eriksmartt.com/blog

Time to backup gmail if this is true…

If this post is true, there’s now a really good reason to backup gmail locally: “Is google shutting down email accounts if they suspect hijacking?“

Formality and Audience

Hard vs. soft edges differentiating the intended audience and meaning of the message:

Non-standard shapes and markings and the ability for drivers to ignore them based on unfamiliarity:

Physical template defaults

An artifact from a time when vehicle license plates used registration stickers. Amazingly, registration renewal paperwork still comes with a placeholder for the old-style sticker, now in VOID form.

Interestingly enough, the State is apparently proud of this recent redesign, which now “instructs you to throw away the ‘VOID’ sticker.” (via TXDOT: Vehicle Registration Sticker)

User error vs. machine error vs. interaction design

Why the high volume of discarded stickers? What does this tell you about the users? What about the machine?

The full context:

The design of this self-service, produce-pricing machine includes an area for discarded “mistakes”; but at what point is it an indication that it’s no longer user-error?

Interface design on Sparkfun’s new GeoChron

Interface design on Sparkfun’s new GeoChron

Sparkfun just released a new, stand-alone GPS logging device, which looks to be a slick alternative to all the “mobile-device + Python + bluetooth GPS” hacking I’ve resorted to for similar tasks. It’s a pretty tempting package if you need dirt-simple GPS logging. However, I’m a bit confused by the switches. Take a look at the picture of the device below:

There are two toggle switches: one for on/off, and one for standby/run. Take a minute to look at the switch diagrams and labels, and think about how to use this device. How do you turn it on? How do you make it start logging?

Now that you’ve thought about it, was it clear? What does the ‘1′ on each switch mean to you? What does the graphic under each switches label mean? Ignore the ‘1′ and ‘0′ and look just at the diagram. Based on the graphic alone, which switch position should “on” be?

I used to get the ‘1′ vs. ‘0′ on switches backwards when my mental model was of the ‘0′ indicating a completed circuit. Now I use a binary metaphor, where a ‘1′ bit is on, and a ‘0′ bit is off. That seems to be what the switch means. But if I take that approach on the GeoChron, then the standby/run switch is installed backwards. Personally, I think I’d drop the graphic under the switch labels (I think it’s more confusing then helpful), and flip the standby/run swtich so that ‘1′ means ‘run’, and so that the switches are both pressed in the same direction when the device is on and logging. With a device this simple, you really shouldn’t have to think about how to turn it on. (I still want one though ;-)

Any shape or size…

“when an object can be any shape or size, what shape or size should it be?”

I love following Jan Chipchase’s Future Perfect blog. It documents an amazing level of ethnographic research that most companies simply don’t have the luxury to participate in. The quote above is a closing slide in one of his presentations. It stuck me because of it’s dual use as both a design meditation, and a serious question designers of any product should be able to answer. It also begs the reverse question for existing design:

If this object could have been any shape or size, why did it end up like this?

(Via: Insight & Innovation: Design Research, Nokia Connection 2007 [ppt])

Changing the URL experience with typography

I started using the Locationbar² Firefox add-on a few weeks ago, and I’ve been amazed at how significantly it changes the experience with URLs. The interesting thing is that I already think about URLs as RESTful commands… but when you see URLs broken apart visually into distinct domain, path, and argument sections, the visual interpretation quickly change from “a bunch of random text that the browser understands”, into “a domain-name/brand, and specific service”.

It’s difficult to explain without visuals, so let’s start with a traditional looking URL:

The traditional-looking URL is a bunch of text. We recognize it as a URL, and typically market it as a full-text string. However, many sites use non-friendly URLs (think Vignette CURLs, for those who know what I’m talking about), in which case URLs are often massive strings full of seemingly random characters. When surfing sites with such URLs, the browser’s location bar becomes something you ignore until you’re ready to type in a new address.

Now let’s look at a Location’ized version of the same URL:

Quite different! The Location’ized URL is a distinct representation of a domain name (”eriksmartt.com”), and a service (”blog”). Information we don’t need, which normally just causes visual clutter (like the ‘/’ characters), has been greyed-out, and brand-recognition remains strong.

Here’s another example:

Just looking at that URL, it’s pretty clear what site I was on, and what I was asking for — which is exactly what a URL is. Writing out http://flickr.com/photos/tags/lolcat loses some of this meaning. It becomes a single address, rather then a service and a request.

Of course, clever domain-names can lose some of their brand recognition using this approach:

Still, I’ve already grown so accustom to seeing URLs as Locationbar² displays them, that it feels disappointing to use browsers lacking this capability. I’ve also found the tool to be extremely handy while developing websites, making it very clear which server I’m accessing, and what request I made.

YMMV, but I definitely recommend trying it out — and I’d love to hear about your experience using the add-on!

Dashboard Widget to mash iTunes library with OnTour.net

Just the other day I had a friend mention a desire to scrape tour schedules in MySpace so that he can find out when artists he’s interested in are in town. (He eventually decided it was too much hassle and would like someone else to do it, which is why I’m able to mention it here.) It’s a cool idea, though the OnTour Dashboard Widget takes it to perhaps another level.

The Widget monitors tour information in OnTour.net and compares it to the music you have in your iTunes library. The downside being, of course, that you have to hit F12 to get a notification. But otherwise, the interaction model is perfect — meaning that you don’t need to change your behavior at all, yet you gain new value and information. Brilliant.

(Via Lifehacker)