Re: [IxDA Discuss] the appearance of change

Perception matters. Tog (I think) mentions how he would save a screen capture of the last screen at shut down and would display that screen at boot up to simulate perception of quicker start up. The animated icon of hour glass serves the same purpose. It is benign use of quirks of human psychology.

Re: [IxDA Discuss] the appearance of change

First of all, I'd like to introduce myself as this is my first post here. I've been designing interactions for 35 years and I'm delighted that we are starting to identify as a profession. Michael, I know what you are saying about these elements being apparent (rather than real) solutions. It's tru

Re: [IxDA Discuss] the appearance of change

Although I'll certainly admit it is somewhat OT, I was thinking of it more generally as designing something that appears to be a solution rather than something that actually is. Or at least that's how I rationalized posting it. :-) A good general example of this in software design would be

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Is user research a band-aid for "the listening deficit"?

Robert, if you are an outtie, then I would say, you are the band-aid. If you are an innie where you mandate is to be the ears of the organization to end users and customers (not always the same thing) then no, that is not the case at all. It is a formalization of the listening process, and further

Re: [IxDA Discuss] the appearance of change

It's an interesting albeit perhaps OT argument, this one about imposing security for the sake of making people feel secure. One could argue that the measures put in place to ensure security, as well as the perceived levels (feelings) of security that accompany them, are both similar and differ

[IxDA Discuss] Is user research a band-aid for "the listening deficit"?

I've been reading Allison Fine's wonderful book, Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age . In one section, Fine talks about "the listening deficit" tha

[IxDA Discuss] Building a Path For Future Communities

Hi all, I am currently finalizing a draft of a book chapter that some of you may find interesting. I have posted it to my blog here: http://mobilecommunitydesign.com/2008/01/building-path-for-future-communities.html Please feel free to comment either on the blog or in this thread. Here is the abs

Re: [IxDA Discuss] the appearance of change

Patricia: "isn't it easier to just put on a show and make people feel safe again?" Call me a conspiracy theorist... First, the point of terrorism is to terrorise. Civilians fought through the battle of Britain by trying in any way to lead their lives as normal. The British government dealt wi

Re: [IxDA Discuss] the appearance of change

An interesting article, Michael. I think there's a great study yet to be made of the mob mentality that allows people to accept being herded like cattle and humiliated in U.S. airports these days. So I'll call Eva's rant, and raise her one. Security initiatives and terrorism are both essentially

Re: [IxDA Discuss] the appearance of change

Yes, what we really need from our airlines (and governments) is to be treated like small children afraid of monsters in the closet. Bring out the smoke and mirrors, because we can't handle the truth. We all appreciate security measures. It would be nice if they were effective/thought out securit

Re: [IxDA Discuss] The death of web usability testing as we know it?

In reading Stewart's response I thought I'd chime in on something I think is important: the difference between "formal" usability testing and other, less formal methods of validation/research. I feel that much of what we'd call "usability testing" isn't all that practical and often isn't a good

Re: [IxDA Discuss] The death of web usability testing as we know it?

Disclaimer: I work at Widemile, a competing firm to Offermatica, and we do a lot of content optimization using multivariate testing and split or A/B testing. Design in general is important to have before doing the content optimization I do. Typically, I do a test to find the best design and then