What type of search engine will we rely on in the future? As information consumers, we demand information as quickly as possible, in whatever format makes it easiest for us to digest and distribute.
Timeline, video, visual...? Let's keep an eye on it.
One great look into what is possible: http://www.viewzi.com/
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Sunday, November 18, 2007
The Face of Social Networking
Sometimes I wonder how my parents did it. For a while before they got married, they lived in different countries, only corresponding through snail mail. Eventually my father proposed to my mom in a letter and they were soon married after that.
How we have evolved (electronically) since then. Now you can write text, send email, send pics, update blogs, MySpace, and Facebook, and Digg any article all in the span of a few minutes. If you really wanted to, you could organize a birthday party, buy presents and decorations for it, and send out invitations all on the thirty minute train to work.
But, that does come with some sacrifice though. Buying those presents and decorations online eliminates contact with a human salesperson. Sending out invitations electronically removes that romantic and personal touch that actual mailbox letters embody.
What have we become? Have we succumbed to the rat race of modern career-life and reduced our human interaction time all for the sake of professional forward advancement? Perhaps we've taken granted that we will always have a warm body to talk to when we get home?
Or perhaps this is the means to a more enlightened end...a way to augment real personal relationships with the convenience of quick electronic communication. Only if we actually do that though. Don't get me wrong, I will Facebook and blog just as much as anything else, and I think it's great. We should be wary though...I think sometimes we can be in real danger of losing ourselves to Internet sexiness and perceiving it to be as good as the real thing instead of just a means to a end.
How we have evolved (electronically) since then. Now you can write text, send email, send pics, update blogs, MySpace, and Facebook, and Digg any article all in the span of a few minutes. If you really wanted to, you could organize a birthday party, buy presents and decorations for it, and send out invitations all on the thirty minute train to work.
But, that does come with some sacrifice though. Buying those presents and decorations online eliminates contact with a human salesperson. Sending out invitations electronically removes that romantic and personal touch that actual mailbox letters embody.
What have we become? Have we succumbed to the rat race of modern career-life and reduced our human interaction time all for the sake of professional forward advancement? Perhaps we've taken granted that we will always have a warm body to talk to when we get home?
Or perhaps this is the means to a more enlightened end...a way to augment real personal relationships with the convenience of quick electronic communication. Only if we actually do that though. Don't get me wrong, I will Facebook and blog just as much as anything else, and I think it's great. We should be wary though...I think sometimes we can be in real danger of losing ourselves to Internet sexiness and perceiving it to be as good as the real thing instead of just a means to a end.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Windows Vista
As you may have already heard, Windows Vista made its debut this week. Bill Gates even made an appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart to celebrate!
The new Windows Vista includes new features that add a more interactive element to the product. Files don't have to be viewed in a traditional Windows Explorer tree structure anymore. Each file can be visually upright, allowing the user to skim through the files as they would the papers on their desk. Seems pretty cool, plus extends the desktop metaphor fairly directly. Desktop items can be added, such as the weather, currency exchange, etc, allowing the user to customize their daily desktop activities and feel more connected to the world. Apparently it is easier to find the files you are looking for with the decision to move the search onto the Start menu itself.
Kind of reminds me of the BumpTop 3D Desktop prototype:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ODskdEPnQ
Overall, the graphics are rounder and more appealing to the eye. The transitions are smoother and feel natural. The customizations techniques are attractive and long overdue. I can't wait to get my hands on a Mac OS too! Oh, I mean Windows Vista...
The new Windows Vista includes new features that add a more interactive element to the product. Files don't have to be viewed in a traditional Windows Explorer tree structure anymore. Each file can be visually upright, allowing the user to skim through the files as they would the papers on their desk. Seems pretty cool, plus extends the desktop metaphor fairly directly. Desktop items can be added, such as the weather, currency exchange, etc, allowing the user to customize their daily desktop activities and feel more connected to the world. Apparently it is easier to find the files you are looking for with the decision to move the search onto the Start menu itself.
Kind of reminds me of the BumpTop 3D Desktop prototype:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ODskdEPnQ
Overall, the graphics are rounder and more appealing to the eye. The transitions are smoother and feel natural. The customizations techniques are attractive and long overdue. I can't wait to get my hands on a Mac OS too! Oh, I mean Windows Vista...
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Why Usability?
Hello everyone!
This is the first official usability-related post for the Usability Rocks blog!
Before I begin, Happy 2007 to everyone.
Today's post contains random ramblings on why usability has not made more of an impact in the technological world that we live in today. Usability is probably the first thing to be cut from a project when the budget is tight, but one of the major money savers for any project in any company out there.
Well, this is something that usability specialist and advocates have known for some time now. Usability's stock continues to rise as tech giants and pioneers like Google and Apple flex their corporate positioning muscles and continue to innovate while focusing on the user experience. Their products and success alone provide the reasons for any company to value and continue pursuing good usability.
Yet, even with these excellent role models to follow, so many companies do not take the time to include usability in their product development, and many do not know what usability is in the first place. Are they afraid of what it may costs? Or maybe they are scared of what they already know...that they are in DESPERATE need of a usability team? I think part of the reason is, like the technology that it is used on, usability is sometimes considered too new. It's too wet behind the ears, too eager to jump into the software delivery methodology that is many times restrictive and inflexible because of common rusting agents such as close-mindedness and fear of new ideas and techniques.
Slowly and surely, the industry is growing and gaining newfound respect, thanks in part to technology giants who consider usability an integral part of their development life cycle. It makes sense that sooner or later, that other companies will catch on to the value of usability, and in an effort to compete with the leaders of their fields, emulate them in an effort to work as they do. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, as they say.
This is the first official usability-related post for the Usability Rocks blog!
Before I begin, Happy 2007 to everyone.
Today's post contains random ramblings on why usability has not made more of an impact in the technological world that we live in today. Usability is probably the first thing to be cut from a project when the budget is tight, but one of the major money savers for any project in any company out there.
Well, this is something that usability specialist and advocates have known for some time now. Usability's stock continues to rise as tech giants and pioneers like Google and Apple flex their corporate positioning muscles and continue to innovate while focusing on the user experience. Their products and success alone provide the reasons for any company to value and continue pursuing good usability.
Yet, even with these excellent role models to follow, so many companies do not take the time to include usability in their product development, and many do not know what usability is in the first place. Are they afraid of what it may costs? Or maybe they are scared of what they already know...that they are in DESPERATE need of a usability team? I think part of the reason is, like the technology that it is used on, usability is sometimes considered too new. It's too wet behind the ears, too eager to jump into the software delivery methodology that is many times restrictive and inflexible because of common rusting agents such as close-mindedness and fear of new ideas and techniques.
Slowly and surely, the industry is growing and gaining newfound respect, thanks in part to technology giants who consider usability an integral part of their development life cycle. It makes sense that sooner or later, that other companies will catch on to the value of usability, and in an effort to compete with the leaders of their fields, emulate them in an effort to work as they do. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, as they say.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
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