The Steady, Efficient Decline Of Yahoo

The Steady, Efficient Decline Of Yahoo: "The Internet is still in its wild west days, and the “ready, fire, aim” game plan of Facebook and the other young guns is eating their lunch. Even the massive Google is still trying to shake things up with new and controversial products.

Yahoo’s strategy seems more like “ready, aim, aim, aim, aim…”"

...

Sadly, the first site many of us ever visited on the Internet is turning into little more than a business school study in financial engineering. It deserved a better fate.

Web Aggregation Needs To Get Smarter

Web Aggregation Needs To Get Smarter: "'Just this last week, I was Googling for a site which selected and published editorials from various papers. The first site that came up reprinted all the editorials from 15 or so different but important newspapers. But only today's papers, no third party commentary, and no guidance whatsoever with regard to the content of each editorial. In other words, no aggregation by topic, no added value.'"

Managing the Scope of User Stories in Scrum

I'd like to introduce an article, Writing the Product Backlog Just Enough and Just In Time by Mike Cohn on scrum Alliance's website.

His main point is that,

[e]ach product backlog item (usually reflected as a user story by teams I train or coach) should be captured just in time and in just-enough detail for the team to go from product backlog item to working, tested feature within a sprint.

And,

If the team will not work on this user story for six months there is no need to expand on what is already written. On the other hand, if the team hopes to start it in a few sprints, it is likely time for the UEDs to figure out the answers to the high-level questions listed above.

Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos augmented-reality maps | Video on TED.com

In a demo that drew gasps at TED2010, Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos new augmented-reality mapping technology from Microsoft. (Recorded at TED2010, February 2010 in Long Beach, CA. Duration: 8:14)

Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos augmented-reality maps | Video on TED.com

Charlie Kindel on Windows Phone Development

Charlie Kindel on Windows Phone Development: "“We will do a few things, and do them really, really well.”

“If you write a list write it in priority order.”

“Focus on the end user.”

“Don’t show our organizational boundaries to customers.”

Many people were pleasantly surprised with the user experience for Windows Phone 7 Series we showed off two weeks ago in Spain. I heard & saw comments to the effect of “Wow, this is not typical of Microsoft!”.

How did we do that? What’s the secret?

I’ll tell you: It’s being able to say “no”. It’s being able to get an entire organization setup to be able to not just say what they are going to build, but what they are not going to build.

A mentor of mine once taught me a trick to managing any sort of project. He used the “5Ps” as a framework:

Purpose: Why do we exist? Why are we in business? Where do we want to be in the future.
Principles: What are the non-negotiable rules and key strategies?
Priorities: What’s the framework for tradeoffs?
Plan: How are we going to stage and tackle solving the problems?
People: Who’s accountable for every key part of the plan?"

草評Windows Mobile 7介面設計 - 石墨工房 5.1β

草評Windows Mobile 7介面設計 - 石墨工房 5.1β: "大致上來說，目前看到的WM7介面設計確實展現了微軟的企圖心，不過一來沒有當時iPhone和Palm pre令人下盤一緊的興奮（較晚出來比較吃虧）、二來也沒有展現出微軟人財濟濟的雄厚本錢、三來介面上的思慮不周（例如前面提過的導覽和無效空間問題）和小問題也讓它顯得半生不熟；或許再過一陣子看到的東西會不一樣吧，也只能這樣期望了。"

Introducing a New Digital Magazine Experience | Adobe CS5

Introducing a New Digital Magazine Experience | Adobe CS5: "The concept enables — in digital form — the immersive content experience magazines are known for, and allows new interactive features to stimulate reader engagement, including:

content designed specifically for the touch screen experience
easy navigation methods, including an innovative zoomed-out “Browse Mode”
the ability to browse image slideshows
embedded 360 degree object viewers
support for video and audio content
the ability to rotate content using device accelerometer functionality"

What's wrong with iPad marketing?

動腦新聞: "期望越高，失望就越大。當大家已經期待 iPad 可以多工 (multitasking)、放 Flash 影片、有兩個攝影機可以開視訊會議、支援各式神奇的手勢輸入時，最後看到產品上市，當然只有失望的份。所以整個發表會上就看著Apple執行長賈伯斯 (Steve Jobs) 一個人在台上用力叫賣，台下卻一片死氣沉沉。

　　其實 Apple 大可以在發表會幾天前出來闢謠，把期望值稍微校正回原點，那或許今天的結局，就不會如此的慘烈。不過無論如何，在網路資訊越來越發達，部落客越來越會搭熱門議題便車，吸引目光的時代，「驚喜」將會越來越難正確的送達，而失望將會變成這種行銷手法越來越嚴重的副產品。"

Stanford CS193P - Designing for iPad

Now I can design a super cool iPad App as well. phew~~~

Stanford CS193P - Designing for iPad

View more presentations from Evan Doll.

LukeW | Google CEO Eric Schmidt on Mobile First

LukeW | Google CEO Eric Schmidt on Mobile First: "In Schmidt's view, the current mobile ecosystem and its future incarnation are the result of three intertwining factors: computing power, connectivity and cloud computing. The mobile phone is the high-volume end point of these trends, it becomes the defining product in that space. This led to his belief in the 'mobile first' doctrine, as Google programmers are doing work on mobile applications and technology first, because 'mobile apps are better apps' and that's what top programmers want to develop."

Five User Experience Trends I'll be Watching in 2010 / nForm / Blog

Five User Experience Trends I'll be Watching in 2010 / nForm / Blog: "For companies that are developing mobile business apps there are three options:

lock your users into a mobile platform like the iPhone or Blackberry
build separate apps for each platform
build apps in platform-neutral way using the mobile web
I'm betting on option three. The growth in the smartphone market, the new expectations people have for mobile information access, and the diversity of platforms--all of these forces will create a perfect storm for mobile web apps. Here's why:

the web will be on every phone
nobody has to approve a web application
HTML5 will make much richer in-browser experiences possible
the web is a better platform for developing and deploying software
mobile browsers will start to gain access to handset hardware (like Safari has access to the iPhone's GPS)"

An Adobe Flash developer on why the iPad can’t use Flash — RoughlyDrafted Magazine

An Adobe Flash developer on why the iPad can’t use Flash — RoughlyDrafted Magazine: "That’s not because of slow mobile performance, battery drain or crashes. It’s because of the hover or mouseover problem.

Many (if not most) current Flash games, menus, and even video players require a visible mouse pointer. They are coded to rely on the difference between hovering over something (mouseover) vs. actually clicking. This distinction is not rare. It’s pervasive, fundamental to interactive design, and vital to the basic use of Flash content. New Flash content designed just for touchscreens can be done, but people want existing Flash sites to work. All of them—not just some here and there—and in a usable manner. That’s impossible no matter what."

Why The iPad May Save The Internet Fridge

Why The iPad May Save The Internet Fridge: "The iPad, however, will be used anywhere and everywhere by its users - inside and outside the house. So it's a natural device to use to connect (virtually, not physically) to your fridge - along with other appliances and objects."

Including Concept development in Agile

The following are excerpts from Bringing User Centered Design to the Agile Environment, an article by UX designer Anthony Colfelt on http://boxandarrows.com.
My own writing is enclosed in [].
The best way to read this article is to visit the actual article, which includes diagrams by the author.
---

Where did Agile come from?
Envisioned by a group of developers, Agile is an iterative development approach that takes small steps toward defining a product or service. [Scrum is one of several agile methodologies]

Why do people rave about it?
1. In theory, software can be released earlier.
2. Generates momentum with manageable deadlines.
3. Steers the team away from Feature bloat.
4. Encourages contribution from different perspectives, which is usually good for resolving issues.
[+ from the youtube video introducing scrum: Task completion times are efficiently managed.]

The Minefield
Mine 1: An unclear role for design
[Agile Manifesto says:] “Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project” is another principle of Agile. Where does the designer fit into the frame?

Mine 2: The requirements gathering process is not defined 

Agile, made from the perspective of a developer, tends to shoe-horn design activities into their view of the world, where requirements fall from the sky (from the business or customer who is assumed to be all-knowing) and takes for granted that they are appropriate.

Mine 3: Pressure to cut corners 

Implementations of Agile that put design activities within the same iteration as they must be developed, ensure designs are achievable in code. But they also put tremendous pressure on the experience design team to ‘feed the development machine’ in time enough for them to implement their vision.

Mine 4: The temptation to call it “good enough” 

Invariably when we have release-ready working code at the end of each cycle, even if it’s sub-optimal, there’s a strong temptation to release it because we can.  

Mine 5: Insufficient risk-free conceptual exploration time 

Iteration “zero” (i.e. a planning and design iteration prior to the first development iteration) can be used to do this and other planning activities. However, depending on how long this iteration is, the level of rigor applied to exploration may be insufficient. 

Mine 6: Brand Damage

Non-researched solutions might lead to the wrong product.When a company releases a flawed product or service, then their image in the customers mind (i.e. brand) is tarnished. Brand damage takes far longer to mend than it does to make.

Agile is good for refining, not defining.
[...]spending money on software development without a plan of what to build is like asking a construction crew to erect a tower with no blueprint. Some level of plan is necessary to avoid a Frankenstein of each individual’s perspective on the best design solution.

User Centered Design
UCD requires iteration – design, test with users, refine, test with users again, refine… repeat till it’s right. This is where Agile and UCD can work brilliantly together. Agile really is about presuming you’ll need to change things, and that’s a good thing when it comes to refinement.

Uncovering requirements to form a strategy
User Centered Design (UCD) is not about answering requirements alone, but also includes defining requirements....[but sometimes lacks a realistic execution plan. This shortcoming can be addressed by combining UCD with Agile.]

The best of both worlds
UCD can be too documentation-heavy, isolated and risky but Agile needs help with defining requirements and concept development. How can Agile and user centric principles work together?

A shared vision of the interaction fundamentals
In good software development, a conceptual interaction model that has been thought through beforehand, outlines how the user navigates the system, performs tasks and uses tools in generic terms, i.e. not each and every navigation label, task or tool but rather the interface and interaction patterns that will persist. Risky interfaces that are new or significant improvements on what has been seen before, are best tackled as design-only activities in a sprint prior to when they will be developed (i.e. do involve developers, don’t try to produce code). This circumvents the pressure to deliver something before proper thought, reflection and user testing, which ensures you’re not wasting time and effort.

Conclusion
Agile does not mandate how to define concepts or overall design direction, but it is a great way to execute on solid design research and well laid plans. UCD needs to be flexible enough to respond to the reality on the ground when the implementation team encounters issues that mandate a different design solution.

---

How to create products customers love

Amazon Page

Why do some products make the leap to greatness while others do not? Creating inspiring products begins with discovering a product that is valuable, usable, and feasible. If you can not do this, then it s not worth building anything. - How do you decide which product opportunities to pursue? - How do you get evidence that the product you are going to ask your engineering team to build will be successful? - How do you identify the minimal possible product that will be successful? - How do you manage the often conflicting demands of company execs, customers, sales, marketing, engineering, design, and more? - How can you adapt Agile methods for commercial product environments? Product management expert Marty Cagan answers these questions and hundreds more as he shares lessons learned, techniques, and best practices from working for and with some of the most successful companies in the high-tech industry


Excerpt

How to create products customers love - Knowledge Jolt with Jack

About Agile and Design: way not clear yet

These days. We've been through some training on Agile. It's nice and making you yearn for the ideal, start-up like working process.

But we are still confused about the UED role in this agile approach.

Here's some materials online:

What is Scrum & Agile development

Bringing User Centered Design to the Agile Environment

MJ made a worth reading excerpt for this article here.

Agile UX: six strategies for more agile user experience (Austin Govella at Thinking and Making)

Agile development process and User Experience design

If your product is great, not necessary to be good

Article

Excerpt:

1. “more features = better”?
2. If your product needs “everything” in order to be good, then it’s probably not very innovative 
3. By focusing on only a few core features in the first version, you are forced to find the true essence and value of the product.
4. What are the three attributes or features we can choose, get those very very right, and then forget about everything else?
5. If you're creating a new product, what are the 3 key features will make it so great?

在「Google 網頁註解」中檢視

Sports Illustrated - Tablet Demo 1.5

運動畫報的Tablet app，感覺還是太廢工而且與使用者對"畫報"這種使用行為的期待相反。

Google Reader Recommendations Swap Popularity For Personalization

The new “Recommended items” feed replaces the “Popular items” feed in the same Explore area. “With the latest round of improvements, we’ve started inserting items selected just for you inside the Recommended items section,” Googlewrites.

Google Reader Recommendations Swap Popularity For Personalization

Wired Magazine's new digital version

Wired Magazine 與Adobe合作，推出了新的數位內容。感覺也是很花人力的數位版本，不過至少做一個版本可以在多個平台上閱讀（看起來主要是iPad）。這就是使用AIR的好處，但是多年來大家都在推這樣的數位內容，也沒看到有人成功，不知道Wired覺得他們優勢在哪...

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