saracambridge's Space

Interesting article from my favorite blog, FastCo.Design (and that’s design as in product development + design thinking, not things that look cool. Although occasionally it’s both). It’s about the simplest way to introduce usability testing to a company, which is asking customers “On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident do you feel using this system?” As general as it is, it gives them something to quantify and starts them down the path of getting user feedback. 

I was honored to be able to help with a flash usability test of ranked choice voting in San Francisco recently, organized by the amazing Dana Chisnell (who’s not only co-author of the Handbook of Usability Testing, but one of the foremost experts on ballot usability in the country). I was working on a team with 2 others, and we were charged with finding and interviewing people willing to spend 15 minutes filling out two different ballot designs and telling us what they thought of them. 

While it was challenging to find registered voters willing to spare the time, we were delighted that our first willing participants were a couple dressed in matching Santa costumes (yes, it happened to be SantaCon that day! If you don’t know what SantaCon is, check this out)

Here's a link to Dana’s initial observations about ranked choice voting and a gratuitous picture of SantaCon for good measure. 

I'm posting this picture in honor of a few things:

• the start of my second semester in grad school....

* which means getting back on my bike to commute to BART....

• AND getting my resume, design porfolio and last semester's student projects up on this site.

The photo was taken for one of my favorite design projects ever; a t-shirt for the San Francisco Bike Coalition. I took pictures of about two dozen cyclists at a bicycle festival to use as silhouettes (you're going to have to check out my portfolio to see the final design; see the link above) and I think it's appropriately symbolic of my current transformation from designer to researcher.

This project was user research: for starters, I recruited all the particpants myself. In the process of building trust with them I found out about their cycling habits, why they ride, and documented a very personal moment when I photographed them on their bike. I also muddled my way through numerous unpredictable awkward moments, such as realizing how difficult it was for many of them to stay upright and motionless on a bike without something to hold onto; yet overally it was an incredibly fun and inspiring day. Then I went home and started the next phase: reviewing, analyzing and organizing the data until I felt is was an appropriate representation. But I ended up with one of the most honest designs I'd ever made: a t-shirt that was literally of and for San Francisco cyclists. 

I drink about a gallon of water a day, so the first 2 things I learn out about most buildings I go in are where the bathrooms are and if there’s a water fountain. I was delighted to find this innovative water fountain in UC Berkeley’s Tang Student Health Center last month. It has an unobtrusive platform for a water bottle in the back; when a bottle is placed on it the sensor is triggered and water flows until the bottle is removed. It’s easy to figure out, fun to use, and even has a counter in the upper right which tracks the number of bottles it’s filled, reinforcing the idea that we’re contributing to a greater good while staying hydrated. Having carried around my own water bottle for years, I can usually manage to fill it at a spigot intended for a human mouth but it’s less than ideal. This solution not only solves that problem but is an open invitation for others to get in on the fun too. 

There is considerable evidence that even the smallest of reminders to recycle, reduce or or reuse can inspire people to take the extra bit of effort necessary to do the right thing, but my own experience is that many of the messages we get are redundant and trite. This fountain reminds me how much potential there is for fresh, playful and smart innovations that can inspire people to adopt better sustainability practices. No doubt there are plenty in the pipeline which just haven’t found commercial success yet, so kudos to the Tang Health Center for being an early adapter.

I just came across this photo I took last summer after I started reading "The Design of Everyday Things," which I discussed in my last post. One of the things I love about the book is how clearly it explains the ways in which a design fails when someone has difficulty using a product.

This image is from a multi-load washing machine at my local laundrymat. After I got over my confusion over where to put the detergent in this machine, I was delighted by what a perfect example of unnatural mapping it was. If there's anything that lends itself to clear and simple mapping, this would be it. In particular, I find it interesting how the diagram on top suggests that the detergent and bleach go into separate bins, yet there is no divider in the actual device (or maybe I guessed wrong after all...).

You can probably name a handful of books that have had a profound impact on you. I recently finished one such book for me, “The Design of Everyday Things,” by Donald Norman. This is a seminal book about usability in design, and despite being more than 20 years old is still incredibly relevant and a thorough education in how to assess (and improve) the usability of anything humans interact with. The book’s perspective is that humans are intelligent and highly adaptable so if we have difficulty using something, the fault most likely falls on the design of that object.

I started reading it last summer before beginning grad school in information management. Since I was planning on transitioning into user experience and usability after many years as a practicing designer, it had been on my reading list for some time, but had fallen more in the "should read" than "can't wait to read" category. I was surprised at how fascinating I found it; in particular, I found his analysis of the kinds of errors humans make, their cause and the design principles which could reduce them absolutely fascinating (he was originally a cognitive scientist specializing in human error). Not to mention that the accuracy of  many of his predictions are spot on (“Some [useful] aids are yet to come: the pocket computer with a powerful display, which will keep our notes, remind us of our appointments, and smooth our passage through the schedules and interactions of life”). 

Like any great book I was sorry to find myself at the last page, but since it’s such a dense book it invites careful re-reading. I’m happy to report that I’m already enjoying the preface again, and when I'm done with the second read I can always move onto his other books. 

Legos just introduced a new line of dolls geared towards girls called Lego Friends. I found out about it from a twitter post which denounced it as sexist, but was curious if that was really the case so read the Bloomberg Businessweek article it linked to. 

I was impressed to learn that they spent years doing anthropological research into how girls from various cultures play and how their play is different from boys before designing the line. Here's a quote about their findings: "Whereas boys tend to be “linear”—building rapidly, even against the clock, to finish a kit so it looks just like what’s on the box—girls prefer stops along the way, and to begin storytelling and rearranging." 

I think the trouble is there's lots of pink and purple in this new line (not to mention a Beauty Salon) and we're used to those things being the exclusive signifier that a product is for girls, but in this case they didn't stop there. As with regular Legos, building it is an important part of the play, but there is an incredible amount of detail in the other elements which invite complex stories to be created once it's put together. For instance they found that girls prefer to play with figures that can function as avatars, so they often don't like the existing boxy Lego figures. As a solution these new figures look much more girl-like, yet since they're just a tad larger than the existing figures they'll integrate with other Lego products. 

While I cringe at the thought of future generations of girls pleading for their very own Lego Beauty Salon (there is also a tree house, design studio and veterinary clinic), I  admit my own childhood doll-playing narratives often revolved around hair styles, outfit changes and dating (thanks to the unauthorized use of my brother’s GI Joe). In hindsight we were relishing the ability to create and control our own worlds. Similarly, Lego has created an opportunity for girls to be in complete control of environments they’re interested in, weaving rich narratives and developing relationships while doing so. And I don’t think there’s anything sexist about that. 

Here's a link to the Businessweek article: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/lego-is-for-girls-12142011.html