by dave, posted June 17th, 2009
categorized under design, trends
The New York Times has an article suggesting that the old adage “Form Follows Function” is becoming irrelevant with the wave of smaller digital devices with more storage and multiple capabilities like the iPod shuffle. Is it true? An architect said it first, and it makes sense. Physical objects that have real-world effects like furniture, living spaces, or single-purpose tools should reflect and afford their intended usage.
It’s one thing to say that the rule doesn’t matter for non-interactive components. In fact, I think that in our future interactions with technology we’ll more frequently experience 100% interface; the storage and processing components will be invisible to us. In that sense, the Form of the storage and computation pieces is indeed irrelevant. But the interface is the whole point.
Take the author’s example of the Shuffle. She argues that the device’s Form is growing independent of its Function, and yet the Function to listen privately is provided with the Form of tiny speakers close to the eardrum. The Function of listening while busy or burdened makes clipping it to clothing a good Form. The need for easy control on-the-go makes the cord-embedded controls a reasonable idea. It’s true - and interesting - that the industrial design of the memory module is neutral to its purpose. Point taken. Most people don’t interact with their PC towers nearly as much as their mice either. But the Function at stake isn’t in there anyway - it’s in the tasks users want to perform with the little cord buttons and the affordances of the interface.
We can still use the rule to make improvements, too. The center button has single, double, and triple clicks, press and hold, and press and hold with timed release. That kind of overloading means knowledge about how to use it is forced to be more in the head than in the world. If Form Followed Function more closely, couldn’t it provide value to improve this interface?
What do you think?
Time to leave ‘form follows function’ behind for our shiny digital future?
Loading ...
by olen, posted June 2nd, 2009
categorized under design, inspiration, just for fun
Ah yes, true genius. I was visiting a friend recently for a dinner party and came across this masterpiece of simple 12-button appliance UI.
In case you can’t see it in the fuzzy snapshot, not only is there a “help” button, it’s actually labeled “Help!” (with the exclamation point!). Unfortunately this unit was out of service, so I was unable to turn it on and try it out to discover what exactly this button does.
Since they found it necessary to include a “!”, I can only presume it is there in the event that your hot pocket becomes unstable and goes thermonuclear. Only then can you activate the “Help!” button, at which point Jack Bauer arrives to disarm your radioactive countertop cooker.
Ironically, this massive microwave is called the “Counter Saver Plus.” I guess the “plus” means “plus the rest of the counter.”
How complicated can heating up a TV dinner be that you have to engage a HELP! dialogue?
Have you seen other egregious interface designs like this one? Post a picture or let us know in the comments!
by olen, posted May 29th, 2009
categorized under design, events, press
The 2009 IDSA Northwest Junior Industrial Design Show is tonight in Everett at BUiLT design. Junior ID students from WWU, UW, and Emily Carr will be presenting their projects from this year. This includes the Artefact+Carbon sponsored project with the WWU industrial design students.
We will be posting details of their work on the education project on the blog following their final presentation in June, here at Artefact.
See you at the show!
by Kevin Wong, posted May 21st, 2009
categorized under inspiration, social
I love the web for many reasons, and one of those reasons is the mashup. Darren Solomon from Science of Girls has created a simple site that hosts a grid of YouTube videos containing melodies, beats, spoken word and more that can be played however the user (you) desires.
It’s a kind of collaboration that let’s you control what the final output can be. Variables that can be controlled include volume, order and layering. It’s a pretty unique experience that has already costed me more than my lunch period. Woops.
Bb 2.0 Link
Here’s more information about the project. The good news about it is you can participate too!
Participate! Create a video and send me the link! Here are some guidelines:
- -Sing or play an instrument, in Bb major. Simple, floating textures work best, with no tempo or groove. Leave lots of silence between phrases.
- -Record in a quiet environment, with as little background noise as possible.
- -Wait about 5-10 seconds to start playing.
- -Total length should be between 1-2 minutes.
- -Thick chords or low instruments don’t work very well.
- -Record at a low volume to match the other videos.
- -You can listen to this mix on headphones while you record.
- -After you upload to YouTube, play your video along with the other videos on this page to make sure the volume matches.
by Kevin Wong, posted May 21st, 2009
categorized under events
Digg is having a Meetup tonight at Neumos. Worth checking out!
Hey everyone,
The Digg team is heading to Seattle next Thursday, May 21st for our first Meetup in the Pacific Northwest. We’ll be convening at Neumos in Capitol Hill to meet fellow Diggers, raise a pint, and check out the band Wallpaper. We’ll also be sharing a a few Digg updates and giving away some Digg iPhone & laptop skins. If you’ve never been to a Meetup, check out some crazy footage from the last one in Austin at SXSW (South by Southwest)
Doors open at 7:30pm, so swing by if you are in town. More details can be found on the Meetups page.
Hope to see some of you there,
Kevin
If you’re going, let me know. I’ll be showing up late if the party goes on long enough!
by olen, posted April 30th, 2009
categorized under design, featured, press
A Collaborative Partnership
Partnering with Carbon Design Group, Artefact is sponsoring a project with the Western Washington University Industrial Design Department in Bellingham, WA. Working together, we have been mentoring the students through the user-centered design process and helping them envision concepts for the classroom in 2015.
This project gives the WWU students the opportunity to research and understand the challenges of students and teachers in educational environments. Taking on the role of design consultant, WWU students have been researching and developing educational products to enhance the learning process in the classroom.
A Consultancy Experience
Olen Ronning of Artefact and Joe Sullivan of Carbon, both WWU ID graduates, collaborated with their former professor and industrial design program head, Arunas Oslapas, to put together the project. Having worked on company-sponsored projects while at Western, they understood the value of professional engagements and saw a unique opportunity to provide them with design consultancy perspective and experience.
For the students, we are exposing them to the user-centered design process we employ on real-world projects. This includes project planning, user-centered research, research analysis, collaborative brainstorming, concept value testing, and more. Students assume the role of design Consultants with Carbon+Artefact acting as Client while also providing mentorship through this process.
(more…)
by Martijn van Tilburg, posted April 10th, 2009
categorized under design, featured, how to, mobile, natural ui
Recent innovation in the mobile phone market has introduced many new ideas around user input mechanisms (e.g. touch and speech), UI model, as well as output (e.g. new types of displays and audio).
When designing digital products, it is important to find the right balance between these three aspects. This might seem somewhat obvious, but most of the newer mobile phones have not done this well. Many companies just slap on touch, rather than designing the touch user experience from the ground up.
To understand this we have to take look at products where touch technology has been used for a long time; public vending machines. People that need to be able to buy tickets on vending machines range from 8 year olds to 80 year olds. That is why the design of the user interface for these products requires extra attention. Users should be able to use the product quickly without any prior training. When you walk up to the device it is immediately clear what the steps are; select your destination, select the type of ticket, and pay. This is called a “walk-up-and-use” interface. (more…)
by Kevin Wong, posted April 3rd, 2009
categorized under how to, social
Original article: Practical Ecommerce
If you haven’t already done so, now would be a good time to start thinking about a customer driven marketing approach. Prospective customers continue to remain skeptical about their purchasing limits and will require more persuasion to convince them otherwise. The nice thing about having a customer driven approach is that it’s completely affordable, it reassures other customers who are unfamiliar with your product and it lets your existing customers feel empowered. We’ve had success in using a couple of these methods to sell our services to clients on our website. Below are 4 examples of how you can take advantage of your companies greatest asset, your customers:
1. Customer Testimonials/Interviews/Case Studies
Sharing positive reviews will help reassure great quality and satisfaction in customer experience.
In turn, there will be a better chance someone will make that transaction instead of clicking away. In our studies , we learned that getting a second opinion is a large part of the decision making process. By remedying the insecurities a shopper might have while picking between products, testimonials can help push them in your favor.
(more…)
by Jennifer Darmour, posted March 13th, 2009
categorized under design, e-commerce, featured
For those of you who have been following our next generation retail project, here’s an exciting update! After completing our research that helped us identify insights and painpoints with current retail experiences, we developed a solution that illustrates what the future holds for retailers who are attempting to bridge the gap between ecommerce and in-store purchases and why retailers can find significant ROI by implementing a different approach to in-store purchases.
Introducing: The Wall
The Wall is an interactive life-sized display that brings online capabilities into the store and onto products. Customers can place physical products against The Wall display and interact with related content aggregated from multiple online sources such as product info, related info, opinions, analytics, demonstrations and media.
The Wall allows consumers to:
- find products available in-store and online
- match them with other products
- bring in opinions of friends, community and experts to bear on their decision
- find collections of products to match a price range
- interact with the display with their mobile phone
- engage in the sport and culture – in the store
The Wall allows retailers to:
- increase user loyalty and stickiness between online and offline channels
- offer a unique shopping experience
- give their sales force a boost
- increase up-sell and cross-sell of merchandise
- effectively leverage the inevitable force of social media in shopping
- offer more than their physical inventory in the store
Continue reading the full article on our labs site…
by Kevin Wong, posted March 9th, 2009
categorized under featured
If you haven’t already been checkin’ up on us, then you might have missed a couple of updates on how things are doing with our internal project focusing on retail shopping experiences. We’ve wrapped up our research and concepting and are now making plans to take it a step further. Maybe a prototype? Maybe just a movie? We’ll keep you post. Until then, you can read up on our last few entries. If you have any comments or feedback, let us know. There’s been a lot of lessons learned from the project and we’re anxious to hear your thoughts too.
http://labs.artefactgroup.com/2009/01/31/snowboard-connection-consumer-highlights-reel/
http://labs.artefactgroup.com/2009/02/03/snowbird-concepting-wireframing/
http://labs.artefactgroup.com/2009/03/10/how-to-film-customer-insights-camera-operator/
