Video Of The Week: Elders & Google Glass Reactions

Elders React To Google Glass Video

One thing that’s been on my mind lately is the fascinating way that technology is changing the lives of various generations. Previously, I wrote about designing for the generation who did not grow up with the Internet.

Just thinking of my own family, I remember when my Grandmother got a little piece of hardware that only let her do email. I can’t remember what it was called. But, it was pretty cool to get emails from her. This was probably about 20 years ago! Now, my 84 year old Grandfather has an iPhone and knows how to Facetime, send photos, use Siri, dictate messages, use all kinds of golf apps, and more.Continue reading

Five Websites For User Experience Inspiration

A lot of people ask me where I get user experience inspirations.

A blank whiteboard can be really daunting and a lot of times I too feel lost when I am first working on a project. But, the more projects you work on, the more ideas and inspirations you’ll have in your brain.

I’ve found that it’s critical to organize all your user experience inspirations. So,  I always have an inspiration folder on Dropbox for each project I work on. In that folder, I put whiteboard drawings and paper sketches, screenshots from sites and apps I find helpful, articles, and any other artifacts that I find inspirational. Then, when I feel stuck, I just browse through my inspiration folder to see if something sparks an idea.Continue reading

What is Microfeedback and Why it Matters to Your User Experience

What is microfeedback? More importantly, why does it matter to your user experience? Well, to understand microfeedback, you first have to know a little bit more about user experience and how experiences are measured.

In user experience, we talk a lot about the importance of talking to users and customers in the beginning of the product development process. This helps us with market research and customer discovery where we begin to develop a deep understanding of who the user or customer will be.

Without this knowledge, it is impossible to create a successful product. You must understand your target market’s problem and how your product will provide a solution.

So let’s say you’ve done that, you’ve gone through the whole product development process, and then you’ve launched. Now what?

Click here to get my free guide: Introduction To Microfeedback

Continue reading

Video of the Week: The Mink Makeup Printer

At TechCrunch Disrupt, an amazing company called Mink gave a demo of their desktop makeup printer that will let you print makeup …. yes, makeup!

Grace Choi, came up with the idea while she was at Harvard Business School. People don’t normally associate the beauty industry with tech, but Grace is definitely going to change that.

Turns out, that cosmetics are all made of the same basic raw materials, the most important being color. Color is where the cosmetic companies make all their money.Continue reading

Everyday UX: How to Reduce Waste in Blue Apron & Plated

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been trying out two new companies who are in the business of helping people eat healthier, reduce food waste, and maybe even save a bit of time and money along the way.

Plated and Blue Apron are the two main companies who will deliver all the ingredients (actually, measured ingredients) you need to make a fabulous meal at your home. Each box comes with the exact things you need as well as detailed instructions, including photos, of how to cook the meal.

It’s a pretty amazing idea. See, I love to cook, but the act of deciding what to cook, making lists, going to the grocery store, carrying it all home, and then cooking just makes the whole activity of cooking feel like a chore! I already wrote about my experience with Plated and soon I’ll be sharing some insights I had through my experience with Blue Apron.

Overall though, one thing that continues to bother me is the amount of waste that I feel like I’m creating due to every single ingredient being individually packaged in Ziploc bags, small containers (similar to a travel size shampoo bottle), boxes, bubble wrap, ice packs, and more. Something about all that waste just makes me feel bad!Continue reading

6 mistakes companies make when working with a UX agency or consultant

So, you want want to create a great user experience? The truth is, it doesn’t matter how great of a user experience design team you hire.

The success of your UX project lies as much on your shoulders as it does on the team or person that you hired.

I’ve worked both internally at startups of all sizes. I’ve also consulted with a lot of companies through my freelance UX consulting practice. After years of experience, I’ve identified some common mistakes that companies make when working with a UX company or consultant.

I promise you, if you don’t make these mistakes, you’ll set your UX team or consultant up to create a great experience for your product.

Continue reading

Product Strategy Lessons Learned From Google Plus

Last week, news broke that Vic Gundotra, head of Google+, would be leaving the company. A lot of articles have been written based on speculation about what will happen to Google+ and whether or not it will continue as a social product or instead if all the components (photos, Hangouts, etc) will act as individual products.

One article that I found really insight was written by a former Google intern named Danny Crichton. Upon graduating from Stanford, Crichton was a product management intern and worked on search within Google+. Crichton identifies a few early indicators as to why Google+ may have lacked an appropriate product strategy from the beginning.

Regardless of whether you’re an entrepreneur who has a product idea or you’ve already launched a product and are working on growth, this article is a must read. The nature of your role doesn’t matter (founder, developer, or designer) the lessons outlined in this article are applicable to everyone who contributes to the product development.Continue reading

Introducing Startup Series: A Day Long Event on the Product Process

Startup Series - Charming Robot

When I was 27 I moved to NYC to join my first start up. Want to know what our biggest mistake was? First, we tried to figure everything out on our own. Second, we didn’t launch soon enough. Third, our product was anything but “minimal”, I think we actually went for Maximum Viable Product! I know, I know, pretty crazy.

I’m glad I had that experience because it’s helped me have a lot of advice and stories for people as they build their startups and products. I’m super passionate about helping entrepreneurs, founders, designs, developers, and anyone who works at a startup avoid these mistakes. Hopefully, they end up doing a few more things right that we did, and in turn, give their products a greater chance of success.

My friends at Charming Robot, a leading UX Agency in New York City, share this passion for educating people about the product design process. They’ve created an amazing day long event, Startup Series, which will take place on Saturday, May 10 in New York City.Continue reading

Everyday UX: The User Experience of Cooking With Plated

Last week while watching SharkTank I heard about a new company called Plated. Plated is a service that delivers a box to your door with the exact ingredients you need to cook a delicious meal.

I love to cook and my friends and family say I’m pretty good at it. But sometimes cooking stresses me out because I have to decide what to cook, then I have to figure out what I need to buy, then I need to actually buy it, and then I need to cook it!! Sometimes, I end up not cooking and I end up with wasted ingredients. Or if I do cook, sometimes I end up with extra of one ingredient because I bought a large quantity of it and only needed say 1/4 cup of it.

Plated aims to let people just enjoy cooking by taking all the friction out of the work that’s needed before you actually get to cook! So with Plated, they do the planning, shopping, and measuring for you. And the results are pretty good.

Here’s my experience of cooking with Plated. I cooked Poached Salmon with Red Quinoa, Kale, and Dill Yogurt Sauce.

Continue reading

Everyday UX: The User Experience of Lyft and its Payment Userflow

Recently I was in Los Angeles for a business trip. I used Uber to get me around town and my experience was great. But, while I was there a friend suggested I try out another transportation service called Lyft.

I hadn’t heard about Lyft, but my friend had a coupon code so I decided to give it a go. The premise of Lyft is very similar to that of Uber. When you need a ride, you open the Lyft app and tap a “select a ride” button. Then, you’re given the driver’s estimated time of arrival. When the drive arrives, you hop in and you’re on your way.

In function, Lyft is the same as Uber. But, the user experience of Lyft is very different than Uber. As well, the brands have a very different feeling to them.

Uber prides itself on being “everyone’s private driver” and I feel like like Uber really delivers on that. The first time I used Uber was upon a late arrival to Seattle airport. The driver arrived, I hopped in the back of the black towncar, and I was whisked away to my hotel. There were even some business magazines and bottled water in the back seat to make my ride more pleasant.Continue reading