Audience Experience

I was an extra on the shoot in downtown Manhattan. Right near Zucotti Park. Sagmeister is known for his design firm and his amazing TED talks on his artistry & design creations. When fear arises, try to overcome it. Stephen Sagmeister

Target Corporation has long been known for its highly "targeted" marketing research and highly successful techniques.  As cited in this New York Times Article, " How Companies Learn Your Secrets ", they can predict if a woman is going to have a baby by the shift in her purchasing habits.  Even before her (or THE) father knows. It is done through a series of purchasing trends and analyses of numbers, to develop an algorithm that The System can implement to offer future coupons and incentives which will increase customer loyalty. I am here to argue that the same intense focus can be used to prevent bad UX, not only within a computer interface, but also within the context of the larger relationship of a customer and a business. I have received a few emails recently, generated automatically and from a do-not-reply email.  The last message frustrated me to the point where I considered writing back.  For a split second.  Once upon a time, if you got a letter and ...

If you are trying to explain the concept of "Affordances", you can do no better than to encourage people to play the game "The Room" on the iPad. As this article in UX Magazine reveals, the game is all about providing visual cue to the player as to how certain elements work. To take it a step further, the article explores how the game was created iteratively.  Even if every knob, texture and irregularity were perfectly designed, the user must also engage with the interface (separate thing!) successfully. What the article does not cover is the larger benefits of doing anything repeatedly, with different users/audience members, etc.  Personally, I saw this process in theater as a Production Stage Manager. You can talk about an idea as much as you want.  The WORK doesn't happen until you DO IT!  Figure out what is wrong and what is right.  Get it "up on its feet", and especially in front of an audience.  Check in with the audience and see what the...

This is a bit of a response to an article in UX Mag , defining UX (yet again), as if they were coming from the all knowing voice of . . . Laura Dern??  "5 UX Lessons from Laura Dern" I am all about controversy, or taking unusual approaches, or using your favorite nerd-hobby to argue for  your professional approach. But, I would argue that there should be something called Relevance. The above article is well written, with lots of excellent references and good arguments. But it misses something crucial.  How is she (really?) associated with users again?  Has she chosen her roles based on a fundamental need to defend the user or to counter all the absurdity in the business world?  No, it seems not. It seems as if this writer has taken note of some good moments and complied, (gasp) something as revolutionary as a 5 element list. Don't get me wrong, she's an excellent actress.  Maybe even brilliant, as some of my friends who have seen the series "Enlighte...

I just got an email request to do a survey from a FAVORITE museum.  They sent me an email, addressed me as "Dear Friend". What could go wrong? They said it would take 15 minutes.  (Which is a LOT.  A lot for anyone.  Anything more than 5 minutes is a lot.)  It took longer than 15 minutes.  I lost track when the Progress Bar hadn't moved beyond the half way point after I answered a lot of questions. I left the tab open all day.  Checked in, did a few more answers every now and then.  Not even sure if it mattered after 5 hours.  When I got to the "Just a few quick demographic questions"  (again, not past the halfway mark on the Progress Bar). What got to me was the BAD design of the survey.  In terms of actions and GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods and Selections) which is essentially a way to measure how long it takes to go from a mouse to a keyboard.  If you add it up, it matters.  Especially if you have a survey wit...

Lately, I've noticed people thanking, begging and just being generally annoying about "Likes" specifically on Facebook. Case Study #1: A singer reaches 25K likes on Facebook.  To reward the followers, a 7 Question Quiz is posted and two (only 2?? Out of 25,000) lucky winners will get a prize.  Maybe a private message or answering a question.  Something that could maybe go out to 25 (!) fans? This actually is less of a "reward" to the fans than a difficult and discouraging assignment.  Side note: the answers are NOT posted on the internet.   Included are questions about previous band members and current band history.  The singer does not maintain his current band site, nor does he link to performers he has played with in the past. The questions may be appropriate to a time/topic involving obscure trivia about the current band.  Maybe immediately prior to an upcoming show.  No mention is made of posting the answers.  Oh, and it should b...

The creepiest and most heartbreaking thing I've seen on "the Facebook" yet.  An insurance company is trolling for "Likes" by offering some money to a lucky winner who happens to be in debt.  Sounds good, right?  Soliciting ideas may unleash creativity during the campaign as well. Here's the page. Here's what they did wrong: 1. They lead with the headline:"WE'RE IN DEEP." So, Mass Mutual, are you REALLY trying to say that you identify with all the souls out there who are in "Deep Shit"?  (Because that's one way it could be interpreted)   As one of the millions who have crushing student loans, I'd be very interested in the "we" part of this statement.  How exactly are they involved-AT ALL? Somehow, unless they were bailed out in the last Financial Crisis, I cannot relate.   2.$1 Trillion Dollars, huh?  Then why are you offering only $20,000.  Oh-wait, they "might reward" you with...