The Users Experience Gets a Makeover

To all who've dropped by and clicked through TUX (The Users Experience) I just wanted to say Thanks. There is so much to do within the field of UX and I really want to make sure that I continue to evolve and grow within it. So, I've upgraded the Blog a bit with a newer skin. I may keep this post to continue personal jots about UX, or run test to see how measure analytics between the two. Either way, this has really raised my interest in digital marketing and branding. The world of UX is vast and there are more than enough problems for us to help solve. Feel free to Come by the new virtual residence here http://theusersexperience.com

Cheers,
Doc Wheeler, owner of TUX (The Users Experience)

Is your user faking it?

When it comes to creating wireframes in the initial phase of most projects, the level of effort is pretty simple. Sketch a line here, place a box or button there, drop in some lorem ipsum and your done. As your project progresses, your the level of detail and fidelity should follow suit. As a result, a functional wire is conceived to personify the scenarios initially framed within the components of the requirements.

But, who provides the content or data? Where does the content come from? Gathering the assets for such an endeavor can be a pain. Lorem Ipsum can only take you so far with detailing the users experience. Last, testing with real data can be dangerous.

Allow me to introduce a resource that has been a big help in creating content needed for such testing. It's called Fake Name Generator.

Here are a few examples of how the Fake Name Generator can be used for user experience purposes:

• Quality test data can be hard to come by, especially with laws (such as HIPAA) preventing use of real data. 
• Get ideas for names to use for personas.
• Generated credit cards can be used to test basic client-/server-side validation techniques without accidently processing a real card.
• Generated national identity numbers can be used to test basic client-/server-side validation techniques without risking disclosure of real information.
• Generated test emails can be sent to fake names to test confirmations and email deliveries

The great thing about this tool is that there is no need to create an account. It's a proven "thumbs up" for me when using it for e-commerce or member centric data intense prototypes. They also have other freemium tools like the Smiley Generator used to create your own unique smiley by picking a head, eyes, and a mouth.

iPhone meet myPhone Some day

Google's Modular Phone Platform, Project Ara a.k.a. Phonebloks, Makes Progress

The smartphone is one of the most empowering and intimate objects in our lives. Yet most of us have little say in how the device is made, what it does, and how it looks. And 5 billion of us don't have one. What if you could make thoughtful choices about exactly what your phone does, and use it as a creative canvas to tell your own story?- Project Ara

It's Google's ambitious plan for modular smartphones that have interchangeable pieces. The idea is to create phones whose individual components, like the processor, display, or camera, can be swapped out individually so users have more ways to customize their devices at a lower cost.

Moreover, Google created this platform to give users the ability to interchange modules and completely customize the look and enhance the functionality of their device.

Here's Phonebloks ... explained Thanks Marques Brownlee

Though Google showed off a prototype that was technically functional at I/O back in June, it froze moments after booting and its design was far bulkier than the sleek designs Google had previously teased.

Google promises the next prototype, Spiral 2, will be even better thanks to new custom chips from Toshiba. Google will unveil the prototype at its next Project Ara developer conference in January.

Imagine the possibilities of customizing your own device. With good intentions this device will be able to solve or accommodate the users needs. Imagine this concept applied to tablets as well. Moreover, one may also be able chose the operating system the device runs on... not; but one can dream. :)

Resources:

Project Ara - http://www.projectara.com/
Mashable - http://mashable.com/2014/10/30/new-project-ara-prototype-works/
Wired - http://www.wired.com/2014/10/day-with-project-ara/?mbid=social_twitter#slide-id-1616277

The Users Experience reaches 1500+ visitors

To some this post will seem like "So what!" you got 1500 views, big deal. But for me, it's a huge mini-milestone. I don't have a long drawn out story. There's no twisted plot to cause an emotional stir. It's just a "note to self" and to the "1500+" visitors out there that you can do it!

My goal was to write continuously to help strengthen the communication efforts in UX related projects. Telling a "clear" story in seconds rather than minutes was the goal. However, with Fragmented and run-on sentences being the major pitfalls, getting motivated to write has been disastrous. But, with any major hurdle in life you can either go under or eventually get over it and keep it moving. This is the mantra of my life now.

There's soooo many resources online, to help with writing and technique. But I'll list a few that's helped me. 

20 Ways to Improve your Small Business Writing Skills
Thanks AWeber

A quick list to keep me focused during the writing process

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Writing for the Web
FREE Course from our friends at Open2Study.com (currently taking this in tandem with the UX course)

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Docstoc has tons of great resources on writing - try not to get lost.

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Last, Udemy.com has a few great FREE courses that rocks.

Thanks to all who've visited. I hope to bring value to the User Experience Craft.
- Doc Wheeler

UX and a Tampon Video Game

Image credit: Tampon Run

This is a little unusual to feature here on The Users Experience, but when it comes to finding unique ways to educate people about "normal" subjects, like ...Menstruation, these two teenage girls from New York have invented a dynamic approach. Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser, high school students in NYC, met this summer at Girls Who Code (@ IAC), an organization trying to close the gender gap in tech, and developed this as their final project. Their game Tampon Run brings awareness to

"a problem in Western countries and around the world. People don’t want to talk about periods. In other countries, women have to isolate themselves.”

The Intro to Tampon Run's reveals the scenario to a common issue in which the girls highly related to [see below]. The simplistic, yet effective, approach the girls took to provide a solution should spark UX professionals to push the boundaries in fundamentally innovating our craft. 

This unusual video game challenges social norms through gamification ultimately bringing awareness and education to subjects deemed unpopular to the masses. The game has been played more than 100,000 times online and has received droves of positive feedback. The motivation and execution behind Tampon Run can be widely adapted to spark dialogue on topics such as racism, sexism and other societal taboos we tend to shy away from. This game is personally significant to me because I am also a dad of a lovely teenage girl who just "transitioned." Playing this game together would have made our "talk" much easier. Explaining it to her younger brothers will be a much harder challenge. [smile]

Well without further ado lets the games begin. Play Tampon Run Here.

One Solution to Bike Theft

Sooooo, many of my colleagues bike to work and so did I in my earlier days, sans wife and kids. The biggest problem I hear is theft. The pain of having anything stolen is annoying in itself. But when your sole mode of transportation vanishes due to the coveting nature of your fellow man, or woman (let's be fair ) it causes utter discomfort and is just downright inconvenient. From purchasing expensive locks to the quasi-disassembly of the frame. My poor co-workers have been forced to add a bike seat or front/back tire to their corporate attire. Well, in this post The Users Experience wanted to share a product currently in development with the avid biker in mind. 

Introducing the Yerka Project  developed by 3 chilean students,  Juan José Monsalve, a student at Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile, who designed the bike along with fellow students Andrés Roi and Cristóbal Cabello. It's a bicycle that can´t be stolen without breaking the frame.

The key aspects of the project involved:

• Safety 

Every lock can be broken leaving the bike intact. That’s why we decided to make a lock out of the frame. The only way to steal it is to break the lock, which implies breaking the bike.

• Design

Unlike any other solution to this problem, like foldable or rental bikes, the YERKA® technology maintains the slick design of an urban bike and it’s applicable to any frame shape. It sure looks like a traditional bike to the naked eye, but it’s the safest bicycle you’ll find!

• Comfort

We know you're tired of carrying the lock everywhere you go. With a bike with YERKA® tech you won’t have to anymore.Securing it takes less than 20 seconds, equivalent to tie your shoelace.

Some of the feedback shared on Fast Company Exist

The bike in the opening picture CAN be stolen when some uncaring thief saws through that tree and just lifts off the bike. I've seen many stumps of trees/saplings cut through because of ignorant bike owners. Please, save your bike, and save a tree. Don't lock to tree's at all!

Also, check so that the parking meter your wrapped around isn't short, or can twist out of the ground.

Free UX Course

Free UX Courses

Hi fellow colleagues, I wanted to share yet another resource surrounding UX. Open2Study.com offers a few.

User Experience for the Web (WebUX): FREE

In this course:

Amir Ansari, principle consultant at Stamford Interactive will talk about 

• user experience for the web
• what user experience is, where it's come from and where it's going
• the importance of user needs and balancing it with the business needs
• techniques, tools and tips that will help you build engaging user experiences for your website.

The Users Experience also recommends the course - Writing for the Web in addition to this course also provided on Open2Study.com