Losing Context - Bryan Haggerty

Dying Maps and Their Successors

I am a lover of maps. I have books about maps, my walls have been covered in maps (even a 5ft x 5ft MTA map at one point), and I’ve even written about maps. Which makes it not surprising that this past Christmas I received more than one gift which was a map.

In preparation for my move west to San Francisco my mother gave me a Streetwise waterproof folded map of San Francisco. Something to toss in my bag to always have. Yet, the more I look at the map, or rather don’t look at the map, I realize the obsolescing of this map form factor–and likely a chunk of Streetwise’s and other map makers’ business.

Forgoing Paper for Digital

I have all but abandoned paper maps in favor of web based maps and mobile phone maps. The last bastion of paper maps, of which I carry, are small wallet sized versions of New York’s MTA map and a San Francisco transit map. As in many underground trips, getting wireless connectivity can be a challenge if not impossible–hence these wallet maps can come in handy but their days are probably numbered (BART surprisingly has a decent bit of underground wireless coverage).

Software such as Google’s Maps for mobile, with the My Location feature which repositions the map to your current location, have made orienting yourself utterly simple with no additional hardware needed. Also, interacting with the map via search has made finding any address or business all the more easy.

Even many of the traditional niche maps such as those for transit or bikes, which most people would carry in their pocket, have been converted to mobile device ready versions–iSubway Maps or Khoi Vinh’s MTA map for iPhone. We now have more than just “a thousand songs in our pockets.”

Adding a More Physical Connection to Maps

iPhone Map showing a user’s contact near them

It won’t be long before the mobile versions of maps take on a more social component as well, such as being able to see which of your friends may be in the neighborhood or at a particular restaurant or bar near where you are.

And in terms of wayfinding, people often utilize landmarks to get around. Surely, we’ll be seeing Google add their StreetView feature to their mobile edition of maps. Thus allowing users to get an actual visual of the location they’re seeking.

These are all features which no paper map could ever provide. But there are still a few paper alternatives which deserve a mention.

Hangers On

While I find the wallet maps still somewhat useful, SUCK UK’s Tubemap Wallet takes it one step further by turning the actual wallet into the map–clever. There is also Moleskin’s efforts to throw in a few handy maps with their pint size notebooks.

LinkingIn

Recently I left JPMorgan Chase and New York City, to try my hand at a new locale and job. Back when I completed school, I had that cliche decision to make, New York or San Francisco–why not both. After three years in New York, it was time to give San Francisco a go. Seeking to work on more publicly facing internet products, the decision to head for the bay area was easy.

And as for work, soon I’ll be joining the great folks at LinkedIn.com as a UI designer.

Interaction 08

Tomorrow kicks off the first day of the IxDA’s first conference, Interaction 08. The sold out event marks a milestone for the young organization, as an all volunteer organization working solely for the community, they have truly brought together a lot of amazing minds. My hat is off to my friends Dave, Liya, Nasir, and the many others who have helped put together not only Interaction 08 but the many other IxDA events throughout the years.

See you in Savannah!

Demoing the Experience

One of the most common ways to sell a customer on a product is to allow them to engage the user experience themselves–the try before you buy approach. It’s why electronics stores have rows and rows of TVs, sound proof stereo listening rooms, video game demo stations, and plenty more. Whether the customer makes a purchase or not, he has gotten a taste for that product, which will resonate far more than any product photo or video could.

Unfortunately, there are times though when the intentions of providing a hands on experience are stifled by elements such as over zealous anti-left systems, which can ultimately leave the customer with a negative perception of a product. This is especially the case for products such as mobile devices: laptops, digital music players, wireless phones. These are devices which are meant to be picked up, held in the hand, and moved around.

Laptops

Visiting a BestBuy or Circuit City, customers are sometimes faced with laptops which are so locked down a person can’t even comfortably rest their hands on the keyboard just to simply see how it feels–nor pick it up to feel the weight. Certainly two major points when deciding which laptop will fit that on-the-go lifestyle.

The majority of modern computing is done with the compliment of the Internet and many of these stores do not demo laptops with active Internet connections. Resulting in a demo experience which does not accurately meet a customer’s typical computer activities–Minesweeper isn’t exactly the ideal demo software.

Digital Music Players

Similarly, Microsoft’s Zune digital music player demo display almost exudes an aurora of don’t touch, just look. For a device which is designed to be held in the hand, the Zune’s demo display strictly prohibits the possibility by the presence of a metal shaft where a person’s hand would rest. Proving to diminish the possibility for the customer to envision the device as part of his lifestyle. It is also encased in a plastic and metal holder, which unfortunately adds perceived size to the device. Where size is a great concern for mobile devices, this certainly does not help to convince the customer of the product’s true thinness.

One of the Zune’s major selling points is its ability to play video in a horizontal orientation allowing for a more movie-like viewing experience. Yet the demo display makes the act of trying to experience this prohibitively difficult, unnatural feeling, and ungraceful. With its awkward enforcement of allowing the device to be rotated only one way, it appears clunky.

Wireless Phones

In America, wireless phone providers are in the game to sell phone service as opposed to phones, but this does not mean that providing customers with the ability to experience their offered phones should be neglected. All too often customers are shown a bolted down, gutted out phone with a sticker acting as its screen. Aside from the fact that the customer can barely hold the device in his hand, he can not even experience the user interface and actively demo those said features. This shell of a phone also all to often gives the impression of the phone being cheap in terms of quality of materials. It is no wonder American consumers assume wireless phones should be cheap in price as well.

Choosing a wireless phone becomes a blind faith decision, based mostly on wireless provider, price, and a feature list. The advancements in mobile user interfaces have been quite pitiful, much of that could be attributed to the fact that customers really have no opportunity to compare shop. Not to mention that for the majority of people, once they purchase the phone they are locked in for two years with it.

Demoing the Experience Properly

Apple is often given the gold medal for doing things right in many aspects and in providing customers with the ability to truly demo a product, they achieve it perfectly. Every iMac, MacBook, and iPod at their retail stores is free to use unrestricted–often tied down by only one unobtrusive security wire. They can be picked up, held in the hand, and used just as they would be in a customer’s real life.

It is a major factor in why Apple is able to sell so many units. A customer can walk into an Apple Store, pick up an iPhone, make a phone call to a friend, write a text message, check their email, and visit a web site. There is no blind faith decision to be made. The customer doesn’t have to buy the device first to find out how much it weighs in their hand. No contracts have to be signed before the user interface can be truly experienced.

The Voting Experience

Getting the chance to take part in the voting process doesn’t come around too frequently. It is why when it does come around, it can sometimes be a difficult process–and I’m not talking about making a decision on which candidate to support. The topic of voting machine usability is often talked about and even the UPA has attempted to take on that challenge. But an even greater part of the voting experience exists in how a voting location is structured and presented and how polling volunteers assist voters.

For almost all major elections since I became legal to vote I have voted at a different voting location. That in itself can be a challenging time, between updating my voter registration, to finding the voting location and hoping that I’m on the books. Since the time to vote comes around infrequently voters have little chance to truly become familiar with the process, especially for someone like myself where locations and type of voting machines are always changing. One can only put his faith in proper signage and the kind people who give their time to volunteer to help voters, vote.

Unfortunately, it always seems to go awry. Places such as school gyms are retrofitted to act as voting stations, multiple tables to check in, no one ever truly being sure of where you need to go. And in my case, when looking for assistance, being greeted with words such as:

Oh, here we go again. Another one who doesn’t know.

It is not surprising that often people simply choose to skip the entire process. This is no small feat to fix the problem, yet I’m not sure anyone has really put a concerted effort into actually planning and ultimately implementing changes. The pinnacle of voting location wayfinding seems to only be, “Vote Here” signs. As appreciative everyone is for the volunteers, they are lacking in the proper training to assist voters.

But, as confusing as voting can be sometimes, this is one of the only poor experiences I would say people should trudge through.

Help Guide for Opening the Vista Box

A customer’s first experience with a product is often its packaging. The customer wants to take that package home and tear it open as fast as possible–not read a manual on how to open it as is the case with Microsoft’s Vista box.

Steps to opening the Microsoft Vista box

Configure a New Dell in 38 Easy Steps

Can’t afford that new MacBook Air? In just 38 easy steps you can get yourself setup with a new Dell laptop instead.

Dell has forgone attempting to provide the user with a simple ordering process in favor of countless upsells. The extra “components” Dell asks the user to configure range from what Adobe, QuickBooks, and TurboTax software to install to decking out the laptop with a carrying case, external mouse, and printer. While at it, throw in a matching flash drive. Don’t forget warranty, accident insurance, and premium tech support. With all this extra stuff, the user probably won’t be able to install it himself–throw in that in-home install and setup.

Location Aware City Alert System

Google Maps mobile, displaying location based on cell tower usage

Keeping people informed with timely, contextually relevant emergency, transportation and other public interest information can prevent people from getting in harm’s way or to plan more accordingly to subway delays, just to list a few. Unfortunately, such information is often posted after the fact or on some obscure website that people need to check to discover if there is an issue. And major news outlets are typically not useful for the more macro information which affects people’s daily lives.

New York City has just begun testing a mobile phone SMS alert system for selected areas, called Notify NYC, similar to San Francisco’s Alert SF.

But there is one problem inherent in these types of systems. They require setting which locations of the city to receive updates about. While people generally have a consistent routine, they are always on the move, and that means these systems leave potential gaps. Undoubtedly, people are at a greater risk in unfamiliar areas in regards to evacuation routes, locations of police and fire stations and hospitals.

Communicating every update regardless of a person’s location will greatly increase communication noise and decrease the effectiveness of the system and people’s perceptions of its quality–likely causing people to disregard updates or opt out of the system all together. To augment the current implementation, location specific messages should be sent to opted in people based on the cell tower which their phone is currently connected to. Thus providing contextual alerts, without any prior configuration of location preference.

Connecting Bookstore Shelves and Book Lookup Systems

There are occasions where I visit a traditional book store such as Barnes & Noble, as opposed to simply ordering on Amazon.com–albeit rarely. Visiting a local bookstore does allow for that browsing of printed material more easily than an online store and some people do take joy in lingering around the vast shelves. But when visiting a bookstore in search of a specific item, the process can be somewhat frustrating and like a treasure hunt–almost making you rather wait the three days to get it by mail.

Barnes & Noble stores offer a kiosk system which allows for a search of a particular item and tells what floor and section it can be found in, there’s even a picture of the book’s cover. Conveniently, this can be printed to aid in the search. Unfortunately, how big the book is in both thickness and height or what the book’s spine looks like is not known from the kiosk’s information. The kiosk’s provided book cover picture isn’t much help in finding the book as bookstores stack books vertically with their spines facing front–hiding the book cover from view. Resulting in the all too common, head tilt browse as the person attempts to read the title’s on the book spine, since they have no clue what the book’s spine actually looks like. The kiosk managed to get the person to the right location but fails at that critical point of actually easily identifying the physical book.

While the kiosk’s provided book cover picture is certainly useful in validating that that is the book the person wants, it doesn’t provide enough information as a wayfinding tool in relation to how bookstores are arranged. A simple addition to the kiosk might just be a picture of the book’s spine, as shown below.

Barnes & Noble’s kiosk updated to show a picture of a book’s spine

Social Network: Collector’s Edition

Speaking with a friend recently about the fickleness of users, we inevitably came to the discussion of social networks and how users simply abandon one for the next.

The recent exodus from MySpace to Facebook, based solely on the amount of friend invites for Facebook in my inbox, would probably suggest how MySpace users are tired and bored of what they offer and see that Facebook has something at the least different. But in reality, there is probably more playing into this. Aside from MySpace’s spam issues and poor usability, user engagement has begun to dwindle. One of MySpace’s greatest points of bringing users back was the friend invite. A friend signs up and they want to connect, hence you come back and probably poke around the site for a bit while you’re at it. Eventually all your friends have signed up and you’ve connected with them all. It’s almost like collecting baseball cards. But once you’ve completed the set, now what?

The now what question seems to be the point at which users move on to something else. For some reason we as internet users have no problem creating new accounts, re-entering all the same data, uploading the same photos, and sending out invites to all the same people. Simply to start the same process over again.

Luckily, engagement is certainly evolving and the more modern social network tools are providing a reason to come back, and more than just to accept a friend invite. We can only hope that once you finish collecting your friends’ profiles you’ll be able to do more with them than just admiring your friend count.