Part 13 of 13 in the series Some of my skills.
All adults know that dragons giggle when they are tickled. But many kids have not found that out yet. So we in the Bolibompa team set out to build a digital dragon who kids relate to and whom they want to tickle! A Ticklish Mission.
Part 12 of 13 in the series Some of my skills.
Sure, we are individuals. But when we are given an iPad many of us behave quite predictably. We always relax ... and are always active.
Part 11 of 13 in the series Some of my skills.
My colleagues wanted to change the look and content of an important part of Barnplay.se. I thought the current one was better and set out to check whether their or my variant resulted in more taps and views. Via an A/B test they proved me wrong (which I love).
Part 8 of 13 in the series Some of my skills.
Innovative content concepts can mean that editors need to adjust how they work. At SVT I helped make that kind of change happen. Kids helped me do it
Part 3 of 13 in the series Some of my skills.
Via home visits – "contextual inquiry" as we call it – I learned things I could not have learned any other way. The Ahlstrand family visit
Choosing when to "go it alone" versus involving others is something I still struggle with. However, a deceptively simple system helps me choose. Understand what outcome I want. Consider who else to involve (if anyone). Choose a method.
Part 7 of 7 in the series Bathroom User Experiences.
Some companies try to understand how satisfied I am with their public toilet. I don't think their method works. A new button can help.
Part 5 of 8 in the series Deliverables.
My boyfriend Bernie is an avid fan of Design Hotels, a company that represents and markets a hand-picked collection of hotels from across the globe. Bernie appreciates the curation work that Design Hotels has done and especially likes that he can get to know the persons who have built and now run the hotels. However, after a redesign of the designhotels.com site two years ago Bernie could no longer log in to his account or book stays via the site. Hear my interview with Bernie.
A concept should always solve specific problems or create a clearly defined new opportunity. There is always more then one solution to any concept task so chose a solution that can be created within the boundaries of your available resources. "It's ok, just chose an other concept."
If we want our services and products to be used over time we need to remember that many aspects of its use changes over time, just like my relationships to B does. One often forgotten aspect of Interaction Design is Time.
I like making money. But there are much better ways of getting me to do stuff then to pay me. Understand, Prove, Changed minds and more.
I recently found the video The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1988) by William H. Whyte that I just have to share. The hour long movie is about what makes a successful plaza but I can see clear parallells with how we can create successful digital artefacts. A list that gives me chills!
We had a problem at Barnkanalen.se, the website for kids from the Swedish public service TV provider SVT. A lot of our content – shows and games – is not accessible to all. Many shows are restricted to being watched on devices in in Sweden. Most games are created with Flash and thus not usable on iOS and Android devices. "Go explore, we think you will find a new favourite!"
Part 1 of 5 in the series 4 ways I meet "users".
In this first part of a short series on participatory design methods I write about usability tests. The tests help me prove if my solutions for important details in my artefacts work or if I have to "go back to the drawing board". There are an enormous amount of persons who know more then I do about the things I design.
In the span of 90 minutes I changed my mind on several key aspects, scrapped two prototypes and got lots of new ideas. All thanks to my colleagues!
Part 2 of 8 in the series Deliverables.
On barnkanalen.se we have a few very popular coloring books. In May 2013 we where tasked with enhancing the functionality of the painting book. I used Paper Prototyping as my main tool to define the interactions in the admin interface before it was developed.
Before attending the IDC'14 conference I had not thought of personalization from the perspective of enabling persons who use an artefact to explore the artefact. I had only thought of personalization as based on algorithms or settings. The new perspective feels very valuable.
The list is a reminder of the very broad range of persons, systems and organizations that I must empathize with and cater to when designing. "Users", editors, developers, graphic designers, guidelines, CMS:s, future system owners...
Part 1 of 3 in the series Structures of User Experiences.
Google as a cohesive whole. Apps as castles in the air, ready to float away at any time. User services that present no interface to the users. Quotes and thoughts.
Part 6 of 7 in the series Bathroom User Experiences.
Use the human ability to see connections between separate parts of a system. Build products that help us improve the world a bit. Build accessible artefacts. Make the important system states obvious. If your interface needs instructions, you have failed.
