evnin

LinkedIn looks so fresh & clean clean
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:

System Navigation

Profile Snapshot

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
February 28, 2008
Am I the only one who gets lost at Target?
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:

We would confirm whether others can find the products they’re looking for, and assuming it is still an issue

This would shed light on navigation patterns through the aisles

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.
February 24, 2008
You should see my sketchbook

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 â€” 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?

February 17, 2008
Yep, I’m a Barack Backer.

He’s able to stir up emotion in me that I haven’t felt for a politician in years and years. And for a young yet disillusioned American like myself, being inspirational is as good a reason as any to be my choice for president.

Thanks to IsraLuv for the video link.

February 16, 2008
Bill Buxton Inspires Me
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:

What makes you distinct.

Your value lies in your distinctiveness.

That makes you a minority.

There will be pressure to conform.

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.
February 15, 2008
Heading home to my Valentine

happy bokeh wednesday! by Disco â™¥ Tetris.

It’s been a really freaking long road trip. After 18 days away, I’m ready to be home for a while. It just blows my mind that I’ll be back on a plane on Sunday. Ahh, the glamorous life of a traveling consultant.

So, my favorite story to tell on Valentine’s day involves my little sister. See, when she was little instead of saying “Valentine’s Day” she said “Valenstein Day.” I don’t think there was a reason behind it, that’s just how she thought it was said. My parents thought this was really funny, and I guess I did too a little bit (apart from her getting all the laughs and stealing attention from me ;-)). My parents always used to say, “Ooooooh, Valenstein day. She must be talking about the Jewish version of Valentine’s Day.” Funny funny. I guess you had to be there.

Anyway, Happy Valentines Day everyone. Enjoy it. 🙂

February 14, 2008
Super Tuesday 2008 Infographic Design

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.

February 5, 2008
The Potential of Bathroom Air Dryers

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?

January 13, 2008
My Sister the Photographer

DSC_0037 by tevnin.

I love this shot. She got a sweet camera. Color me jealous. Real jealous.

Yay Tami.

Maybe I’m due for a new toy…

January 9, 2008
Hello strange little popup friend

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?

January 9, 2008