Accessibility
But it was some of the less technique-specific talks that were really exciting. Robin Christopherson gave a really moving speech about accessibility within technology. Robin, who is himself blind, showed from a very personal viewpoint, just how vital it is that we consider how we produce websites and apps. Things that I take for granted such as glancing at a banknote to tell what value it is, becomes a real task for a blind person. He showed an iPhone app that he can hold a note underneath and it audibly tells him what denomination it is. It seems as though Apple has done a great job to assist their users, both iPhone and iPad have a lot of built-in features to make their applications fully accessible. Also worth a look was the demonstration of Google’s self driving car that could give so much more independence to blind users.

Designing for touch
Josh Clarke pointed out how we’ve all got so used to the layer of abstraction of pushing a mouse with our hand, to move a pointer on a screen, to click a virtual button to perform a task, that we just accept it. But now with the proliferation of touch devices, that abstraction is invisible and we’re almost interacting with the content directly. It’s a much more intuitive way of working.
He gave the example of salt and pepper shakers. We’ve kind of got used to a single hole meaning salt, and multiple holes meaning pepper – but are you sure that the person who filled them thinks the same? Maybe you improve things by putting an ‘S’ or a ‘P’ on the shaker, which is fine if you speak a language where they relate to your word for ’salt’ or ‘pepper’. This is the same problem we have with using icons, they’re based on assumptions. But why not have shakers made of glass so that you can see the salt and pepper directly? Make the content the label. This is where touch devices have taken us, by removing the buttons and sliders, it makes things clearer for everyone.
I could go on, Josh gave such a great, passionate talk, and it was great to see someone so genuinely excited about where we are with technology.

Detecting gestures with sound
Martin Beeby talked about some of the interesting things to come out of Microsoft Research at the moment. They’ve come up with a system that recognises hand gestures without using any additional technology that a standard laptop would have. They’ve been detecting gestures for a while with the Kinect, but this new idea (called ‘SoundWave’) emits a very specific frequency sound from the laptop’s speakers. We can’t hear it, but the laptop’s microphone picks up the sound, and the software can analyse this to see how it’s been disrupted by something (like a hand) moving through it. It seems to be very successful, the demonstration video shows someone playing Tetris purely using hand movements away from the keyboard. I can see this being used with Smart TVs to browse channels without needing a remote. Have a look for yourself.

#FAIL
The final speaker was Mark Boulton and he was talking about the usually avoided topic of failure. He made the interesting observation that when toddlers fail, they’re praised for having a go, and are encouraged to try again. But something happens when we become adults and when we fail we only get blame. He went into more depth, but essentially, he was suggesting that instead of looking at it as ‘failure’ we should look at it as ‘iteration’.
It was an encouraging thought to leave on.

I think it’s fair to say that the design has clearly taken a strong influence from the Twitter iPad app. However, the interface works well for Spotify’s content and makes use of the increasingly popular content layering where new screens slide in from the right as you drill down through the content. To me, this feels like a visual breadcrumb where you can easily retrace your steps by swiping the pages away. Users like to feel in control and I think this does a great job of assisting that.

So, is it usable? YES. The consistent vertical navigation bar really helps to maximise the screen size and the music player is always present at the bottom of the screen. This means that no matter where you are in the app you can always control the music that is playing.

Is usable enough? Is it enjoyable? Well there is a much bigger emphasis on the cover art in this app which are razor sharp, rich and plentiful. The ‘Now Playing’ full-screen view with its larger controls and artwork is also very nice with good interactions to move between tracks. The AirPlay integration is a bonus – the app allows you to enjoy music through your tv and connected speakers.

My only real disappointment is the ‘What’s new’ page which is pretty uninspiring. They’ve not challenged this area at all as it feels like a safe iTunes route to take. The Aweditorium app is a beautiful example of how exploring new music can be interactive and enjoyable. Perhaps the next update will bring us a more exciting and considered ‘What’s New’ area.

This is definitely a useful app but I wouldn’t class it as a truly enjoyable app. It needs to do a lot more to excite it’s users for this but it’s solid usability will definitely appease the Premium account holders as the scaled up iPhone app just wasn’t cutting it!

But what do you do when you know one person will be looking at the site on their mobile phone and another on their 60” web TV? How do you design something that looks and works beautifully at either end of that spectrum?

That’s where Responsive Design comes in.

The breadth of different devices that can access the web has exploded in the last few years, so we need a way our sites can adapt to any environment; iPhone, ‘standard’ desktop, even the screen on your web-connected fridge.

With Responsive Design, we allow the user to dictate how they want to view the site (big, small, zoomed in, full screen…) and the site responds and adapts to that. For example, high resolution images could work well on a large screen but be inappropriate for use on a mobile. A responsively designed site will automatically detect how it’s being viewed and deliver content specifically optimised for the user.

This goes much further than just swapping images. Entire layouts move and flow depending on how you’re looking at the site.

It’s a big change to the way we work. For our whole industry.  But as the web continues to evolve, and peoples’ methods for accessing it evolve even faster, it’s important we keep ahead of the curve and keep looking for ways to improve the web experience.

[ http://bradfrostweb.com ]

After enjoying the “heated” Creative Forum debate entitled On/Off – debating the pros and cons of the digital revolution. I drove into work pondering the 10+ years I’ve worked in the digital industry and the tools of the trade we take for granted every day. Entering the job market back in 2001 at the height of the DotCom CRASH was a eye-opener. Even so, I still believed. I still wondered at the possibilities. So I’d thought I’d share my 10 most memorable digital “moments” over the last 10 years. In no particular order…

1. The first time I used Google Search
2. Watching Steve Jobs browse the (real) web on the very first iPhone
3. Pouring over the early OneDotZero films for inspiration
4. Having my very own email address. Remember Yahoo Geocities?
5. Receiving my first text message (from myself)
6. Using the BBC iPlayer
7. Finding my house on Google Street View
8. Sending my first email (to myself)
9. Playing with crazy Flash sites – yes the sites with the terrible navigation
10. Finding my first home on Rightmove

So then… What’s your top 10?

It was usability expert Jared Spool who quoted 90% of everything is rubbish! Not a new revelation as this is actually known as ‘Sturgeon’s Law‘ which was originally derived from an observation that 90% of science fiction writing was poor quality. However, this observation can be transferred across many different arts, in particular – websites.

SO, how do we make sure our designs are in the 10% with GREAT design?

Jared highlighted the Kano Model which assumes three different attribute types – basic, performance and delight – that collectively constitute the customer experience of your product. We can use this model to help us design great experiences for our users that are not just beautiful but engaging and usable.

The basic attributes are the things that your user takes for granted on a site and the performance attributes are the things that allow the user to perform a function. The really interesting part to this model is the delight attributes, which represent the unexpected.

When you delight the customer by over-delivering or doing something out of the ordinary it greatly enhances their experience. This in turn increases brand loyalty, conversions, retention and recommendations. Having a deep understanding of the true needs of your customers, their context and their behaviour, is absolutely crucial when inventing new delight attributes.

The world of web application design is expanding at a rapid rate. We’re now expected to design great experiences across a huge variety of platforms so it’s vital that we “stop designing features and start designing experiences!”

Squeeze that last hour of the day and try make some time to come see zbrush in action! It’s a ‘from scratch’ introduction to this great software.

Paws in Places is all about helping people and their dogs spend more time together. The website features a wide range of stylish dog-friendly venues around the UK, including cafés, hotels, shops and restaurants. We’re also asking people to share their own favourite places on our Facebook page.

Nearly two months in, the idea’s already proving popular with the UK’s dog lovers. As well as showcasing stylish dog-friendly venues, we’re also reporting live via Facebook and Twitter from events around the UK that welcome four-pawed guests. We recently covered the Alternative London Fashion Week, and have a jam-packed calendar to look forward to over 2012.

Visit Facebook and ‘like’ the Cesar Paws in Places page to find out more. You can also tell us about any great dog-friendly stylish venues you’ve discovered by posting on the wall.

Nokia’s had its knockers recently. Last year, its CEO admitted the business had fallen badly behind its competitors and he likened the state of the company to ‘standing on a burning platform’.

Remember when the 8310, with its built-in FM radio, was the phone of the future?

Now Nokia’s looking to make its mark on the industry again. It’s filed a patent application for vibrating magnetic tattoos that will alert mobile phone users to calls and text messages.

Tattooing, spraying or stamping ferromagnetic material on to a user’s arm, finger or abdominal area and pairing it with a mobile device could result in a range of alerts for everything from a received message or call to a low battery or profile updates.

It’s another step towards a cyborg society, an example of humanity and technology – the organic and synthetic – coming together.

Rather like this Finnish fellow who replaced his lost finger with a USB stick.

Would you fancy a tingling tatt to tell you there’s a text message? Do you know of any examples of so-called Haptic technology that are genuinely exciting?

Finally for now, a ‘bit’ of fun with a series of 8-bit video game style movie posters from Eric Palmer. Would make for a great picture quiz.

All of these posts were discovered through Flipboard for the iPad, which I’d highly recommend to anyone who’s not yet used it. A fresh and intuitive way to view the content and updates you want to see in a digital magazine format.

As the James Bond team gear up for Skyfall, 007’s latest outing, they’re also celebrating 50 years since Sean Connery first donned the tux way back in Dr No. Artist Matt Needle’s captured five decades of Bond adventure in this poster. The idea may not be new, but I like the execution, especially some of the more subtle references.