Kizmo

BART stations generally have two levels to them: the entry level and the train level. The signs for approaching trains are all on the train level and not where passengers need them. For instance, when entering the station, you’re in a rush but don’t know what train is approaching. You can hear a train but have no idea of its destination. So you start to move faster, you get to the stairs or escalator and you see that the train is on your tracks, but you still don’t know where it’s headed. So, you move faster, trying not to run over any old ladies. As you get to the track level, you can see the train but there is no sign in front of you, but lots of people. You dash toward the train, pushing people out of the way and run to the open doors, all the while looking up for the nearest sign to tell you which train it is so you know for sure whether to actually jump on.

All this aggravation could be easily avoided with a few strategically placed signs. For example, one sign in the entry level area announcing trains, and another on the track level but at the bottom of the stairwell/escalators where people running for trains can see them would go along way to reducing the frantic rush on the escalator or at the train doors closest to the top of the escalator.

Look how much cooler he looks with an iphone!

I ran across a link about clever photoshopped famous works of art with a modern twist.  I thought I’d share it with our readers.

As an art school student who’s required to take about four Art History classes, this link combines my three worlds: fine art, modern technology and Photoshop.  I do realize that this combination greatly equals NERD. But that’s okay… you all wouldn’t be here unless you felt remotely the same way.

Check out the rest here.

On Thursday morning I attended the keynote address by Jane McGonigal, Game Designer and Future Forecaster. The subject of her talk, game design and human happiness, combined two areas of life that are usually kept separate. Basically, she was asking us to look at game design and see where we can apply its concepts into the work we do. In doing so, we can, as designers, create happier, more positive experiences for people. Games, Jane said, provide “better instructions, better feedback, better emotions, better community” than real life, hence the 10 million or more players of World of Warcraft. Something to think about while developing your next project: how can we integrate these five aspects of games, and make the experience better, and more enjoyable for the people who have to use it?

Catherine Jones and Randall Macon of Milkshake Media gave a great presentation at UX Week last week about building brands based on community.

In addition to the Blanton Museum of Art, they described the initial creation and sustained success of the LIVESTRONG brand. What I found most interesting about this was the concept of “Intellectual Property,” which they included on a slide about campaign metrics.

We all remember a few years ago when the yellow bands were everywhere, as much a fashion accessory as a stance for the fight against cancer. When that trend died down, however, the community had been solidified. In terms of metrics, The Lance Armstrong Foundation had a new mechanism for sustaining the organization. Intangible, yet extremely powerful, the community had been established and with that the brand solidified as intellectual property.

Another, more lighthearted look at the issue of ballot design…

Audrey Chen was nice enough to show this clip from the Jon Stewart show during her presentation at UX Week.

Lucky for us we could attend the conference and still get some work done. I was able to listen to some great speakers talking about very interesting work. The conference started on Tuesday with Don Norman causally speaking about User Experience Design.

One item that stood out for me on this early Tuesday morning, was one tidbit about the use of the word “User”. “User” is very impersonal, and therefore removes the designer, coder, business manager and client, away from the actual people who they are trying to reach. In looking for words to replace “user”, the thesaurus is not much help: Customer, Client, Consumer, and Operator. As Mr. Norman pointed out, Users are People. Referring to “the user” is a quick way of referencing a person who interacts with a product. It is hard to swap “people” for “user” and still convey a sense of a person interacting with and reacting to a product. In our documentation, we start with “The User” to set the stage, but then continue with a pronoun, alternating between she and he throughout the document. This helps us, as experience designers, to think about the people who will be using the product and it reinforces this fact to our clients when they are reading the material.

So we are now just Experience Designers.

The New York Times has put together a very nice interactive feature for viewing the Olympic schedule of events. The times listed are local to the user, which is very nice. You can save events into a favorites area for quick reference. Included in the event listing is whether or not it is a medal event (e.g. the final heat in track and field). It will also display the results of the event when it occurs. There are also icons with links to articles (though you have to click on the icons to find out what it is about–there’s no tool tip, which might have been helpful).

It will be interesting to watch this tracker get filled up with information, articles, videos, and results. The hard part will actually be watching the events. NBC has the rights and damned if theyll provide real time viewing to anyone who is not paying for Premium cable service. Why can’t the US be like the rest of the world and show events live? I would rather see the opening ceremony when it happens than a tape delayed version of it after the fact.

NBC does have a website up (NBCOlympics) but it doesn’t show events live and their schedule jumps around, moving from “All listings” to “TV Listings” after you click a day and time. To be fair, there is a lot of video to watch up there, mostly back stories and such, and I expect to see events after the fact there, but live is always better then memorex.

I’d like to share with you the works of Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir, one of Flickr’s most famous photographers. She has a unique way of taking advantage of her beautiful homeland, Iceland. Not to mention her composition and colors are stunning!  What an inspiration!

A branding program differentiates an organization or product from others in the same space. While an emotional element is key in connecting to a non-profit brand, it is the distinctive positioning that will facilitate converting this emotion into action.

With hundreds of worthy causes existing in shared spaces, a donor must decide which brand will make them most proud to be a stakeholder in. Many non-profits are formulaic, with Web sites that feature close-ups of children frowning and tag lines like “One child at a time” and “Everyone deserves a chance.”

Every brand, regardless of sector, needs a distinctive focus. Establishing the unique emotional positioning of a non-profit will lay the groundwork for attracting the attention of donors– both emotionally and financially.

Non-profits are careful to not appear as if they are spending too much time or resources on anything to do with marketing. Yet to build a successful non-profit organization, branding is critical. Powerful non-profit brands will attract more volunteers, raise more money, and will ultimately be able to help more than their poorly branded counterparts.

Connecting to the audience is an essential part of a successful brand– commercial or non-profit. Establishing a basic emotional connection shouldn’t be much of a stretch for most non-profits, which, at their core, are driven by a need. Though some non-profits are based on controversial missions, people generally have positive emotional responses to organizations that, say, feed starving children or build shelters for homeless families.

But a positive connection to the organization’s mission is only a piece of the emotional key. The other is the emotional gain from donating. The mantra that “money can’t buy happiness” appears to be untrue when the money is given away. Donors are funding the opportunity to become part of something significant and bigger than themselves. What organization will make them most happy? What brand will make them uniquely proud?

A compelling vision must be presented for a non-profit– one that is distinctive. Thus the importance of emotional positioning. Coming next!