everydayUX » Process

IDEO, takes some cues from Apple and delivers an ATM designed from the user up for BBVA

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:58 +0000

In 2007, Spanish bank BBVA engaged IDEO to rethink the way their ATMs worked. In 2009 the fruits of that labor began to see the light of day and the companies have done a really great job highlighting their insights and subsequent designs.

The average ATM experience is nothing special so the opportunity to innovate is there for the taking but few companies seem willing to put in the effort to really do so (BofA’s smart Enter button was one for me).

The IDEO/BBVA video’s got a few “how did it possibly take so long for someone to do it this way!?” ideas (the 90 degree shift in positioning of the ATMs and the “one slot to rule them all” stand out for me ). They also take a page out of Apple’s recent playbook of success in two ways: integrating the hardware + software from the get go and choosing to go full touchscreen to give them the flexibility to always provide the best interface to the user, no matter what they’re doing.

As devices like the iPad go more mainstream and touchscreen prices go down, I look forward to seeing more industries be forced to reconsider the interfaces that stand between them and their customers.

Be sure to check out the IDEO/BBVA case study.

Patience, talent and wisdom

Alex Rainert — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:00:32 +0000

“A self-disciplined employee will have the patience to conduct routine business routinely, the talent to respond exceptionally to exceptional circumstances, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

– Richard Branson, founder of The Virgin group of companies

Amen.

Sounds simple but it’s very hard to find. If you’re lucky enough to find yourself working with or managing people that fit the bill, you better not take it for granted.

(via gigaom)

Excellent talk from Tom Peters on Education, Over-Medication, Creativity and Hiring

Alex Rainert — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:18:12 +0000

Some really great bits in here:

“We nail facts into students’ heads and there’s nothing wrong with it if the goal is to employ someone for 40 years in a Ford Motor Company Model A factory.”

“The A students work for the B students, the C students run the businesses, and the D students have the buildings named after them.”

“Never ever hire someone who had a grade point average of 4.0.”

I highly recommend you take 4 minutes and 12 seconds to watch/listen to the whole thing.

The Panic Status Board makes me weak in the knees

Alex Rainert — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:25:21 +0000

The team at Panic have rigged up this amazing (and beautiful) real-time display of the data immediately relevant to their team. Projects that fall in the cross section of dataviz and productivity really interest me. It reminds me a bit of the dashboard that Crispin Porter + Bogusky set up to visualize the health and status of their ongoing projects.

Here’s some info from the team at Panic:

What’s on the board?

The idea quickly grew beyond “Project Status”, and has become a hub of all sorts of internal Panic information. What you’re actually looking at is an internal-only webpage that updates frequently using AJAX which shows:

E-Mail Queue — number of messages / number of days.

Project Status — sorry for the heavy censorship — you know how it is!

Important Countdowns

Revenue — comparing yesterday to the day before, not so insightful (yet).

Live Tri-Met Bus Arrivals — when it’s time to go home!

The Panic Calendar

Employee Twitter Messages

Any @Panic Twitter Messages — i.e., be nice! They go on our screen!

I highly recommend you head on over to their blog and read all about it.

Experience Design at the core

Alex Rainert — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:49:12 +0000

Love to see Experience Design fall at the center of People, Technology, Business and Story. Most people (and companies) instinctively gravitate to the first three but it’s usually the last one that ties it all together to make something truly memorable.

(via Conrad Lisco.)

Made by Many opens the kimono, exposing their design process

Alex Rainert — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:15:35 +0000

The team at Made by Many is building a neat little visualization tool for SXSW to give their readers a simple + visually compelling way to keep up with the team’s activities while they’re in Austin.

Not only is the mini-product idea itself clever but they’re also exposing their ongoing iterative design process to their readers as they build it. Great stuff.

Read about it here

The nookafesto makes me want to stand up on my chair and say “Oh captain, my captain.”

Alex Rainert — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:47:13 +0000

As far as design and product development goes, how can this list not get you totally fired up. Pow!

Nooka speaks of a world of the tomorrow that is happening right now. It seems gloriously unattainable but is here in the palm of our hands. It is optimism, it is progress, and it is our future.

Universal Communication
Nooka believes in the power of universal languages like those used in math, science and commerce to increase understanding and enable diverse groups of people to work together. The universal visual language of Nooka creates a communication tool for all, promoting the exchange of ideas across the globe through great design.

Passion
Nooka believes that constant advances in technology and cultural change necessitate originality in design. Our lust for innovation through technoculture and our childlike belief that anything is possible drive us to constantly strive for the perfect design.

Interaction
The alternative approach to everyday objects in Nooka’s designs triggers thoughts of new possibilities and examination of our surroundings. Nooka products change the brain state of anyone they touch.

Purpose
Every Nooka object is designed with intention. It has the power of clarity, the power to reach the heart of everyone who interacts with it. Nooka is committed to the belief that anything is possible. It is only through a truly open mind that we may face the challenges ahead of us.

Inspiration
Nooka sees the whole world as inspiration; it absorbs energy from it and creates new forms.

Futurism
Nooka changes how we experience technology by placing it in new contexts. The futurist believes that this process always results in progress. Nooka is a futurist brand.

Check out the nookafesto (via Michael Surtees)

Crispin Porter + Bogusky recognizing the importance of internal transparency

Alex Rainert — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:58:00 +0000

“The ProjectTicker is the real-time inventory of all of the jobs active in the Integrated department. It can be filtered by job due date, by account, by job-type (video, interactive, experiential, internal prods), by completion status, by CD or by producer. It also features a status bar that indicates the completion status of the job. All of this is automatically updated through our existent jobflow status process. So not only is it a thing of pride for the agency— in terms of the volume of work flow, accountability for that, and the diversity of jobs— but it also helps to highlight the importance of documentation on production status. Plus it is poised to truly demonstrate momentum. The Ticker will be manageable via a kiosk as well, which will be positioned at the front of the department, and the view-type can be adjusted by anyone.”

via alexbogusky.posterous.com

Everyone is constantly buzzing about the importance of external transparency for businesses these days but most places I’ve been privy to could benefit from much better internal transparency just as much.

It’s great to see the folks at CP + B build something that, quite iconically, begins to address some of that deficiency in an innovative way. This kind of openness brings both explicit and implicit value to all the members of their team and in doing so, fortifies the sense of accountability across all their work, which is always a good thing.

What would happen if your company exposed its process innards like this?

Inspirational TED talk by Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man

Alex Rainert — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:00:40 +0000

Really smart stuff on the differences between tangible and intangible value and the often untapped benefits of the latter.

Thanks to @mtbrady for the tip.

Design in the Wild: VW + Fun = Viral

Alex Rainert — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:00:04 +0000

Volkswagen’s new viral video campaign, The Fun Theory caught my eye this week.

“The Fun Theory” is a series of experiments, captured on video, to find out if making the world more fun can improve people’s behavior.

Among the experiments: does turning a set of subway stairs into a real-life piano encourage people to use them (answer: yes, 66% more). Another experiment asks whether making a trash can sound like a 50ft-deep well will make people pick up their trash. An upcoming experiment, meanwhile, will turn a bottle recycling center into an arcade game.

Seeing it immediately got the ITP grad + Experience Designer in me all excited. Viral video + ad campaign blather aside, these videos can stand alone as great studies in how injecting a little playfulness can not only create a profound, memorable experience but it can also change human behavior. Pretty powerful stuff. I highly recommend you go watch them all.